Page 45 of Heartless

“Should be the second door on the right.”

Hawke opened the door and walked inside. The room was bare with the exception of a couple of folding chairs, a table with a laptop, and a couple bottles of water. On one side was a large window that looked into another room. That room was dark right now, but in a few minutes, it would light up, and Iris Gates would be led inside.

“Does the window go up?”

“Yes. Once she’s brought in, we can talk to her face-to-face. Until then, she can’t see inside this room.”

“Okay. Let’s get this done.”

Hawke squeezed her hand once more and then spoke into the earbud Bruce had handed him when they’d arrived. “Bring in the prisoner.”

They waited for a full minute before the lights in the other room switched on, and a door opened. A woman with blond hair that was much lighter than her daughter’s shuffled awkwardly into the room, flanked by two men. Her ankles were shackled together, her hands cuffed behind her.

They seated her on a chair in the middle of the room, and Hawke watched her closely as one of the men uncuffed her hands, then secured her wrists to the arms of the chair. She didn’t try to fight them, which didn’t surprise him. She knew this wasn’t an opportunity to run. She might try at some point, but right now, she was anticipating what came next. He saw it in the little smile on her face as she looked at the glass partition. She knew what was about to happen.

If he hadn’t needed to do this, he would have grabbed Olivia’s hand and taken her out of here. In a perfect world, that’s what he would do. But they didn’t live in a perfect world, and Olivia deserved to face down her biggest demon.

“Lower the lights, raise the window.”

The light went slightly dimmer, and then the glass partition rose. For the first time, Hawke came face-to-face with his former mother-in-law. Since the other two times he’d seen her, he’d been wearing a mask, this was their first official meeting. Olivia hadn’t wanted her at their wedding, which was a good thing, because he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have killed her.

The resemblance between Iris Gates and her daughter was uncanny. From what he could discern, Iris had turned fifty-five last March, but she looked at least ten years younger. Even in gray prison garb and no makeup, she was a beautiful woman. If she and Olivia were standing side by side, some might even think they were sisters. There was one important element missing in Iris Gates that Olivia had in abundance, though, and that was humanity. This creature had nothing but a facial resemblance to the beautiful woman standing beside him.

The instant the glass was raised and Iris could see who was standing in the other room, a bright smile lit her face. “Olivia, what a delightful surprise.”

Her tone was one of warm graciousness, as if she were welcoming a treasured friend into her home for a cozy chat.

“Hello, Iris,” Olivia said.

Hawke was proud of her tone. It was cool but not unfriendly, almost as you would greet an acquaintance who meant nothing to you.

“And is that Nicholas with you? What a treat to finally get to meet my son-in-law. And, oh my, Olivia, he is a handsome one.”

“This isn’t a social visit, Iris,” Olivia said dryly.

“You have questions, I assume.”

“How clever you are. Of course I have questions.”

“No need to be impertinent, young lady.” The smile she sent Hawke couldn’t be described as anything other than a smirk. “But it is wonderful to see you two together again. I must say, Nicholas, I’m impressed by your willingness to forgive.”

Hawke stiffened at the taunt.

“Forgive what?” Olivia asked.

“Why, for almost killing him, my dear.”

Olivia jerked her head up to stare at Hawke, confusion in her eyes.

Shit!

Pressing the earbud, he commanded, “Shut it down. Shut it down now!”

In an instant, the lights in the other room went out, and the window closed, leaving Olivia and Hawke alone once more.

“A/V off,” Hawke said hoarsely.

Why the hell hadn’t he seen this coming? He had suspected Iris was involved in framing Olivia. It wasn’t much of a stretch that she might’ve had a hand in the explosion that had almost killed him.

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