Page 48 of The 9th Man

“A bunch of old papers,” Luke said, keeping to the lie.

“Relating to what?”

“We didn’t have time to read them.”

“Where are they now?”

“They were in my backpack I had. I lost it in the river. If you want to go look for it, we’ll stay right here. Cross my heart.”

“Ms. Stein, anything to add?” Persik asked.

“It was just papers.”

“What kind of papers?”

“I have no idea. We were a little busy trying to not get killed.”

“There was nothing else in the locker?”

She shook her head. “Not a thing.”

“What do you know about Kronos?” Persik asked her.

“It’s just a word my grandfather kept mentioning. He was on heavy pain meds so—” Jillian said.

“You used it in the email you sent.”

“I was just trying to find out what the word meant. I had no idea and still don’t.”

Luke liked what she was doing. Keep him talking.

“I don’t know what Kronos is, or what it means, or even who I sent the email to,” Jillian said. “That’s the truth.”

Persik considered this for a few moments. “We’ll see.”

Luke cleared his throat and continued the lie. “About that backpack.”

Persik turned to him. “Go on.”

“It’s water-resistant. If you’re quick, those papers might still be salvageable.”

“And where should we start looking?”

“Where I went into the water. Not far from where Galang’s Range Rover was parked on the side of the road. Take me there and I’ll show you.”

“Perhaps later.” Persik nodded at Luke’s guards. “Strap him down. Let’s get started.”

He was shuffle-marched to the board and laid flat. One of the men produced a roll of duct tape and looped it six times around Luke’s chest before spiraling it down his legs to his ankles, which got another six loops.

“The towel,” Persik ordered.

One of the men dunked the towel in the nearest bucket, then unfurled it and handed one end to his partner. Together they laid the sopping mass over Luke’s face and drew the ends taut. Immediately he felt a familiar panic explode in his chest.

“Wait,” Jillian called out. “There was something else in the locker.”

“Tell me.”

“First, take off that towel.”

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