Page 88 of Sunflower

“What about Mary, old man?” Leland taunted. “You think you can still protect her here? Where she’s away from her friends? Her family?”

George paled, even when his eyes went black.

“And there he goes,” Leland said, humor clear in his tone. “Trusting his tricksy, unreliable sight, when he couldn’t even seemecoming, a lowlynormie.”

Frowning in concentration, George held the edge of the table and focused harder.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have kept me waiting for so long.Old. Man.”Leland cackled.

“No…” George whispered, pushing away from the table so hard the manila folder went flying. “What did you do?” he asked Leland, horror in his voice. Pure pain and anguish filled his face as he dove across the table at Leland, who was an easy target, considering Bailey still had him pinned.“What did you do??”

A scream filled the air, not from the interrogation room, but outside. A mournful, pain-filled wail that went on and on and on, echoing through both rooms.

Everyone left in the narrow room looked towards the entry at the sound.

“Marcy…” Pippa froze, the blood draining from her face before she, too, darted out the door, leaving me and Dad to look at each other in horror before we refocused on what was going on in the interrogation room.

“There it is…” Leland sang gleefully, even while Bailey was wrangling him to the ground and away from George, who was tangling with both Erin and Tama. “The sweet sound of victory.”

“Shut him down!” Erin shouted above the racket, grabbing Tama’s hand and slamming it against George’s arm. “Shut him down now!”

“No!” George screamed as he fought Tama’s hold with everything he had.“Mary!”

“It’s amazing what difference having a mole in your team can make, huh, old man?” Leland yelled before cackling hysterically.

“Oh, God…” I said, grabbing onto Dad’s wrist in concern. “Thereisa mole… George said there was, but with everything else…”

“What?” Dad asked, flinging his horrified eyes between what was going on in the interrogation room and me. “What mole? Joey, what the hell is going on?”

“So much. So, so much…” I stared at the melee in the room in front of us, then at the computer screens still showing that they were recording everything.

“Get him out,” Erin ordered Tama in between George’s pain-filled sobs, pointing at the door. She rolled off George to allow Tama to drag him towards the door, even though George was kicking and screaming. Once they were out, she turned on Leland.“You.”

His only response was more unhinged laughter.

Erin righted the chairs and table that had been flipped over, before gathering the scattered paperwork from George’s manila folder, then sitting down. She took a deep, calming breath and stared at Leland like the ice queen she could be when pushed far enough. “Sit his ass down,” she ordered Bailey, pointing at the seat opposite her.

“Oh, shit,” Dad murmured. “She’s getting her claws out.”

Wordlessly, I nodded in agreement.

Without a word, Bailey did as she asked, picking Leland up by the neck grip he’d used before and plonked him in his seat, forcing his head to the tabletop much like earlier.

Erin rested her hands on the table, interlacing her fingers. “You seem to know a lot about me and this team, Leland, so let me make one thing perfectly clear to you.”

Both Dad and I gulped, and we weren’t even the ones she was talking to.

“I don’t know how you’re able to block me, but I don’t really care anymore.” She let go of her fingers enough so she couldcrack her knuckles before interlacing them again. “If you know so much about me, then you’ll know that I have connections. Connections I kept up with after I left the agency.” She tapped one thumb against the other and licked her lips. “One of those connections goes by the name ofCoalminer. Do you know who that is, Leland?”

Both Dad and I leaned forward when the blood drained from Leland’s already pale face and went quiet. Even Bailey looked up at Erin in shock.

“Good. I can see that you do,” Erin continued calmly, her gaze drifting to her hands resting on the folder and ignoring Leland entirely. “See, the thing about Coalminer is that even though he’s young, he’s built himself an impressive reputation of being the best at dragging information out of someone, no matter what their defenses are.” She paused to take another slow breath in, releasing it deliberately. “He can literally get anything out of a person, but there’s a downside, and I think this is why you know his name. Apparently, the process can be truly unbearable if the person fights him.”

She leaned forward so she could glare deeply into Leland’s eyes. “After what you’ve done tonight and with how hard you fought me, I truly hope that Coalminer dives deep inside your puny little brain and that you fight him every step of the way for the information we need to stop the cartel you work for.”

A terrified shiver went up my spine at hearing Erin’s icy words. Judging by how Dad reacted, I had a feeling he felt the same way.

“I hope you fight him, and itburns. I hope it boils your insides until you lay there screaming like George and Marcy did tonight, while you’re encased in a block of ice that Tama will provide for you. I hope you push back so hard that you willbegfor us to put you out of your misery. And. We’ll. Say.No.”

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