Page 28 of Secrets

“We’ll bring him into this room,” said the guard. “He’s been pretty depressed since his legal team left him. I hope you guys will take over.” The entire team was surprised by the guard’s comments.

“You sound like you’re a fan of his,” said Katrina with a disbelieving expression.

“Listen, I know what he’s accused of, but I’ve been doing this a long time. His actions don’t match what they say. He never causes trouble. He shows up for all his psych appointments, doesn’t bitch about the meals, and in spite of having the shit beat out of him multiple times, he’s never thrown one punch. Plus, the only thing that guy is ever worried about is whether or not his sister is safe. That’s it.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” frowned Kari, looking at Nathan and Miller.

“That’s what I’m telling you, lady. Those last two lawyers treated him like shit, and he was left with no one. If you’re asking me my opinion,” he started.

“I’m not. But I want to hear it,” said Kari with a smile. The guard nodded.

“If you’re asking me my opinion, I’m not sure he was the one leading this mess, nor do I think he’s the only one left in this mess. I think it was the old man, and he’s dead, and someone else, but I can’t be sure.”

“And the sister?” asked Kari.

“I think he’s trying to protect her. It’s all he talks about.”

He turned to look down the corridor, hearing the steel door open and close. The guard nodded at the room of strangers and turned to step into the hallway.

“What do you think, Kari?” asked Miller. She tapped her comms.

“Everything is off, right, Code?”

“All off.”

“Good. I want you to tape this entire conversation and tell me how it reads on the radar pulse lie detector. We know that’s not a sure thing just yet, but it helps. If what that guard said is true, we’ve got to find out what we’re missing.”

They weren’t sure what they expected, but it wasn’t the man who walked into the room. He was average height and weight, definitely toned from workouts and probably fighting. His hair was a dark brown, his eyes matching. He had a few bruises and cuts on his face from a recent fight, but immediately stopped at the doorway, staring at the group of people.

“Do I know you?” he asked calmly, almost with a polite tone.

“No,” said Kari. “My name is Kari Robicheaux. This is my colleague, Katrina Redhawk.”

“And your bodyguards?” he smirked. “I’m not going to hurt anyone.”

“They’re our law clerks,” said Katrina. “You’ll forgive us, Mr. Fraser, but hurting people seemed to be your specialty. If we seem a bit timid, there could be good reason.”

“Are you my new lawyers?” he asked.

“Maybe. We’d like to chat for a while to determine whether we’ll take this. There could be a conflict of interest that we’ll explain later.” He calmly nodded, looking at them. As he took a seat, he suddenly glanced up at them, tears in his eyes.

“Is-is Millicent okay? My sister, Millicent. Is she safe? Is that why you’re here? Please, tell me she’s okay.”

“Why do you ask?” asked Katrina, tilting her head to get a better read of Jay.

“I need my sister to be safe. I wanted my attorneys to bring her here so I could warn her, but no one is listening to me. Then, I found out they were hired by my enemies. All anyone thinks is that I’m just the evil killer of men,” he frowned.

“You have killed a lot of people, Mr. Fraser. From our count, and that of the FBI, your total is well above one hundred.”

“One hundred men who deserved to die,” said Jay.

“They were men who owed money to criminals,” said Kari, cocking her head to see how he would react.

“Who told you that bullshit?” he asked. “Yeah, it’s true that some of them owed money to people, but that wasn’t why they died.”

“I’m afraid I’m confused,” said Kari. “Everything we’ve seen from the bureau is that you, your father, and younger brother were hired assassins, brute squads, for these criminal families.”

He shook his head, laying his palms flat on the table. He showed no signs of becoming aggressive, nor did he raisehis voice. Nathan looked at the man, channeling his great-grandfather’s wisdom and Shaman abilities. He was so full of information, grief, sorrow, and fear, it was pouring into Nathan’s body.

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