Page 90 of Depths of Destruction
"You can't do anything about it. Come get your picture taken so we can get these passports made," Tinker directs us.
We stand in front of a blank wall, and Tinker takes our photos. He leaves to take them to whoever is creating the passports.
"Is there anything you aren't telling me?" Andre asks.
"What are you talking about?"
He takes a deep breath. "Ryker asked me if I knew all your secrets, and I wasn't sure if I could answer yes to that."
My heart pounds faster, insulted for the second time today. Julieta thought I couldn't keep a secret, but Andre seems to think I'm hiding things from him. "What are you accusing me of?"
He pulls me onto his lap. "That's not what I mean."
"Sounds like you don't trust me."
"No. Don't think that."
I stare at him, hurt.
He tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear. "I'm asking this wrong."
"Well? What are you asking?"
"Ryker insinuated you knew something about Vanessa's situation."
"Why would he think that? You know as much as I do."
"What he said made me think."
"And you concluded I'm hiding things from you?"
"No. Not at all."
I wait for him to continue.
"Vanessa's ex is a cabinet member. You said you had dirt on all of them."
"About their political contributors, yes."
"He thinks your abductions are all related and you know something about Vanessa's ex, Carlos Garcia."
"He accepts money from both cartels."
"Why was she kidnapped by the guerrillas before being sold to Gómez?"
"I don't know. It doesn't make sense to me, but then again, I don't know her secrets."
"She's scared to go to communist countries and specifically told you that you shouldn't, either. Julieta, too."
"I don't know why she said that."
Andre furrows his brows.
"You think I'm lying?"
"No, not at all. I'm just trying to understand why she was so worried about going to a communist country."
"I don't know, but Julieta wouldn't tell me anything, either. Apparently, I don't know how to keep a secret."
