A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing.
"Let me try." Sue insisted, her eyes pleading with D.
"We have already questioned him. He didn't say anything."
"Then you don't have anything to lose." Sue replied stubbornly.
She sure was… what was the word Jack kept using? Oh, right. She sure was tenacious. Biggest understatement of the year! And it was clear she wouldn't accept a no for an answer.
"Ok. If you think you can get some results then I won't be the one stopping you." D conceded.
Sue beamed at him and strode purposefully towards the interrogation room. She had read Johnston's file and she had an idea in mind. If she was right in her assumption then, maybe, they would go finally somewhere. Jack kept encouraging her to trust her instincts, to trust her gut feelings and she was going to do just that.
Sue hesitated only for a moment with her hand on the handle to regroup her thoughts then she raised her head and entered the interrogation room with a confidence she really didn't feel.
"I've already said I won't tell anything!" The man in the room said the moment Sue sat in front of him.
"Fine. I just want you to listen." Sue replied, lowering her hands to her lap to hide her nervousness.
She had to keep reminding herself that there was a man in the monster who had tried to kill two of the most important people in her life. And looking in his eyes she found that man. A scared, truly terrified man who was silently praying for a way out. And if that meant that she would find important answers then she was ready to give him that way out. With D and Garrett's blessing, of course.
"You've been a drug dealer for fifteen years, you're suspected of being responsible for the death of three FBI agents and who knows how many innocent people who used your drugs, of having ordered the execution of five other drug dealers in the last ten years and of having materially tortured and killed at least seven people when you were lieutenant of the mob boss Petrovich. And yet, you've never been arrested. Not once in twenty years. What happened, Johnston? How come you've made such a stupid mistake? You tried to kill two federal agents and what? You forgot to leave the crime scene?"
Sue observed with some satisfaction the smugness appeared on the man's face while she was listing his crimes being replaced by indignation and a flicker of fear. She latched onto that fear.
"We know what happened on that parking lot. We have a video. And in that video there's a gun pointed at you from inside the car that managed to leave the scene. Who was threatening you? Who was in the car?"
The paleness of Johnston's face and his trembling hands told Sue he was battling with himself and that gave the analyst the confidence she needed to continue her monologue.
"Who is controlling you? Why are you ready to sacrifice your freedom for this man?"
The man's eyes flew to her face and the desperation in them surprised Sue. She had her confirmation.
"He's threatening your family." She stated slowly. The expression on the man's face told her she had hit home.
She forced herself to see him like a victim, like a father who was trying to save his two little daughters and nothing more. He was no more a killer. He was no more a drug dealer. He was no more the man she despised for having tried to kill Jack and Bobby. He was a desperate father ready to do everything he could to save his children. It was more difficult than she had expected but she managed to show compassion and understanding to the man sat before her.
"If you help us we can help you." She added in a soft voice.
The man kept his mouth tightly shut, seemingly afraid that it could take a life of its own and betray him.
"This is my last offer, Johnston. Your last chance." Sue added in a calm tone, trying to mask her impatience.
The gaze of the man started shifting from one side to the other of the room, with brief stops on his clasped hands and on Sue's face, just to repeat the journey over and over again. With her eyes trained on his, Sue started feeling a little dizzy. Time for the last push.
"Okay. You've made your choice, then. I hope you're taking the right decision, for your daughters' sake. I wish you a good, long stay in prison." She said and got up, walking purposefully towards the door without glancing back. "Please…Please…Please…Please…" Her little mantra, whispered even in her own mind for fear that Johnston could pick up on it, stopped when she opened the door and turned towards the prisoner for the last time. Had he moved his mouth or it was just wishful thinking form her part? Her breath hitched in her throat as she focused her whole attention on Johnston. And this time she saw clearly his mouth move and pronounce that tiny, little, wonderful word.
"Wait." He said in a whisper.
"Ok. You've got your deal, Johnston." D said upon entering the interrogation room. "The FBI will protect your family if you give us reliable information."
"No. I want you to protect my family, your team. No one else must be involved." Johnston replied.
"Why?" Sue asked.
"Because I trust you."
"That's funny because we don't trust you." D replied.
"I know. I wouldn't want it any other way."
"OK. We'll protect your family. My team will deal personally with it. Now, start talking."
Some hours later, an exhausted, worried but determined D exited the interrogation room, followed by a very worried analyst. They found their colleagues in the bullpen, quietly talking near Jack's desk. D knew they had witnessed the interrogation so he took his cell-phone to inform the rest of his team.
"Myles, send someone at the hospital." He ordered before dialling Bobby's number.
"Bobby, we have a problem." He said, not registering the unusual reply of his friend.
"My thoughts exactly, mate." The Australian commented. That caught D's attention.