A/N: Again with the apologies for the longness of time between updating. I'm still here, still in love with this couple! Read on.
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Chapter 19
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Zhen's POV.
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I smiled to myself as I exited the viewing room to head over to where they were keeping Costales. Bobbie, Smartie and Luther went on their merry way, leaving me alone with the suspect. They trusted me to handle this. Yet on those few steps between the viewing room and the door to the interrogation room, my thought could only focus on the fact that Declan had been concerned for me, and it was flattering. As soon as I opened that door, though, that giddy smiled vanished like it had never crossed my features before. Having grown so used to being serious all the time, it wasn't to hard to fall back into business as usual.
I set some of the papers I had been holding down on the chrome table. I was quiet, my shoes clicking on the linoleum flooring. There were no cameras here. This conversation was not going to be witnessed for a second time. I liked it that way. It was just me, the suspect, and whoever was in the viewing room, if there was anyone there at all.
My heart pounded in my chest. This gave me a thrill like no other. I hoped he was nervous. I hoped I made him feel inferior. He deserved to feel small.
I pulled out one of the metal chairs, purposely letting the legs of it scrape across the floor like nails to a chalkboard. I pulled it out more than was necessary; I liked that sound so much. I took a seat slowly, to over-accentuate my relaxed nature. Exaggeration was everything in a situation like this.
He was not intimidated, which was not surprising, for a man of his power and stature. I crossed my legs and put my hands in my lap, taking my time observing him. He stared back, almost glaring, even. That foam wrap around his throat took away from whatever frightening air he was trying to give off.
"Nice neckbrace," I offered.
He snickered. He slouched a little more in his chair, making his handcuffs jingle.
"You think I am afraid of you, senorita?"
"If you're not, you're dumber than I thought."
Another snicker. This evolved into a full on chuckle.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"Why, you are, my dear. You have thoroughly screwed yourselves."
"I'm not the one in handcuffs and has a jacked-up esophagus."
"Of course not. You are the one with the gorgeous body and the oozing love for one of your fellow agents."
Zhen uncrossed her legs and sat up a little straighter.
"Yes," Costales smirked. "That got your attention, didn't it? It is priceless, really. Couldn't have planned it better. It will bring your sufferings to a whole new level. A more personal one. Frankly, I don't know what you see in Gormley."
My heart skipped a beat, but it didn't show on my face.
"I don't know what you're talking about." A lame lie and we both knew it. "Tell me where she keeps the 'Blues' poison."
"Come on now, Ms. Lei. There's no cameras, nobody here. We can be honest with one another. And honestly…" He laughed again like it was so damn hilarious he couldn't stand it. "I'm going to rip your heart out. And then after you're dead, I'm going to ravage your beautiful, lifeless corpse."
He was making me mad. Yet still, my composure was kept, and I just shook my head at his words.
"You disgust me. Where are you keeping Heron?"
"And as for your boyfriend Gormley--"
"What's the Malibu Address?"
"I might just ravage his corpse too."
That's when I lost my cool. I slammed my hands down on the table and jumped to my feet, getting close and personal to his face.
"You're not going to touch him!"
Victory was his.
I had proven to what he might have not already known. I breathed angrily in his face, not caring that he had won, that he now had control of the situation. All I cared about was holding back from snapping his already hurt neck and finishing what I started with him. I was breathing fire, I could feel it boil in my veins. What had become of me? When had my years of acting boot camps been fed to the wolves? Losing my cool was something that had never happened to me before. It wasn't in my programming, even prior to IMF training.
"See what I mean?" Costales giggled to further rub it in my face. "Personal."
"My patience for you is gone," I warned him. "You better wipe that damn smile off your face and tell me what Lucas is planning right now."
"Alright, senorita," Costales obliged. "I will tell you what you have surely already figured out by now. It is very simple. Lucas would like her revenge. It is an age-old story told time and time again in comic book villains. You kick them out of where they work for making groundbreaking discoveries that the world is not ready for, and they are resentful. You see, my dear, things are not always as impossible as they seem."
I stood up straight, peering into his soul through his brown eyes and trying to decide if his words bore truth.
"The IMF is finished," Costales informed me.
"You just destroyed one of our buildings," I countered. "We're not defined by our center of operations."
"Demolition is just the beginning, mi amor. And it's 43789 Sea Valley Road, Malibu. When you and your boyfriend are ready to die."
"Zhen?" a light tap on the door came from Martin in the doorway. "Don't shoot the messenger, but Brassel wants to see you."
Costales raised his brow in mock wonder.
"Did he say what about?" I asked Martin.
"Something about Declan," Martin explained. "Brassel's not happy. Then again, he never is."
Costales chuckled again and my chest clenched like a tight fist and my eyes went rapid into thought, wondering how Brassel had found out so soon. Who tipped him off about Declan and me? Why did it all have to end so soon? We had barely begun to see each other…
I walked high headed and steady down the hall to Brassel's large meeting room. I was surprised to see through the office window, Bobbie already inside and sitting comfortably. I guess I knew who was the snitch. I took a deep breath, planning a word or two in inevitably futile defense. My career was finished. Might as well start accepting it now. At least I was free to be with Declan without hindrance, right? My heart weighed a ton. There was no prolonging it. I had to face him. I just enough time to shoot Bobbie a furious look before I made it to the door, but she just looked elsewhere. She didn't even have the guts to own up to what she had done. She knew she had just murdered my whole way of life.
Brassel started talking as soon as I walked completely in the door.
"I have just received information of a interoffice scandal involving two of our agents. To be frank, I have heard rumors of this myself, but considering these are two of our good agents, and having more important matters on my plate than a company Days of Our Lives drama."
"Sir…" I began, shaking my head.
"What bewilders me is why it was not brought to my attention sooner. Apparently, I do not have enough of my employees respect to be reported of policy mishaps. So what started as a small problem, escalates into a bigger one. During the last mission, it became painfully evident. You all have discovered a new way of embarrassing me, it seems."
I could feel the first sting of tears at my eyes. I loved my job too much. It hurt for it to end sooner than expected.
"Mr. Gormley denies knowledge… So, I ask you, Ms Lei, the same question I have asked everyone else in this team."
Here it came. Those murderous words were coming now…
"Did you know of Ms. Blake's relationship with Agent Gormley?"
I blinked in surprise, not knowing if I heard right. The same surprise was on Bobbie's face, as she leaped to her feet.
"ME!?" she shouted.
"Contain yourself, Ms. Blake!" Brassel commanded harshly. "Please waste my time and deny it."
"Sir, if I may…" she sputtered.
"You may not!" Brassel shot right back. She went on anyway.
"My conduct pales in comparison to Agent Lei's!"
"That's enough, Ms. Blake!"
"It's her affair with Agent Gormley that you should put under observation! It's an embarrassment to the Force; they're a running joke! Just ask her!"
"Get out, Ms. Blake, before I take away that precious severance pay that you will be needing very soon."
Bobbie shot me a look as if I had betrayed her with silence, even though we had never really been friends, so there wasn't much to let down. She grabbed her things in a huff, and stormed out the door with tears in her eyes. The unfairness was obvious, so much so that it seized my throat. My being an honest person, I couldn't let such a thing hang over me for long.
"You may go too, Ms. Lei," Brassel waved me off, concerning himself more with writing something in a file more than likely Bobbie's. "If you can send Agent Gormley in on your way back."
"Sir, if I could… What Roberta said…"
"What she said is of no consequence to me, Ms. Lei, since Gormley will soon be collecting his severance as well. If you had sense, you would avoid any more rumors from now on, especially concerning him, or I might have to bring up this subject again, and trust me, I'm tired of it already."
Basically, never speak to Declan again. A flash of thought made me wonder for only a second which was worse, losing my job or him.
No, my job was spared. It was a precious gift, one I should not squander.
All I had left to do was explain all this to Declan.
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Please review.
Signed,
--RedRogue