Chapter 15
Jenny and the rest of the ARC team stood gathered around the window that looked into one of the interrogation rooms. One of the sides was mirrored so that the man being held in the adjacent room couldn't see them, but they could see him.
"Who is he?" Abby asked, squinting her eyes to see through into the dimly lit room on the other side.
"I have no idea," Lester replied absently as he glanced down at the file in his hands. "Our soldiers found him waiting beside the anomaly, cool as you like. He told them he came through it, but he hasn't said another word since he got anomaly's closed now, and there's no sign of a creature incursion, so all's we need to do is deal with him and then we can get back to some real work."
"He's probably just some looney," Connor chimed in, putting his hand above his eyes to shield them from the glare of the artificial light to better see through the window.
Lester looked up at him as though surprised to see him there. "Don't you have something you should be doing?" he barked at him.
"Oh . . . yeah . . ." Connor said, his face dropping. "I'll just go and get back to it then . . ." he trailed off, looking disappointed.
"Yes, that would be such a good idea!" Lester snapped after him.
"James, we're extremely pressed for time as it is without having to deal with random weirdo's that hang around anomaly sites," Jenny interjected, feeling irritated that all this was cutting into their planning and training time. "I say we leave him in there until this is all over, and deal with him then."
Lester sighed at turned back to the window, looking rather torn. Eventually, he handed the file over to Jenny, who took it, surprised. "No, we can't just ignore the fact he knows something about the anomalies. You can be the one to do the interview."
"Why me?" Jenny gapped.
"Because you're good with people," he answered, his gaze travelling down her figure slightly. "Men in particular. If anyone can get him to talk, it's you."
Scowling, Jenny folded her arms around the file and looked around Nick, who gave a her a slight shrug.
"Problem?" Lester pushed, raising his eyebrow.
"No," she replied coldly, turning back to him.
"Good," he said curtly. "Now, the rest of you to get back to work. I don't want any more time wasted than necessary."
Every one trudged off, grumbling about something or another, and with a sigh, Jenny turned and reluctantly pushed open the door to the interrogation room.
The room had a musty, disused feeling to it and was rather dull; the only illumination coming from the flickering light that spanned a quarter of the flaking ceiling. In the middle of the room, there was a small rectangular table, at which sat a handsome man, who looked about twenty-five or twenty-six. He was dark haired which was cut shortish, and had a muscular physique that was displayed under the tight black shirt he was wearing. As Jenny closed the door and walked towards the table, the man's eyes watched her keenly, their colour indiscernible due to the lack of natural light in the room. A guard stood against the wall in the far corner, looking rather bored and unconcerned as he stared out into space.
"What's your name Sir?" Jenny asked the man in a stern voice as reached the desk, not able to mask how annoyed she was at being pulled away from her work.
"Matthew," he replied in a cold tone as he watched her take a seat opposite him.
"Full name Sir?"
"Matthew Markson," he replied with a smile.
Jenny crossed her legs and flopped the file down on the table, surveying him doubtfully.
"Matthew Markson?" she repeated, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice; it didn't take a PR genius to work out that he was lying.
"Yes."
"How very biblical of you," she retorted, flicking her pen against the pad. "Parents religious were they?"
"I wouldn't know," he replied, sitting back in his chair. "I didn't catch your name?"
"That's because I didn't say it," she replied dryly.
He chuckled coldly. "I must say, you're not very good at this."
"What do you mean?"
He leaned forward and rested his elbow on the desk, speaking in a low tone as though what he was saying was just between the two of them. "I know how this works. They send in the pretty woman to act all sweet to get the detainee to come over all talkative, and spill his secrets. Now, you've got the pretty part down, but I must say, you're lousy at the sweet bit."
Jenny sat back in her chair herself, staring at him, trying and failing to work this guy out. There was something about him that put her on edge, perhaps because of the keen intelligence that seeped through his words, or the way he lounged back, seemingly at ease with being detained and questioned by the government. He stared back at her with a smile, no hint of a reaction on his face.
"My name is Jenny," she replied eventually.
He inclined his head slightly. "Nice to meet you Jenny. Tell me, are you married?"
That question threw her for a second, and she looked up at him, knowing that the surprise was written all over her face. "And what business is that of yours?" she asked coolly, rearranging her expression into what she hoped was an impassive look.
"Well, far be it from me to tell you how to do your job," he began in a mock-guilty voice. "But what you should be looking to do is create intimacy between us by talking about personal issues. You want to make the prisoner feel like they can confide in you, you see. Helps get the conversation flowing."
"I'm sorry - would you prefer it if we swapped places and you do the interviewing instead?" she snapped sarcastically, and then immediately regretted it when a flash of triumph danced across his expression. He clearly relished the fact he had got a rise out of her. "Yes, I am married," she conceded.
"Huh," he nodded, looking at her curiously. "Then why aren't you wearing a wedding ring - ?"
"Shall we just stick to the point?" she interrupted him firmly, everting her gaze back down to the file. "You said you came through the anomaly? Is that true?"
"Yes," he answered immediately.
"Why?" she asked, watching his expression to detect any signs of lying. "Why did you come through?"
"I felt like a little midnight stroll," he answered, obviously being sarcastic.
"Can you just answer the question."
"I did."
"Past or future anomaly?" Jenny pushed, trying to ignore his disingenuousness.
"What do you think?" he replied coldly.
Jenny lost her temper with his cryptic answers and before she could contain herself, she slammed her hands down on the desk and stood up, leaning forward towards him. "I think that you're wasting my time Sir," she whispered in a tense voice. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some real work to be getting along with."
With that, she walked away, but she had barely reached the door when he spoke again.
"Yes, I'm sure you have a lot of preparations to make," he stated in a matter-of-fact voice. "I mean, you've only got two day's now, haven't you?"
She stopped and turned, knowing that he was referring to Helen's predictions.
"How do you know about that?" she asked in an annoyingly unsteady voice.
He glanced behind him at the guard in the corner. "I'll tell you everything you want to know. As long as we can talk alone."
She hesitated for a moment, torn between her desire to get him talking and her unwillingness to be alone with this man. But she shook herself mentally - she'd be quite safe. They were in a secure government building, after all.
"Leave us," she said to the guard.
"Ma'am," the guard nodded in acknowledgment of her order, walking past her and out of the door.
"Okay 'Matthew'," she said in air quotes as she walked back to the table slowly and sunk into her seat. "You've got my full attention. Tell me everything you know about the anomalies that are meant to be opening in two days time."
He reclined back in his chair again, a smile playing on his lips. "We call it day zero."
"Who's 'we'?" Jenny demanded immediately, not liking the sound of that.
"The people who survive it," he replied slowly, as though savouring every word. "And believe me, there aren't many of us."
Silence followed as Jenny tried to absorb the implications of what he had just said. "You're lying," she stated eventually in a voice much stronger than she felt.
"Am I?" he chuckled. "Are you sure about that?"
Another dense silence followed as she struggled to come up with something to say. "Who are you?" she demanded when she found her voice again, narrowing her eyes as she surveyed him. "I know you're not who you say you are."
"Is that so?" he said, for some reason, looking throughly amused.
"You know what, I've had enough of this," Jenny snapped, her patience reaching the threshold. "You can discuss your little fantasy world with someone with more time on their hands."
She got up and crossed the room again, opening the door, but this time, he didn't use words to stop her. Before she had even became aware of what was happening, he was behind her and had slammed the door shut with his hand, and in the other hand, he held something hard and circular against the small of her back. It was only when she heard him take the safety off that she realised it was a gun he had pressed against her.
She froze in complete shock, her blood running cold.
"Keep calm," he breathed down her ear. "I'm not going to hurt you if you do exactly as I say. Are we clear?"
"Yes," she answered back numbly.
"And if you try any funny stuff, I won't hesitate in shooting my way out of here," he added sternly. "Either we leave here quietly and in one piece, or we leave a trail of bodies behind us. Your choice."
"Okay," she breathed back, feeling herself shaking at the thought of him hurting Nick or the others. "Okay . . ."
"Go," he said, prodding her with the gun slightly. "Now."
Hardly daring to breath, Jenny opened the door with a trembling hand and stepped unsteadily into the deserted corridor, her legs refusing to work properly. She felt the man behind her rest his hand on her hip to stabilise her, but he ensured that he kept the gun pressed against her hard at all times.
"The exit, if you please Jenny," he said to her in a quiet but commanding voice.
"Do you really think you'll be able to just walk out of here without arousing any suspicion?" Jenny asked in disbelief as they moved forward.
"Probably not," he answered casually. "But I hope that, for your sake, none of your colleagues interfere."
Jenny found herself torn between hoping that something would intervene to stop them, and her desperation for no one else to get involved incase he turned on them. God, they had been so stupid to bring him to the ARC in the first place . . .
Silently, they walked down corridor after corridor, only passing a few technicians on the way. Luckily (or unluckily as the case probably was), they didn't notice anything more untoward than Jenny escorting someone to the exit - the man, Matthew or whatever his real name was, certainly knew what he was doing.
"Ouch!" she snapped as he dug the gun particularly hard into her spine.
"Walk faster," he ordered in an undertone.
"Have you ever worn heels before?" she hissed at him, barely moving her lips in fear that someone would notice something was wrong and get themselves shot trying to help her.
"Um - no," he replied in a snarky tone.
"Well, just so you know, they're not the most ideal shoes to be wearing when you're being kidnapped," she snarled.
"Well, you should have factored kidnapping in when you got dressed this morning," he retorted in a distracted tone, his eyes searching the corridor for any sign of movement.
Finally, after what seemed like an age later, they reached the exit. Jenny felt the pressure of the gun lift as they approached, as Matthew had obviously noticed the soldier presiding over the way in and out.
"Sort it," he muttered, urging her forward.
Heart hammering, she gave the guard her best fake smile as she flashed the identification card around her neck. The guard nodded, and with a barely concealed exhale of relief, she made to step towards the exit.
"Er, Mrs Cutter?" the guard called after, and she stopped and turned, heart sinking as Matthew shot her a warning look. "You need to sign out your visitor," he finished, holding up a clipboard and pen.
Surprised, but trying hard to mask it, she stepped back to him with a gracious smile and took the pen he offered. She half considered writing a quick message asking for help, but in a split second, she decided against it - she couldn't risk putting other people in danger. So quickly, she wrote down the obviously fake name he had given her and handed the guard back the pen.
"Thank you," she said with a curt nod, before turning back to Matthew.
Without a word, they walked out into the ARC car park together. The darkness was only just abating into a cold dawn, and a dense mist had formed in the air from the drizzle of the night. As they walked, Jenny realised two things; one, that she had now been awake for twenty-four hours, and two, it was evacuation day.
"Where's your car?" he whispered to her, his tone suggesting that it was a choice between telling the truth or getting a bullet in the head.
Still shaking, she reached into her pants pocket and pulled out her keys, unlocking her car whilst they were still several feet away from it.
"Nice ride," he commented, sounding genuinely impressed as he rounded the car to get into the passengers seat.
"You're actually going to let me drive?" she asked in disbelief as she slowly got in herself. "And there was me thinking you were clever."
"Oh, I think you'll behave yourself," he said in an unconcerned voice as he retrieved his hidden gun and held it up to her, low enough so that it couldn't be seen by any civilians. "Now drive."