Thank you all for the welcome back. It will likely take some time to get back to writing longer chapters but I'm warming up to it. It really is a treat writing for you all. Let me know what you think / if you have any suggestions!
Edit: Sorry for the original posting, something went weird when I uploaded the chapter. Hopefully this works now.
All it took was two guards dragging Joe from his solitary cell for him to know that the next step of his plan had been completed. The pissed off looks on Debra and Ryan's faces were just another form of confirmation that the deed had been done. Joe and his people constantly remained one step ahead of them, practically making it seem like they had already won this game that they were playing. However, Joe was just getting started.
"Where is she Joe?" Ryan demanded the moment that Carroll was shackled down in the interrogation room. Joe relaxed into his chains, leaning back into the chair and exuding a calm demeanor that only helped flare up Ryan's already raging temper.
"I'm not sure what you're talking about Ryan, you need to be more specific." it was a lie. Joe had figured out what was going on and now he was simply taunting Ryan with his supreme knowledge. He watched as Ryan's face became hard as stone, his features setting like concrete as he stared Joe down. Joe knew well that Ryan was taking this all rather personally and as the protagonist of the story it made quite a bit of sense. Ryan needed to feel every failure as his own, he needed to live off those failures as if they were the only sources of oxygen that he had left. Joe wanted this character development in Ryan and it was quite wonderful for him to see the transformation happening right before his very eyes.
"Arnaut." Ryan clarified, trying to avoid Joe's game by moving through this quickly "Where is she?"
A pleased smile came over Joe's lips as the spoken confirmation of a job well done flew towards his ears. They had her. There was no other explanation in his mind, Liette wouldn't just flee overnight and disappear completely. Joe knew she was scared but she was also prideful, the only plausible reason for her disappearance was a kidnapping, one that had gone terribly well. "Have you lost her? Quite irresponsible of you Ryan." Joe chirped.
"Carroll you're killing her. She's unstable enough as it is." Debra stepped forward. The weariness of her station was sunken into the dark circles that had formed under her eyes. She was misplacing agents left and right because of Joe, and it was easy to see how that was taking a tole on her.
"She's not unstable. You simply don't understand her." Joe countered.
"And you do?"
"Of course." Despite years apart, Joe was quite confident in his own ability to reconnect with Liette. He had already been given glimpses into her new personality, peaks inside her soul that revealed that she wasn't completely changed. Within the well-dressed shell of the shaking young FBI agent, Liette still held onto a bit of her shy and nervous persona. Joe knew he would need to crack into the outer shell to bring his Liette back to him. He would work on that in time, once he could see them united again. "It'll take her some time to see that again, after federal agents have bullied her into submission for years but she'll come around."
It sickened Debra to think of the serpentine methods that a snake like Carroll would use to entrap the beautiful and vulnerable young agent that they had lost. His accent was poison from venomous fangs that wanted desperately to sink into Liette's skin. Joe was not the serpent beneath the flower, he was the viper sitting out in the open. The predator was not hiding but positioned for the world to see because he wanted them to see him. More specifically, he wanted Liette to see him.
"You know, I think we've done quite enough talking on our own." Joe announced quite suddenly. "I'd like to exercise my right to counsel."
Ryan's hardened face broke from the unmoving form of stone that it had taken as he listened to Joe's latest request. "You're lawyering up? Where's the fun in that Joe?" Ryan was trying to keep Joe from shutting down, baiting him to follow along and keep with their open conversations, but Joe had other interests that kept him focused on his task. The next chapter was about to unfold and he had to follow the script, not Ryan.
"You might remember my lawyer from last time Ryan." Joe stayed on track. "Olivia Warren. I'd like her back." Joe's request made Ryan wonder how Warren would fit into all of this, what piece she would be on Joe's twisted chessboard; an important player like a bishop or a rook, or would she be yet another pawn that Joe threw into the mix? Only time could tell but Ryan was sick and tired of waiting on time.
And Joe was tired of being locked up.
"What is this about Joe, what could you possibly need your lawyer for at this point?"
"I need to seek legal advice." Joe shrugged. "It is within my constitutional rights, is it not?"
"Where is Arnaut?" Ryan demanded once more.
True insanity is trying the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result. Ryan was not shaking Joe or influencing him at all with his harsh demands and raised voice. The chill that had iced over in Ryan's eyes was just a sign of weakness to the stirring serpent who looked up at him. Joe's eyes were not filled with ice or fire but with pure darkness. "Ryan, I'm afraid you are rather wearying and I'm growing quite tired because of it." his voice was level and controlled, frightenly so. "I'm done talking."
And like that, Joe had sealed himself up again. Ryan's hands slammed down on the metal table, a cold echo of the same motion that Liette had done just a day before. The reaction only caused Joe to let a dark chuckle escape from his lips as he watched Ryan with dead eyes. In that moment they both knew that Joe was winning this game and Ryan wasn't sure how he was going to turn that around.