“You know this man?” Agent Reed says, but his tone makes it obvious he knows I do. This is his game. It’s a good one. Through choked sobs, I reach for the photo again. Agent Reed keeps the photo just out of my reach.
“You son of a bitch,” I whisper hoarsely, staring at that one piece of paper. If I blink, would it disappear?
He offered again.
I don’t reach for the photo again, but I can’t keep from looking at it. Caleb is younger in the photo, but not by much. He’s still my Caleb. His blond hair is being blown up in the back and his Caribbean-blue eyes are glorious as they scowl at the camera. His mouth, so full and perfect for kissing is set in an annoyed line across his perfect face. He wears a buttoned up shirt, in white, the obviously billowing wind offers tantalizing glimpses of his sun-kissed throat. It’s my Caleb. I want my Caleb. I glare at Agent Reed. With my rage in every syllable, I break my vow of silence. “Give. Me. That.”
Agent Reed’s eyes go wide for a fraction of a second. Smug satisfaction is there, then gone. . Round one goes to the Agent. “So you do know him?” he mocks.
I glare at him.
He steps closer, picture held out.
And again.
I go for it and he pulls it back.
Each time I crawled closer and closer, until I was pressed between his legs, my hands on either side of his body.
Caleb taught me a few things about starting fights I can’t win. He would want me to use my head and exploit anything I have to offer to get what I want. I force myself to portray calmness and sorrow. The sadness comes easy.
“I…I knew him.” I purposely stare at my lap and let my tears fall.
“Knew him?” Agent Reed says curiously. I nod and let sobs fill the room.
“What happened to him?” he asks. I want him curious.
“Give me the picture,” I whisper.
“Tell me what I want to know,” he counters. I know I have him where I want him.
“He….” I am overcome by grief. I don’t have to manufacture my pain…I am my pain. “He died in my fucking arms.” My mind immediately recalls seeing Caleb, expression blank, his body covered in dirt, and blood. It was the moment I lost him. Only hours before, he’d held me in his arms and I had thought everything was finally going to be okay. One knock on the door…and everything changed.
Agent Reed takes a tentative step forward, “This isn’t easy for you, I can tell, but I need to know how, Miss Ruiz.”
“Give me the picture,” I sob. He takes another step.
“Tell me how,” he whispers. He’s played this game before.
I look up and glower at him from under my tear-soaked lashes, “Protecting me.”
“From what?” He steps closer, so close, and so eager.
“From, Rafiq.”
Without another word, Agent Reed turns away to remove another photo from the file and turns it toward me, “This man?”
I hiss. Actually, fucking hiss. We’re both shocked by my reaction. I never knew I could be so feral. I rather like it. I feel capable of anything.
Suddenly I threw my arms up around his hand, wrapped my mouth around his fingers to get the food away from him. Oh my god, so good.
Agent Reed is close and he isn’t prepared when I grab him by the collar of his suit and crush his fucking mouth with mine. He drops the folder.
Mine!
Despite his shock, Agent Reed is able to wrestle me onto the bed. He snaps his cuffs on my wrist and secures me to the bed. Before I can reach for the folder, he snaps it away.
He moved quickly, his fingers found my tongue and pinched viciously while his other hand dug into the sides of my neck.
Confusion and anger twist his features. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he whispers and wipes his lips slowly, looking at his fingers as though the answer is somehow written across them.
The food fell from between my lips to the floor and I howled around his fingers at the loss.
When I try to speak, instead, I scream my frustration, tears of anger filling my eyes.
“You’re very proud and very spoiled and I’m going to beat it out of you twice.”
When the nurse scrambles in, bewildered and a hand to her heart, Agent Reed politely tells her to get lost.
“Better?” he asks me, raising a brow.
I stare at my cuffed hands. “Not even close…”
Vivisected. On-off-buzz-buzz-on-off. Caleb, I miss you.
“Help me catch him, Olivia.” He pauses; his expression is calculated but he needs something too. “I know I’m not a nice guy, but maybe you need someone like me in your corner.”
Caleb.
Go away, go away, go away.
My heart aches. “Please…give me the picture,” I plead.