Heroic Measures (continued)

“She did it,” Harrison snarled. “We just need to make her admit it.”

His voice was a gravelly baritone. He was still recovering from their assault on what their intelligence operatives had reported to be one of the Dark Matter chief lairs. Swift action by Random had saved his larynx, but it would be some time before his voice returned to normal. With an uncomfortably perverse sense of satisfaction, Walter realized that he preferred Harrison this way: it made it almost impossible for him to shout out orders.

“We’ve tried,” reported Westin. His tone clearly communicated his displeasure at their lack of success.

“Let me guess,” Harrison said. “You’ve tried talking to her.” He snorted, glaring at their captive.

Walter had not been happy about that. He had brought her here from the destruction of the abandoned bakery shop, hoping they could locate evidence to support her claim of innocence. Instead, upon hearing Walter’s story, and seeing her talons, Westin had held her while Harrison put her in restraints, cuffing her to a chair in one of the small conference rooms. Sen and Red had arrived shortly afterward. Their voices, combined with Walter’s, prevented the other two men from taking more extreme action—but just barely. Walter considered the young woman lucky that they had been there. He was not convinced that Harrison might not have stripped her naked and then left her to hang by her wrists in some secret basement chamber.

“Often,” Sen offered quietly, “more is learned when one listens than when one speaks.”

Harrison made a show of rolling his eyes at the oriental hero. Sen, as usual, paid it no heed.

Walter suppressed a smile. It was extremely difficult to get mad at Sen. Even if you could, it was almost impossible to stay that way. The man’s calm and seemingly inscrutable demeanor made it difficult to take offense at his remarks. It did not help that his observations were nearly always dead on accurate.

There was a moment of tense silence. Walter glanced over at the young woman, expecting to find her nervous and scared. Instead, she seemed resigned and exhausted. If there was any apprehension lurking there, it was masked by her fatigue. It made him wonder just how long she had been on the run.