CHAPTER 35
TOBIN STARED AT ME. “What have you done to her?”
“Us? Nothing untoward. I think she’d describe our taking her as a rescue. She was being held prisoner by Ansom and Talia Lee so they could create Fem-Bots in her image. I and my team rescued her just in time. Oh, and there’s a Fem-Bot of her wandering around, or at least there was, so unless you’re seeing Janelle in the company of a confirmed P.T.C.U. agent, be careful, because the Bots like to blow up.”
“Just like his mind,” Jeff said, “which is officially blown. He doesn’t know whether to believe you or not.”
“Why aren’t Ansom and Talia under arrest, then?” Tobin asked, sounding dazed but trying to rally.
Gave him a good dose of the “really?” look. “Why would you think?”
He actually appeared to be giving this consideration. “You didn’t catch them red-handed.”
“He has no issue believing that Somerall and Lee were behind doing something terrible,” Jeff shared. “And he also has no issue believing that we were the good guys. But he wants to see Gardiner.”
“Correct. We have only Janelle’s testimony and, until we feel that we have an ironclad case, neither she nor we want to risk allowing her out of protective custody.” Cocked my head at him. “Would you like to see her?”
“I would. Very much.” He seemed to catch himself. “Just to reassure myself that she’s well and you’re not telling me a whopper of a tale.”
“You know I’m telling the truth, just like you know that Somerall and Lee are more than capable of doing what I just described. It’s interesting, though.”
“What is?”
“I was under the impression that Quinton Cross was Janelle’s, ah, protector, supporter, mentor, and champion.”
Tobin’s eyes flashed and I recognized the look in them. But Jeff’s confirmation was nice. “He’s incredibly jealous of Cross. Who’s jealous of a dead man?”
Heard Chuckie snort and the rest of the room chuckled. Yeah, Jeff was the King of Jealousy, but now wasn’t the time to point that out. I’d leave that for the others.
“Quinton was a good man,” Tobin said, sounding reasonably insincere.
“Who was or wasn’t banging the chick you wanted?”
Tobin gaped at me. “Excuse me?”
“I’d swear I thought you were married.”
“I was,” he said stiffly. “My dear wife passed away due to the bioterrorism attack that put your husband in the President’s seat.”
“My condolences. Losing the person you love most is never an easy thing to go through.”
“You’re working him over,” Jeff said. “To the point that I may not be able to keep on reading him. He was interested in Gardiner while his wife was alive but made no advances, at least as far as I can read. So there’s guilt and lust and panic, plus everything else he’s feeling. You have him on the ropes, baby, keep going.”
Confirming Jeff’s readings, Tobin was the most flustered that I’d ever seen. Time to continue pushing. “So, are you still a good guy in black if you were lusting after another woman when you were married to someone already? I’m just curious again.”
“I never strayed,” Tobin said staunchly.
“Right. I’m sure that you, the King of Fast Food and then some, never once considered stepping out on your wife. Other than, you know, with Janelle Gardiner. Seriously, was Quinton Cross that much of a smooth operator?” I’d always pegged Cross as a perverted deviant, but some people liked that sort of thing, and I was never going to try to guess what our friends, let alone our enemies and frenemies, were into.
“What would you know about my private life?” Tobin demanded.
“As much as you know about mine.”
At this, Tobin jerked, just a little, but enough for me to notice.
“He’s spied on us,” Jeff growled in my ear. “And now he’s panicked that we’ve done the same to him.”
“It sucks when turnaround equals fair play and all that jazz, doesn’t it?” I asked Tobin nicely. “But the relevant conundrum isn’t whether or not you and your cronies were spying on us. Or if we’re doing the same to you. No the question I still want answered is what your relationship with Harvey Gutermuth and Farley Pecker is.”
“Huh?” Tobin seemed utterly thrown. Either he was still focused on Gardiner or I was that good. Had to figure he was having issues due to being caught out as an adulterer in his mind or whatever, rather than that my interrogation skills had gone nova.
“Kitty, I’m moving Jeff to an isolation chamber,” Chuckie said. “He’s fine, but Christopher feels he won’t be for too much longer if he doesn’t get away from the emotional impact. Richard is going with him, along with his entire Secret Service detail, so don’t worry.”
Managed not to panic about Jeff’s condition. Just hoped they wouldn’t have to give him the adrenaline shot to his hearts. One person had never been able to hurt Jeff unless he was already weakened. Of course, the entire day had probably been an Empathic Stress Test, so it wasn’t hard to believe that if I was affecting Tobin then it was going to affect Jeff.
“I want to know your relationship with Harvey Gutermuth,” I said briskly to Tobin, so as to focus on interrogation and not worrying about my husband, “and I want to know now.”
“I’m not interested in Harvey!”
Didn’t need Jeff to tell me that Tobin had taken my question to be about sexual interest. Managed not to laugh or roll my eyes, but only because I was in the moment, so to speak. “Interesting place your mind went to. I want to know what your relationship is with Gutermuth—in detail.”
“We’re business associates.” Tobin still seemed shaken, but he was recovering.
“Is he in love with Janelle, too?”
Tobin jerked. “What in the world? Do you think everyone’s zooming each other?”
“Depends on who you’re talking about. I’m fascinated, personally, that you’re taking anything I say as being sexual in nature. I wonder if the YatesCorp Board is aware of your deviant nature.”
“Now you listen here—” Tobin started.
Prince, Riley, and Duke all started growling, stood up, and moved in between us. “I believe my precious puppies want you to check your attitude. Fast.”
Tobin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Fine. Excuse me.” The growling didn’t stop. “I’m not going to try to hurt her,” he said stiffly to the dogs.
Had to give him a modicum of credit—he was treating the dogs with more respect than I’d expected. “If only you treated me, my husband, and the rest of those trying to protect this country and world with the same respect you just gave three police dogs, we might be able to reach some kind of understanding.”
Tobin opened his mouth, then his eyes bugged. “Gah!” His eyes rolled back and he went down.
Moved fast and caught his head before it hit the ground. Then looked around. To see Siler standing there. “Wow, Nightcrawler, I think you gave Tobin a heart attack.” Put Tobin on the ground and checked, but his heart appeared to still be beating.
Siler chuckled. “He just fainted.”
“Did you know he would?”
“No. I told you, I can’t hold a blend forever. I’d been behind you so I could see his expressions and didn’t have time to get behind him when I lost the blend. At any rate, it’s convenient that he passed out. I want us moving him to a secured location now, and by that I mean to where Janelle Gardiner is. Your mother can decide what we do with him.”
As he said this Christopher, Chuckie, and Buchanan arrived. “Jeff’s fine,” Chuckie said reassuringly as Christopher barked some orders and two Field teams came in with a stretcher. “But I think, based on what just happened, we probably got him into isolation just in time.”
“I feel bad. Okay, not that bad, but still, kind of bad. It’s not every day we watch someone faint on us.”
“He was just emotionally battered,” Christopher said. “And Siler here appearing out of nowhere was the last straw. Per the empathic Field agents we had outside the room.”
“Works for me. What’s the plan for the rest of us?”
Chuckie sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Your mother wants a full accounting. Immediately.”
“Um, are we in trouble?”
Chuckie managed a grin. “I doubt it, but she’s concerned and wants everyone back in D.C. Can’t blame her. But that means we either leave the Turleens here or bring them back with us. Neither option is what I’d like.”
“Leave the majority here, but I want Muddy coming back with us. And I gave that order as the FLOTUS, by the way.”
“Not as Mata Hari? Good to know.” Chuckie went to the Secret Service agents who were nearby and gave them some instructions.
Buchanan, meanwhile, was talking quietly with Siler. Joined them. “Okay, I want to know why Nightcrawler chose that exact moment to show up. Because I don’t buy your whole ‘I lost my blend’ line.”
Siler grinned. “You’re not the only one with an earpiece. I lost the blend because I lost focus, due to the news Malcolm’s going to share with you.”
“We’ve heard from Wruck, Missus Chief,” Buchanan said.
“And?”
“And he and the two Turleens he’s with feel that they’ve got something you need to focus on far more than whatever Amos Tobin has going on.”
“And that is, Malcolm?”
Buchanan grimaced. “They’ve found a race of aliens who are not only on Earth, but have been here possibly longer than the A-Cs.”