AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Reuben turned his sour look towards me and shook his finger in my face. “You keep your mouth shut. For the record, I think having you here is a bad idea. I don’t know why you’re here or why Emerson islettingyou be here, but if you screw any of this up, I’ll put you in the ground myself.”
Snails. He’s intimidating.While I didn’t allow people to intimidate me, Reuben had a way of getting under my skin, though I would never admit that out loud.
To my surprise, Steel pushed Reuben’s hand away from me. “Ease up.”
Reuben jerked his hand away. “Don’t defend her. If she can’t handle herself then she’s already dead. The captain isn’t here to babysit her, so someone has to watch out for his interests. This whole thing is a waste of time.”
“So you’ve said.” Steel’s voice dropped a level in volume, and something dark crept into his tone. “But before you go defending this crew like they’re a pack of saints, don’t forget what some of this same crew did to Cass.”
Immediately, some of the fight went out of him. His eyes clouded, and he looked away. “Those two are dead.”
“Because I killed them.” Steel said it so matter-of-factly it was chilling. “Doesn’t mean there aren’t more bad apples. And we’re not even talking attempted rape here, we’re talking theft. Are you going to deny the possibility of it being someone on the crew just because you don’t like Carter’s presence? Deal with your issues and get over yourself, Reuben.”
Without waiting for a response, Steel walked back into the makeshift interrogation room. I looked from his disappearing form to Reuben, trying to process their conversation. Certain things about Steel suddenly made a lot more sense.
Another man appeared at the end of the hall. Reuben glanced at him. “There’s Jack.” Without another word, he disappeared.
I tried to push away my reservations so I could get the job done. I ushered Jack into the room and took a seat beside Steel, though I didn’t sit too close to him. I crossed my arms and waited for Steel to begin.
Reuben was at least right about Jack being innocent. He had nothing to do with the theft, that much was obvious. Our questions were more perfunctory, and Jack seemed to realize that. He answered honestly, if not a little impatiently, but he didn’t fight us on anything.
Once we were finished with him, we moved on to the next name. And the next. And the next.
Steel was a good interrogator, which didn’t exactly comfort me. The pure terror on several of the faces of the crew as we moved from one name to the next also set me on edge. As soon as they saw him, their faces would pale, and they’d start sweating. It made it harder to read them when the predominant emotion was fear. But Steel asked the right questions, poking and prodding in all the right places, allowing me to establish baseline behaviors and distracting the men from their fear.
He was intense. That was part of what made it so uncomfortable. He looked like he could kill at any moment. Maybe I only felt like that because I knew he was an assassin. I kept myself turned in my chair so I could see him and whichever member of the crew we were interrogating at the same time. When I had angled my chair ever so slightly, I had seen a hint of a smirk on his face, but it disappeared just as quickly. I wasn’t sure if he was annoyed or amused. Either way, he would just have to deal with it.
After what felt like the hundredth crew member, I rubbed the back of my neck and stood up to walk around the room for a few minutes. “I told Emerson this was not a good use of my talents.”
Steel snorted. “He only wanted you here so you wouldn’t be out with him while he hits the street. If you think it’s possible for your identity to be discovered here, think about what it would be like for you out there. Most criminals can smell a cop a mile away. At least here the crew is already predisposed to think of you as a tracker.”
I frowned at his assessment but couldn’t argue with him. He was probably right. And I could see Emerson doing whatever he could to keep me from outing myself while I was with him. He was right that if anyone figured out that I was a cop while I was with Emerson then his reputation would be ruined. And it was more than just a reputation in this kind of work, it was his very life. If Archuleta found out I was a cop, we’d all be dead. Except Steel. I doubted anyone could get the upper hand with him.
There was a knock at the door before it opened. Gabby stepped into the room, an amused look on her face. “I guess it’s my turn.”
I took a deep breath before sighing. Steel nodded and gestured to a chair. “Have a seat.”
Once Gabby was seated, I returned to my chair as well. I doubted Gabby had anything to do with the missing guns. I had gotten to know her a little during my time on the ship before, and she was loyal to Emerson. I couldn’t see her doing anything to undermine him.
At least the atmosphere was a lot more relaxed with Gabby. She didn’t seem visibly frightened by Steel, though she obviously respected him. It was also obvious that they knew each other. The lack of fear made reading her easier, though I found nothing deceptive about her answers regardless.
“Thanks Gabby.” Steel stood up and motioned towards the door. “You’re free to go.”
She smiled at him and stood up. “Glad I passed. I want to find whoever stole from us as much as you guys do.”
Steel shook her hand, which he hadn’t done with any of the other crew members. “Send your sister down next.”
Gabby nodded and left, thumbing her com as she did. Steel stretched while he was standing up and then dropped gracefully back into his chair. I watched him out of the corner of my eye, feeling wary of him still, even though I knew he wouldn’t randomly knife me while we were doing interrogations.Probably.
As though he knew exactly what I was thinking, he interlaced his fingers behind his head and gave me a long look. “I’m not going to kill you, you know.”
I sniffed. “I know.”
He chuckled softly. “I don’t think you do. You’re wound tighter than a spring.”
I set my jaw and shrugged. “You’re an assassin. Do you blame me?”
“No. But I want you to know I’m not here to kill you or hurt you. If Emerson says we’re on the same side, then we are. I have no reason to kill you. Your tension is making this harder for both of us.”
