The Safest Lies. Debra Webb

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СКАЧАТЬ that devil and taken care of the family when their older brother, Marcus, had not. But Levi had been weak. He’d been weak and afraid. He’d let Cece down and now he was going to die without having made up for the past.

      He wished he could see Cece one more time and tell her how sorry he was. She had paid the price for all of them.

      The door opened and Levi froze. It would be him—the one the other prisoners called the Interrogator. Levi’s body shuddered at the idea of what he might have planned for him this time. Why had he screwed up so badly yet again? All he wanted at this point was to go home. To show his sister how much he loved her and to start doing the right thing with his life.

      He wasn’t like his father or his older brother. Evil didn’t swim in his blood.

      He just wanted to go home.

      Smith Flynn walked into the room. He had the lightest gray eyes, almost transparent. That and his blond hair almost made him look like some guy from Norway or Sweden or something. He didn’t look like anyone from around here. He was tall, six-four at least. And strong. You could tell he pumped iron. But he hadn’t laid a hand on Levi. He had other ways to induce pain. He used equipment and his words. He knew the things to say to strike terror in a man.

      Before Levi could stop himself, his gaze flitted to the far end of the room where the metal cabinets stood. Inside those locked doors were instruments he hoped to never see again. Evidently he wasn’t going to be so lucky. Flynn wouldn’t be here otherwise.

      The worst part about the whole damned mess was that this guy wanted some truth from Levi, but he didn’t have anything to trade for his life or even for a little more time free of torture. Levi had nothing. He had come to this place to prove something. All those years ago when he’d first joined the Resurrection so Jack Kemp would see how smart he was, he’d made a mistake. Truth was he’d let Jack use him. He’d needed that father figure Jack represented so badly. Levi would have done anything to impress him. But he’d gone too far.

      All he’d done was gotten into trouble. Now he was likely going to get dead the same way Jack had.

      Levi would end up in hell with his damned daddy.

      “We have a new problem, Levi.”

      Fear tightened around his neck. Even the man’s voice had a way of terrifying anyone who happened to be stuck in the room with him. Deep, dark, dangerous. Fear twisted inside Levi. Why didn’t this Interrogator just kill him and get it over with? He didn’t want to die but he couldn’t take this much longer.

      “I already told you I don’t know anything. I only came here to find the truth about an old friend. I swear that’s it. The whole story. The truth. There’s nothing else.”

      “Jack Kemp,” Flynn said. “You told me that before. Tell me again why you think Kemp came here?”

      “He was from the FBI,” Levi said. No point pretending he could hide anything from this bastard. The Interrogator had ways of digging stuff out of him. “He asked me to help him get information about the group called the Resurrection, but I went too far.”

      “Meaning you joined the calling all those years ago? Nine or so years ago, am I right? You did this to help your friend.”

      Levi nodded. “But Jack disappeared before I could tell him anything. I figured y’all found out what he was up to and got rid of him.”

      “Your brother, Marcus, was responsible for what happened to him, Levi. If you had seen the news recently, you would know this. He confessed.”

      Levi was surprised that Marcus confessed to giving Jack to those crazy people. The only way he would have admitted to anything was to save his sorry ass. Hurt twisted in Levi’s chest. “What about my sisters? Did you see anything about my sisters?”

      Flynn directed that icy glare at him. “Do I look like I would waste my time keeping up with your sisters?”

      Levi blinked, bit his tongue so hard he tasted blood. He wanted to hurt this guy. But he’d heard all about him—the Interrogator. The one who got the answers for the Council. The one who knew how to cause pain. Fear snaked through Levi. He shouldn’t have come back here. He’d wanted to help...but he’d just made another mistake. Jack was dead by now, no question. Marcus was in jail. God only knew about Sierra. Hopefully Cece was okay.

      Flynn placed a photo of a woman on the table. “Do you know her?”

      The woman had black hair and eyes nearly as dark, like a raven. Her skin was dark, like she’d lain on a beach all summer. She was pretty but he hadn’t seen her before. He shook his head. Prayed that was the right answer because it was the only one he had. “No. She doesn’t look familiar.”

      “Are you certain? Think carefully, Levi. If you lie to me, it will be much worse for you.”

      “I swear to God I don’t know the woman. I have never seen her before.”

      Flynn said nothing for a long moment. Levi’s chest felt ready to explode with tension. Why the hell didn’t the bastard just go ahead and tell him he was a dead man? If death was coming, he’d rather know now and brace for it. He was sick of these games. He did not know this woman. He did not know any other information related to the FBI or this damned place or any damned thing else that mattered. His foot started to bounce, making his shackles rattle. He forced himself to still. Losing it wouldn’t help his situation.

      “I believe you, Levi.” Flynn withdrew the photo, tucked it away in a folder. “My true concern is that she appeared here only a few days after you.”

      Agony welled inside Levi. “I don’t know why. I don’t know her. Why don’t you ask her?”

      “Not to worry, I certainly will. I think I might know why she’s here but I need to be certain.”

      Levi blinked. He didn’t have a damned clue where this was going or what this woman had to do with him. He just wanted to go back to his cell and be left alone. He didn’t want the Interrogator opening up those cabinets over there the way he’d done before. Pulling out his torture tools and making Levi nearly piss his pants.

      Ever since he was a teenager, Levi had thought that to some degree he was brave. He’d thought he was the kind of man who did the right thing. A sort of hero. At least he’d wanted to be. He’d hoped he could be a hero for his sister Cece and help her prove her innocence...but he hadn’t helped. And he damned sure wasn’t a hero. He wasn’t even brave.

      He was a coward.

      Nothing but a stinking coward.

      “Can I count on your help, Levi?”

      Levi snapped his focus back to the man. He swallowed back the bile that had risen in his throat and tried to slow his pounding heart. “Yeah, sure. What do I have to do?”

      “I haven’t worked out all the details just yet. We’ll talk again soon.”

      The man stood and walked out.

      Levi sagged in his chair. Squeezed his eyes shut and thanked God he’d survived a second encounter with the Interrogator.

      Whatever he wanted, Levi could do it. He would do it. At this point obedience was probably the only way to stay alive. Cece would want him to stay alive. СКАЧАТЬ