Conflicted (Buddie) ENGLISH VERSION

Special Mission

Waiting in an interrogation room, alone, in a poorly heated room, was worse than having to endure the tears of a newborn baby in a Paris-Washington flight. Everything was cold, the weather seemed endless, and although he had his cell phone with him, he didn't even want to turn it on. It was one more memory that not everything always turned out as planned.

The door opened, Athena entered, two coffees in her hands, a file stuck under her armpit. She smiles.

-Excuse me for the wait, this machine puts a load to make a coffee while it is disgusting.

Evan reached out his hands to help her get rid of it and he enjoyed the warmth of the hot liquid on his cold hands.

-Do you have news? He inquired as soon as she sat down on the other side of the table.

-I'm investigating. It's a collection of red threads and inconsistencies.

Hearing him hiss, she looked up from his file and took his hand.

-Don't worry, we'll get him out of there. If what you told us is true, Eddie is their goose that lays the golden eggs, as long as he wins, they won't do anything to him.

-But he can't fight forever! Do you think they're going to go so far as to kill him from exhaustion? He panicked.

-Buck, Buck, calm down. Eddie's trained, he can get by. They are not going to tire him to the point of knocking him out, they need him to make money. What worries me the most is what they gave him. You told me he wasn't himself. He was drugged, wasn't he?

-I think so, but I know he didn't take anything of himself, he forced it! He immediately defended it.

-I know. I believe you and I'm not accusing Eddie. What bothers me is what they gave him. Can you describe to me his physical condition when you saw him? Dilated pupils? Shaking hands?

-Yes, all that. He was sweating, but I felt it wasn't even from the effort. Just some kind of fever. Also, he was staring in the dark most of the time, like he was seeing something else, yet I can guarantee you that there was no one else in the room.

-What else?

-Is that not enough already? What the hell did they give him, some kind of steroid?

-Pervitine.

-What is that? He asked, standing up to imitate her.

-If you want to know everything, it would have been better for him if it were steroids.

Evan followed her but the lieutenant turned and shook her head.

-You stay here.

The fireman gasped in surprise.

-What? No way! Why?

-Because, it's too dangerous, and I don't want you to do anything.

-You can't keep me here, I have the right to go!

-You have the rights indeed, but I ask you as a friend. Stay here.

Seeing the crestfallen look that the fireman was giving her, she closed the door, blowing.

- So you really don't see what's going on, eh?

He shook his shoulders, puzzled.

-You say Eddie is under pressure to see someone close by in danger. It's neither Carla nor Christopher. It is not his aunt or his parents. It wasn't his former parents-in-law or this pretty teacher that he met at school. Who is left?