Back in white - Reaper # 4

Chapter 17

"If he wakes up, make him talk. I'll prepare the ground," I asked as I stepped outside, heading towards the garage to fetch a shovel. I didn't have a specific spot in mind; I dug into the earth deep enough to bury him in sulfuric acid. Once satisfied, I dropped the shovel and went back inside the house. The Representative was still unconscious, while Dee, sitting down, kept him at gunpoint.

"Do you know what I was thinking?" she asked, smiling at me.

"About a place for our honeymoon? Somewhere sunny, warm, with sand and a crystal-clear sea?"

"That's cute, but no. I'm wondering if I really survived in Antarctica. Maybe I'm just a figment of your imagination, like Keys. You talk to me, but I'm not really here."

"My grandparents talked to you."

"To avoid contradicting your delusion."

"We slept together last night."

"Are you sure?"

Dee made me doubt. It was true that I felt Keys, her presence. "Are... you there, Dee?"

She looked at me with a smile, not answering. I turned around just to check that Keys wasn't there either.

"Keys? Are you here too? Is it time?"

Dee burst into laughter, reaching out her hand to hold mine.

"You need a vacation. I'm here, alive and well, at least I hope so. For our honeymoon, I suggest Hawaii, or maybe Bora Bora or the Maldives."

"It's not funny. Her presence felt real to me. It's the kind of joke you should avoid; you make me doubt my sanity."

"I apologize, my love. But for a moment, I questioned whether I was still alive. Then the pain in my back brought me back to reality."

A growl brings us back to our mission as Representative William Norman regains consciousness.

He opens his eyes, blinking for a moment before struggling against his restraints.

"So, Mr. Representative, ready to talk?"

He glares at me, his eyes filled with anger, as if he could kill me with a single thought.

I leave him there and approach his desk to retrieve his computer. I open it in front of him and insert Rebecca's USB drive, showing him the screen as the hacking software forces access and copies its contents. He wriggles like a snake caught in an eagle's talons. His nervousness increases as I move closer, searching his pocket for his phone. I show him the connector that I plug into the device and then show him the screen.

"Well, I have a copy of everything from this computer and your phone. Just so you know, I'll search the house for other electronic devices, and then I'll head to your factory to copy everything there. I would offer you an honorable way out, but I see no reason to do so. You have nothing honorable about you; you deserve no respect. People have died because of you, simply because you wanted to claim something that doesn't belong to you. But I guess it's in the nature of your kind. Your ancestors stole and plundered my people's land, so I shouldn't be surprised. Well, this is an interrogation, and every interrogation is a negotiation. If you give me what I want, I may be able to intervene on your behalf. Who is your partner or who is financing you? To motivate you, let me introduce you to my friend. Someone close to her worked for OMG and was sent to Antarctica in what we'll call the first wave. That person, along with those from the second wave, never returned, almost a year ago. None of the third wave will return; they all died several days ago. My friend wants to kill you, you understand why. As for me, I want answers. I can stop her from killing you; that's the only power I have over her. So speak up, or I'll leave you two alone."