“Once I know he’s the only one on the call, it’s all you, Domina.” Taking the call off mute, Austin sits up a little straighter.
“Major General Pritchard?” Cortez asks. He sounds weary. No longer the confident, in control, consummate politician. Just a sixty-two-year-old man who’d rather be left alone.
“Mr. Vice President, I won’t waste your time. We can speak Spanish, but I presume you are fluent in English as well?”
“I am.”
“Good. Is there anyone else listening in on our conversation?” Austin launches one of Zephyr’s apps, and on his laptop screen, the program analyzes the ambient noise carrying over the connection.
“Every one of my calls is recorded unless I say otherwise. I am a busy man, Major General Pritchard, and it is late. Get to the point before I lose my patience.”
“Stop the recording. Right now. Unless you don’t care who’s behind yesterday’sincident.” While Austin’s voice still carries the same authority, uncertainty flickers in his expression. If Cortez hangs up on us, we might not get another chance with him.
“You are retired, are you not?” Cortez asks. “A civilian with no government contacts or authority. Why should I believe you know anything about the attempt on my life?”
“Manuel. Listen to him.” Domina squeezes my hand so tightly, even without much sensation in my fingers, I can sense how nervous she is.
“Domina? Shit. One moment.” A click carries over the line, and on Austin’s computer, the ambient noise level drops by half. “I stopped the recording. What happened? Rafael said you were arrested as a suspect.”
“Mr. Vice President, this is Leo Basher. You and I have a lot to discuss.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Domina
“Mr. Basher?You physically assaulted my detail and waved a loaded gun at them. Give me one good reason why I should not hang up right now,” Cortez snaps.
“Because I’m the only reason you didn’t end up with a bullet between your eyes, Mr. Vice President. I saw the sniper and tried to warn the National Police and the IPS. I never pulled my gun. Yourdetailtackled me, beat me until I was barely conscious, and then sent me to a Ministry of Public Service black site. Do I need to tell you what happens there? Because I will. In great detail.” Leo’s anger bleeds through his tone, and he grips the edge of the table hard enough his knuckles turn white.
“I’m sending the video footage from the rally to your email now,” Austin says. “Watch it if you don’t believe him.”
“The only reason I showed the agents my gun—the gun youtold meto bring, by the way—is because those fuckwits weren’t paying any attention to my warnings. I saved your goddamn life, and the only thanks I got was almost twenty-four hours of enhanced interrogation and torture.”
A faintdingsounds from Cortez’s side of the call, followed by the sound of the people cheering him on.
“Sniper! Get down! Get. Down. Now!” Leo shouts, his voice faint over that of the crowd, but still audible.
“Sniper! On the scoreboard!”
Leo’s strangled cry is followed by multiple IPS agents shouting at him to get on his knees, cursing him, even calling him a terrorist. I cannot sit here and listen to this man I care so very much for be beaten, so I push back from the table and head for the patio door.
“Domina, don’t,” Trevor warns, and he’s at my side in two steps. “It isn’t safe out there.”
“Please. I cannot listen to this…” As desperate as I am to escape, when I look back at Leo, I know I cannot walk away. Not with the pain twisting his expression.
“It’s over, baby,” Leo says, his voice rough and raspy. “Seen enough, Cortez?”
“Fuck.” The single word carries so much emotion. Regret, shame…frustration. “I did not see this angle. Or any audio. Rafael showed me footage of you waving your gun at my detail and aiming at my head.”
Leo, Austin, and Trevor all start talking at once. Words like deep fake, video analysis, and fucking asshole are tossed around like a soccer ball until Leo slams his fist down on the table.
“Shut up. All of you. Cortez, I never touched my gun. Well, unless you count one of your agents pulling it from my holster and slamming it into my face. You’re being lied to. Probably by more than one person. Who fired Domina?”
“I did,” he says quietly. “But only after Rafael showed me the video of you about to shoot me. Domina? Are you still there?”
Returning to Leo’s side, I swallow hard. “Yes, Manuel.”
“I am truly sorry. I should not have been so quick to believe you had anything to do with the attack.”
