“Hell yeah, the cafeteria here is freaking awesome. I had real bacon for breakfast today.” King’s mouth watered. He’d been deep undercover in Russia for so long, he’d forgotten how good American food tasted. Hell, just having his boots on American soil warmed his heart, slowly thawing the freeze he’d been livingin.
Hopefully, by tomorrow, he’d get to go home, have Trinity in his arms, and his baby girl, Hope, at his side. Six months was just too damn long without seeing hisfamily.
They headed to the chow hall. King speared a smothered steak, piled it high with mashed potatoes and black-eyed peas, grabbed two pieces of cornbread, and strode to the nearest table. They made quick work of their meals and made their way back to the interrogationroom.
“Hey King, how does your wife feel about you being a traitor?” Rip asked while theywalked.
King snorted, “Everyone in the SEC thinks LSU is bad except for LSU.” He paused. “And mywife.”
“I’ll never understand it, Hog fans hate the Tigers as much as we do,” Rip shook his head, “How did you convince an Arkansan to overlook that terribleflaw?”
King grinned, his smile genuine and broad when he answered, “I’m just thatgood.”
* * *
“How much longer do youthink you can hold out?” King grabbed the now dented folding chair from the floor near the wall and plopped down in front of Vlad. The Russian sagged in his seat; the chains wrapped around his torso were the only force holding him up. “You know we’ll find your brother one way or another. Why don’t you save yourself somepain?”
Vladimir lifted his head from his chest, his bloody face twisted into a mocking smile. “But we’re having so much funtogether,”
King didn’t flinch at the jab, “I’ve got a nice, clean cell waiting for you. You’ll have your very own mattress, food—everything a man in your position could hopefor.”
Vlad’s smile stayed firmly in place. “I don’t think so. Solonik will get me out, you know this as well as Ido.”
“He has no idea where you are. No idea who took you. You, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, have vanished as if you never existed. I am your onlyhope.”
Vladimir lifted a thin, ashy eyebrow, “I’m in America. And I bet on the East Coast in one of your nonexistent interrogation facilities. If I know that much, my brother doestoo.”
King leaned forward, carefully placing his elbows on his knees. “Vladimir, you are in never-never land. As in never going to see the light of day again. How you get to live out the rest of your life is up to what you choose to tell me. Give me the information, I’ll make sure you live comfortably. Hold out and I’ll throw your ass in an 8 x 8 block of concrete, never to see light again.” King paused for effect. “Everyone you ever knew will forget you existed. Your brother will die, either by our hands or one of his enemies, along with everything you’ve ever worked for, will cease tobe.”
Vlad tilted his head back, a streak of blood running from a fairly large gash across his very broken nose. “I’ve got something to tell you. Something I think you’ll find much more important than the questions your friend has beenasking.”
King bent forward. “I’mlistening.”
Vladimir leaned in as much as his chains would allow. King was so close he could smell the coppery stench of blood. A tiny twinge of excitement pulsed through him, but King kept his face impassive. This could be the break theyneeded.
“I’ve been waiting for you to come in so I could personally give you a message from mybrother.”
“I’m all ears,” King said in a calmvoice.
Vladimir smiled, his pale eyes bright. “Closer.”
King put his face right next to his. “You don’t have time forgames.”
“Tell your wife I said, ‘GoHogs.’”
His chest turned to ice. “What did yousay?”
Vladimir’s beaten, bloodied grin grew wider. “Like I said, my friend, my brother knowseverything.”
King shot to his feet and ran to the door, barely registering the sound of his abandoned chair crashing to the floor behind him. He banged on the metal. “Openup!”
Vlad’s rough laughter bounced off the walls around him. “Woo, pig,sooie.”
The door swung open. King shot out past a startled Rip and Owen, yelling over his shoulder as he ran. “He knows who Iam!”
Vladimir’s demonic howl of laughter as he mocked Trinity’s home state, sliced through King’s head.How had Vlad found out hisidentity?
King pounded across the parking lot, launched himself into his truck, and squealed the tires out of the off-site interrogation area less than an hour from his ownhome.
