Page 30 of Gold Mine (The Diamond Trilogy 2)
Liam shakes his head. “There’s a chopper about a thirty-minute drive from here. We can slip out the back with London and be off the ground before they can stop us. But…”
“But we’d be running from the authorities.”
“It wouldn’t look good.”
“Would you get in trouble?”
“I’m more concerned for Elijah. We’d have to leave him here until we could get an extraction team. He can take care of himself, though. And Josh is with him.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
Liam can’t entirely hide his relief. “I’ll be in the room with you. And we have our security team stationed at the door and outside. He can’t hurt you.”
I suspect that isn’t quite true. This lieutenant colonel has taken on almost mythical proportions. It feels like almost anything is possible, but maybe it’s good that I get to talk to him. I might uncover what hold he has on Elijah. I might learn how to break it. “I should talk to him alone. You can wait outside the room.”
Liam raises his eyebrows. “Are you sure?”
“No, but I have a feeling he would insist on it even if I didn’t.”
Liam studies me. After a long moment his lips curve up. “You’re good for Elijah,” he says, and before I can process that statement or respond, he’s gone.
I close the notebook where I’d been writing and set it aside.
Then I stand and pace in the few moments left that I have alone. The second-floor landing opens to a small balcony. Wrought iron furniture. Ivy on the walls. It’s a picturesque setting. The beauty doesn’t match the conversation I’m about to have. Because unlike Liam, I don’t think the lieutenant colonel will be satisfied with diamonds.
Liam appears at the door again, this time preceding a man of middle age. He’s not wearing a military uniform. Instead he’s in a black suit, but it’s clear from his bearing and his haircut that he’s army. His skin has a splotchy redness that makes him look perpetually angry. He smiles, and my skin crawls. I would look away if we passed on the street. Now I force myself to meet his pale, watery eyes. “Lieutenant Colonel Jefferson,” I say, holding out my hand.
He grasps my hand with a sweaty palm. “I see my reputation precedes me. Don’t tell me that our dear Elijah has been sharing classified information.”
The implied threat makes me flush. “Of course not.”
He gestures to the small wrought iron table and its two chairs. “Please. Sit. It’s such beautiful weather. We can have some lemonade.” He gives Liam a significant glance. “Perhaps you can get it for us.”
Liam gives me a hard look. “I’ll be right outside the door if you need me.”
I nod, even though the taste of fear is metallic in my mouth. I’m in the room with a sociopath. That much is clear to me from even the few words we exchanged. There’s something reptilian and flat about his eyes. This is the man who Elijah reported to. This is the man he served.
When we’re alone, the lieutenant colonel settles into one of the seats. I’m more slow to occupy the other one, perching on the edge as if I need to bolt.
He gives me a frank assessment. “Pretty, but I don’t understand the fascination.”
Indignation rises in my chest, but I force it down. I return his assessment with one of my own, taking in his florid face down to his scuffed dress shoes. “Powerful, but not nearly important enough to control Elijah North.”
He gives me a tight smile. “I see his kitten has claws.”
“You wanted this meeting.”
“To see why Elijah walked away from his rank, his career. To be frank, why Elijah North walked away from me. I created him, after all. I can destroy him, too.”
“I think if you could do that, you already would have.”
“You think? Then you underestimate how valuable he is to me. It would be like blowing up a shiny new Black Hawk. A complete waste. The military already has more than enough waste. Assets like Elijah North are rare. And important to national security.”
“I don’t need Elijah to tell me classified information to know you’re dirty. So far I’ve seen you try to steal diamonds, put a bounty on my head, and create a fake arrest warrant. You don’t get to talk to me about national security.”
“My dear. I forget that you’re naive. National security isn’t achieved by following the rules. It’s not the pretty speeches that politicians give on green lawns.”
“So the arrest warrant for me is about national security?”
“I picked Elijah out of nothing.” His pale eyes grow even paler as he grows more intense. “He would still be a low-level grunt on some shithole base if I hadn’t picked him out—his psych eval, his tests. A personal interview. I found him. I created him.”
God, no wonder this man isn’t going to give up Elijah. “You’re insane.”
