Page 125 of Airborne
Sirens grew louder. “Help’s coming,” she whispered. The ambulance pulled into the parking lot amid screams of children and adults.
“I love—”
“I love you. Now hush. You need your strength.”
“Is... it over?”
“Done. Thomas is in custody. The FBI has evidence. Honey, the nightmare has ended.”
Hours later, Thomas sat in an FBI interview room with ASAC Mitchell and Heather. He tugged at his handcuffs and faced her. Since the arrest he’d fought agents and shouted with language she’d not repeat.
Thomas seethed. “Where’s my attorney?”
“We’ve called him. So calm down.” Deep lines dug into his forehead, and with his anger and red face, she questioned a complete mental or physical collapse.
“You have nothing. No evidence. Do your sweep of my home and office. Agents won’t find a thing.” He laughed, a deep-throated sound that came from Shield’s persona.
“Our conversation at the zoo was recorded. Every agent heard your confession.”
“I’ll be out on bail in an hour. This is entrapment.”
“Read the definition of entrapment before you put all your money there,” she said. “You confessed to murdering Trey Alvinson. You claimed to have released the deadly virus to a man enroute to Salzburg.”
“Watch the legal process play into my hands.” He cringed as though he hurt.
“Headache?” Pain lines on his face wove with evident hatred.
“None of your business.”
Thomas needed immediate professional psychiatric care, hospitalization, and medication. He wasn’t competent from one moment to the next. She formed her words carefully. “I have someone who wants to see you.”
“Who? I’m not answering any more questions until I have my attorney.”
“Your brother, Jackson. He found out you were in quarantine and flew to Houston.”
“Is Oliver with him?”
“Jackson’s alone.”
“He always had the good luck. While I’m in cuffs, I can’t kill him.”
“He wants to talk,” Heather said. “Your choice. You told me you didn’t have a brother.”
“That was Thomas, and between the two of us, I told you the majority of lies.”
“Who committed the most crimes?”
“Ask him. I’m waiting until I have legal counsel.”
Heather looked at a man who’d slipped into a personality disorder as a child to protect himself. “Do you want to talk to Jackson?”
“Sure. He can breathe easily until I’m out of here. Nothing in our conversation will implicate me.”
Mitchell nodded into the one-way window for Jackson to beescorted in. The brother joined them, and Mitchell pointed to a chair across from Thomas. How hard this must be for Jackson.
“Thomas, I’d recognize you anywhere.” Jackson folded his hands on the table. His quivering voice indicated his nervousness.
“It’s Shield. And my face has been all over the Internet.”
