Devious Minds (28 page)

Gabriel nodded, and we followed him to the door. I stepped through, and Suzette glanced up from her seat on the cushions, hoping that all of the cheering she’d heard meant good news. She’d also found my shoes and handed them to me. “I guess I have to put those back on, huh?”

“Yes, unless you want your feet to freeze once we go outside.”

“Yeah... not so much.” Still, I decided to wait until we actually went outside to put them on. We followed the swat-team escorting Cypher, who all held him tightly and seemed ready to clobber him if he made any trouble. We congregated at the main doors, getting everyone sorted out. I told Suzette I was going with Gabriel, so she could go home.

“You should update Blake, though,” I added. “He’ll be glad to know what’s happened.”

“Yes, he will.” She glanced at Ramos. “Are you coming with me?”

“Uh... no. I think I’d better stick with Shelby.”

“Hey... do you think you could go back with Suzette and get some of my clothes for me?” I asked. “I’d like to wear something more comfortable. Plus, I’m a little cold in this dress.” I’d found my wrap, but it wasn’t quite warm enough, and it hurt to put my shoes back on.

“Sure babe. Just make sure you tell Gabriel to let me in when I show up.”

“I will. Thanks. See you.”

They left, and it took a while to get all the modes of transportation ready for the trip back to headquarters. Gabriel didn’t want anything to go wrong with Cypher’s ride, so he was extra-cautious. Finally ready, I rode with Gabriel behind the car taking Cypher.

With everyone worrying that someone might try to free Cypher, the ride back was a little tense. So I was grateful when we finally pulled into headquarters. Even better, Ramos arrived with my clothes a few minutes later. I took them from him with a profusion of thanks, and hurried into the bathroom to change.

It was a relief to put on my favorite jeans, a tee with only one bullet hole in it, and my socks and boots. He’d even brought the bag with my makeup and hairbrush. I gladly splashed cold water over my face and combed out my hair, then put on some moisturizer and a little lip gloss.

Last, I slipped my leather motorcycle jacket on and felt all warm and fuzzy. It was like coming home, and it reminded me that I hadn’t talked to Chris all day. Was he coming to Paris? Since I didn’t have my phone, I’d just have to wait until I got back to Suzette’s house to call. A deep swell of longing passed through me, and I really hoped he’d come. But another part of me was so exhausted, that all I wanted to do was go home where it was safe.

I left Suzette’s dress in the bathroom and stepped out to find Ramos waiting for me. He wore his standard jeans, dark shirt, and his motorcycle jacket. The sudden realization that he’d been there for me through all of this brought tears to my eyes. I blinked them away, but not before he caught sight of them.

His brows drew together with concern. “What’s up?” he asked.

“I don’t know... I just saw you and started crying.”

“Yeah... I noticed that. Hey... don’t fall apart on me now. At least wait until we’re alone.” In his thoughts, he added
, so I can kiss you again.

A laugh burst out of me, and I sniffed. “Uh... I’ll be fine. I’m not going to fall apart.”

“That’s too bad,” he said, even though he didn’t quite believe me. “Okay then. They’re waiting for you. Will you be all right? Do you need me to come in with you?”

“No, I’ll be fine. But just so you know, I can’t wait for this to be over.”

“I hear you,” he agreed and ushered me down the hall. “They’re in there.” He motioned toward a door. “I’ll be waiting in the break room. Send for me if you need anything.”

“Thanks.” I nodded and he opened the door. The small room had no windows and was furnished with a rectangular desk in the center and chairs on either side. Cypher sat on one side with his wrists cuffed to the table, with Gabriel and his lieutenant on the other, and an armed officer guarding the door.

As I walked in, Cypher jerked back in his chair, wondering what the hell I was doing there. Why was I always involved? What was going on? Why did they need me? I never said anything, so why include me now? It didn’t make any sense, and it was driving him insane. There had to be a reason, but what?

Gabriel nodded at me, thinking I looked more comfortable. It was a good thing, since he didn’t know how long this would take, and he hoped I wouldn’t be too mad at him by the time we were done.

“You may sit over there, s’il vous plait?” He motioned to a desk I hadn’t seen that was off in the corner. Several lined note-pads sat on top of it with a couple of pens beside them.

“Sure.” I nodded with relief. Over there, I was out of Cypher’s immediate vicinity and behind him. He couldn’t see me, and I wouldn’t have to look at him; that made being in this room lots more bearable. There was also a can of Diet Coke sitting on the top left corner, and I gasped with surprise.

“When I asked him what you would like, your friend told me to get you that,” Gabriel explained, happy that he’d pleased me.

“Thanks,” I said.

“De rien,” he answered. “If you think of something I should know, please give a note to the officer, and he will hand it to me. Will that work?”

“Yes,” I agreed.

“Then let me know when you are ready.”

I sat down and got comfortable, popped open my can of diet soda and took a swig, then glanced at Gabriel and nodded. He turned his unflinching gaze to Cypher and began, asking his name, and who he worked for.

Then Gabriel asked Cypher where he got the sarin gas bomb, and why he had targeted Paris. Was this all his idea, or did he just follow directions? If not, then who gave him the orders?

From there he asked for the number of people who worked for him, if any of them lived in Paris, and if so, where they lived. He asked for each one of their names. Gabriel gave Cypher plenty of time to think of the answers, and he always waited until I quit writing before asking the next question. 

Sometimes, Cypher didn’t exactly answer the question, so I had to go with the impressions I picked up. Those he did think of, I wrote as succinctly as I could, but knew I misspelled most of the locations, along with the names of his people. So I wrote them down phonetically and soldiered on.

Next, Gabriel asked if Cypher had any other terrorist attacks planned. If so, what they were and where they were to take place. Did any of these terrorists know how to make bombs, or was he the only one? Did they have any bombs ready to use, and if so, where were they?

Hearing Cypher’s thoughts about upcoming attacks sent chills down my spine. He’d made several suicide vests, and the sleeper cells the terrorists had organized planned to use them if the police ever came knocking. I underlined that information and put a big star by it. Cypher also had contacts within several other European countries, but I didn’t get any specifics because Gabriel didn’t ask. Still, it was enough to make me sick to my stomach.

Nearly two hours later, Gabriel got to the funding part of Cypher’s organization, starting with the name, “Dimension Zero.” Cypher smiled at that, but said nothing, just like he had all night. But he was thinking that no one ever got the connection to the cartoon, and we were all idiots.

I had no idea what that meant, but wrote it down just the same. I also picked up that the money came from oil sold on the black market from the Middle East which totaled more than one million dollars a day. That kind of blew my mind.

He also had over five million dollars in his Dimension Zero account. Besides himself, only one other person had the password, and his orders were to put the money into another account if Cypher ever got caught. He was thinking that, by tomorrow, all but one-hundred thousand euros would be gone to fund the upcoming terrorist attacks.

From his mind, I caught a glimpse of the account number and password. I quickly wrote down what I could remember, but I needed him to think of it again, or all that money would end up in the wrong hands.

I signaled to Gabriel, then motioned with my head that I wanted to go out into the hall. He got the hint and nodded. I grabbed my notebook and followed him out the door and into the hallway.

“What is it? Is something wrong?” he asked.

“No, the information I’m getting should stop a lot terrorist attacks, so that’s great. But he has a ton of money in his account and someone will be withdrawing it tomorrow. I don’t know how you want to handle that, but I got some of the numbers for the account, and I need his password as well. With that information, you can withdraw the money before morning. Or maybe you can just freeze the account? I have no idea how it works in your country, but I’d hate to see the terrorists get their hands on five million euros.”

“I see. We could freeze the account, but that might take time we don’t have. Let’s get the numbers from him. What would you like me to do?”

I tore off a piece of paper and handed it to him. “Ask him what bank his Dimension Zero account is in, then give him the first four numbers on this paper and ask if that means anything. Hopefully he’ll think of the other numbers. If he only thinks of the next number, I’ll lift up my hand with that number and you can add it to the first four. We’ll keep going until we get them all.”

Gabriel nodded. “Then do the same with the password?”

“Yes. Hopefully it’s more like a pin number so it will be easier.”

“Oui.” He gaze caught mine. “I am running out of questions. Are there any more that you would like me to ask?”

“Yes. Ask him about any terrorist cells in other countries. It seemed like he knew of some, but without the question, he won’t think about it.”

“I will. After that, we will stop the questions and go over your notes. Then call it a night.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” I agreed.

We went back in, and Gabriel got right back to the questioning without missing a beat. With my clues behind Cypher’s back, we ended up getting the account number and the password in short order. Cypher also started to get freaked out by the detailed information Gabriel had acquired.

He turned to glance at me, thinking I had something to do with it, but what? I kept my head down, looking at my notes, and ignored him, which made him even more puzzled. He decided then and there that if he ever got away, he would track me down and make me tell him my part in all of this, even if it was the last thing he ever did.

I didn’t like the sound of that, but what I picked up from Gabriel helped me believe it would never happen. Gabriel understood Cypher’s value and would never let him escape. I even caught that the only way Cypher would ever get out of police custody would be in a body bag. Still, being in the same room with him, and hearing all of his thoughts about death and destruction, was taking a toll on me.

When Gabriel signaled that we were done, I sighed with relief, and my shoulders sagged. They escorted Cypher out, and I followed Gabriel to his office. Once again, I relived it all by going over every single line of my notes.

They included a ton of information about upcoming attacks, names of terrorists, where they lived, and much more. These were details that no one would have known unless Cypher had actually cooperated and told them everything.

Finally finished with the last page, I sat back in my chair and rubbed my neck. At least my part was done, but Gabriel’s investigation was just beginning. “It looks like you have a lot of work cut out for you in the next few weeks.”

Gabriel shook his head, marveling at the information I’d gathered. “You are incroyable. This will save hundreds, even thousands of lives. The French people owe you a tremendous debt.” He licked his lips, trying to think of a way to give me some kind of credit or a maybe a medal. “I am sure our president would want to thank you in some way...”

“No... I mean... that would be nice, but I need to stay anonymous. I don’t want anyone getting ideas about me, or my life would never be the same. You understand what I mean, right? You promised to keep my secret.”

“Oui... of course I understand, but... you must let me do something for you, even if it is anonymously.”

“Well... okay, sure.” He could definitely replace the chocolates that got shot up. That would be nice, right?

“I hope you plan on staying at least a few more days. I might need your help again with questioning Cypher in case we need more detail than the notes provide.”

“Um... well, my husband was actually thinking about coming here so we could spend a few days doing all the tourist stuff I didn’t get to do. But I don’t know if he’s coming for sure, since I haven’t talked to him in a while.”

“Excellent!” Gabriel said, his eyes lighting up. “We will be happy to put you up in one of our executive suites that we reserve for special diplomats and visitors. I can have the concierge provide you with transportation and tickets to everything you would like to do, such as visiting the museums, and taking the elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We can arrange guided tours to the Palace of Versailles, The Louvre, Sacré-Coeur, Notre-Dame... as many as you wish. Please... let me do this for you.”

“Wow,” I said, surprised. “That’s... that’s amazing. Are you sure? I mean... I’d love it, but I don’t want to take advantage...”

“Stop. Do not give it another thought. The people of France, and Paris in particular, owe you a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. It is my fervent wish that you will accept this offer. Will you do me, and all of France, the honor?”