She gaped at him. No words even came to mind. Dean Polanitis had been malicious, a nasty person, but to offer to allow someone to have sex with her surpassed the scope of evil she believed he’d been capable of committing. It also came as a surprise that her boss hadn’t taunted her with the threat. They’d hated each other.
“I refused.”
She dropped her gaze to his chest, letting that sink in. Her response was easy. “You could never be cruel.”
He cleared his throat. “It seems this agent fooled you into believing he really worked for the NSO. There is no such person affiliated with us. I received information while you slept that ransom money was paid for the locations of Drackwood and Cornas.”
The sharp sensation to her chest had to be caused by betrayal and heartbreak after learning all she’d done had been used to financially hurt the NSO. She studied his face. “You’re sure?”
“We’re positive.” He straightened in his chair and lifted a cell phone from the nightstand. He turned the screen her way after using his index finger to manipulate the device. “See? We paid a million dollars for the location of Drackwood and a million and a half for the location of Cornas. This so-called agent pocketed the money. We were anonymously sent samples of blood, hair, saliva and fingernail clippings that were tested. It was determined they belonged to Species who weren’t in our current database. Everyone who has been freed has samples taken and tested for comparison.”
“What do they compare them to?”
He hesitated. “Some Species have a wish for family. We’ve found some who have the same biological markers. It also helps us determine if the tips are real or not. We can test to see if they are Species, if it’s someone we’ve already recovered or not. We get a lot of humans who lie and claim to have knowledge of where Species are being held in captivity in hopes we’ll pay them money. We do if we can determine their information is real.”
“I could kill Brice.” She was livid. “That son of a bitch.”
“Some believe you knew what he was doing.”
It was a verbal slap in the face and it hurt. “I didn’t.”
“Did you receive any money from him? The task force team is checking your finances.”
“Not the way you’d think.” She really wanted True to believe her. “The only time he helped me financially was when I moved to South Dakota. I had to rent a truck to move my stuff and needed enough money to get into my apartment. I couldn’t afford the first and last month’s rent because I hadn’t planned to go there until he told me about Cornas. Someone had to prove New Species were there so he could get them free.”
“How much money did you accept?” He didn’t look happy.
“He gave me two thousand dollars.”
True stood, pacing the room. Jeanie watched him, worried he’d think the worst.
“I only accepted that money because I didn’t have the funds to move. I swear I didn’t know he demanded a ransom from the NSO for the information I gave.”
He stopped, stared at her. “Okay. I’ll relay that to the task force members.”
“Did Agent Brice give you the names of the employees at Cornas? How many of them were arrested?”
“Just you. We were given no list of employee names.”
She pushed at the sheet, trying to climb off the side of the bed. “Do you have a pen and paper? I want to write them down. They’ll try to flee the country.”
True blocked her from standing by stepping next to the bed. “Stay down. You’re healing. I’ll bring you something to write on.”
“Thank you.” She covered her legs and leaned back against his padded headboard.
True walked to the bedroom door but then paused, turning to face her. “You should also write out a list of personal contacts so we can notify them of where you are. I’m sure your loved ones are worried.”
“No one will notice I’m gone for quite a while.”
He tilted his head, frowning. “What about the male in your life? He must be frantic, attempting to discover your whereabouts.”
“You mean a boyfriend? I don’t date.”
He stepped closer. “Why not?”
She dropped her gaze to his chest again. “I just don’t.”
“Jeanie? Answer me.”
Her gaze lifted to his. “I just don’t. Can’t we leave it at that?”
“No. You’re an attractive female. There should be a male in your life.”
She glanced anywhere but at him, her cheeks warming from embarrassment. It made her feel elated that he thought she was attractive. That feeling quickly faded. He could have said it to be polite.
“I just thought it was safer. I was living a lie, unable to trust anyone because it could get me killed. A boyfriend could have been a plant hired by my bosses to see if I was trustworthy or not. I also didn’t want either of those places to think I had close ties to anyone who could be hurt by association. They loved to make threats about killing the people we cared about if we betrayed our confidentiality clauses.” She paused. “I distanced myself from my friends and family to protect them. They only hear from me on birthdays or Christmas. I knew they weren’t empty threats after…” She just couldn’t say it.
“They forced you to become a test subject,” he guessed.
“Yes,” she whispered. “After that I had no doubts about how evil those bastards could be.”
“I refused.”
She dropped her gaze to his chest, letting that sink in. Her response was easy. “You could never be cruel.”
He cleared his throat. “It seems this agent fooled you into believing he really worked for the NSO. There is no such person affiliated with us. I received information while you slept that ransom money was paid for the locations of Drackwood and Cornas.”
The sharp sensation to her chest had to be caused by betrayal and heartbreak after learning all she’d done had been used to financially hurt the NSO. She studied his face. “You’re sure?”
“We’re positive.” He straightened in his chair and lifted a cell phone from the nightstand. He turned the screen her way after using his index finger to manipulate the device. “See? We paid a million dollars for the location of Drackwood and a million and a half for the location of Cornas. This so-called agent pocketed the money. We were anonymously sent samples of blood, hair, saliva and fingernail clippings that were tested. It was determined they belonged to Species who weren’t in our current database. Everyone who has been freed has samples taken and tested for comparison.”
“What do they compare them to?”
He hesitated. “Some Species have a wish for family. We’ve found some who have the same biological markers. It also helps us determine if the tips are real or not. We can test to see if they are Species, if it’s someone we’ve already recovered or not. We get a lot of humans who lie and claim to have knowledge of where Species are being held in captivity in hopes we’ll pay them money. We do if we can determine their information is real.”
“I could kill Brice.” She was livid. “That son of a bitch.”
“Some believe you knew what he was doing.”
It was a verbal slap in the face and it hurt. “I didn’t.”
“Did you receive any money from him? The task force team is checking your finances.”
“Not the way you’d think.” She really wanted True to believe her. “The only time he helped me financially was when I moved to South Dakota. I had to rent a truck to move my stuff and needed enough money to get into my apartment. I couldn’t afford the first and last month’s rent because I hadn’t planned to go there until he told me about Cornas. Someone had to prove New Species were there so he could get them free.”
“How much money did you accept?” He didn’t look happy.
“He gave me two thousand dollars.”
True stood, pacing the room. Jeanie watched him, worried he’d think the worst.
“I only accepted that money because I didn’t have the funds to move. I swear I didn’t know he demanded a ransom from the NSO for the information I gave.”
He stopped, stared at her. “Okay. I’ll relay that to the task force members.”
“Did Agent Brice give you the names of the employees at Cornas? How many of them were arrested?”
“Just you. We were given no list of employee names.”
She pushed at the sheet, trying to climb off the side of the bed. “Do you have a pen and paper? I want to write them down. They’ll try to flee the country.”
True blocked her from standing by stepping next to the bed. “Stay down. You’re healing. I’ll bring you something to write on.”
“Thank you.” She covered her legs and leaned back against his padded headboard.
True walked to the bedroom door but then paused, turning to face her. “You should also write out a list of personal contacts so we can notify them of where you are. I’m sure your loved ones are worried.”
“No one will notice I’m gone for quite a while.”
He tilted his head, frowning. “What about the male in your life? He must be frantic, attempting to discover your whereabouts.”
“You mean a boyfriend? I don’t date.”
He stepped closer. “Why not?”
She dropped her gaze to his chest again. “I just don’t.”
“Jeanie? Answer me.”
Her gaze lifted to his. “I just don’t. Can’t we leave it at that?”
“No. You’re an attractive female. There should be a male in your life.”
She glanced anywhere but at him, her cheeks warming from embarrassment. It made her feel elated that he thought she was attractive. That feeling quickly faded. He could have said it to be polite.
“I just thought it was safer. I was living a lie, unable to trust anyone because it could get me killed. A boyfriend could have been a plant hired by my bosses to see if I was trustworthy or not. I also didn’t want either of those places to think I had close ties to anyone who could be hurt by association. They loved to make threats about killing the people we cared about if we betrayed our confidentiality clauses.” She paused. “I distanced myself from my friends and family to protect them. They only hear from me on birthdays or Christmas. I knew they weren’t empty threats after…” She just couldn’t say it.
“They forced you to become a test subject,” he guessed.
“Yes,” she whispered. “After that I had no doubts about how evil those bastards could be.”
