Evenfall (159 page)

As an agent, however, it was better to gain more information, to get a good look at the person in charge, to go as far as he could until he absolutely had to back out. Standing there in the hallway at that moment with Rick's heavy hand on his shoulder, however, he was very aware of how little he knew of the overall structure of this hidden wing, of how the only way he truly knew how to escape would be nearly impossible and may be easily anticipated, and of the fact that he didn't even know how many enemies or guards there were in the area.

He was here, alone, unarmed and outnumbered, without backup except for Sin, who was across the property with his hands full trying to find Thierry. Added to that, he was waiting to see the man who had managed to take advantage of his niece's accidental death to somehow overcome Sin and subsequently torture him relentlessly.

His anxiety rose even as the thoughts strengthened his anger and hatred toward the man who was responsible, and it was with that feeling that he heard Dana call out to bring him in. Boyd felt his heart pounding harder than he would have expected as Rick silently pushed him down the hall.

At the end of the hallway there was a large wooden door that Dana stood to the side holding open; her eyes were dark and unreadable and she surveyed him silently as he was pushed past her. As he entered the room beyond, he saw that it appeared to be a combination of a library and an office. He glanced around the room as he entered, noting as many details as he could in as casual and quick a movement as possible. An imposing wooden desk dominated the center of the room; it was well cleaned and organized, with little compartments for all the items that were spread across it.

Although he didn't have the chance to study the desk except to note there were no obvious large objects for him to use as a weapon, there were a variety of pens and paper clips laying on it. He also noticed the items that Dana had confiscated from him were piled haphazardly on the far side where he would be unable to reach them and that two chairs sat in front of the desk, presumably for visitors.

He didn't see any other obvious exits except back through the door he'd entered; there were no windows, as there hadn't been in the entire hidden wing, and although it was possible there were hidden entrances or passages into this room there was no way he'd be able to find them in the sort of situation that he would almost positively be in if he was trying to escape.

It only took him a second to glance around the room and he ultimately turned his attention to the person he was here for. A Caucasian man in his early to
mid-forties
sat behind the desk, watching them with an expression that was hard to read. He wore a dark suit that was obviously expensive, but that was probably the most distinguishable thing about his person. By looking at him, it was somehow difficult to imagine that he was the sort of person capable of the horrors he'd apparently put Sin through. He was of average build and height with dark curly hair and almond colored eyes. The most striking thing about him was a small scar at the corner of his bottom lip but even that was easy to miss if Boyd hadn't already known from the initial briefing photos that it was there.

More than anything, it was his innocuousness that made Boyd feel
uneasy
. Obviously this man was capable of great cruelty if he felt the need, Boyd had known that much going into the situation.

Rick and Dana stopped just behind Boyd as Hale continued to examine him clinically. After a moment he dropped his gaze and picked up Boyd's code cracker, turning it over idly as he nodded his head for Boyd to move closer. When he didn't move Rick shoved him forward roughly, causing him to stumble and collide with the edge of the desk, knocking over some of the contents in the process. In the brief moment that his hands were on the wooden surface, he automatically grasped for whatever was closest to use as a weapon. The only thing he was able to discreetly grab was a small paper clip that he quickly hid between his fingers and up into his sleeve. It wasn't the best weapon in the world but if he could unbend it without them noticing, it was at least enough to blind someone if jammed into their eye.

"Bind him," Hale said calmly, his voice slightly accented and almost pleasant.

Boyd couldn't help a spike of alarm at the words; he started to move but Rick was right next to him and he was too quick and strong. Boyd had barely even shifted his weight before Rick wordlessly yanked him back by his upper arm and nearly threw him into one of the wooden chairs. Boyd hit the back of the chair with enough force that the chair rocked backward and a hiss of pain escaped him. Rick was there immediately, slapping a pair of handcuffs on one wrist and the arm of the chair before the front legs had even hit the floor again.

The feel of that cold metal against his wrist caused his mind to go blank with fear and his breath to unconsciously quicken; for a moment he couldn't even think, couldn't even consider the situation he was in. He didn't even realize it when he made a soft noise of distress. All he knew was that he was about to be held down and that he couldn't let them do it; not in a place like this, not with a person like Hale. The terror he'd felt for years of being held down had only strengthened into outright panic after his time with Shane.

He automatically struggled, jerking up nearly to a stand and hurting his own wrist as he yanked on his arm. He was able to get his feet underneath him but before he could steady himself, Dana was at his side and with more strength than expected she used the angle and momentum of her body to shove him; the back of his knees hit the chair, causing them to buckle as he started to topple backward. He threw his free hand out to steady himself and she grabbed his wrist painfully at the same time that Rick grabbed the back of his shirt and jerked him back so hard that the cloth scrunched up, digging into his throat.

Boyd tried to yank away from them even in that awkward position but Rick shoved him toward Dana even as she shifted her weight and used the strength of her stance to add power as she twisted and bodily slammed Boyd's arm down to the chair arm. Rick pressed one rough hand against Boyd's sternum to further hold him in place while he leaned forward and, as quickly and efficiently as Archer had in the van, used another pair of handcuffs to lock Boyd's other hand to the chair.

It all happened quickly, barely a few breaths of time. Dana backed off, breathing just a little heavily but Rick stayed by Boyd's side for a moment, staring down at him intently as he waited to see if he'd have to subdue him further.

Boyd grit his teeth and closed his eyes, his head tilted down and his hands automatically curling into fists. He was breathing heavily, partially from exertion but mostly from fear, and it took effort to even be able to come back to himself. It took him a moment to come to the conclusion that he couldn't afford to show any more weaknesses or give them further ideas of what truly did scare him because then it would only be used against him.

He grabbed onto that thought and the logic of it and tried to concentrate on the mission instead of his fear. He forced his hands to loosen though he couldn't help pulling on his wrists experimentally to see how strong the wood of the chair was, to see whether there was even a hope of him somehow managing to break away. The only thing that happened was the handcuffs cinched tighter with a clicking sound as his wrists ached.

Part of him felt the pain against his wrists like a reawakening of his fear that only grew; he couldn't move, he couldn't fight back, they had his arms held down and he'd never be able to get away. Not until they were through with him anyway. They were going to hurt him, make him scream, possibly kill him-- But another part reasoned that his legs were still free and could hurt someone, that he was held to a chair but he wasn't being held completely down against the floor or a bed, and most importantly that in the struggle they'd only had time to single-lock the handcuffs and if he was lucky they wouldn't double-lock them. He still had a chance of possibly getting away, as long as he hadn't dropped that paper clip, as long as he could work on it discreetly. As long as they didn't incapacitate him first.

Rick studied him mercilessly but apparently deemed him no longer a threat because he stepped back, waiting for further instructions.

"Do you understand why I had them do that?" Hale asked in the same tone, eyes finally turned on Boyd again as they drank in the pallor of his skin and the slight sheen of sweat that had broken out on his forehead. "I want you to know why everything that is going to happen, happens. I want you to understand how this will be."

At first Boyd didn't answer. Hale's tone was too pleasant, too even; Boyd could tell he was enjoying the situation, enjoying doing this to him, seeing him panic.

So, with more effort than he cared to admit it took, he forced himself to concentrate entirely on acting like Kadin. "You prob'ly didn't want me running away," he said finally and looked up at Hale. "I coulda run any time with Rick and Dana and I didn't, right?"

"No," Hale replied flatly. "That is not the reason." He stood and walked around the desk, leaning against the edge of it as he stared down at Boyd. "The reason for binding you is that when we begin to interrogate you, depending on the method, it will be easier for all parties involved if for the time being you are unable to move. Typically I do not handle such things in my office but I only mean this as a preliminary meeting to find out the basics before I decide that you are being uncooperative and need stronger encouragement."

Boyd stared at him. "That makes it sound like you already decided I'm uncooperative."

Hale shrugged elegantly and walked around his desk again, opening a drawer. He pulled out a file and flipped through it for a moment before extracting the sheaf of papers that he wanted and tossing it across the desk so that it was in Boyd's range of vision. It had an image of Boyd in his Kadin Reed disguise with various personal information and what seemed to be details surrounding the time he'd disappeared. Before closing the drawer, Hale pulled out what appeared to be a long, thin, razor-sharp letter opener and he raised an eyebrow as he looked at Boyd once again.

"That's because I have. From what I heard of your ridiculous story, it doesn't do anything more than insult the intelligence of those in this room and Janus as a whole." He moved closer again, this time extending his arm and gently caressing Boyd's face with the edge of the blade. "The facts on that sheet of paper are few. All we knew was that you attended the conference, were seen speaking to many people there and that when the explosions began, you disappeared and a man fitting your description was seen fleeing the convention center. What we gathered from this was that if it was you, you fled in fear because you did not know what was going on. However when months passed and we and the group you come from claimed not to have heard from you, you immediately came under suspicion. So either you're lying to us or your commander is lying to us. Which one is it?"

Boyd started to tilt his head away from the blade but Rick snapped one arm out and grabbed a chunk of his hair to hold him still. His scalp twinged sharply in pain and he allowed a wince to cross his face in the pretense of being more vulnerable than he actually felt. Although being denied one more type of movement made his heartbeat automatically quicken and it certainly didn't help that Hale had a blade anywhere near him.

He jerked his hands against the handcuffs briefly, as if he'd unconsciously tried to raise his hands and had forgotten he couldn't, although the true reason was that he needed to get the fuck out of this situation fast and without his hands free he was in trouble. He'd thought the paper clip may have been caught on the fabric inside his sleeve so he'd hoped the movement would loosen it; thankfully, when he dropped his arms back down to the chair he was just barely able to feel the paper clip had slid down and caught between his wrist and the handcuff.  He started working it into a better position for him to unbend it. He had to be extremely careful not to draw attention to his fingers which meant the process was far slower than he wanted it to be but if they discovered he had the paper clip they would take it away and with it the only chance he currently had for escape.

His mind raced as he tried to decide on an explanation. His story had to be believable enough that he could keep it going as a distraction while he worked on his handcuffs; at the same time, if he tried bullshitting them too much it would be obvious.

"I--" Boyd glanced toward Dana as if he was looking to her for help but she was watching impassively. At least that glance told him that she didn't seem to be in as good a position to see his hand as the other two. He looked back toward Hale and tried to lean away from him toward Rick as he said nervously, as if he'd been caught in a lie and was now afraid of the consequences, "I mean, I-- I may have exaggerated a little. About contacting them. But I won't be uncooperative, man-- uh, sir-- really... You don't have to bring me anywhere else."

"Mmm." The blade dug into Boyd's face deeper and blood began to pool slightly around the edge, dripping down his face. "How exactly did you exaggerate?"

Boyd automatically tried to lean away from the blade but Rick tightened his hold and dropped his other hand down to Boyd's shoulder in a silent warning. Hale's expression didn't change but he pressed the blade more firmly into Boyd's skin and dragged it down slightly to show that he was serious.

Boyd tried to ignore the blood that was starting to drip down his face and the alarmed, constricted feeling from being unable to move. "That-- That I contacted them... at all..." He could feel the paper clip starting to unbend on the first curve but it was at an awkward angle he'd have to straighten out. "I knew they'd be pissed at me for getting scared like that and... and not making things better with Janus. I didn't want them to kick me out so I thought if I got in good with you it'd be okay. I was gonna contact them after this, I swear."