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“Oleander wondered if you’d want to be with them.”
Her eyes scrunched. “I need to think it over. When do they intend to begin?”
“At fourteen hundred.”
“Is there anything else you need to discuss with us at this time?” I asked.
“Only to alert you that Charlene’s interrogation is to take place concurrently. Rogue and Reaper will be the first to question her.”
The two men would frighten the hell out of Charlene. “Excellent choices, both.”
“Same question, Schön. Would you like to be in the interrogation room with them?” Zep asked.
“I don’t believe that’s necessary.”
After ending the call, I turned to Schön. “Whatever you decide to do, I will support.”
“I appreciate it, and as much as I wish I could avoid everything to do with Ananke or Cassandra or whatever we’re calling her, I also know the sooner we get answers, the sooner I can put the personal part of this behind me. More importantly, I sincerely hope she gives us enough information to dismantle her network. That in itself creates a sense of urgency.”
“Why do I anticipate you saying, ‘but’?”
She smiled. “Because you see me.”
It was something I’d said to her more than once. “I do, you know.”
She nodded. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea for me to be in the interrogation room.”
“However…”
She smiled again. “I’d like to be in the observation room. I’d also like to be able to communicate with Oleander or Poseidon. Both, preferably.”
“That can be arranged.”
“What about you?” she asked.
“I’ll request a comms connection and listen in. If there’s anything I feel would be worthwhile to contribute, I can handle it that way.”
“Because you don’t want to leave me alone?”
“In part, but I also don’t want to be alone myself.” I thought about how unsettled I’d felt at the start of the op. I wouldn’t confess it to Schön now, but there would come a time I’d need to be forthcoming. I couldn’t say for certain yet if what I felt was foreboding that I should’ve paid attention to or unfounded worry due to my feelings for her.
“I’d like to shower before we go,” she said.
I nodded. “I’ll alert Zeppelin of our decisions.”
Schön approached me. “I feel like what I’m about to say isn’t necessary, but I will anyway. As soon as we can, I want to leave Malta and travel to a place where you and I can be alone. Where we can be intimate.”
“I’ve thought the same thing, my darling Prisca.”
“I want to wait until then.”
I didn’t need her to elaborate on what she wanted to wait on. Making love now didn’t feel right to me either.
While she showered, I reviewed the interrogation outline for Cassandra Rávdos. It was divided into sections, starting with Salvatore and the history of the organization she ran after he died. What we knew and what we didn’t seemed equal. However, if we were able to get her talking, we might discover we hadn’t scratched the surface.
Family dynamics were also included in the outline. We believed Mithras was Salvatore’s biological son, but by her own admission to Schön, she wasn’t his mother. The same thing was true with DeDe “Seshat” Starkweather and her twin.
Xavier “Sheka” Vella was in a section of his own, as was Valerie “Pharoah” Rávdos. By all appearances, it seemed as though Francesca and Charlene had raised Xavier. Had the older woman believed he was Marco Jr.’s son? It was really the only thing that made sense. And what about Pharaoh? Had Salvatore and Cassandra raised her?