“Is he insecure or what?” Kristi righted the lamp on Samantha’s desk, then froze, a smile spreading on her face. “There are two condoms in your trash. It was Thor, wasn’t it? Is he as incredible in bed as Malik?”
Heat rushed into Samantha’s face. “I … He…”
“I knew it!” Kristi picked up the papers Lance had knocked off Samantha’s desk. “Malik is the best lover I’ve ever had. If Thor is anything like him… Sorry. You just had your space violated, and I’m getting into your business.”
“I’m just more private than you are.”
Kristi seemed to accept that. “After getting so many complaints about the noise, Malik and I snuck away to the greenhouse last night. That man knows what to do with his cock. That’s for sure. I’m surprised I can walk today.”
What was Samantha supposed to say to that? “I’m happy for you.”
Kristi shrugged. “It will all be over when they leave. But in the meantime, I’m going to take what I can and enjoy myself. That’s what you should do, too.”
* * *
Thor stoodoutside the small conference room with Segal, going over their plan. “You’re the one with the interrogation experience. You should take the lead.”
Segal shook his head. “You start. Let me watch his reactions. I’ll step in if I think it’s necessary.”
“Just remember this isn’t a war zone. Lance is a civilian with legal rights. We can’t touch him. If he asks for a lawyer, I’m not sure what we’ll do.”
There were no lawyers. Shields thought the stakes were so high and the situation so unusual that they might have more latitude than they would back home. Thor didn’t know much about the US legal system and had to trust her.
“Keep him distracted and off-balance,” Segal said. “Hammer him with questions, one after the other.”
“Okay. Let’s do this.” Thor opened the door and walked inside to find Jones standing behind Lance, whose wrists were still bound. Thor sat across from him, Segal standing in the background. “Yesterday, you told us you went back to your room at midnight. You lied to us. You went to the computer lab. Why?”
“I just wanted to catch up on email. After that, I went to my room.”
“He’s lying,” Segal said.
“Care to try again?” Thor leaned closer. “This time, give us the truth.”
Lance glared at him, indignation on his face. “I did check my email.”
“Lying.”
“What else did you do?” Thor looked the bastard in the eyes. “If we have to, we’ll confiscate your computer and your phone, hack in, and see what we find. I’m giving you a chance to tell the truth. You were caught red-handed breaking into Dr. Park’s room. Do yourself a favor and come clean.”
Lance was sweating now, perspiration beading on his forehead. “I’ll lose my job.”
“Oh, brother, that ship has sailed,” Jones said. “You’ll be lucky if you don’t spend the rest of the winter locked in your itty-bitty room.”
Lance looked from Jones to Thor. “Hardin wouldn’t do that.”
“He suggested it.” Thor let that sink in. “What were you doing in the computer lab late the night Patty was poisoned.”
Lance’s face crumpled, and Thor knew he was close to breaking.
Thor pushed harder. “Youliedto us. Witnesses saw you there close to the time when the military satellite was hacked.”
Lance went pale. “It was hacked? You think I …”
“You’re the IT expert on station. We know you lied about where you were that night. The Pentagon is very interested in you, man. It doesn’t look good.”
Lance broke. “I hacked into Patty’s email.”
That wasn’t the answer Thor had expected. “You hacked into your girlfriend’s email. Why would you do that, Lance?”