Cash stared at Barrow. The man was pale and sweating. “We came in here with a search warrant,” she said. “We’re law enforcement. Our purpose here is to search the premises for evidence related to the homicide of Officer Lane Johnson. The warrant’s a matter of record—they know we’re here.”
Barrow looked flummoxed, speechless.
“They know what we’re doing,” said Maximilian. “They saw the playground and—”
“I’ll take care of this,” said Raimundo, cutting him off. She turned to Cash. “You’ve got more balls than common sense, Agent Cash.”
Cash looked at her and then back at Barrow. He looked like he was cracking. She might be able to work on him. “The felonies you and your men are in the process of committing are, so far: assault, kidnapping, conspiracy, impeding law enforcement officers serving in their official capacity—”
“Shut up. Just shut the fuck up!” Barrow screamed. “Or we’ll gag you. Understand?” He grasped his head in both hands. “Oh my God, what are we going to do with these people?” He looked up. “Why did you break in here? This ruins everything.” The billionaire was unhinged, his face flaming, sweat streaming down.
But Raimundo remained cool and collected. She said quietly, “Nothing has been ruined, Mr. Barrow. We’ve got the situation under complete control.”
“How?” he cried. “This was so”—he almost spluttered with rage—“unexpected. What have you done? Cutting through that door! My God, what a mess you’ve created coming in here!”
“I will handle this,” said Raimundo crisply. She turned to them. “I spoke to McFaul just now; he thinks you went into the mine to collect evidence from the crime scene. You didn’t tell him that you were going to cut through the steel plate and see what was behind it, did you? You didn’t tell him you had a search warrant. He’s not concerned about you, and neither he nor anyone else has any idea where you went in the mine or what your real purpose was here. Inside the mine, you haven’t been able to contact anyone. The search warrant no doubt is vague about where you’ll be searching. So nobody knows you came through that door or what you’ve seen—and nobody will know. Within the hour, we’re going to seal that steel door back up and polish it in such a way that there will be no evidence you even went through it.”
At this, Cash felt a creeping chill. “So, you’re going to kill us?”
“Wait. We can’t do that,” said Barrow loudly. “If we kill cops, the investigation will land on us like a ton of bricks!”
Raimundo turned to Barrow. “The investigation will merely show that mines are dangerous and the air is often contaminated with carbon monoxide and other deadly gases.”
Barrow was breathing hard, his face twisted in indecision and agony.
Raimundo added, “Do you understand what I’m saying, sir?”
Barrow shook his head and kept shaking.
“Enough talk,” she said. “Let’s just get this over with. Mr. Barrow, pull yourself together.”
“I don’t like this solution,” Barrow said. He was sweating like a stuck pig.
She said calmly, “Once you’ve had a chance to consider it, you’ll see there’s no choice, sir. You won’t be a party to it, and you’ll never hear of it again.”
Cash glanced at Colcord, whose face was white.
“I don’t know …,” Barrow moaned.
“Are you going to let me and Mr. Maximilian take care of this little problem, Mr. Barrow? Think what’s at stake. You know I always have your best interests at heart. We’ve come a long way.”
After a moment, he nodded dumbly.
“Good.” She turned to Maximilian. “Take Mr. Barrow back to his quarters. Assign a guard to make sure he remains there for the next hour—and makes no calls.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Maximilian took Barrow’s arm. “Sir? This way.”
The billionaire was led off, passive and unprotesting, his shoulders drooping. Cash watched him shuffle off like a browbeaten child. She was incredulous—what a change from the blustery, assertive businessman. It was clear where the real power lay.
Raimundo turned back to the soldiers. “Take them to the CO.”
Cash wondered who the CO was—commanding officer?
“Should we restrain them?” the head soldier asked.
“No restraints. The marks might be noted later. If anyone resists or tries to escape, shoot them.”
“Raimundo,” said Romanski loudly, “why are you breeding Neanderthals up here?”
Raimundo looked at him sharply. “I see you’ve made a clever deduction. Congratulations.” She turned to the guards. “Take them away.”