Psalm 91: 1 – 16.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day.

Chapter 12.

 

During the trip to the police station, Kate’s mind was riddled with questions and concerns. Her thoughts focused on nothing other than getting down to the bottom of the pile of questions. Why, of all people, did Glen Tryston turn on his colleagues and accept a contract to harm one of them? What could possibly have been worth betraying everything he worked for?

As the tree line subsided and the police station came into view, Kate felt more like a law enforcement official than she had in a long time. The one thing that weighed heavily on her mind, however, was the tried and true belief that no officers should be involved in investigating their own cases. The conflict of interest and level of bias could prove detrimental to any court proceedings, but Kate suspected that her boss would not try to stop her from speaking to Glen. The problem was that something inside her seemed to tense up whenever she thought about what she was going to ask the suspect.

David Harper pulled into the parking area behind the police station. “Looks like you’ve learned quite a lot about the life out here, eh?” he said, nodding toward her Amish clothes.

Kate laughed. “You wouldn’t believe half of what I’ve learned since moving out here. I’ve met some of the most amazing people you could ever be blessed to know.”

Her boss chuckled and then made a call. After speaking for a while, he motioned for Kate to follow him. “I was just on the phone with your cop buddy. He said they have Tryston waiting for us in Interrogation Room 1. You ready for this?” Harper turned back to her and smiled.

“Do you think it could hurt our case if I go into the room for the interview?”

Harper shook his head. “No. There is no way you are going to miss out on this. What he did is a federal crime. He stole and accessed top secret files in order to take out people we were sworn to protect. This case isn’t just about you, Kate. It isn’t just about me, either. It’s about every single marshal in the agency, their families, and every single citizen in this country that could have been negatively affected by Glen’s actions. Yes, you were most likely his final target, but that sounds like the best reason to have you in there with me.”

Kate wasn’t sure if a smile was appropriate at that moment, but the reassurance and encouragement from her boss filled her with confidence, something she had struggled to hold onto lately. “If that’s how you feel, then I’d like nothing more than to help you talk to Glen and find out why he betrayed us.”

“Then you’re about to get your chance. Come on,” he said, waving his hand once more.

Kate followed Harper as he headed for the front door. She looked around as they entered the main entrance and walked into the lobby. She noticed a police officer as he sat behind a pane of thick glass and answered the telephones. A cup filled with a steaming brown liquid sat on his desk in a puddle of its own making. She caught the aroma of the stale, unwelcoming coffee.

David Harper smiled and shook his head. He then walked up to the counter and tried calling to the officer, but it took several minutes before he was able to get the man’s attention.

“What can I help you with, sir?” the man said as he straightened his hat.

Harper flashed his identification badge and explained the situation. “Officer Ryan Weaver said the suspect is ready for our interview in Room 1.”

The officer flipped through one of the clipboards on his desk. Kate watched as his eyes jumped up and down, scanning the pages for a specific bit of data. As the man was still looking, Ryan walked up behind him and placed his finger on the paper. The cop then leaned closer to read what was being pointed out. “Oh, I’m sorry sir. Here it is! Mr. Glen Tryston is currently being held without bail and is in Interrogation Room 1. Here’s the key to the room. Please return it before you leave the premises.”

“Thanks again, Weaver,” David said.

Kate and Ryan exchanged glances as he nodded to her boss, but the look in his eyes told her that he was still in shock from the revelation of her secret. He turned away and disappeared into another room before she could say anything. Kate sighed as Harper nodded to the officer at the desk as he accepted the key from him. “It should be right down this hallway,” he said, walking past the desk toward a corridor near the back of the lobby.

As they walked through the police station, Kate could hear the monotony of law enforcement that she had almost entirely forgotten: the incessant ringing of phones, the chirping of the radios, and the constant buzzing and transmissions of random code words and numbers. Kate sure did miss the atmosphere of places like that, but she felt a bit sad when she realized that the tradeoff involved saying goodbye to the friends and lifestyle that she had grown rather fond of lately.

Kate continued behind David as they approached the end of the corridor. A large, brown door stood at the dead end. “This looks like the place,” David said, sticking the key into its slot. With a quick turn, the door slid open to reveal Glen Tryston sitting with his face down at the only table in the room. He occupied one chair, and another was placed across from him.

Kate walked in slowly, letting her boss lead the interview. She went over to one of the corners of the room and leaned against the wall with her arms folded. She noticed the double sided mirror that lined the wall beside her. Kate wondered if Ryan might be hiding behind it, looking in at them. She still needed to talk to him and explain everything. She sighed without thinking, but quickly regained her composure. Now wasn’t the time to worry about those things. She knew she had to be on her A-game for the interview.

Harper moved toward the table and then sat in the chair across from Tryston, who had his wrists handcuffed behind his own chair. He slowly raised his head and looked at both of them. Kate felt an uneasiness welling up inside her stomach when she locked eyes with him for just a few moments. “Oh, it’s only you two? Mind if I go back to sleep?” he said, letting his head fall back to the table’s surface.

“Cut the nonsense!” David shouted. “You sold out and betrayed your country, for what? To put some crime-lord’s money in your bank account? We were your friends, Glen. And then you tracked down one of your former colleagues and accepted a contract on her life? Why? That’s all we want to know. Why did you do it?”

Kate pulled away from the wall and stood at full attention. She leaned her head forward, hoping to hear a response of some kind. Instead, Glen lifted his head back up and smiled. “Why? You stand there and ask me why? Like you don’t know?”

Kate’s eyebrows furrowed as confusion set in. What did he mean? Did her boss know something about Glen’s motives that she didn’t?

“Excuse me?” David replied, hitting the table with his fist. “What on earth are you talking about?” Kate could hear the rising anger in his voice.

Then, Glen spoke, capturing her attention completely. “Remember that day we heard that Daxton would be arrested?”

“Yes,” Harper said.

Glen looked over at her and hissed. “Kate, do you remember that day?”

Kate was bewildered. “Of course I do, but what does it have to do with this?”

“Everything,” he said, anger flashing in his eyes. “Those lawyers we had to relocate ratted on Daxton, saying he’d be heading to the docks for a meeting with one of his fall guys. Ever since Daxton had gone under the radar and became a fugitive, a couple of the higher ups in the agency decided that catching him was more important than anything else in the world.”

“Glen, you know sometimes we get orders so high up in the chain that nobody below the executive branch has any say in the matter, right? Either way, I still don’t quite understand the relevance to the case at hand. Why did you accept the contract on Kate?”

Glen leaned back, lifting the chair from its front two legs. He rocked back and forth for a while as Kate stared at him. “Let’s get back to that case, first,” he insisted, clearing his throat before continuing. “My wife left me, and I had to pay lots of child support. It ruined me! I lost everything, but of all people, Victor Daxton offered to return what you stole from me.” Glen grinned, but the look in his eyes turned Kate’s stomach.

“We didn’t steal anything from you,” she said.

Glen laughed and then looked up at Kate. “We’re underpaid, Kate; you have no idea. You people are all such do-gooders. So, I decided to change the formula up a bit and work for good money; it’s what I’m worth.” He then looked at David with signs of anger all over his face, but he spoke in a calm tone. “You were next.”

Kate gasped as Harper turned away from the suspect and looked at her. She could see the horror in his eyes. After a few moments, he turned back to Glen. “So, what exactly were you planning to do after you ended your contracts on both of us?”

“Daxton paid me very well. He wanted every marshal involved in his arrest to be killed. I obliged; I figured it was worth the risk. Then, I could just build myself a new life somewhere tropical and warm.”

“You’ll be somewhere warm, but it’s probably not all that tropical,” Harper replied.

Kate stepped forward and approached the table. “Glen, you used to be a good guy: one who was hardworking, honest, and you loved his job more than anything. Why would you let Daxton take advantage of you?”

He slumped down into the chair and sighed. “Just put me in a cage where I belong.”

“Don’t worry about that. We plan to,” David said.

Glen looked up and shook his head. “Just make sure Daxton doesn’t find out you caught me.”

“He won’t,” Harper said. “As soon as I walk out of this station, I’m having him relocated to solitary permanently. He won’t be able to hear a single word from the outside world, let alone get any orders out to his subordinates.”

Kate noticed a smile on her boss’ face as Glen dropped his head in defeat.