Chapter 9

Frank woke slowly because of the drugs in his system. But soon, the pain made itself known. Though he had trained in the martial arts and Yakuza to suppress pain, his eyes hurt so much that he was soon screaming for help, for any kind of relief.

Jack, having been called as soon as the prisoner had begun to stir, stood over Frank.

"Are you ready to talk now?"

Fighting against his restraints and screaming in pain, Frank yelled, "Anything! I'll tell you anything you want to know! Just give me something for this pain!"

"I want the truth, boy! Tell me what you know about the accident."

"Please! Please give me something for this pain! I'll answer all of your questions, just give me something!"

Jack nodded to Joe and he put salve into Frank's eyes. The medicine was of a quick acting type and Frank soon calmed down. As Joe did his thing, Raven gave Frank a shot of truth serum, garnered from the truck interrogation kit.

(The mercenaries had some experimental 'juice' for just such occurrences.)

"Am I blind?" asked Frank in a weak voice.

"That remains to be seen, but I doubt it."

Frank gave a shudder and then sighed as the meds took away more of the pain. He began to slip into a drug-induced state.

"I never hurt so much in my entire life!"

"Don't blame us. You're the one who made the first move, boy!" said Jack.

"I know, I know!" said Frank as he began to slur his words, and talk in a very flat tone.

"Now, what do you know about the accident?"

"Only what was in the papers and the police report."

"Police report? How did you get that?"

"I hacked into their system. Its very old and has a lot of holes in it's security."

"Think hard on this BOY. Did you have any part in the crash and attempted takeover of our Company?"

"No! Absolutely not!"

"Can you offer up some proof that you're not involved?"

"None!"

"How did you know about Camilla?"

"Just deductive reasoning, is all."

"Are you really my son?"

"Yes."

This answer gave Jack pause, but he continued the interrogation.

"Do you hold any animosity against me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you weren't there to help my mother and me."

"Do you hold any animosity against Camilla?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you love her, not me."

"Do you plan to hurt either of us?"

"Yes."

"Which?"

"Both."

"How?"

"I will kill the girl to make you feel the pain that I feel."

Frank made the last statement with a bit of emotion. Either the drug was wearing off or he was very driven by extreme hatred. Not knowing which, Jack brought the interrogation to an end.

Checking the restraints again Jack and Raven went back upstairs leaving Joe to finish his watch.

Jack just sat with his head in his hands without saying a word.

"Why have you not killed the child yet?" thundered Hassan.

"We haven't been able to find her!" answered Alice White.

"She is but a child! A girl child! Why is it so hard to find such a one?"

"We have teams everywhere but there is no sign of her."

Calming a bit, Hassan asked, "What of the call you made that your team had tracked her to the forests of... of... Maine?"

"That team never got there. We think that there is some other group out there. They are either protecting her or after her for some other reason. Anyway, they erased our team on the way to the cabin. The next team found that the cabin hadn't been occupied in years."

"Fool! If only one team disappeared then she had to have been near by! Why else erase the team?"

"But..."

"No! You listen to me! Get your best people up there and start looking!"

"Yes, Hassan. Right away."

Jack's cell phone rang, interrupting the bad thoughts that were flooding his mind.

"Yes?"

"Is this Jack Gunn?"

"Yes."

"This is Ranger Carlson from the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. I was given your name and number incase of emergency. I'm sorry to inform you that vandals got into your cabin, trashed everything, then set it afire. It's a total loss. What wasn't burned in the fire was smashed. There is nothing left."

"Well damn!"

"Will you be coming up to take care of the mess? We can't just leave it the way it is. This is a state park even though you have Native rights."

"I know, but I'm unable to breakaway from things here. Is there someone that you could call and get to do the cleanup? I would be glad to pay them for their time."

"There is a construction company here in the Park that is just finishing up a job for us. I could ask them, I suppose."

"I would be glad to pay you a finders fee."

"That would be nice but it isn't permitted. I will ask the crew chief and see what he says. If they are willing, may I give them this number? Then you can work out the details."

"Of course Ranger."

"Good."

"Oh, Ranger! May I please have your number in case something comes up before you can get back to me?"

"Well I would, but as soon as I hang up I'm going to see the crew chief, and call right back. Then I will be on the river, and there is no cell phone reception out there. Sorry."

"That's ok, then."

Jack looked at Raven and said, "They're actively searching for us and just tried to bait a trap. They must have some serious people looking, if they are doing what I think."