Bullet Point

Chapter 4: Meet and Greet

"What would your wife and kids think of you right now?" Ninette asks, placing the file folder in front of her on the table. The man looks stunned. "Mr. Hamond Fletcher. Born in London, 1957. You immigrated to the United States and married your wife. You have two children, both boys, aged 7 and 9."

Ninette looks pointedly at him and his face gets hot.

"How did you know all of that?" Mr. Fletcher finally makes out.

"And he speaks!" Kellan praises from behind the glass. 

Ninette takes a deep breath and stands up superiorly. 

"It was summer. George Keller was arrested and his said-to-be accomplice was set free with a warning." Ninette rambles. "The car was a silver Cadillac and the license plate was 5T37F4P. It was a partly cloudy day in July. July 7th to be exact. You were found on the scene in three piece black suit and a dreadfully hideous tie- a tie which you wore again to the hearing of your case. Are you getting the point, Hamond?" 

"Tell me how you know all of this! You can't use evidence from a previous case against me! No double jeopardy!" He pulls against the cuffs holding him to the chair. 

"I'm not using this information against you. I'm just reiterating the fact that we know everything. And if we don't know, we'll always have a way of finding out. Am I clear?" Ninette gets a stern look on her face as she scowls at Mr. Fletcher. 

"Throw me in jail if you want. There's nothing you can do to stop the bombs."

A man opens the door to the interrogation room and whispers something in Ninette's ear.

"Oh, but we already have." She grins a little bit. "Your men were taken into custody an hour ago."

"Both of them?" He asks, feigning hopelessness.

"No. There is no second man, and you know that." Fletcher goes to answer, but Ninette stops him, raising her palm. "See, I know from your previous testimony that you think you're clever. You think if we got your man, maybe you can say that there's another man that we missed to throw us off. But see, now you've lied in interrogation and that's not good."

"How do you know I'm lying?"

"Just a hunch." Ninette shrugs. "Now I'm going to send the men back in here and I suggest that you tell them the truth, only the truth, and nothing but the truth." Ninette says menacingly, leaning across the table before leaving the room. 

"That girl has a way with words that I will never understand." Collins says, shaking her head in astonishment. 

"Can I go now?" Ninette asks pleadingly.

"Yeah, I'll finish up the paperwork and put it all together for the attorneys. Have a good night, Ninette."

"Thanks!" 

.

***

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"Okay, why don't we all go around and tell everyone our names, how old we are, and how we got here?" Mrs. James suggests.

All eleven kids and Mrs. James herself are flopped across two couches, a few arm chairs, and the floor in a sloppy half circle in the living room.

"Why?" Darien speaks up. "We," he gestures to everyone aside from Eamon."already know each other."

"Thanks for volunteering to start!" Mrs. James counters and Darien sighs.

"I'm Darien, I'm 16, and I got here because I was adopted when I was 6." He states before leaning back against the couch and crossing his arms.