RUSTY | frank castle

THIRTY THREE

Beep!

"State your name for the record. Last name first."

He sighed. "Russo, William."

"Mr Russo, I'm going to share several crime scene photos with you." Dinah Madani spread six different printed photos on the table in front of Russo. "Look at them carefully. Tell me if anything looks familiar."

"Aren't you gonna Mirandize me, Agent Madani?" He said sharply.

"No need. Unless I decide to arrest you. We're just talking."

Billy leaned in closer to Madani. "Why am I here, Dinah?"

The agent had a smile on her face, though the purpose of it unrecognisable. She placed one separate photo on top of them all. It was Sam Stein, his eyes open but lifeless as he lay in a pool of his own blood; his eyes didn't even reflect the sun.

"'Cause you're a murderer who's gonna pay for the lives you took." 

Looking closer at the pictures, Russo mockingly frowned. He leaned back in his chair. "The only reason I was there that day . . . was you."

Dinah sat in her chair beside the camera. She listened to Billy, though she wanted him out of her sight. "I was there to take you home. I remember driving you back to your place. Bathing you. Holding you all night in the same bed that you and I had repeated sexual encounters."

He looked straight at the camera as he said that last part.

Dina cut him off quickly. "Did you and Frank Castle conduct illegal covert operations in Kandahar?"

"Well, I'm sure you've perused my service record. Does it indicate that I was in Kandahar?" His eyes squinted for a second. "Here's what I think's happened. I think that you're pissed that Frank Castle got away, and you're looking to blame me, so you send your guys to come down to pick me up. But now . . . now you're realising that maybe that wasn't such a smart move."

Dina sat back in her chair, listening on. Her head was held high though all this would be considered highly unprofessional. 

"Now, if this was official, you wouldn't be sitting there alone."

The agent stood up, and turned the camera off, letting Billy lean back in his chair with a hateful smile on his face. 

The conversation continued, the tension thick in the air. It was hard to breathe. 

"I know that you must be haunted by the death- sorry, forgive me, deaths of your partners . . . but that doesn't make me the guy you're looking for."

"You're right." Madani has upped her game. "I'm looking for Rusty Mallard and Frank Castle. But who knows? Maybe I'll take my time finding them."

Dina circled the table and sat on it, facing Russo. "God, you remember how they looked at you in that stairwell? How Rusty Mallard had that gun pointed at you, her eyes glazed over with tears?" Dina turned from mocking to serious. "They're going to kill you. And they're gonna enjoy doing it."

Madani shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe they were tipped off. Maybe they're waiting right outside this building." 

Saying nothing, Russo had his jaw clenched tight. He was looking at Dina, hate in his eyes like there was in hers only fourty seconds ago. 

"Nice suit." She said. "Hope it's bulletproof."

  •••  

"You're asking me to sanction a woman and man's murder." The older brunette said.