Caught

7.

"It's absolutely crucial to get the prisoner to cooperate," Erica Hanarra told me on the phone as I was driving to my apartment. "We can't have you wasting your time chasing renegades. You're needed here."

No, I didn't understand. It was time for the Council to decide what it wanted. I'd been called out of the fight and left my men in a war zone. Now I had to head back in the middle of the night.

"Shira is our trump card and we need to use it," the woman on the phone continued. "And that requires your expertise. No one else can do anything with him

No one else can do anything with it. Interesting.

Long after she'd hung up, I kept replaying the whole conversation in my head, wondering what I'd missed.

Despite the lateness of the hour, I rang Maya to find out what was going on at the prison.

She answered, even though it was after midnight, happy to hear from me.

She assured me that Shira was behaving himself as he had promised. "He's changed completely. He even asked me for some books, and when I spoke to him this morning..."

She went on praising him so much that I found it suspicious. I was glad, though, that there had been no incidents in my absence.

"The Council sent me back," I interrupted her rant and repeated my conversation with Hanarra.

Maya was silent for a moment then said. "This may be unrelated, but Governor Palla sent someone to visit Shira a few days ago."

I knew Governor Palla. He was the head of the state government and one of the most influential members of the Council. Everyone expected him to become the leader of the new Republic when the war finally ended.

"Why does he care about Shira? Don't you know what they talked about?"

"I have no idea, but that Governor's man didn't speak with Shira for very long. And he was quite shaken when he left."

For some unknown reason, these words made me smile.

"Have you asked Shira about him?"

"I didn't get a chance, maybe he'll tell you something."

I chatted to Maya some more, but even talking to her didn't clear up the situation. It was as if the Council had recalled me because they thought only I could get the prisoner to talk.

I didn't share their optimism. Shira talked to me, yes. But I had the feeling that the kiss in the showers had more to do with it than any of my persuasive techniques.

~~~

The next morning, after five weeks, I entered Shira's cell again. The prisoner was sitting on his bed, his back leaning against the wall, reading.

The change in him was immediately apparent. He was wearing clean clothes, his black hair washed and combed back. His expression was calm and a little bored.

When he noticed me, he lit up and smiled.

"I thought you had given up on me," he said, putting down the book.

"Did you miss me?" I asked as I pulled up a chair to sit opposite him.

"It's been boring here, but your friend often comes to keep me company."

" Does she take good care of you?"

"I'm not complaining. Maya's nice."

"Nice?"

"I told you. You don't have to be jealous," he said, the flirtatious smile on his lips. "I like you better."

"I hope so, you don't want to break my heart."