July 4th,2021
1845 hours
Quinn shoved Ellis onto a chair in an empty office, rough and unapologetic. He had no intention of offering her any semblance of compassion, certainly not now that he was certain she knew she was responsible for those deaths and dismemberments. In his eyes, she was just like any other killer he'd ever put behind bars, only this time, it ruffled him more than the rest.
She was a cold, hard bitch, remorseless that her greed cost countless innocent lives. It was apparent on her face as she grinned up at him magnanimously, an air of pompousness still flowing through her body language.
He nodded through the open door at Gordon to take his leave, along with Dr. Bourke, so they could question Dr. Urskin in a separate room. Gordon gave a sharp tilt of his head in reply, and Robyn cast Quinn a gentle smile with her eyes, one that didn't quite reach to the rest of her face. Quinn knew she was nervous, but she was the only one who could interpret anything the scientist said. Shepp stayed with him, silently brooding in the corner, an eagle eye to catch whatever small nuances Quinn might miss when he interrogated Lynne.
"Sit down." He hissed, though it was mute, as she was still cuffed and couldn't easily stand on her own. Still, it made him feel better to say it.
"Perhaps I should lay down," she simpered, crazed eyes glinting as she stared him down "and we can continue where we left off the other night."
"You're certifiably insane." He observed, leaning against the cold, metal wall, arms crossed as his liquid silver eyes bored into her chaotic ones.
"You're just mad I didn't get you off." She laughed, and he tensed, body shuddering with disgust.
"I assure you, Ms. Ellis, that I had no intention to do so. You are not attractive to me in the least. That tryst was merely a rouse to steal your notes, which are very incriminating." His voice was final, definitive, and he hoped she'd get the idea.
"Lie to me, if you wish, detective," she simpered, twisting in her restraints "but we both know you liked it."
Quinn hated this line of questioning. It was getting him no further to uncovering her secrets, and he needed her to spill her guts, so the hidden microphone inside his lapel that was recording their conversation could serve as proof of her involvement. He grasped at straws, blindly searching for an epiphany, when one struck him with such force, he couldn't contain a devious smirk.
"You might be right," he began, walking toward the desk and leaning close, his face inches from hers "I do have certain instinctual desires that were just too overwhelming to resist, in your naked presence."
Lynne's face flushed, her eyes glazing as he spoke seductively in her ear. Turning her on wasn't his end game, however, and he opened his mouth near her ear to finish his thought.
"Of course, those are just primal, male urges, and I was so horny I would've slept with the ugliest hag in the room." He grinned devilishly, pulling away and turning to leave. He paused after a few steps, his head cocked, the devious look still on his chiseled features. "Come to think of it, that's exactly what I did." He mused, pleased with the flash of anger and embarrassment that took over her girly smile. "It benefited me more than you, I'm sure, since I now have the evidence that I need to put you away forever."
The last words came out in a growl, and Lynne's cheeks were growing so red he could almost light the dark room with them. "You cocky, arrogant bastard." She snarled; clearly, the jab at her beauty had gotten under her skin, just as he planned.
"That I am." Quinn replied coldly, face hard like stone. It was her move.
"You think you know everything," an ugly, twisted sneer turned her lips "but you've underestimated me."
"Which indiscretion do you think I've overlooked?" Quinn asked, beginning a calm pace around the office. The candles they'd scrounged up to illuminate the dark space were quickly melting, and stifled the room with a hot, sooty air. "The creature hidden away in your secret laboratory, or the fact that you've been trying to clone it?"
Lynne's faced didn't change as he spoke, which disturbed him, but he tried to keep it hidden, keep his face devoid of any emotion.
"I haven't broken any laws by keeping that thing." Her tone was sweet, falsely innocent, as her twisted smile grew larger.
"You're right, I can't charge you for that, but you will be charged with negligent homicide." Quinn replied, his nostrils flaring in anger.
"The harshest sentence I'd get is involuntary manslaughter." Her lofty, dismissive tone wasn't bothered, but confident, and he imagine if her arms weren't bound, she'd wave her hand as if swatting a fly.
"Keep dreaming, Ms. Ellis." Quinn warned, continuing his pacing. "The DNA of the creature was present at two autopsies, and probably more."
"You can't prove that." She leered at him, straining against the cuffs. "How do you know that's the only one? There could be more out there, for all you know."
Quinn had to plan his next move just right. There was no way to predict how she'd react to it, so he'd kept it close to his heart until now. "There's eyewitness testimonies." He stated vaguely, purposely not elaborating further.
"From whom, those nutters locked up in Saint Agnus? I'm aware you spoke with them, my staff there is very loyal." She settled comfortably in the chair, her face relaxing as the hardened, intelligent mind began to reemerge behind her manic eyes.
Quinn mentally ticked off another check box: Lynne admitted, on recording, that the employees of that facility were in her pocket. It was one small step toward his endgame.
"Yes, of course, they were very helpful." He opted for a sincere, gracious tone, hopefully easing her into a false sense of security.
"They have such a high level of antipsychotics flowing through their veins you'd be lucky if a jury took them seriously." Her counter was smug, haughty, and he knew he had her.
Quinn pulled up a chair suddenly, plopping it down next to hers, spinning it backwards before he sat, purposely positioning his body in a seductive manner, legs splayed on either side of the chair back. He leaned forward, shrugging out of his suit jacket, a steady hand reaching to loosen his tie. Her eyes flitted over his form, and he fought to keep a victorious grin at bay. Her emotions were all over the place, creating a perfect scenario he could use to break her resolve. If mind games were what she wanted, he'd give her games of every kind.
"Pardon my casualness." He apologized, not at all sorry for the indiscretion. "It's getting hot in here. Where were we?"
"I...I don't..." Lynne breathed, still eyeing his body. He briefly wondered how difficult it was for homelier agents to conduct their affairs, before his brain chastised itself and he redirected to the task at hand.
"I happen to have an eyewitness account from a Johnathan Ellis." He began, gaze steady on her as he spoke, watching carefully to catch a glimpse of her reaction.
A soft laugh burst from her lips, and she leaned closer, eyeing him contemptuously. "My father's been dead for years. If you somehow found memoirs from his addled, sick recollection, that won't hold up in court. He was veritably insane when he passed."
Quinn's assumption was astute; Lynne had no idea her father was alive. He shrugged indifferently, pretending to search for something in his pocket. Feigning a struggle, he grasped the small, rectangular object and pulled it out of his pants.
"What's that?" Lynne squinted, eyeing it suspiciously.
"It's show and tell time. I'll show," Quinn pressed the play button on the side of the recorder "and you'll tell."
John Ellis weary, burdened voice issued from the tiny speaker, and Lynne's face went from a color hot as the sun to pale as an iceberg.
"-that God awful beast. I set it loose-" Quinn fast forwarded the recording, pausing at another point in the conversation "it showed up, out of nowhere," again, he skipped to another section of tape "ripped their insides out."
All the blood had rushed out of Lynne's face by this point, her limbs trembling as she cowered in the chair, as if distancing herself from the tape.
"Is it the voice, or the memory of that day, that bothers you, Ms. Ellis?" Quinn prompted as he observed her reaction, working off of a precipitous hunch. Judging from her reaction, her father hid his continued existence from his own daughter, which would be shocking to discover, but he had an inkling that wasn't the reason for her frightened behavior.
"Shut that off." She stuttered, her shaking getting worse as it played on loop.
"Why, Ms. Ellis? You kept the creature, so it shouldn't bother you if you're reminded of the day that it gutted, dismembered, and ate an entire crew. Should it?" It was a heartless move, and Quinn knew it, but he had to get her to a point where she'd admit a little more than vague association with the crimes.
"I said, turn that off!" She screamed, tucking her face into her shoulder, harsh, choking sobs muffled in the fabric of her shirt.
"You saw everything that day, didn't you?" Quinn pressed his face closer to hers, a prodding, harsh look plastered on it.
"Yes." She whispered between sobs, still shaking as she attempted to curl up in her seat, a motion made difficult with her hands cuffed behind her back.
"Why did you keep it?" He growled, lips right in her ear, and she flinched.
"I don't know what you want me to say." She blurted, turning slightly to glare at him through mascara-stained eyelids. Her makeup was running down her cheeks and chin. The beautiful prima donna was melting before his eyes, all the while having been just an image, a projection of a woman that didn't exist.
"Tell the goddamn truth!" He bellowed, yanking her chair to face his, roughly turning her head the rest of the way so he could stare into her dark, malicious eyes.
"I kept it!" She hissed, spitting in his face. His jaw ticked as he held back an insurmountable urge to hit her.
"Why?" He gritted through clenched teeth, barely keeping his anger at bay as he wiped her spittle off his cheek. "If you knew it was getting loose and killing people, why did you keep it?"
Her eyes widened in abrupt amusement. Something he'd said struck her as humorous, and he prayed it wasn't what he dreaded.
"So, these people get massacred every once in a while, and you assume the creature is escaping?" Her laugh filled the office, and Quinn chanced a glance at Shepp, who'd been quiet in the corner. Shepp's eyes were wide and warning: something wasn't right.
"I suppose you think I tracked it down and captured it, every time it escaped?" The laugh grew, unlike the dying candles, which were close to being spent.
"What did you do?" Quinn roared, standing abruptly, as he grabbed the chair and threw it in anger. It banged loudly against the wall behind Lynne, and her manic laughter faltered briefly.
"What do you want me to say? That I knew about the murders? Sure, I did, but I can't control mother nature." The sickly, simpering tone was back, and Quinn worried they were losing control of the interrogation.
"What did you do?" He yelled again, right in her face, so close he probably damaged her hearing.
"If you want the dirty details, you'll have to get them from Urskin. I'm not saying anything else to you, Agent Jones." She leaned back triumphantly, an anticipatory gleam blooming in her eyes. "You might not have time, though. Like I said, you underestimated me."
"What are you talking about?" Quinn asked, fear threatening to impede on his normally steeled emotions.
"I would run, if I were you." Lynne smiled, a horrifying, clownish grin that looked ghastly on her otherwise pretty face. Her eyes rolled to the right mockingly, and Quinn followed their trajectory, frowning in confusion.
"What the blood hell are you-" as his gaze roved the area of wall she indicated, he noticed the thin wire stretched from above the door to the opposite wall, where it disappeared up underneath a cabinet. He let out a bated breath, aware of what he'd find if he went to look. He did, anyway, to confirm the chilling suspicion.
He bent down, unable to clearly see the bulky shape under the cabinet bottom, and eased a very gentle, tentative finger out to feel the material. As soon as it met his fingertips his heart plummeted, eyes widening in shock.
"Tick, tock, tick, tock." Lynne's high-pitched, demoniacal laughter echoed hauntingly in the metal room.
"Shepp, get everyone off of this rig, now!" He spun, yanking Lynne up, eager to get out. He had to get Robyn off the rig, before the whole thing went up in flames.