Kong leaned in, eager to hear the answer. If she was so innocent, why was she keeping secrets?
“I was never asked.”
That was bullshit. The government may have insisted one of their people be on Black Bay to oversee things with Resurrection, but the general had final approval on who that was. Black Bay had sent forms for her to fill out before they’d cleared her for entry. One of the questions was if she was affiliated with anyone involved with Resurrection, including shareholders, which her father was. She’d answered no.
Lark said as much to Katherine.
“I never received any forms from Black Bay.”
Kong’s eyes narrowed. That meant someone else had filled them out, and that someone had wanted to keep the fact that she was August Cleary’s daughter quiet. They’d also done a really good job of burying that fact. Not good enough to get past Lark, but even Lark had had to dig deep to find it.
“Why do you think you were chosen for this assignment?” Lark asked.
“I have no idea. Anyone could do the job.”
Yet someone, most likely Cleary, had wanted his overqualified daughter in place. Why? What was his angle if not for her to spy for him?
Tuning back into the interrogation, he heard Lark ask, “And no one has asked you to divulge information about Black Bay?”
“No.”
Lark was thoughtful for a moment before she asked, “What are your feelings toward the people who live at Black Bay?”
“I wish they wouldn’t avoid me.”
There was no malice in that answer, no disgust in her voice at what they were. Just some hurt feelings bleeding through that nearly did Kong in. Shit. They’d all been avoiding her because they’d assumed she was a spy, disclosing every move they made to her contacts. Now he felt all sorts of guilty. Granted, they still couldn’t trust her with sensitive information, but they didn’t have to completely freeze her out. He’d have to bring her an apology pie or some such shit. Women liked pies. He certainly liked pie. He looked toward the food counter, eyeing what was available for dessert since he now had a craving.
“We good, Kong?”
Right. Lark was still holding Katherine captive with her eyes. Had he missed anything? He didn’t think so, and now that he could cross her off the list, he needed to focus on finding who might be leaking information and how.
“All good.”
As soon as Lark released her gaze, Katherine blinked rapidly, her eyeballs likely all dry. Her head drew back and she looked around in confusion. Not surprising. The first time you got hit with the mesmerization whammy could be a little disconcerting.
“What the hell was that?”
“We needed you to answer a few questions.”
“And you couldn’t just ask me?”
Her voice had gotten a little screechy, there, so Kong was grateful that Lark fielded the question. “We don’t know you. We don’t have any reason to trust you. Now we know you’re not lying.”
Her voice sullen, Katherine muttered, “You could have just asked.”
Before Lark could reiterate the whole trust issue, Kong jumped in with, “Fine. I’ll just ask. Do you like pie?”
She looked at him like a befuddled owl, and honestly, he thought it was rather adorable.
“Pie?”
“Yup. If we’re going to start fresh and be friends, we’re going to kick it off as every new friendship should. With baked goods.”
Her face brightened with an eager, endearing hope that touched him as she nodded. “I love pie.”
Chapter Six
Katherine felt a tinybit lightheaded and queasy as Kong and Lark both rose from their seats and without another word, left her alone. Again.
