Iron Orchid (Holly Barker 5)

“Yes,” Kerry replied.

“And I’ve just told both the president and the national media that he’s dead.”

“I tried to stop you on your way out, and I tried to call you, but your cell phone wasn’t on.”

“I’m never going to turn it off again,” Kinney said.

NINE

HOLLY STOOD UP and put on her sweatshirt. “I didn’t lie on the polygraph,” she said to the examiner.

The man opened a side door, revealing another small room, which held a steel table and some matching chairs. “Go in there and sit down,” he said.

Holly went into the room and sat down, and the man closed the door behind her. She found herself facing another mirror. Knowing that she was probably being watched, she sat still and tried to breathe normally. She sat that way for what seemed an hour but was closer to five minutes, then two men walked into the room and took chairs on the opposite side of the table. One of them, Bob, the younger of the two, carried a thick folder.

Bob opened the folder. “You lied on your polygraph,” he said.

“No,” Holly replied evenly. “I did not.”

“The examination you have just taken is the most sensitive and reliable in the world. Nobody beats it; certainly not you.”

“I didn’t lie on the examination.”

“I’m giving you an opportunity to come clean, and this is the only opportunity you will have to do so and explain yourself.”

“I have nothing to come clean about,” Holly replied.

“That’s a lie.”

“Tell me what, exactly, you think I’m lying about.”

“You know, exactly, what you lied about.”

“No, I don’t. I am baffled by your accusation.”

“Tell us right now, or you’re out of here.”

“Well, I guess I’m out of here,” Holly said, standing up.

“Sit down.”

ON THE OTHER side of the glass, Lance Cabot sat with the more senior polygraph examiner, watching Holly’s responses. “I believe her,” he said.

“She lied,” the examiner said.

“How certain are you?”

“She said no, and I got a reaction that indicated a lie.”

“How big a reaction?”

“A small one, admittedly, but in my professional judgment, she lied.”

HOLLY HAD INTERROGATED many prisoners during her careers as a military and civilian police officer, and she was determined to stand her ground.

“Not only did you lie on your polygraph,” the man said, “but you have now made yourself liable for criminal charges.”

“You, sir,” Holly replied, “are full of shit.”