Beats of silence, and then Fletcher said, ‘Do you want the truth or your version of it?’
‘The truth,’ Borgia said, panting. ‘This has always been about the truth.’
‘Then I’ll tell you.’ Fletcher waited a moment before continuing. ‘Contrary to what you’ve been told, I had no involvement with the Behavioral Modification Project.’
Borgia backed away from the kennel door.
‘I didn’t bury any bodies,’ Fletcher said. ‘After the Bureau closed down the project, well after they shredded all the documentation and destroyed every last bit of evidence, I — ’
Fletcher cut himself off when Borgia turned, raised the Glock and fired randomly into one of the kennels. Fletcher jumped to his feet, the ceiling’s web of chain link preventing him from standing upright, and he yelled as Borgia fired again.
‘ Look at me. ’
Borgia swung his attention back to him. ‘You made me do that,’ he said. ‘You killed them. Their deaths are on your hands because you keep lying.’
‘I’m telling you the truth.’ Fletcher’s ears were ringing from the gunshots. ‘I can’t tell you where the bodies are buried because I don’t know. The Bureau took measures to make sure the bodies would never be found — that no evidence or documentation regarding the project would ever be found.’
Borgia’s eyes were vacant, his grin vicious. ‘Marie was right. You are a monster. A liar and a monster, just like the rest of them.’
Fletcher was about to speak again when he heard a faint scream, the sound coming from the passageway. The scream was followed by a clear voice crying for help.
Borgia backed away from the cage and grabbed the cattle prod from the operating table.
‘I’m telling you the truth,’ Fletcher said.
‘The world will know soon enough what you did,’ Borgia said. He pointed the cattle prod at him and added, ‘And so help me God, you will tell me where you buried the bodies.’
Borgia stormed through the passageway. Fletcher sat back against the floor and grabbed his right boot.