Correct. He appears to be experiencing some sort of drug withdrawal symptoms.
Do you need us to send out a team of doctors and relieve you from this debriefing?
She considered that one for a minute. In spite of her revulsion at Jeffs beastly appearance and behavior, there was something fascinating about him. He inspired a twisted compulsion in her to figure out what made this strange man tick. It had nothing at all to do with the unwilling attraction she bizarrely seemed to feel for him, of course.
Common sense told her this guy was a complete nut job. Definitely a candidate for a padded cell and a psychiatric team to pick his brains apart. Except, hed been perfectly lucid through the meal and their recent conversation. He might be driven half-mad by the pain of his drug withdrawal, but that didnt make him crazy.
Was she seriously talking herself into turning down Hathaways offer of a medical team to replace her? Apparently. Because the next words she typed were,
Id like a few days to work on this guy. Ive established the beginnings of trust with him. I think hell talk to me given a little more time. I highly doubt hed cooperate with a psych team.
Your call, Jenn. But be careful.
Right. Careful. There was nothing at all careful about being alone on this island with Jefferson Winston.
One thing he hadnt lacked for in prison was sleep. Thered been nothing else to do to while away the endless days, and sleep had been his only relief from the creeping advance of his pain.
Jeff dozed in his room for a few hours after he heard Jennifers bedroom door close across the hall at about midnight. When he judged shed had plenty of time to fall into a deep sleep, he eased out of bed and opened his door. He glided stealthily down the hall to the living room.
Triumph surged through him. Jennifer had left her laptop computer sitting on the coffee table. Now he could only pray it wasnt password protected. He turned it on and waited anxiously for it to boot up. Bingo. A welcome screen popped right up.
It took him a few missteps, but he figured out quickly enough how to connect to the islands wi-fi network. An internet connection opened automatically. He opened an anonymous public mail server and typed fast.
G., Im somewhere in the Caribbean, and Im a mess. Dont know how much longer I can hold on. You know that pain you predicted if I ever went off my health regimen? You have no idea how right you were. Have L. pull strings to find me and get me what I need ASAP. Hurry. J.
He hit the send button and leaned back, sighing in relief. He poked around her files for any hint of an association with the classified surveillance facility he sought, but found nothing. Hed be relieved if he didnt think she was too smart to leave that sort of evidence laying around. Quietly, he emptied the computers cache and deleted all internet cookies and browsing history before shutting down the system. He crept back to bed and prayed for sleep to relieve him temporarily from his living hell.
Jennifer leaned back against her pillows thoughtfully, staring at the twin computer to the laptop shed left out in the living room as bait. Who was G.? L. obviously referred to Jeffs grandfather, Leland. The regimen in the note no doubt was an oblique reference to whatever drugs the guy was addicted to, and his exhortation to hurry meant she was right. The guy was experiencing heavy withdrawal.
She forwarded the entire keystroke sequence from the time Jeff turned on the laptop until he turned it off to the computer guys at H.O.T. Watch. Her technicians should be able to track down this G. person with ease through his or her internet service provider. Her mens expertise, combined with the legal authority of the federal government, should unravel the mystery in a few hours. Probably by the time she woke up in the morning, theyd know who Jeffs drug supplier was and what drug he was hooked on.
She shook her head. No way was she letting Jeff get a fresh supply of his drugs. Hed been off them for a couple months already in jail in Ethiopia. He had to be pretty close to busting his addiction for good after so much time had passed. If he could just tough it out a few more days or weeks, hed be clean. And then he could make a rational decision about his health. He didnt strike her as the kind of man who actually enjoyed being dependent on drugs.
Something about him suggested a sense of decency, honor even, under that uncivilized facade. And she was just the woman to help him rediscover that side of himself.
The State Department could probably spin the attack on El Mari as an unfortunate manifestation of his drug withdrawals. Temporary insanity.
But first, she had to get the real Jeff Winston back. For as sure as she was sitting here, the animal across the hall was not the man shed read about in her dossier.