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“That’s all you have to say?” The tiniest thread of hope I held that this was a mistake crumbled.
He shrugged. His shoulders were tight. His body impenetrable. His eyes cold, with tiny licks of flames appearing. He opened his mouth a few times, but shut it just as quickly.
Clearly, I didn’t deserve an explanation.
“I hate you, Killian,” I hissed at him. “And when I die in prison, I’ll find a way to haunt your sorry ass.”
He pressed his lips together into a tight line, but not before I saw the smirk he tried to hide.
“You think this is funny?” I was across the tiny room in seconds, my fists beating against his chest. It was ineffective in hurting him, but it mademefeel slightly better. “This. Is. Not. Funny.” I punctuated each word with a pounding.
He didn’t even flinch, which only made me want to hurt him further.
The door swung open, and a familiar face appeared.
“Judd?!” My breath whooshed out of me. What was our foster brother doing here?
He gave me a wry smile. “Tris. It’s good to see you, even under these circumstances. It’s been too long.”
Over a decade.“Are you a cop?” I stumbled back a few steps until my knees hit a chair, and I thunked down onto the uncomfortable metal.
“In some capacity.” He clapped Killian on the back. “You did well tonight, brother.”
I hissed out a breath. “Oh. My. God. Are you adirtycop?” I whispered, even though he wasn’t quiet about his statement and clearly didn’t care who heard.
I was surrounded by criminals.
My eyes scanned the room to find the camera that was always visible in most of the crime shows.
“Killian, I think you should take a seat,” Judd suggested.
Killian shrugged and moved closer to me.
I held out my hand. “No, I don’t want him anywhere near me.”
Killian’s shoulders tensed further, but he stopped. “I’ll stay here if you don’t mind, Judd.”
Judd sat across from me. “You’re going to be okay, Tris. We need to talk about what happened tonight.”
“Is that a two-way mirror? Are we being recorded? Am I on video? I don’t want to go to jail. And just so you know, I’m so not covering for your sorry asses.” I crossed my arms over my chest. The second the words were out of my mouth, I wanted to groan. My stupid temper that had been absent for years had chosen this moment to unleash itself. I hated that after all this time, the reappearance of Killian seemed to fire it back up.
If Killian and Judd were in on this together, they didn’t have to putmein jail. They could probably find a way to kill me and leave no evidence.
The fight in me quickly dissipated. I slumped in my seat, doing my best to control the panicked pants that were making it hard to breathe. “Are you going to get rid of me … so that I … I can’t tell … anyone that you’re both … you’re both … in on this?”
Judd’s eyes widened. “Holy shit, Tris. You’ve always had a great imagination, but we won’t hurt you, never mind kill you. I can’t believe you’d think that of me.”
“What the hell, Tink?” Hurt flashed for a split second in Killian’s eyes before he hid it. The skin around his mouth tightened. “If it had been Peter?—”
I cut him off. “What am Isupposedto think?” Everything felt weird. Their words. Their expressions. Their actions.
Killian rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “I’m working with Judd, but not how you think I am.”
Judd rested his hands on the table.
I shifted away.
His keen eyes noticed, and he placed his hands in his lap. “I work for the DEA. Killian agreed to help us and use his connections to infiltrate various drug rings around the state or those trying to enter it.”