Page 113 of Snitches and Serpents

He casually leans back in his chair and appraises me with those smug gray eyes of his. “Which part?”

“All of it. Why all the cloak and dagger? And why even involve me at all? If you’re a police officer, don’t you already have resources? Why would you need me to spy on Tristan?”

“Why do you think?” He gives me an unimpressed look, as if he can’t believe that I’m even asking something so stupid. “He would’ve noticed if random people were following him. But you, you had a reason to keep tabs on him. It was the smartest choice for the mission.”

“What mission?” I demand, completely frustrated by everything I don’t understand.

“To take down Rob Bracken, of course.”

I blink and open my mouth. Then I close it again. My head is spinning. “So… this wasn’t about Tristan? It was about Rob Bracken?”

“I will admit that my decision to use Tristan as the gateway was made for… personal reasons. But yes, the main goal has always been Bracken. His drug empire is ruining Bercester and he needs to be dealt with.”

“So go and arrest him! You must know where his headquarters are. Why involve me and Tristan in this?”

He clicks his tongue. “Don’t you think we have tried that already? The slippery little snake never keeps anything there. Nothing that can be tied to him, anyway.” He levels a hard stare on me. “I was hoping that you would be able to find Tristan, Bracken, and the drugs in the same place at the same time, and inform me about it. But unfortunately, you broke off our arrangement. So then, I had to resort to other methods. Which brings us back to why you’re here now.”

“This is illegal,” I blurt out. “This is entrapment… or something.” Staring at him in disbelief, I shake my head. “Isn’t it?”

Another one of those smug smiles tugs at his lips. “No, it’s not entrapment. It’s just thinking outside the box. Which is exactly what is needed to advance in this profession.”

And that’s when I see it. The burning ambition in his eyes. The insatiable hunger to move up the ranks. To prove himself superior to others. And the willingness to do anything to achieve it.

Cold dread seeps through my veins.

I’ve been tricked and arrested by a ruthlessly ambitious man who will do whatever it takes to reach his goals, regardless of who it destroys in the process. This will not end well.

“Now,” Derrik continues, and taps the pen against the notepad. “Here’s the deal.”

I blink in surprise. “Deal? You want to make another deal with me?”

“Yes. Even though I am deeply disappointed by the manner in which you ended our previous arrangement, I do believe in second chances. So I will show you one final bit of mercy.”

Since I don’t know what to say to that, I just keep watching him. Confusion is probably written all over my face. But I don’t care. My entire worldview has been flipped upside down so many times tonight that I feel like my head will be spinning for years to come.

“I will let you walk out of here a free woman,” Derrik says, a scheming glint in his eyes. “No charges filed. No record of any wrongdoing. Nothing.”

Disbelief clangs inside my skull. That is a better outcome than anything I could have hoped for. I lick my lips nervously.

“In exchange for what?” I ask.

He smiles. “In exchange for you testifying that you personally saw Rob Bracken hand that bag of drugs to Tristan and personally heard Bracken tell him to sell drugs at that charity event.”

I jerk back in my chair. “No!”

The word is out of my mouth almost before he has even finished speaking.

“It’s what happened anyway,” Derrik says with a casual shrug. “Right?”

“No,” I repeat. “I won’t do it.”

Silence falls over the room. For a few seconds, we only stare at each other from across the metal table. My heart pounds in my chest.

Then, Derrik sits forward in his chair again, draws his hand through the air, and snaps his fingers as if he has just remembered something.

“Oh,” he says. “That’s right. I forgot to tell you the other side of this deal.” A distinctly cruel expression flickers across his features for a second. And when he smiles at me, it’s cold and full of unspoken threats. “Tristan is getting the same deal.”

I draw in a breath. Confusion whirls inside my mind like thick clouds as I stare at Derrik. “What?”

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