Page 115 of Snitches and Serpents

Fear and dread and panic shred my soul as I stare desperately at the door while Derrik’s final words echo inside my skull.

Choose wisely.

40

TRISTAN

Lounging arrogantly in my chair, I keep my arms crossed as I watch Derrik Payne with a completely casual look on my face. He sits in the chair opposite me, on the other side of a metal table, looking at me with gray eyes full of hatred and anger. There is nothing else in this little interrogation room.

“You’re looking awfully relaxed for someone who is about to be charge with dealing drugs,” Payne says.

That’s because I will be out of here before sunrise. But I don’t bother telling him that. Instead, I just give him a lazy smile.

“Tristan Kane, you—” he begins, but I cut him off.

“Do I know you?” I ask.

He bristles and grinds his teeth at being interrupted, and his fingers tighten around the pen he’s holding.

“It’s just…” I continue. “You’re looking at me as if you’d like nothing better than to grab a baton and beat the shit out of me. And yet, I’m pretty sure we’ve never met.”

“We haven’t.”

“But…?” I prompt.

He clenches his jaw, looking as if he’s debating whether to tell me or to go and grab that baton. Then he at last bites out, “You beat up my cousin.”

Ah. Well, that’ll do it.

Keeping a nonchalant expression on my face, I hold his stare and reply, “If I, allegedly, beat up your cousin, it would’ve been because he took something without paying for it. Which, as you know, is a crime.”

“So is dealing drugs.”

“I know. Which is why I would never engage in such a despicable activity.”

He scoffs and adds, “And so is beating people up.”

Uncrossing my arms, I sit up straight in my chair and spread my arms wide. Giving him a clear target on my chest and the rest of my body.

“You could always go and get that baton, if you want.” I flash him a lethal smile. “Though, you should probably have kept the handcuffs on for that.”

“I could always get another pair.”

“You do that.” My smile sharpens even more. “See how that turns out.”

For a few seconds, it looks like he’s actually considering it.

Then he forces out a long breath and flexes his fingers on the pen before setting it down on the table. Clasping his hands, he rests them on top of the notepad before him.

“I’ll get straight to the point,” he says. “While I do despise you, you are not my main target. I want Bracken.”

Crossing my arms again, I lean back in my chair once more and draw my eyebrows down. “I’m not a snitch.”

“And I respect that. But are you really prepared to ruin the rest of your life over that?”

“I’m not ruining anything.”

“You will be charged and convicted of dealing drugs. Do you really think anyone will hire you as an engineer after that?”

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