Page 90 of The Liar

Dirk grabbed my uninjured shoulder and pushed down firmly enough that I couldn’t get up if I tried. Sewell rested the bloody blade of the knife on the base of my pinky finger and used his other hand to add pressure until the bite of the steel became painful.

“Stop!”

Sewell stilled, and the pressure eased up.

“Stop,” West repeated raggedly. “I’ll talk.”

My throat constricted. “Don’t,” I choked out, unable to look at him in case he saw my fear. “I can take it.”

“Maybe you can.” His voice was strained. “But you’re stronger than me. I can’t watch you suffer. Especially not when it’s my fault.”

Now, I did risk a glance at him. His head hung low, his shoulders slumped. He looked defeated.

“You’ll regret it,” I said, knowing it to be true.

West raised his eyes and looked straight at Sewell, ignoring me. “You’re right. I’m a federal agent. We have a small team investigating corruption in your precinct.”

My breath stuttered as Sewell released my hand.

What was West doing?

Sure, it wasn’t the whole truth, but it was more than he should have admitted.

“How many on this team?” Sewell asked, still holding the knife as if he might use it on me at any moment.

“Four. My handler, a tech guy, and another undercover agent. It’s top secret because we’re not sure who we’re able to trust.”

“Good.” Sewell looked pleased. “I want names.”

“No names.”

I exhaled sharply, relieved that West at least had the sense not to rat anyone out. Of course, from what he’d said, there were many more than four people involved, but itwould make Sewell less jumpy if he believed the knowledge was localized to a handful of federal employees.

Sewell nodded to Dirk. He pivoted toward me, and I barely had time to brace myself before his knee drove into my gut. I gasped, my lungs struggling to drag in air. I keeled forward, catching my weight on my forearms.

“I swear, I don’t know their names,” West cried.

Sewell gestured for Dirk to hit me again. This time, he stood on my hand. I whimpered as something crunched and a dizzying wave of pain swept through me. Had he broken one of my bones? The ones in the hand were notoriously delicate.

“Fuck.” West started crawling toward me but was quickly stopped. “Adam. My handler’s name is Adam Teller. I only know the others through their code names: Firewall and Delta.”

A slow smile spread across Sewell’s face. “Excellent.”

“What are you doing?” I hissed at West, horrified by what he’d just admitted. “You can’t tell them that.”

He looked at me helplessly, as if he didn’t know himself why he’d caved. My gut churned, and I swallowed, doing my best to pretend I couldn’t feel the throbbing of my shoulder or the sticky wetness of my shirt, which was soaked with blood.

Sewell chuckled. “Poor Joanna. Wants to think everyone is as strong and righteous as her. Sometimes, men are foolish and weak.”

I searched West’s gaze, ignoring Sewell. There had to be more to it than that, but he looked so pathetic and downtrodden that I didn’t know what to believe.

Sewell scoffed. “Dirk. Let’s take your team on a hunting mission.”

“Wait,” West protested. “Joanna needs medical attention.”

Sewell glanced at me dismissively. “She’ll survive. Or at least, she’ll survive long enough for me to verify the information you provided. If it doesn’t check out, I’ll be back and I doubt you’ll like the outcome.”

“But—”

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