Page 36 of The Sniper

Winkie’s lips parted, then pressed shut again.

Reyna’s hands curled into fists. “Say something.”

Winkie let out a clipped breath. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

Daniels stiffened.

Reyna’s eyes narrowed. “How was it supposed to be, Winkie? What was the plan?”

Winkie shook his head, his voice barely above a whisper. “I thought I was just passing along information. Names. That’s all. I didn’t know they were going to kill anyone.”

Daniels wanted to break something. That wasn’t good enough.

Reyna let out a humorless laugh. “So that’s what you tell yourself? That makes it easier, doesn’t it?”

Silence stretched between them.

Daniels had seen enough. He pushed off the wall and entered the interrogation room to join Reyna and Winkie. Reyna looked up, something unreadable flashing in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything.

Daniels pulled out the chair beside her and sat down, his presence adding to the already suffocating air in the room. He let the silence settle, let Winkie feel the weight of what he had done.

Then he spoke, his voice smooth, calm, terrifyingly quiet.

“You don’t get to play the victim, Winkie.”

Winkie flinched.

Daniels leaned forward, his gaze pinning the man in place. “You gave them access. You let them in. You handed them names, information, and leverage. And now people are dead because of you.”

Winkie swallowed hard. “I...”

“You’re going to tell us everything you know,” Daniels said, his voice dropping even lower. “Right now.”

Winkie hesitated.

Daniels let the silence stretch, let the pressure build. Then he placed his hands flat on the table and said, “If you don’t start talking, I’ll let Reyna take you down to the shooting gallery and use you for target practice.”

Winkie’s breath caught, his gaze flicking to Reyna. And then—finally—he cracked.

“It’s a woman,” he blurted. “I never met her face to face. She used a burner phone. Sent payments through an offshore account. I don’t know who she really is, but she called herself Artemis.”

Reyna and Daniels exchanged a glance.

Artemis. So Orion wasn’t working alone.

Daniels’ gut twisted. He knew that name. Not personally, but through whispers, through intelligence reports. She was an information broker, a ghost in the underworld, someone who only surfaced when there was something worth selling.

Reyna’s expression darkened. “And the next target?”

Winkie hesitated, then shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Daniels didn’t believe him. “You’d better start remembering.”

Winkie’s mouth opened, then closed. His fingers twitched. He was holding back.

Reyna’s patience snapped. She grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him forward, her voice cold and sharp. “Who is it?”

Winkie’s breathing was ragged now, fear creeping into his eyes. “I swear—I don’t know exactly. But they were looking for someone. Someone in the community.”

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