Page 126 of The Vigilant

His lip twitched. “And you just wouldn’t let her go.”

“So youtriedto kill me.” I left an emphasis on tried.

His laugh made my skin crawl. “Oh no,” he said. “He wanted you, too, and we both know that fate would be far worse than death.”

I fought to remain unaffected by his words—fought not to think of Mara and if she was okay.

“Where is he?”

The Straw Sandal licked away a drop of blood that collected on his stiff upper lip but refused to answer.

“Enough of this.” Tynan strode over with the screwdriver, and the Straw Sandal pushed back so hard into the chair it almost tipped over.

“All right!” he panted, his wild eyes swinging between Tynan and the blood-coated steel aimed for his leg. “He’s not here yet—the man who wants her. They arrive with the product next week.”

“So Shazad provides the heroin. Carson and GrowTech get the drugs into the country and ready for consumption, and then you…distribute,” Tynan spelled out slowly. “Where’s the base of the operation? Where are they bringing the drugs into?”

The Straw Sandal’s glare was murderous, knowing he’d be signing his own death warrant by telling us.

“You can either tell me, or I can hurt you a lot, and then you can tell me,” Tynan tipped forward and threatened.

“273 Shoreside Drive.”

I guess life in prison was better than death in the streets.

Tynan immediately looked to Creed, who was already tapping the address into his phone and starting to gather information on the location and surroundings.

“Is that where Mara is?”

“I don’t know,” he answered through tight teeth. “Where is my nephew?”

Tynan ignored him and held up his cell phone. “What’s the passcode?”

“You’re making a mistake.” He shook his head and let out a bloody laugh. “The Wah Ching is nothing compared to their empire.”

“What’s. The. Passcode?”

“146146.”

Tynan typed in the numbers and then spun the phone to face the Straw Sandal. “Don’t fuck this up.”

In addition to the code, his phone required a voice password to fully unlock it, just like Kang’s had.

He muttered a Chinese phrase into the speaker, and the screen opened.

“How do you contact Carson?” Tynan asked, and I could hear the anticipation in his voice.

We were finally so close.

The Straw Sandal let out a long breath. The one laden with traitorous defeat and then told us which encrypted app they used to communicate.

“When were you going to finalize the arrangement?”

“Friday.”

I moved closer to Tynan, my heart thudding so loud I swore it was the only thing I could hear as he opened the app.

“Which number?” Tynan flashed him the phone again, and the Straw Sandal squinted.

---