Page 64 of The Study of Poisons
“You know,” he gestured. “Young woman, huddled in a corner, scared, and crying. I tried to calm her down and reached out to help her up. She pulled a knife onme. And thenIget called a brute for defending myself.” He huffed.
“Any other problems with the smash and grab?” Valek asked them both.
“No,” Ari said.
“Nope. It was fun, although I think it was more of a raid,” Janco said. Then asked, “What’s going to happen to all that loot? One place had boxes filled to the brim with Greenblade cigars.”
“It will all get confiscated and destroyed.”
“Too bad we can’t do something with all that stuff,” Janco said.
“What would you do?”
“Me? The weapons would go into the armory, the cigars could be used as…incentives…no, gifts to the soldiers for a job well done. Or we could use it for bribes.”
“Bribes?”
“Yeah, to get people to talk.”
“What can we giveyouto stop talking?” Maren asked Janco as she joined them. “I heard you and your squad two streets over.”
Unaffected by her comments, Janco said, “Just following orders.”
After they dropped off the workers and family members to be processed at the watch building, the dealers were taken to the castle along with Bunton and his men. Valek would soon discover which of them helped Bunton kill Sven and his agents.
As for Bunton, if he put a farmer’s uniform on the man, Bunton would be a perfect body double for Tentil, the prisoner scheduled for the cold season’s execution.
* * *
“Star wantsto get the little rat on her payroll,” Margg said to Valek.
It was three weeks before the beginning of the cold season and he’d been working in his office when she’d arrived with the news.
“In what capacity?” Valek asked, annoyed. He didn’t like Margg referring to Yelena as a little rat, but he couldn’t risk letting the housekeeper know it bothered him. Not until Yelena became an official part of his team.
“Providing information that supposedly the rat is privy to that I’m not. And I’m supposed to be the go between, which is good for us becauseIwon’t tell Star anything important.”
“Yelena won’t agree to sell secrets to Star.”
“I think she will.” When Valek didn’t respond, she added, “Star’s been pressuring me to ask, so let me ask. If the little rat says no, then it’s a no.”
There’d be no harm in letting Margg ask. Although he did wonder if Yelena would tell him about Margg’s offer. “All right, but I want to be nearby when you ask her.”
“Are youthatsure she’ll say no?”
“Yes.”
“Want to bet on it?”
“You sound like Rand.”
“You and the Commander make bets all the time.”
True. “All right. How much?”
“A gold.”
“Deal.”
