Page 78 of Agent's Integrity

Steel shook his head. “No, this was talent, not luck. I can see why you studied deception detection. You have a knack for it. I would never have picked up on some of his lies.”

His praise surprised me, but also pleased me. I knew I was a good cop and did my job well, but it was still an affirmation to have someone as skilled as Steel tell me I was good at it. Assassin or not, I would take the compliment.

“Thank you.” I hesitated before saying the words, but they were genuine. Steel nodded at me, as if he understood.

Reuben appeared, looking rather unsettled that our interrogations had turned up a culprit. When he saw it was Bozeman, however, he didn’t seem surprised. “I always knew he was a slimy one.”

I rolled my eyes at his hypocrisy but said nothing. Reuben’s opinion didn’t matter one little bit to me. I found him to be egotistical and antagonistic towards me. He obviously didn’t like me, and because of that, I didn’t like him. I knew he wouldn’t out me as an agent, but that was only because of his loyalty to Emerson. I knew it wouldn’t extend beyond that. Given the opportunity, Reuben would happily plant a knife in my back.

Reuben lifted Bozeman by the shoulders, and Steel and I each took a leg, and together we carted him down to a holding cell. We passed a few people who gave us strange looks and wide berths, but I didn’t pay them any mind. If Steel was around, I doubted anyone on the crew would ask us what we were doing or why. And Reuben was first mate. He only answered to the captain.

Even though I was walking with two escorts, I didn’t feel safe. I knew plenty of the crew were capable of dangerous things. They posed a threat to me on many levels. After what Steel had said about Cass, I was feeling jittery. I was strong and could take care of myself, but I was also small. Small people were easily targeted. If someone on the crew decided they wanted a piece of me, there was little to stop them, even if I was Emerson’s guest.

Reuben’s presence didn’t reassure me at all. I doubted he was the kind of man who would stand by and let someone attack me, but I still wouldn’t rely on him to protect me, not when he obviously hated me. And while Steel had shown a willingness to protect me, I couldn’t rely on him. The only people I trusted to watch out for me here were Ethan and Emerson, neither of whom were on board. Walking openly through the ship without either of them was nerve-wracking. When I had been on board previously, I had always been with Emerson. He had never let me go anywhere without him. At the time, I had assumed he did it to make sure I didn’t make trouble, but perhaps it was more for my safety than I thought.

Once we arrived at the holding cell, we dropped Bozeman onto the bed, none too gently, and locked him in. Reuben gave him a disgusted look. “What did he tell you?”

Steel shook his head. “Nothing much. He flipped out too fast and tried to make a break for it. Once he wakes up, we can have a real chat with him.”

I shivered and tried to block out the meaning behind his words.Torture. I could never condone that. The thought of it made me sick, reminding me of what I had suffered myself. This wasn’t the time to get stuck in those memories, so I forced them to the back of my mind. I could deal with them some other time when we were finally, truly, safe.

Reuben nodded. “Yes, we will.”

“How long until he wakes up?” I didn’t want to speak, but I also didn’t want them to know that things were getting to me.Be tough, Jules. You can do this.

Steel shrugged. “We can wake him up on our own if necessary. But I suggest we wait for Emerson. He’ll want to know what’s going on.”

“He called to say the two of them were on their way back. He’ll be here before long. I doubt he’ll be happy, though.” Reuben walked towards the door. “I need to get back to the bridge.”

Emerson didn’t want there to be a traitor on his ship. I understood that, but we were making progress. We had uncovered at least one guilty person, and through him we would hopefully be able to find out who else was involved and where the stolen guns were. It still ate at me that I was helping a mob boss track down stolen guns he’d purchased illegally, but I refused to feel guilty about it. If I wanted to survive, I couldn’t afford to dwell on it. Sometimes you can’t do the right thing no matter how much you want to.

Steel folded his arms and leaned against the wall. “I doubt Bozeman knows where the guns are. I bet whoever he gave the information to simply paid him a straight fee. It’s cleaner that way.”

“Yeah, but at least he’ll give us a lead. A direction. He ought to have a name, or something useful.”

“It is a start.” Steel tapped a finger against his elbow. “How sure are we that it’s someone from Archuleta’s gang?”

I shrugged. “It’s the most logical choice. I can’t see someone on the outside getting close enough to anyone on either side to know about this deal. It’s possible someone got wind of it and paid both sides for the information needed to set Emerson up, but the more likely scenario is someone working for Archuleta double-crossed him. Especially if he’s having internal troubles.”

Steel grunted. He opened his mouth to say more, but his com beeped, and he tapped it. “Yeah?”

Emerson’s voice came over the radio. “We just got back. How are the interviews going?”

“We’ve got someone in holding. You should come down.”

“On our way.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Julia

It took only a few minutes before footsteps echoed down the hall, purposeful and angry. I stifled a sigh, knowing Emerson was going to be a bear to deal with now that he was upset. He wasn’t a cruel man, but he did have a short temper.

He came into view first with his mouth set in a hard line and anger practically leaking from his pores. He looked at both of us in turn before going to the cell and taking a look inside. He crossed his arms and muttered a curse word. “Bozeman.”

Ethan came in next looking much calmer but also grim. I relaxed marginally at the sight of him. He gave me a private smile before his face returned to its grim expression. I reached out and gave his arm a gentle squeeze, and his features softened. He stood beside me, and we faced both Steel and Emerson.

“We think someone from Archuleta’s crew paid him to give them the location of the warehouse.”

---