At some point, I would have to decide whether I was going to trust them…or not.
Why was I so ashamed to tell these men what had really happened to me?
Chapter 10: Knox
Silas texted his informant from a burner.
Silas: Meet me at the old Falcon City Steel Mill at 1100 sharp. If you’re not there alone and on time, you’re dead.
We both went to meet him. Lena remained with our most trusted AIED officer, Alex Yuri. It was the first time we’d left her without either of us, and it sat wrong with me the entire drive. Silas wanted to go by himself, but this was a meeting I needed to be present at.
I had to see the informant talk for myself.
My brother was excellent at applying pressure. He knew how to steer a conversation, how to corner someone until answers spilled out. He was especially good at manipulation through pain. But he didn’twatchthe way I did. He sometimes missed the unspoken parts. Everyone had tells, like a brief hesitation before lying, or a subtle shift in posture when something struck too close to the truth. Bodies had a tendency to betray secrets long before the mouth ever could.
Information that came through Silas always felt incomplete.Not wrong, simply missing the visual pieces.
That was why I needed eyes on the informant the moment he arrived. But I couldn’t go alone. Without Silas, his primary handler, he might bolt. Fear made people stupid, and stupid people ran.
We arrived early and scoped the mill, mapping exits and sightlines, noting where someone might break for it if panic set in.
The informant showed up just before 1100, wearing a black hoodie and oversized jeans. His hands stayed jammed into his pockets, head down.
I tracked him as he crossed the cracked concrete, watching the tension in his shoulders and the uneven rhythm of his steps. His walk told me he was nervous, wired, and possibly high.
Silas approached first. I stayed back, keeping to the shadows so I wouldn’t spook him.
The informant nodded to Silas, then noticed me lurking in the dark. His eyes went wide as he turned to my brother.
“Who the fuck isthis?” he hissed. “You said'alone!'”
“I toldyouto come alone,” Silas snorted. “Not thatIwould.Iown you, not the other way around. You do what I say. I'll bring whoever I want.”
The informant swallowed. “Well, who is he?”
“My twin brother. He works with me. You answer to him, too.”
Revealing my face, I stepped out from the shadows.
The informant scoffed, lighting a cigarette with shaking hands. “Great.Like one of you wasn’t enough. Can’t believe two of you scary fuckers exist.”
“Focus,” I snapped. “We have questions.”
He glanced at me, then back to Silas. “Shit. He’s impatient.”
Silas shrugged. “He’s also trigger-happy. So I’d talk if you don’t want a bullet in your foot.”
Silas smiled like it was a joke.
It wasn't.
The informant took another drag, eyes darting between us. “Marco’s been careful lately. Keeping things tight. I don’t know how much I can help.”
“You better,” I muttered.
“What my brother means,” Silas said smoothly, “is that if you want to stay useful, you'll answer everything we ask and a little more. We only keepuseful informants alive.
The man shifted his weight from foot to foot.
