I don’t look back at him.
“No,” I say.
“Your call,” he replies.
I keep my focus on Renn.
“Listen to me,” I say, lowering my voice slightly. “We’re not here to hurt you. But whatever you’re caught up in already is.”
His eyes flicker, uncertainty breaking through the fear.
“I just do my job,” he says.
“And your job put you near restricted zones,” I reply. “Near blind spots. Near places you weren’t supposed to question.”
“I didn’t ask questions,” he says quickly.
“Good,” I say. “Then you just watched.”
He swallows hard.
“I didn’t see anything,” he insists.
Hrask moves behind me, the sound of his boots against the floor deliberate.
“That’s not going to work,” he says.
“I’m telling the truth?—”
“No, you’re not,” Hrask cuts in, his tone calm in a way that’s more threatening than shouting. “You’re trying to stay alive. I respect that. But you’re doing it wrong.”
I glance back at him, irritation flickering.
“I said I’ve got it,” I say.
“And I’m letting you try,” he replies.
“Then stop interfering.”
“I’m not interfering,” he says. “I’m reminding him what happens if he keeps lying.”
“That’s not helping.”
“It is from my perspective.”
I straighten slightly, turning toward him fully now.
“We’re not doing this your way,” I say.
“And what way is that?” he asks, tilting his head.
“The part where you escalate until someone breaks,” I reply.
“That works,” he says.
“It also gets people killed.”
“So does asking nicely.”
