Page 137 of Trigger Happy Ending

Okay, so he knows. “Soren.”

Carson frowns. “He wasn’t in a great way when I saw him last.”

“I know. That’s why I need to find him. Do you know where he is?”

Carson shakes his head. “No. All I know is that he’s off-grid. Mentioned something about clearing his head before they send him away.”

Send him away. I pick at my fingernails and lower my voice. “You know about them, don’t you?”

“The Agency?” Carson nods and clears his throat. “Yes. I know about them. You work for them, don't you?”

“I did … I don’t anymore.”

Carson’s eyes narrow, deciding whether I’m speaking the truth. I understand why he’s suspicious, but for once, I’m telling the truth.

“I know about your mission. The retrieval of PARM-17.”

I don’t respond, instead choosing to swallow and run my tongue along my bottom lip.

“Carson, I just need to find Soren.”

“He still works for the dirty dogs at the Agency.”

“Yeah, I’m aware.”

“So if you don’t work for them anymore, but he does, why do you need to find him?”

God, is he for real? He would know, he just wants to hear me say it.

"Carson, please."

“You want answers? Then you’re going to have to be more honest and transparent with me.”

I hold Carson’s gaze and blow it all to hell. I’ve got nothing to lose and a big Soren-sized prize to gain.

“He traded his freedom for mine. Basically sacrificed his life for mine.” The words burn as I say them aloud. How do I explain that I used to see in technicolor, now all I see is gray? “Have you ever loved someone so much you feel like you’re dying the longer you spend apart? Well, I’m fucking dying, Carson. I need to find him.”

I watch Carson with an eagle eye. He’s giving me nothing, no tells at all. I can’t tell if my brutal honesty is working in my favor or against me.

“So,” I say after a few moments. “Can you help me find him?”

Carson shifts in his seat. “You know they lied to me.”

This conversation is dragging on longer than it needs to. Carson seems to want to get something off his chest about the Agency, and whether I like it or not, I’m going to have to suck it up and listen.

I frown. “About what?”

“The money transfer. It was all an illusion, a clever trick to make it appear like the money had been transferred. But not one fucking dollar did. So, you could say, we have a common enemy now.”

That catches me off guard. It’s a brazen move by the overlords at the Agency. I’ve never known them to do something like that before. Money is meaningless to them; they have an endless supply. They usually pay whatever price gets them what they want fastest. For them to fake the transfer instead of just making it … that’s unusual.

Carson continues. “They owe me twenty million, but the Senator? They owe him 230 million—he’s fucking furious. He’s held onto that shit for years and planned to use the money to fund his presidential run.”

The mention of Senator Wilson punches me in the sternum. Now I know my mom was the creator of PARM-17, does this mean the Senator knew her? Was he the redacted name in her file? I need to be certain. I need to know.

I keep my face as blank as I can. “Did the Senator ever tell you where he got it from?”

“PARM-17?”