Page 138 of Trigger Happy Ending

“Yeah,” I press, more urgently this time. “Did he ever say anything about how got access to it?”

The look in his eyes says ‘bitch, why the fuck would I tell you,’ and he’s right. He doesn’t owe me any answers. Not after I’ve lied my ass off to him for so long.

“Listen,” I lean forward despite the pain. “You don’t owe me shit. I get that. But you and the Senator don’t have a hope in hell of getting any money owed if you don’t tell me what you know. Nobody knows the inner workings of the Agency like I do. I can help. But you need to be straight with me. Do you know how the Senator came to be in possession of the serum?”

Carson leans backwards and splays his arms across the back of the curved lounge. His gaze tracks upward, probably weighing up the benefits of trusting me. After what feels like an hour, he finally speaks. “There was a woman.”

Oh my god.

“I don’t know her name. He just said he got the serum from a woman who was a part of some clandestine organization. It was the first time I’d heard of the Agency.”

I stuff down the growing feeling of panic as I piece it all together. Senator Wilson is the redacted name. She obviously trusted him enough to confide in him about PARM-17. Whatever their relationship was, asset or source or whatever, she was prepared to handover her work to him. That very decision is what killed her.

“They’re punishing him,” I state with conviction.

Carson looks me dead in the eye, brows furrowed. “What?”

“The fake transfer is a punishment.”

“Why would they bother?”

“Because he took something that was theirs. Now, they’re taking away something that’s his. Money and his chance at furthering his political career. It’s what they’ve done to me … Freed me, only to take away the one person that would make my freedom worth it.”

Carson stares at me, processing what I’ve said. He leans forward, bracing his forearms on his thighs. “Well. Seems we have quite the alliance now, don’t we? Because Angel?”

Angel? Doesn't he know my real name?

Carson settles back into the lounge and crosses a leg over the other.

“I want my fucking money.”

Yeah, and I want a beach house and a puppy named Pablo. The likelihood of either of them ever receiving that money is slim to none. The Agency will have them both killed before that ever happens. But if I can make Carson believe there is a chance … He might help me.

“I need to find him, Carson.”

“If I tell you where I dropped him, what will you do for me?”

Of course, nothing comes free. Carson might have found a sliver of kindness somewhere in his greedy heart to help us, but Carson doesn’t do anything unless it serves him. He has that over Soren and me now. Not a great position to be in, but fuck. Beggars can’t be choosers.

“I’ll owe you one.”

“A favor?”

“Yeah.”

I can basically see Carson’s brain running through all the possibilities on how he can use me in the future. I don’t care that I’ll be in his debt. I just need to find Soren.

“I dropped him off a couple of weeks ago, a couple of hours from here. It’s not a place though … It’s more of a dirt road in the middle of nowhere.”

My pulse quickens. His lakehouse. Of course! Soren wouldn’t dare allow Carson to see exactly where he lives. Not a chance in hell. An off-road location is better than nothing. It’s all I’ve got.

“Can you take me there?”

Carson nods once.

“I can,” he says. “But remember.”

“I’ll owe you one.”