The guard pushed the tray away like it might bite him. ‘Right. Thank you. Finally.’
Ivan nodded once, as if he’d done the guard a great personal kindness. He looked at Bastion. ‘Your turn.’
The assassin smiled. ‘I have no weapons on me. I don’t need toys to be deadly.’
Ivan spluttered at that and I hurried between the two men ostensibly so the guard could check me over, but truly my motivation was to stop any pissing contest before it could begin.
I placed my badge and ID down and kept my hands visible, calm and cooperative. We all got patted down, but nothing further was turned up.
Unlike Ivan, I didn’t have seventeen knives and a flashbang hidden in my bra.
Though right now, I kind of wished I did.
Chapter Eighteen
The now very grumpy guard remained in reception, logging in the many weapons for the few hours we’d be here.
‘Inspector Wise!’ an excited voice called.
I turned to see a young prison guard coming towards me. His uniform looked like it had been pressed fresh only hours ago, and the bounce in his step suggested he was newly on shift. Or perhaps he was just new, full stop.
‘Such an honour to meet you, ma’am! I could hardly believe it when they said our most prolific Inspector was cominghere.Such a joy. Such an honour.’ He held a hand to his heart and bowed so low he almost tipped off his feet.
‘And you are, Officer…’
‘Pritchard, Sam Pritchard.’
‘You related to the warden?’ Robbie grunted.
Officer Pritchard’s cheeks reddened. ‘I’m his son.’
Ah, a nepo baby. Just what a prison needed. ‘Nice to meet you, Pritchard,’ I said briskly. ‘We’re here to see a prisoner, Vance Broadlake.’
‘Yes, sir. I’m aware. Prisoner number 3871 is in interview one, awaiting you.’
My stomach clenched but I nodded. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’ For the first time, he looked at the ogres and Bastion. ‘Oh. You can’t all come in. Inspector Wise is allowed because, you know, of the badge? But she’s coming in alone. You’ll have to wait here.’
Robbie shifted, and it felt like the whole room was filled with his power. ‘You will let me in with her, or I will rip you in two and find a guard whowilllet me in. I do not care who you are related to.’
Pritchard blanched. ‘Uh.’
‘This is fun,’ Bastion said. ‘I’m glad I came.’
Ignoring Bastion, I said, ‘Krieg is with me.’
‘Right, okay.’ He chewed on his bottom lip. ‘It’s against regulations to let someone else who’s not from the Connection in, but Dad said … I know, I’ll … I’ll turn the camera off. No evidence then.’ He paused, turning to me in consternation. ‘Do you need evidence, sir?’
‘Not for this,’ I said. ‘Go ahead and ensure it doesn’t record.’
‘Right. I’llsee you to the room, and then I’ll go turn it off. This way.’ He led Robbie and me to a metal door marked ‘Interview Room One’. He unlocked it and opened the door an inch. ‘Give me one minute to get to the recording room before you enter.’
He scurried off.
I wanted to complain about how easy it had been to make him flout the rules, but in this case, I shoved the urge down.
‘You wouldn’t really have ripped him in two, would you?’ I asked, eyeing my fiancé.
