Philip’s gaze shifted to her. “What else?”
Imara leaned in slightly, narrowing her gaze. “She flinched when Ahna said ‘inventory,’ but not at ‘names’ or ‘locations.’ Either she’s been smuggling something valuable, or she’s worried we’ll trace it back to someone higher up.”
“Useful,” Philip said. Then, to Ahna through his SARTF earpiece, he said, “Push harder.”
Ahna didn’t need to be told twice. She leaned over the table, palms braced against the surface. “We know you’re not acting alone. You’re not smart enough to organize a whole smuggling route by yourself. Who are you working with?”
Mira just smiled.
“Yosef,” Philip said, nodding once.
The man didn’t speak. He simply moved. The door hissed open, and his boots echoed as he crossed the threshold into the room. Christian watched closely, a sick knot twisted in his gut.
Ahna stepped aside as Yosef approached. “Last chance,” she said. “Talk.”
Mira tilted her chin. “Go fuck yourself.”
Yosef didn’t blink. He pulled a narrow, black case from his belt and opened it on the table, revealing a single silver coil.
Christian’s breath hitched. He recognized it from his days in the Falaichte. It was a nerve filament, thin enough to slip between vertebrae and calibrated to overstimulate every pain receptor without leaving permanent damage.
He took a step back from the electroglass screen, bile creeping up his throat.
Yosef inserted the wire beneath Mira’s collar. She gasped at first contact, tensed hard enough to rattle the cuffs.
And then Yosef activated the coil.
Mira’s whole body arched as a stifled scream clawed its way from her throat.
Christian’s fists clenched at his sides.
Ahna’s voice cut through Mira’s strangled breathing. “Tell me who’s running the drops. Who’s the contact on the inside?”
Mira shook her head. Another burst of voltage. Her boots scraped against the floor.
“This needs to stop,” Christian growled.
“She’s hiding something,” Claude said. “No one takes that much without cracking unless they’re afraid of what happens if they talk.”
Philip’s voice was sharp. “So, we break her loyalty.”
Ahna stepped closer to Mira’s chair. “You think this is the worst we can do? Tell us who you’re protecting. We’ll make it easier on them. But keep stonewalling, and it’s not just you who suffers.”
Mira’s jaw quivered, but she pierced Ahna’s face with a death glare.
Yosef shocked her again.
“I swear,” Christian growled, “if they don’t stop—”
“That’s enough, Mister Holm,” Philip snapped, to which Christian’s nostrils flared.
Ahna leaned in and spoke every word as its own sentence. “Who are you working for?”
Mira took a long, shaking breath. Then, barely above a whisper, she said, “She comes in person.”
Ahna pushed. “Who?”
Mira closed her eyes. “Nadine. Nadine Proctor. She inspects every shipment herself. No one moves anything without her say.”
