Page 172 of Vexatious Queen

“Trusted is not the word I’d use,” he said.

“Then, what word would you use?”

He gave me a lopsided grin that did nothing to warm up his cold features.

“Calculating.”

“Same thing. Look, I’ll cut to the chase. Yuiry Nikitovich or otherwise known as Christov Ivankov is a dangerous asshole and has been using Zigzag to do his dirty work since the day he saved him from court. He’s been using him like a sleeper agent.”

“Did we just get dropped into a spy movie,” Ellis asked, his sarcasm thick.

“Laugh all you want. But when someone has you under their thumb like that, you’ll do things you wouldn’t normally do,” I said.

“Fine, let’s say I believe you. What do you want from me,” Ellis asked.

“I want you to have the charges dropped.”

“Can’t do it. This is his second offense of hacking a government agency. We don’t take that lightly at any time, but he was only fifteen before. He had someone willing to vouch for him and pay to get him out. Now he’s eighteen and has no backing.”

“What if I pay?”

“It doesn’t matter if you pay. He’s not making bail. He’s going to serve time for this no matter what.”

I tapped my fingers along the top of the desk.

“What if Zigzag was able to give you information about a drug ring and it gave you a reason to reduce his sentence?”

Ellis sat back in the chair and was quiet for a few minutes.

“Alright, I’m listening. What kind and how much product are you talking?”

“Cocaine and Molly. I can’t get you quantity, but it’s substantial.” Ellis sighed. “I held up my end of our deal last time, and you got a pat on the ass and a fancy promotion.” I smirked. “This is how this works, Ellis. I help you, and you help me. It’s really quite simple.”

“Yes, but I feel like I’m making a deal with the devil,” he grumbled.

“Better the devil you know than the one you don’t. Come on, Ellis, this is not brain surgery. Zigzag is a decent kid who has kept his nose clean, other than being strong-armed by the man he owed for keeping him out of prison. You really want to ruin his life with a max sentence?”

Ellis stood and paced around my office. He looked totally out of place with his Fed blues. I was kind of surprised he wasn’t wearing the black sunglasses. He stopped and stared at the photo of me, Ren, the guys, and Nora on opening night before Owen destroyed everything. It reminded me of what I’d almost lost, but also what I still had.

“Get me the location of the product, and I can reduce his sentence to five years.” He turned and looked at me, arms crossed. “If you get me the product and someone to lock up, I can do three.”

“Two years and you have a deal,” I said, standing.

“Fuck, you’re annoying,” Ellis said, walking forward and holding out his hand.

“Maybe. This goes without saying, but I want the deal in writing, just leave my name off it and put Zigzag’s name instead.”

I waited to shake his hand until he answered me.

“Fine, I’ll get the paperwork drawn up,” Ellis said, but it seemed painful for him.

“You know, Ellis, your ego and self-righteous attitude will kill your career if you’re not careful.”

He narrowed his eyes at me.

“If you really think the guys you work for are as clean as a whistle, you’d better think again. And I really hope that you never have to come to me for a favor.”

“Oh yeah, and why is that,” he asked with a snarl.