Page 44

“Bullshit,” Kana huffed.

“Agreed, miss,” said Ken, nodding. “I kept pulling files after the reassignment. Accessed records I no longer had clearance for. Someone noticed—or someone tipped them off.” He gave a dry laugh. “They called it insubordination. I call it doing my job.”

Ken sniffed. “Snowy was the last known associate. Standard procedure—start with the inner circle, work outward. But she lawyered up before I got past her publicist. So I went to the next viable contact.” He tilted his chin towards Kana.

Jun’s eyes moved between Ken and Kana. Every new piece of information made the picture bigger and him smaller inside it.

Kana pointed at herself.

“I needed to confirm your identity and assess whether approaching you would compromise the case or put you at risk,” Ken said. “Surveillance first, contact second. Standard protocol.” He made a thin smile. “Old habits.”

Behind Jun, Alex and Hal exchanged a “Yes!” with wide smiles and a fist pump.

“Yes?” Robin questioned.

“It’s nothing,” said Hal quickly. “We getting free food later.” He winked at Kana.

“So you’ve been following me this whole time just to get to Sunny?” Kana’s voice was tight. “Then what do you actually need from me?”

Ken pressed his lips into a thin line, staring at the floor in thought. “How well do you folks know about Nixzin?”

Everyone was silent.

Then Matt piped up, “Oh! I think I know!” He snapped his fingers and squinted his eyes. “That… Dryden!”

“Durden,” Hal corrected him. Then he turned to Ken, wary. “Why you ask?”

“There’s no secret that the ‘Durden,’” said Ken, emphasizing the street name of the drug, “has resurfaced on the streets again.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t you find it odd that its sudden reappearance happened after Ritsuki Ayase came out from hiding after a couple of months and had a very public suicide?”

Jun sucked in his breath, trying to process the information with Ruki’s name being mentioned again. He’d known Ruki worked at Paragon. He’d known, vaguely, that his work involved some kind of drug. But hearing it laid out like this—as conspiracy, tied to gangs and disappearances and death—felt like watching a stranger being built out of someone he loved.

The Ruki he knew couldn’t be this. Except maybe he was.

He tried to rally his thoughts when Alex’s face twisted, shooting a glare at Ken. “What does Ritsuki Ayase have to do with tailing our princess here?”

“Well, she’s associated with Sunny Mendoza, and I believe she is somehow related to the reappearance of the Nixzin.”

Kana gritted her teeth at him. “She would never do something as stupid as being involved with drugs!”

“You don’t know that.” Robin’s synthetic voice chimed in. “We already know she’s somehow involved with them; why deny her involvement with something as dangerous as Durden?”

“Wait,” said Jun.

Everyone turned to him. It was jarring that everyone’s eyes landed on him, but he couldn’t hold back his questions any longer. The one person Jun most wanted to ask was no longer here. So, he’d piece it together himself.

“I thought we were supposed to be looking for this girl. Now we’re talking about drugs and crazy gang activity?”

Robin chortled. “Who was that?”

Jun opened his mouth—his real name almost slipped out. “Connor,” he said instead.

“Connor?”

“Yes.”

Another pause. “Alright, Connor,” said Robin. “Then let’s make sure everyone in Alex’s dream team is brought up to speed.” They made an exaggerated clearing of their throat before they began. “Nixzin, or as everyone on the street calls it, Durden, is a type of antidepressant drug supposed to be developed and distributed by Paragon Industries. As you know, that company owns a lot of—”

“Shit,” Alex interrupted.