Liam, Ian, and I arrived at the police station where Selene Williams was being kept in custody.

She was trying to flee the country using an alias and a fake passport. But she didn't take into account the iris recognition system that was now used in most airports and could identify an individual only by scanning their eyes. She was arrested and sent to a police station that was close to the airport.

We introduced ourselves to an officer who led us to a middle-aged man. The latter smiled at us before introducing himself. "Welcome, Agents. I'm Lieutenant Jacob Morgan."

Liam was the first to reply. "I'm Agent Hunt, this is Agent Ryan and Agent Craven."

The lieutenant nodded, smiling at me and Ian. "The suspect is in our interrogation room. Let me take you to it," he said, gesturing for us to follow him.

We followed him to the observation room. I looked from behind the glass. Selene Williams was sitting on one of the metal chairs, looking distraught. She was picking at her nails, biting her lips, and looked haggard. Her blond hair was unkempt, and her blue eyes wandered all around her as if desperately trying to find a way out of the fate to come. And she looked young, probably around my age.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. We're going to interview her and take it from here," Ian said to the lieutenant, who nodded and left us in the room.

The three of us went into the interrogation room. She met my eyes evenly. I could tell that she was trying to flip an emotional mask on to hide her nervousness and appear calm. It didn't really work out well for her.

I sat in front of her without saying anything. Ian and Liam remained standing, towering over me, and both made sure to radiate an intense vibe.

"Why am I here?" she asked, looking between the three of us. Her hands were shaking, and she looked on the verge of breaking down. I figured that a little push might do the trick.

"I suppose this is something you already know, Miss Williams," Liam answered her.

I knew he was fixing her with a hard stare without the need to look at him.

"Miss Williams, we know you were involved with Gerard Warner in his illegal activities. Acting clueless won't really do you any good," I added.

She gave us a bitter look but said nothing.

"You know that you're in an unpleasant situation, don't you?" Ian started. "You were involved with Warner. You can't deny that because we already have a lot of evidence to prove it. Also, you were caught trying to flee the country using a fake identity."

"Oh, and I actually find it a little uncanny that you disappeared right after your boss was murdered, which may suggest that you might have had a hand in it." I leaned back in my seat, giving her a pointed look. What I said wasn't true, but it wasn't frowned upon to lie in an interrogation if it was going to encourage a person to tell the truth.

And Voila, I got the reaction I was expecting.

Her eyes widened as she shook her head almost immediately. "What? No, this is bullshit. I would never hurt Gerard."

He was her boss, and she was calling him by his first name, which made me suspect that they might have had a thing going on between them.

"Were you romantically involved with him?"

My sudden question clearly took her by surprise. No words came out of her mouth as she opened and closed it a few times. She finally let down her guard and nodded. "It has been two years. His wife didn't know."

"Miss Williams, we're going to value your cooperation," Liam told her. "Just tell us what you know, and we will try to get you a good deal with the DA."

"Your time in prison can be reduced, and you could be sent to a minimum-security prison. You could find some comfort in there," Ian added.

She was looking between us with blue eyes full of uncertainty, as she was definitely running our offer in her head.

After a few long minutes, she clasped her hands in front of her on the metallic table before she started talking. "Gerard told his wife that he was going to be outside the country for a while, but it wasn't true. We were spending time together, and we were dealing with things related to... to our other business." She sighed. "One day, he went out to meet someone, but I don't know who exactly, and—and he didn't come back. I knew something had happened to him, but I wasn't sure." She paused to take a breath, and a few teardrops rolled down her cheeks.

"What happened next?" I asked, pushing her to continue. I knew that the upcoming part was hard.

She swallowed hard. "I received a message—a threat. They told me that Gerard was gone, and I was going to meet the same fate if I ever decided to open my mouth," she said, and a sob escaped her mouth. She took a deep breath before she continued. "I didn't know what to do, so I ran. A friend of mine knows someone who can forge a passport. I—I didn't have any other choice."

I nodded. "Do you know any other things that can help us?"

She took a while to think, but she finally shook her head in disappointment.

"It's okay, but you knew a lot of things about Warner. Do you know anyone who might have wanted to hurt him, or even get rid of him?" Liam asked.

"I'm not really sure, but..." Her tone was laced with hesitation.

"Any minor information can be of help," Ian said, encouraging her.

"There was someone. Gerard used to do a lot of business with him, but I think they had a huge fight and a fall down as Gerard decided to cut off everything that linked them together," she told us.

"Do you know him?" I asked.

"I haven't really met him in person before, but I think his first name was Keith, Seth, or something like that. I can't really remember," she replied, a crease drawn on her forehead.

"It's okay, you have been a great help—"

A man in a gray suit abruptly entered the interrogation room, interrupting me.

"Excuse me, what are you doing questioning my client?" he hissed in an authoritative tone.

"Who the hell are you?" Liam snapped.

"Andrew West. I'm Miss Williams' lawyer," he answered, then he looked at Selene, who was giving him a look I couldn't decipher. He gave her a cup of coffee that was in his hand. "Here, I'm sure you need it after the interview you had with them."

I really hated lawyers!

He turned to look at us. "Can I speak to my client alone, please?"

I groaned. The three of us stood up and left the interrogation room before sending the lawyer a hate-filled look. Then we hurried to look for the lieutenant, as we weren't quite happy with him.

"Lieutenant, why didn't anybody tell us she asked for a lawyer? You know we can't interrogate her once she lawyers up," Liam hissed at the lieutenant.

"She didn't ask for a lawyer," the lieutenant replied. "I too found it odd when that lawyer came asking for her."

"Then how did he know she was in custody?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, but she used her one-time call. Whoever she called might have hired the goddamned lawyer." The lieutenant sighed, looking at us with a guilty expression.

That explained it a little. Nevertheless, something still felt off about this, and I had an eerie feeling gnawing at my stomach. I even noticed that Williams was giving the lawyer a bizarre look.

"Unfortunately, we aren't even allowed to know what they're talking about." Ian shrugged before he took a seat.

I sighed before I found myself a chair too, as we all waited for the lawyer to finish whatever he was doing.

After a while of more dreadful waiting, the lawyer came out of the interrogation room.

"I'm done with her. You can go back to finishing whatever damage you were doing," he said, giving us a bitter smile. Then he stormed out of the office.

Yup, I really hated lawyers!

The three of us stood up and went back to the interrogation room. Once we were in the observation room, we saw Selene resting her head on the table motionlessly from behind the glass. We hurried into the interrogation room. Liam checked her pulse, but there wasn't any—she was already gone.

Pulling a napkin out of my pocket, I used it to hold the coffee cup and sniffed it. The infamous smell of bitter almonds was coming out of it.

She had been poisoned using hydrogen cyanide.

I noticed there was a paper folded beside the cup. I opened it and found out what I was already expecting.

That damned Chinese symbol.