Chapter 47
SINN'OUS
Returning to his cell after depositing Izz into the yard to join Reni’s little clique, he was not expecting to find another inmate hunched over and rifling through his belongings.
He had needed to collect some items for his lawyer that he’d glazed over due to a very tantalising distraction. But now his interest is set on why Sinj of all people is in his cell.
Okay, so that’s a lie. He knows why. He just wants to know why.
“Did you get lost?” Sinn'ous chastises, allowing a small level of bemusement to drip into his tone.
Sinj jumps skyward, swivelling around so hard he nearly topples over, hand going straight to the small of his back.
And looking every bit like the kid who’s been busted trying to sneak a cookie before dinner.
Not at all like the seasoned undercover FBI agent that he is.
Someone who should know how to hide their reactions.
Sinj’s hand is still hidden behind him, on a weapon no doubt. Not that that would stop Sinn'ous from killing the cop.
“I, ah.” The man stammers. His scruff of long, layered dyed-red hair hanging in his eyes. He flicks a hand back to corral it into place, only for it to fall back to wherever it wants.
A predatory grin pulls Sinn'ous’s lips in a way he knows is a mockery of this whole scene. And it only grows as the cop sweats, tense and ready to fight for his life.
This image is going in the vault of favourite moments before a kill.
Well, it would usually be leading up to a kill.
Except this time there won’t be any killing.
And not because Sinj is an undercover cop.
No. It’s because Sinj is in a position to give Sinn'ous what he wants. Plus there is that’s small fact of Sinj being the one to alert him when Izz was pulled into B-Wing.
“I want the boy.” Sinn'ous’s tone brooks no argument. There will be no negotiation in this.
“What boy?—Izz” Sinj asks and answers his own question. His hazel eyes narrowing and flickering in a calculation only years undercover could have given him—the ability to race over plans, and change up lies at the drop of a hat.
“I have my lawyer working on his early release, you’re going to ensure it goes through without any delays.
” It can’t hurt to have an extra ace up his sleeve.
And he has nothing to fear from this particular cop.
There is nothing incriminating in his cell to link him to any murders, and he knows he isn’t who Sinj is running his undercover web of lies to catch.
The same way he knows why Sinj is in prison to begin with, is the same way he knows the one Sinj is hunting is not him.
Zayne’s hacker collected a seminar-worthy stack of information behind why an undercover has slipped off his home soil of the USA, to come here of all places, to Sandstone Correctional Australia.
And it has nothing to do with Sinn'ous’s murders.
Though, he is sure if Sinj gained any evidence against Sinn'ous, he’d throw him under the bus without a second glance.
And watch it run right over the top of him, and not bat an eye.
“What makes you think I can do that?”
Sinn'ous steps fully into his cell, crowding in close to Sinj, blocking the only exit with his body. “It would be awfully hazardous to your health, should this get out.” He roams his eyes briefly over the still open cupboard doors.
“Should what get out?” Sinj fails spectacularly to portray an uncaring attitude. The crease of his brow and the slight shift to his stance gives him away. A neon sign flashing the telltale signs of trapped prey, it calls to Sinn'ous’s every fibre.
“That you’re undercover, of course. How would the general population react to knowing an agent is walking amongst them, mingling within these walls.”
Instead of the usual route of denial, Sinj surprises him by all but fessing up to it. “How did you find out?”
“I have my sauces.”
“Who are?” Calculated conclusions draw all over Sinj’s features.
Sinn'ous lets out a humourless chuckle. “No one you need concern yourself with.” He ignores the glare Sinj throws at him. “Now, onto what I want.”
“And what if I can’t?”
“Then the general population will be the least of your worries.” Sinn'ous can say this wouldn’t be a first. He has killed law enforcement before, it’s about the same as killing anyone else.
The same rush, the same high. Only with the added disadvantage of attracting more attention, and a swarm of cops gunning harder than ever for him.
They seem to take it personally when you murder one of their own.
The long drawn out pause they are floating in, consists of Sinj eyeing the door more times than not, while a story of scenarios play behind his faked bravado. It’s laughable that he thinks he has any chance of weaselling his way out of this.
Will Sinj take the plunge and try to fight his way out? Try to silence Sinn'ous? It wouldn’t be the first time a cops killed to silence someone, and it sure as shit won’t be the last.
Or will he give in to Sinn'ous’s wants? Be a good little cop and bow down?
No way of knowing.
This will either end in Sinj’s body walking out of the Satanic cell or his soul.
“Alright. Deal.” Sinj concedes.