Page 141 of Mile High Ruin

That is where our reactions differ. Everything in me wants to test him.

Daniel seems like the more useful person to talk to. I find him that afternoon near the rear terrace, sitting alone with a cup of coffee while one of Vadim’s security men stands far enough away to pretend he’s not monitoring him.

Daniel looks worse than he did on the flight here. Not physically. He has slept, shaved, and changed into clothes someone provided, but there’s a nervousness in him that wasn’t there before, as though every conversation now requires him to calculate what information might be used against him.

“Can I sit?”

He looks up quickly. “Of course.”

I take the chair across from him.

For several seconds, neither of us says anything.

“How long are they keeping you?” I ask.

His mouth tightens. “Apparently until Mr. Chernovar is satisfied I had nothing to do with what happened.”

“You didn’t.”

“That’s what I keep telling them.”

“They must believe you by now.”

Daniel glances toward the guard before lowering his voice. “Belief is apparently not enough around here.”

I know exactly what he means.

“Have they asked you about Hale?”

“Constantly.”

“What sort of questions?”

His eyes flick toward me. “Why?”

“I’m curious.”

“You should probably stop being curious.”

The answer surprises me.

Daniel sees that. “I’m sorry,” he says quickly. “I just mean that everyone here pays attention to everything. I’ve been questioned by Anton three times, then Marek, then another man whose name I still don’t know. They ask the same questions in slightly different ways and wait to see whether my answers change.”

“You seem nervous.”

“I am nervous.”

His honesty makes me smile slightly. “At least one of us admits it.”

“You aren’t?”

“Not really.”

He looks at me as though he can’t decide whether that makes me brave or stupid.

Possibly both.

Before I can ask anything else, he stands suddenly. “I should go.”