“Even if I tell you, it won’t do you any good,” Frederick said. His pupils were becoming more dilated, his words more slurred. The hallucinogen had taken a firm hold of him now, but he obviously needed just a little more pushing—and maybe not the pain-filled kind.

“Tell me,” I said, even as I became flame and shaped my fire into a vague resemblance of Rinaldo. As Frederick’s gaze widened, I shifted back, added, “Tell them,” in a deeper tone, then took on Rinaldo’s fiery figure again.

Frederick’s harsh rasping filled the air. For an instant, I didn’t think he was going to fall for the ploy, but then he said, “Risley Street, Richmond. He has a warehouse there.”

I doused my flames again and said, “What number?”

“Fourteen. Please, stop them.”

I glanced past him. “Anything else we need to know?”

Adam stepped forward and placed his hands on either side of Frederick’s head. After a moment, Frederick closed his eyes, and his breathing deepened. He was asleep.

“That’s quite an impressive trick,” I said. “Sam wasn’t kidding when he said you’d be able to stop this bastard from communicating with his boss.”

“Stopping it wasn’t without problems.” He ran a hand through his pale hair, and it was only then that I noticed the pallor of his skin. “And Rinaldo will undoubtedly sense something has happened.”

“Can he reach Frederick’s thoughts even though he’s now asleep?”

“Yes. But I’ve mangled his memories and removed any evidence of him being forced to give Rinaldo’s location.” He paused and glanced at the door. “Sam, we need to move if we want any hope of catching Rinaldo.”

The door opened, and the three men entered. Sam’s gaze met mine, and he gave me a brief nod. “Well done.”

I smiled and wondered if he actually meant well done on not killing the bastard.

“Contact base,” Sam continued. “We need a full-scale operation in place, stat—”

“Don’t,” I said hurriedly. “It’s too much of a risk.”

“PIT does not have a mole,” Sam said, his tone curt.

“Rinaldo implied that he did,” I snapped back, “and I don’t want to risk losing the bastard just because you and your boss are pigheadedly determined not to even consider the possibility.”

Adam coughed and seemed to be struggling to keep his expression flat. Sam simply glared at me as the shadows stirred around him. If it was meant to intimidate, it wasn’t successful. I’d all but flatlined when it came to any emotion but anger and determination right now.

“I very much suspect the three of us will not be enough to take the—”

“It’s not three,” Jackson said, “but five. If you think we’re not going to be part of an operation to bring this bastard down, you’ve got rocks in your head.”