“Trent is running a rainbow of biodrugs out nearly every week,” I said, forcing my hand down from playing with my hair. “Blackmailing anyone who can afford it and who is in the unfortunate situation of needing them. You could chart his hidden profits by plotting the I.S. Brimstone takes. He’s using them as a—”

“Distraction,” Edden finished for me. He hit the nearby file cabinet, leaving a small dent. Both Nick and I jumped. “Damn! No wonder we never catch a break.”

I nodded. It was now or never. Whether I trusted him or not was irrelevant. If he didn’t help me, I was dead. “It gets better,” I said, praying I was doing the right thing. “Trent has an I.S. runner on his payroll who has been heading most of the I.S. Brimstone takes.”

Edden’s round face went hard behind his glasses. “Fred Perry.”

“Francis Percy,” I corrected him, a sudden flash of anger warming me.

Eyes narrowed, Edden shifted in his chair. Clearly he didn’t like a bad cop any more than I did. I took a shaky breath. “A shipment of biodrugs is going out tonight. With me, you can nail them both. The FIB gets the credit for the tag, the I.S. looks like a fool, and your department quietly pays off my contract.” My head hurt, and I prayed I hadn’t just flushed my only chance down the toilet. “You could make it a consultant fee. An aspirin for an aspirin.”

Lips pressed tight, Edden looked at the acoustic-tiled ceiling. Slowly his face calmed, and I waited, stilling myself as I realized I was clicking my nails together in time with the ticking of the clock.

“I’m tempted to bend the rules for you, Ms. Morgan,” he said, and my heart gave a thump. “But I need more. Something the higher-ups can chart on their profit and loss statements that will show value for more than a quarter.”

“More!” Nick exclaimed, sounding angry.

My head throbbed. He wanted more? “I don’t have anything more, Captain,” I said forcefully, frustration riding high in me.

He smiled wickedly. “But you do.”

My eyebrows tried to go up, halted by the tape.

Edden glanced at his closed door. “If this works out—catching Kalamack, I mean …” A thick hand reached to rub his forehead. When his fingers dropped, the easy, self-assured confidence of an FIB captain was gone, replaced with an eager, intelligent gleam that set me back a pace. “I’ve been working for the FIB since I left the service,” he said softly. “I worked my way up by seeing what was missing, and finding it.”

“I’m not a commodity, Captain,” I said hotly.

“Everyone is a commodity,” he said. “My departments at the FIB are at a great disadvantage, Ms. Morgan. Inderlanders have evolved knowing human weaknesses. Hell, you’re probably responsible for half our mental hang-ups. The frustrating truth is, we can’t compete.”

He wanted me to rat on my fellow Inderlanders. He should have known better. “I don’t know anything you can’t find in a library,” I said, gripping my bag tightly. I wanted to get up and storm out, but he had me right where he wanted me, and I could do nothing but watch him smile. His flat teeth were startlingly human compared to the predatory gleam in his eye.