The Villain's Sister - Chapter 82

4. Bounty

“Like a dog that’s lost its owner.”

Tristan let out a biting remark as he looked at Liam sitting in the interrogation room.

If you only saw his unremarkable face, Liam could have passed for a bakery clerk or a café barista.

But he was a mid-level officer of Death Adder, assisting Raphael.

“William Fabian. Age 24. Joined Death Adder four years ago, currently in charge of illegal weapons distribution. This much we already know. Charges include arms smuggling and trafficking, harboring criminals, murder, kidnapping, intimidation, money laundering… quite the impressive list.”

Liam slouched in his seat, jangling the handcuffs around his wrists, barely listening.

Tristan tossed a sheet of paper in front of him.

“The weapons you smuggled, where are they stored?”

Ha.

Liam sneered, dropping his head as he tapped the floor with his heel.

“You don’t get the situation, do you?”

“Why don’t you ask Mr. Raphael?”

“Unfortunately, he died the other day.”

“You’re lying.”

“Want me to show you the death certificate?”

Liam scratched behind his ear, perfectly ignoring Tristan.

Raphael wasn’t dead.

Three days had passed since Giselle’s visit.

Raphael had fully recovered, and somehow the news had leaked. The press went wild over a man on the brink of death making a miraculous recovery overnight.

‘So he knew Raphael wasn’t dead. Does he have an informant feeding him information?’

That casual attitude could only come from confidence that he could break out of prison.

When Raphael turned himself in, Liam hadn’t left but got arrested alongside him. It must have been part of the plan.

“Even if we don’t find the weapons, there’s more than enough evidence. But if you don’t talk, other organizations will take it all. You fine with that?”

“Did you find Ms. Deva?”

“Deva?”

“Mr. Raphael’s younger sister. You’ve already figured it out by now. Giselle Deva Moltke.”

Deva.

Come to think of it, Raphael had also called Giselle “Deva.”

It must have been a nickname only those close to her used.

‘So I wasn’t even a friend to her.’

Tristan ignored the dry feeling in his mouth and leaned back in his chair.

“This bastard’s not answering questions, just spouting whatever he wants. If you keep being this uncooperative, you’ll end up in the deepest pit of the underground prison.”

“A prison even Sunshine broke out of isn’t much to brag about.”

Shit. What the hell was the central government doing?

‘What’s the point of breaking our backs to throw them in prison if Raphael and Sunshine both escape?’

Tristan swallowed his irritation and tried a different angle, one that might shake Liam.

“You know this? Aiding a fugitive carries a maximum of eight years. Giselle Moltke could be punished for aiding an escape since she didn’t report Raphael.”

For the first time, Liam reacted.

It was just a faint twitch of his eyebrows, but it was different from his earlier indifference.

“Didn’t Big Bear put a bounty on Raphael’s arrest? The world’s gone mad. She even put an ad on the radio. Honestly, prison might be safer.”

“What? You bastard!”

Liam shot up like a bullet, lunging across the desk to grab Tristan by the collar.

He spoke through clenched teeth, voice dripping with rage, “If you call yourself a man, you should be finding Ms. Deva and protecting her. Shouldn’t you?”

“Let go unless you want to get hit.”

“You think I don’t know you were seeing Ms. Deva? At the very least, you should confirm with your own eyes that she’s safe!”

Smack.

Tristan grabbed the wrist clutching his collar.

With practiced ease, he pried off the hand, despite Liam’s crushing grip.

Annoyed but efficient, he forced Liam down.

“You son of a bitch! Let go! The moment I get out of here, I’ll slit your throat! Your family, your friends, I’ll kill them all!”

Liam thrashed, trying to break free, but the more he struggled, the stronger Tristan’s hold became.

“Shut up and spill what you know.”

“If anything happens to Ms. Deva, I swear I’ll ram bullets into every one of your mouths. No, better yet, I’ll tear you to pieces and send the scraps to your families!”

“Enough. You’ve got an hour. Think carefully.”

After watching Liam shake with fury, Tristan left the interrogation room.

Outside, colleagues were observing through the one-way mirror.

“What the hell was that about? Dating?”

Among them, Tristan spotted the Organized Crime Division team leader and let out a sigh.

“Is it true? You knew Giselle Moltke?”

“I didn’t know either. It hasn’t been long since we met.”

“That kind of excuse doesn’t matter! If word gets out that the police, especially Organized Crime Division, are tied to Raphael, regardless of the facts, both you and all of us—”

Tristan cut off the team leader’s words, “I’ll take the disgrace and move to another department, and you’ll get chewed out from above and pushed out of promotions. The police will be showered in criticism. But it’s already happened. Raising a fuss will only spread rumors.”

If the fact that Giselle was the anonymous whistleblower who reported Death Adder were revealed, the situation would change.

But as a police officer, he had the duty to protect the whistleblower’s identity.

Unless she wanted it, he couldn’t reveal it to anyone.

Just from the reports about military supplies that had come to him alone, it was obvious.

‘She sent them only to me because she couldn’t trust the whole police organization.’

She knew well that small reports could be submitted to the whole department, but important matters could be buried by the rotten roots inside the organization.

“She’s not the type to brag about knowing the police. Trust me and pretend you don’t know.”

“You bastard…”

Grinding his teeth, the team leader spun on his heel and stormed out of the interrogation room.

Bang.

As he watched the door slam, Tristan let out a heavy sigh.

***

Sunshine lay sprawled sideways on a one-seater sofa, legs dangling over the armrest.

Lighting the scented candle he had developed, it burned with smoke of pink, yellow, orange, and other colors.

Sunshine watched the smoke fade into the air with dazed eyes.

“White Hands! White Hands has appeared!”

As Big Bear bustled noisily around the conference room, the smoke scattered.

Just looking at Big Bear’s long hair tied tightly in one made it hard to stay composed.

Regardless of Sunshine’s twisted expression, Big Bear shouted excitedly, “Raphael knew who White Hands was from the beginning! That day, he said he ‘didn’t kill him and didn’t look for White Hands,’ but he never said he didn’t know!”

“Hm.”

“How did he get into the hospital? If Raphael secretly arranged it, it means he was very close…”

Sunshine checked today’s newspaper article.

— The central government announced a hardline response, declaring they would send government troops to Mist Island to uproot the underground organizations. Mist Island Mayor Maggie Giomatti denounced this as an act threatening the city’s autonomy. Some expressed concern that uprooting the underground organizations was just an attempt to cut off the tail of the gambling scandal…

The central government wanted to divert attention from the growing gambling scandal by crushing the underground organizations.

And with Raphael having turned himself in, only one remained: Two Star, the starting point of the scandal.

And its owner, Big Bear…

“We have to find White Hands quickly and strike a deal with the VIPs. Otherwise, both you and I are finished!”

“How?”

“What?”

“The ones who visited Raphael’s hospital room were all police. If we kidnap police, even those who opposed state government intervention won’t be able to object anymore. You and I need to lie low for now.”

“So you want to just hide and do nothing? You’ve gotten cowardly since coming back from the underground prison.”

Sunshine shrugged and tapped the sofa with his fingers.

Then he slowly sat up and cracked his neck.

“Don’t blow up police headquarters and make public opinion worse. Keep it moderate.”

“Ha! Even if you want ownership of White Hands, don’t think you’ll get a share.”

“My life is more important than White Hands. Don’t worry about the Blue Gas delivery, just deposit the money on time.”

In his characteristically flat tone, Sunshine gave his farewell, then gazed out the window at the setting sun.

“Giselle Moltke…”

She was the perfect card to strike both Tristan and Raphael at once.

And her white hands were so very lovely.

But thanks to the damn bounty Big Bear had put on her, she was hidden so well that not a single hair could be found.

To drag out someone with no sightings at all into the open…

“I’ll have to use that.”

Sunshine’s prison break had happened earlier than expected.

It was only the media announcement that was delayed.

Having returned to Mist Island early and lingered around Tristan, he had obtained a very nice piece of evidence.

A photo that could only be seen as the two being lovers, one that would stir up the entire city.