Rising from the Ashes (Andrew) novel Chapter 1904

Seeing how obedient Dirk looked, Andrew pulled out a small vial from his pocket. "This bottle is yours, right?"

Dirk gave a sheepish laugh. "Yeah, it's mine. Mr. Nielsen told me to dump whatever's inside into your food or drinks. As for what's actually in it… I've got no clue."

Andrew stopped paying attention to him and turned to Eric.

Eric said calmly, "The vial contains parasite eggs. So, that means Cole is the one behind it."

Andrew nodded. "Pretty much. Still, I didn't expect to find a martial artist dealing in parasites in a little town like Verhampton Valley."

Dirk looked up hopefully. "Sir, I've told you everything I know. Can I go now?"

Andrew shook his head. "Nope. You're going to die here."

Dirk's vision went black, and he immediately dropped to his knees, nearly soiling himself. He could already tell that Andrew was definitely not an ordinary person.

"Of course, if you want me to spare your life, that's not impossible either." Andrew gave him a glimmer of hope at just the right moment.

Dirk felt like he had received a royal pardon and quickly said, "Sir, just tell me what you want! If you let me go, you'll be my savior! I swear, my mother and I will light candles and pray for you every single day!"

Andrew waved him off. "Save it. I'm not dead yet, so I don't need your prayer service. When the sun comes up, you're taking me to see Cole. Also, I want to ask you about someone. Have you heard the name Hank Armstrong?"

Dirk wasn't quite sure. "Hank Armstrong? Never heard of him! But recently, an important big shot came to our Verhampton Valley! I heard he's from some special government agency, and both Mr. Nielsen and Big Z personally received him!"

Andrew said flatly, "We can't let him leave yet, or we'll alert them to our presence! As for killing people, remember this: don't treat life like it's worthless! What goes around comes around. Now we can basically confirm that Hank is colluding with the local forces in Verhampton Valley."

He added, "And Cole is the key figure behind the parasite poisoning. Once we get him, the whole web starts to unravel."

Eric scoffed. "How much trouble can a martial artist from a small county cause? It's obvious he has bigger forces backing him up. Like that Hank you mentioned… Didn't you say he's from the Special Ops? Special Ops isn't a place ordinary people can mess with, and you should know that."

Andrew's tone didn't shift. "Exactly. Which is why I'm going to mess with him. That bastard might be with Special Ops, but all he does is screw people over. I don't care who he works for. He's going down."

Eric stared at him for a moment, then turned toward the bed and shut his eyes.