Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73302 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73302 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
I found a booth away from the few patrons who were there in the middle of the day. I ordered a beer and waited for Maria to arrive. She was frowning when she slid into the booth across from me. “How did you come up with this place?”
“Too lowbrow for you?” Maria liked nice things: tailored suits, champagne, the best wines, the nicest restaurants. She would never be caught dead in this place except to meet me or one of her other agents who depended on her. “Thank you. For meeting me here.”
She sniffed. “At least you have the decency to acknowledge how far out on a limb I’m going for you.”
“Yes, entering a dive bar. It’s about as low as you’ve sunk.” I grinned. “Let me buy you a drink.”
“So I can add drinking on the job to my list of sins.”
I rolled my eyes. “Loosen up.”
She bent down and reached under the table. “I think I’ve ruined one of my heels on their broken floor.” A few seconds later, she sat back up. “If I loosen up, who will have your back when headquarters comes down on this operation?”
“You will. A drink isn’t going to stop that.”
She took off her glasses and placed them in her designer bag. “Whiskey neat. Something as decent as you can get in here.”
“Oooh. Right to the hard stuff.”
“If I’m going to break the rules, I might as well make it good.”
“I knew I liked you.”
I came back with her drink. She took a sip and sighed, leaning back against the booth. “Go ahead. Tell me everything I’m going to hate.”
“We found the man Ivanov used to infiltrate the casino. Or one of them.”
“Do you think there’s more than one now?” Her tone was no longer mocking; she was serious now, like she always was when discussing a mission.
“I’m as certain as I can be that there’s someone else, or that someone else is about to be introduced.”
“So the man that you found—”
“Dead. Found him at his home. He’d been there at least two days, based on the condition of the body. Multiple gunshot wounds. He had written ‘Iva’ in his blood beside him.”
She tapped her fingers on the table as she took all this in. “And you left him there?”
I nodded.
“I’ll make sure someone finds him if they haven’t already. And you’re assuming the letters stood for Ivanov and that that’s who had him killed?”
“Yes, and Rafe agrees.”
Her fingers stilled, and she held my gaze. “Tell me you didn’t take Rafe with you.”
“We’re in this together.”
“Jesus Christ, Zach, I’ve put up with a lot from you. I have let you bend the rules as far as they can go.”
“And now I’m breaking them.”
She held up a hand. “Don’t say that to me.”
“Are you bound to report me or something?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“We’re going to get him. I’ve got a plan to find whoever else he planted.”
“And what makes you think there’s someone else?”
I took a sip of my beer before answering. “Because the scheme was going too well. The first guy did something wrong, but Ivanov is not going to give up on a fantastic blackmail plan.”
“Agreed. So what’s the new identity for?”
“I’m going in as an FBI auditor.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, fuck no. You can’t go in impersonating a federal officer.”
“I’m not impersonating. I am a federal officer.”
“Not the one you’re going to pretend to be. You can’t… they’re going to kill me. They’re going to fire me, and then they’re going to kill me.”
I tilted my head as if seriously considering that. “Killing off agents is more common in the CIA, but I suppose it’s possible.”
“Not helpful, Zach.”
“I’m not going to do a full audit or anything. I’ll just poke around in certain files. I don’t need to make anything authentic since Rafe’s in on it.”
She took a sip of whiskey. “And the other Theriots? When they get wind of it?”
“No one is going to get wind of it. I’m going to be willing and accommodating, keep things quiet. There will only be a reason to expose what’s happening if I find a crime in progress.”
“Which you won’t.” That statement seemed to require another sip, a bigger one this time.
“There’s not going to be anything of interest.”
“Fuck, Zach.” She laid her hand across her eyes. “Don’t tell me you think they’re the good guys now.”
“Compared to Ivanov—”
“Compared to Ivanov, most people look good. Even some serial killers. But…”
“Rafe is… not like I expected.”
“Oh my God.” She stared at me, eyes wide. “You like him.”
“That’s what I’m saying. He’s not—”
“No, no, no. You really like him.”
Was I that obvious? “I can’t. It’s… I just can’t.”
“But you do. This is compromising everything, you know that.”
“It’s not compromising me from bringing Ivanov down. That was the assignment. You told me the Theriots were off-limits. Why is it suddenly a problem that I don’t want to go after them?”