Both of them were prepping me, right now? Seriously? This should be the least of their concerns today, but they were so tense and wired, so I didn’t dare argue.
Stone began running down the info. “Subject is Hubert Vincent Bolton—"
"Hubert?" I laughed.
"Agent Slate, I’ve barely started."
"Still gonna need a minute for Hubert." No wonder he stuck with his middle name and went by Vince instead.
At my glee, Stone barely suppressed a snarl and turned to her superior officer. “How did you survive with him as a brother?”
"It’s a miracle," Merritt replied, deadpan as ever. But also serious? Rude.
"Alright funsuckers, continue."
Stone continued. “Success in the pharmaceutical industry in his early 30s and bold investing strategies left him with more money than he can ever spend, though he tries. Bolton buys cars, art, wine, anything rare and expensive. We believe he accidentally won an antique spellbook of legitimate origin at auction that introduced him to the supernatural world nearly two years ago. Since then, any merchandise with rumored occult ties has drawn his interest.”
Hmm. Rowan picked up magic on him. I didn’t. That could mean he hid his magic or he only borrowed magic from other sources and had none of his own.
“How far did you get in studying?” Merritt wondered.
“I’m making progress.” I suddenly felt like a delinquent standing in front of two disappointed parents instead of an agent before superior officers… who were also disappointed.
“Did you even open a book?” Merritt wondered.
"Screw you," I fired back.
"Ahem." Stone cleared her throat.
"Sir?" I added.
“You better be ready.” Merritt ignored the insubordination, focusing on the important part. "You’re meeting Bolton now."
"Now?" No wonder they decided to do this today of all days.
Ready to reel in the big fish they spent months pursuing, they were preparing to catch Hodge and put him into custody, only to have Bolton stroll in demanding audiences and expecting us to drop everything and cater to him.
“We’ve been negotiating since the second his lawyers collected him,” Merritt said. “His team delivered a whole list of demands too. But Bolton’s only insisting on one condition, that he’ll talk to you and you alone.”
Bolton, smug son of a bitch he was, probably wanted to settle the score between us since I got him last time…or he thought I was the weak link.
Plus, he had reason to feel confident.
The Brokers covered their tracks well so far. If he stuck with his story that this is a legitimate arrangement, precious little hard evidence about the group’s inner workings existed to prove him wrong.
However, we had plenty of details onhim.
"Relax," I said. “I’ve got this.”
"Do you understand how serious this is?" Stone reminded with a persistent frown.
I indeed understood how important this was for Lucas and all the others.
…Especially for Lucas.
If I played this right and could confirm my suspicions, then the battle was almost over before it began. I only needed to go in there and win. Fortunately I had a lifetime worth of experience being the exact guy I needed to be for this, and it strangely felt like my whole life was in preparation for this moment.
I better be right.
