Simone smiled. “You should take your act on the road.”
“Nah, I like what I do too much.”
“And what,exactly, do you do?”
He waggled his eyebrows at her. “I do it all, baby. I do it all.” He stopped at a red light. “So Benderson knows him.”
“Then, there’s The Bomb Maker,” she continued. “He asked Luciano for a million in counterfeit. He threatened me if I took the case, then put that note on my front door after I did.
“Working with Mr. Steel Balls was great,” Teddy said. “I know you were worried about your home, but I gotta get me a robot like that. Super handy.”
“Are you always this laid back?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” he replied. “Why?”
“It’s good.”
“No point in getting worked up about any of this. You’re up against a lot. Better to give yourself a break, than to beat yourself up.”
“You really are the brilliant one in the group.”
Teddy grinned over at her. “You’ve got a network of execs at different federal agencies. We go with the theory that they’re helping terrorists get into the country and providing them with legit paperwork. From the ones I looked into, they haven’t even changed-up their appearances. They’re clearing customs, no prob. The Bomb Maker’s planning something epic. Hard to pull that off alone.”
“Too much pressure,” she murmured.
“Can’t stress about what you can’t control. Your job is to chase the leads, follow the evidence. Right now, you’ve got dead people, a possible corrupt group in the government, a lone bomber hiding in the shadows, and an unknown number of Haqazzii terrorists in the US.” Another shrug from Teddy. “Unless Hirzog or that woman with SSA are gonna talk, you got nothing.”
She rubbed her forehead to help calm the bass drum pounding out a frenetic rhythm. “Luciano put a call in to Willie Boy. I need to bring Dante in for questioning.”
“Willie Boy is a fucked-up mess. He has no loyalty to the fam. Never has. He’ll only give up this Dante guy if it serves him.”
“Can you take me to his restaurant?”
“Lulu will.” Teddy turned onto Pennsylvania Ave. “I’ll talk to him while you’re meeting with Hirzog.”
Teddy was super chill and easy to talk to. Hard not to like him, but she was seeing his soft side. He was large, like six-three, jacked-up muscles, and long blond hair. She couldn’t begin to imagine what he’d do to someone hedidn’tlike.
Teddy pulled up in front of the FBI building.
“You can’t park here,” she said.
He flashed her a smile. “Sure, I can.”
She left the warmth of his vehicle for the biting November air, hurried inside and over to security. She was there on official ALPHA business, so she pulled out her Joelle James FBI badge, held it under the scanner. The light turned green and she proceeded through employee security. Once through, she made her way toward the elevator bank.
She had questions, and she was confident Peter had answers. Shehadn’twanted to believe Luciano was right about him… but the farther down the rabbit hole she went, the more convinced she was that Peter was somehow involved.
LUCIANO
Luciano’s phone rang. “Santini,”he answered.
“She’s talking to Hirzog,” Teddy said.
“How’s she doing?”
“Good, but she’s feeling the pressure. She wants to talk to Willie Boy. Should I bring my brass knuckles?”
“We need answers, so bring whatever the hell you want. Swing by and pick me up.”
