Page 56 of Deliverance

“She needs to go into proper protective custody,” I said to Mercer, keeping my voice low. “Real protection, not just a safehouse.”

Mercer straightened. “She’s already in our?—”

“A federal agency director was just arrested for human trafficking and many, many other crimes,” I interrupted, my tone firm but not unkind. “I’m not questioning you personally. I’m telling you that we have no idea how far Kingfisher’s reach actually goes, and I’m asking you to understand why I’m not comfortable handing her safety over without conditions.”

To his credit, Mercer didn’t get defensive. He looked at Dominic. “She always like this?”

I raised my eyebrows.

“Pretty much,” Dominic said. “And she’s right, and you know it.”

Mercer scrubbed a hand over his face, suddenly looking much older than he was. He looked back at me. “I’ll watch her personally. She won’t be in the general system. There will be no records for anyone to hack.”

I studied him. He held my gaze without flinching, which counted for something.

“I’m also putting two of my people on the outside,” I said. “Non-negotiable.”

Mercer didn’t ask who my people were. He wasn’t an idiot; he had to have guessed, but he just said, “Fine.”

Dominic turned to Mercer and asked the million-dollar questions, “I need to know if you’re willing to reopen the Kingfisher case.”

Mercer stilled, and the hallway felt like it closed in as we waited for his answer.

“That’s a significant ask. Most of the federal agencies have decided that the case closed when Keller died,” he said.

“I know,” Dominic replied, his voice steady and sure.

Mercer looked at the closed door and then back at Dominic. “When you get close,” he said finally. “When you have something solid. Call me. I can’t make any promises.”

I felt like an eyewitness confirming Kingfisher was Nathaniel Drake was pretty damn close, but I understood his hesitation. From his point of view, the case was closed, and he had been facing pressure from other federal agencies to close it. Everyone wanted this swept under the rug. If he was going to reopen the case, we needed to package it up nicely for him with a tidy little bow.

I nodded. “We will.”

Dominic and I turned to leave, but Mercer’s voice stopped me. “Evelyn,” he said. I looked back over my shoulder. “I want the real bad guy too.”

I tilted my head. “I know. We wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.”

A half chuckle slipped out of him, and he shook his head. “Good luck, Dom.”

Dominic squeezed my hand. “Thanks.”

We walked back out into the dreary afternoon. The clouds rolling in over the sun felt like an omen I didn’t want to processyet. I turned Mercer’s last words over in my mind.I want the real bad guy too.

So did I. I had wanted him since before I knew his name. Since Citadel, since the hit on my men, since every woman he had ever decided was his to take. Now I had a face and a name and a witness who had looked into that face in a dark room, drugged and kidnapped, and had survived to tell me about it.

Nathaniel Drake had no idea what was coming.

CHAPTER 23

EVELYN

Alexander straightened off the SUV when he saw us coming. The others climbed out after him.

“Well?” Marcus asked.

“She identified him,” I said. “Nathaniel Drake is Kingfisher.”

Nobody spoke for a moment. My words hung in the gray afternoon like the rain that threatened to fall.