Page 194 of Fall Before Her Throne

She went quiet for a moment, and I recognized this as my time to move the next piece on the chessboard. Max and Obi had said we needed to get both the FBI and Greco off our backs, and the only way to do that was to pit them against each other instead of against us. This was my chance.

“Farrah,” I said while I shifted my body in the seat to face her more fully. “Your case won’t just go away, will it? We can’t just make it disappear?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Not even if we bribe all the right people?”

Badawi rolled her eyes and shrugged. “Probably not, but what do I know? My bosses are corrupt. Anything seems possible.”

“But that wouldn’t be good enough, would it?” I asked. “Someone else would pick up the trail. If you and Greer were ordered to back off, would you? Would he?”

Her sideways glance gave me her answer before she spoke. “No.”

“Okay, so then you need someone to bring to justice,” I said. “I need to take out Greco and get my men free from jail. We can work together.”

The longer she waited to answer, the more I was convinced she’d shoot down our plan. But then she tilted her head to the side. “How so?”

“Help me turn this around on Greco,” I answered. “He’s more of a kingpin than Max ever was. Or me. Or my father.”

She barked a laugh. “You think I can arrest him, and he won’t be able to buy his way to freedom? My bosses are already corrupt. A case against him would never stick.”

“No, no, I know,” I said. “But listen. What if we could?”

“It’s imposs⁠—”

“Farrah, what if we could, though?” I leaned closer. “If it were possible to catch him, possible to pin everything on him, possible to get the testimony we need to corroborate that he is the head of the mafia…if all of that went right, what if you arrested him instead?”

“Then…I would turn the focus of our case against him. I’d at least try.” She chewed her lip for a moment. “Someone would have to serve jail time. I don’t see any other way around it.”

I sucked in an excited breath.

This is what Obi and Max needed me to do.

I had to convince the FBI to take on Greco, and then I had to catch him in an inescapable trap. Then, I’d serve the time and make this entire thing go away. My men would be safe. It was the win we needed.

“I will testify against Greco. I will help you build a case against him, that he has been the one pulling all the strings, not Max. I’ll admit to whatever I need in order to prove that he’s the real villain here.”

“But Leona…if you do that, I don’t think I can get you immunity. You’d have to admit to the racketeering charges and serve the time.”

“I know,” I replied. “That’s okay. I’ll do it if it gets Greco behind bars.”

“Maybe I can get you a reduced sentence, but…”

I waved my hand. “We’ll deal with that when it comes. But I know I can get close to him, and I can make sure that you catch him in an indisputable act of crime. If Greco is arrested for the RICO case in our place …do you think my men can get free?”

She watched the road for a few moments while my words sank in.

Then she smirked.

“Yes. I think we can make that happen.”

61

CASPIAN

Cold metal dug into my wrists. My thigh stung from the graze of a gunshot. The field dressing the EMTs gave me could barely pass as satisfactory in a real fucking hospital, but they weren’t exactly trying to keep me alive.

Fucking whatever. I’d been through worse. This graze wouldn’t end me. Nor would Ryuji’s shoulder wound. We’d both be fine, and then we’d get the fuck out of here.