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“I don’t want to explain myself,” I say quickly, “but I don’t need to be rescued. I’m not leaving here, and I’m not going back to Washington.”
“All right,” he repeats, drawing out the words as if he’s not sure where this is going.
“Here’s what I want.” I glance toward the bathroom door, gripping the phone tightly in my hand. “I’ll help you track down information about the human trafficking ring. I’ll help you bring it down. But if I can prove to you that it’s not the Novaks who are behind it, you’ll back off your investigation of them.”
“What are you talking about?”
I quickly tell him everything I know—about the Rooks, the human trafficking, all of it. I tell him he was right that humans are being bought and sold, but wrong about who’s responsible for it. I get it all out in a rush, trying to make sure the details are as clear as I can make them.
But even as I speak, I realize I don’t have enough details. All I have at this point is my word. And three women, but those women are currently in the custody of the Novaks, which doesn’t exactly look good. Hale did the right thing by saving them, the honorable thing, but it’ll only make him and his organization look more guilty in this federal agent’s eyes.
As if he’s read my thoughts, Brady grunts softly when I finish speaking. “That’s an interesting story, Grace. But the FBI won’t believe you unless you have proof. I can’t just take your word for it.”
“I’ll get you proof,” I tell him. “I swear.”
Somehow.
“All right. If you’re able to deliver proof—solid, actionable proof—that this Rook organization is the one running the trafficking ring and that the Novaks have no involvement, you have my word that this investigation of them will be dropped.”
“Thank you. I’ll call you again soon,” I promise.
Guilt consumes me the second I hang up, coursing through me like poison in my veins.
“Fuck.” I mutter the word in a whisper, shoving the phone back into the middle of a roll of toilet paper before hiding it under the sink again.
I hate this.
It feels like I’m betraying the men, like I’m taking the tenuous trust that’s built up between us and crushing it beneath my heel.
But I’m doing this to keep them safe—I have to keep reminding myself of that. Even though I’m not being completely honest about the FBI’s involvement, even though I haven’t told them, this is the best way to protect them.
It’s the only way to get the FBI off their backs, and maybe even bring down Camilla.
I just have to find proof, like Brady said.
Easier said than fucking done, but I’ll do it somehow. I have to.
As I creep back into my bedroom and crawl back under the covers and into Hale’s warm embrace, I repeat the words over and over in my head like a mantra.
Find proof.
Keep the Novaks safe.
Get the FBI off our backs and shift their focus to Camilla.
My turn to kill two birds with one stone, bitch.
19
Grace
Over the next couple of days, things are relatively calm.
On the outside anyway.
But I know it won’t last. The FBI still suspects the Novaks of human trafficking, and Camilla still plans to destroy us.
And these three stolen women are trapped in the middle of it all, just like I was once.
