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Rosemond shook her head. “If that happens, you can bury what’s left of Riley Wolfe in a Band-Aid box,” she said. “Which would break your heart, right, Frank?”
They all turned to look at Delgado. He didn’t appear to have heard. He was looking at the table in front of him, frowning, deep in thought. Because what the two other agents had just said had jolted a new thought into his head. If Riley was truly caught between the two arms dealers, he would know the situation was untenable. He would absolutely hate being forced to do anything for anybody else. The threat of death would be minor compared to his resentment at being used. And being Riley Wolfe, he would find a way out of it. Which meant—
“Okay, Frank, never mind, go back to sleep,” Rosemond said. Delgado didn’t look up, and she shrugged and went on.
“Anyway,” Rosemond said. “That’s the situation, as far as our intel can take us.” She looked around the table again. For a long moment, no one said a thing. Then SAC Finn stood up. “It’s my opinion that this assessment is spot on. The AD agrees, and she gave us the green light to act on it.” He took a moment to look at each agent individually. “If we could take even one of these guys into custody, it would justify this task force’s budget for ten years. If there’s a chance to get both of them—people, that is nothing short of historic. And if we scoop up Riley Wolfe in the bargain—that would mean that Special Agent Delgado could retire happy.”
Everyone chuckled—except Delgado. He was still frowning at the tabletop.
“All right, team. I want this planned, prepped, and ready to go ASAP. Let’s make history!”
Finn nodded once and then strode out of the room. The rest of the agents stood up, stretched, and began to leave in twos and threes.
All but Delgado. He kept sitting there, thinking. And he didn’t like where his thoughts were leading him.
* * *
—
Ten minutes later he was still sitting at the table when SAC Finn went by the room to get a cup of coffee. Finn paused in the doorway and looked in. Delgado didn’t look up. His eyes were fixed on the table in front of him and it was clear his mind was far away. Finn watched for a moment and then moved on.
A few minutes later Finn came back—with two cups of coffee. He entered the conference room and sat beside Delgado. Delgado didn’t look up. Finn pushed a cup of coffee onto the table in front of him.
Delgado looked up. His eyeballs clicked into focus on Finn, then on the coffee. He picked up the cup and took a sip.
“Something bothering you, Frank?” Finn said.
Delgado nodded, took another sip.
“Like to share it?”
Delgado said nothing. Finn let the silence grow, sipping his own coffee. Finally, Delgado looked at the SAC. “I think we’re being played,” he said.
Finn blinked. “Played. By whom?”
Delgado gave Finn a small, strange smile. “Riley Wolfe,” he said, as if it was painful but obvious.
Finn nodded, sipped. “Okay. How?”
“I don’t know,” Delgado said.
Finn sipped again, remembering what his grandmother had said about patience being a virtue. “Then why do you think we’re being played, Frank?”
Delgado frowned. “Something Rosemond said,” he said. “He knows he’s in a world of trouble. Two worlds.”
Finn was clear that Delgado had not suffered from gender confusion and that “he” meant Riley Wolfe, not Rosemond. “Okay,” he said. “He’s not an idiot; he’d know t
hat. These are two very bad dudes. So?”
Delgado put down his coffee cup, a little too hard. A small splash flowed over the rim and onto the table. “He would do something about it,” he said.
“That’s crazy,” Finn said.
“Maybe.”
“These are two of the most dangerous men in the world—what could he even think he could do?”
Delgado shrugged.
