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“Good.” Agent Montgomery straightened and crossed his arms. I knew he wasn’t a fan of this operation, but for the sake of the investigation, he was willing to go with it, and had put the wheels into motion. I was fitted with a wire, taped to my back, with a small, flat recording device attached to my chest.
The tech that had hooked me up ran her fingers over the wires one more time, and Gemma cleared her throat loudly at the woman’s lingering touch. I flashed a sideways smile up at her. It was cute watching her get all possessives. She’d been at my side all day long, working with the agents to put the plan together. Once O’Keefe called to set up the meeting, she’d put on her own outer shell like a true soldier going to war.
“Okay. You’re good,” the tech said, backing up a step and flashing a nervous smile over to Gemma. “You can put your shirt back on.”
Gemma handed me the shirt and I shrugged into it, trying not to laugh at her demeanor. She had been standing a few feet away from where I was seated in a chair getting hooked up, and once I was back in my shirt, she came over and I wrapped an arm around her hips.
“This is crazy,” I marveled, looking down at my torso. I could feel the wires and tape on my skin, but even through the thin shirt, there was no trace of it. O’Keefe would never be able to see the wire. “I can’t believe how thin this stuff is.”
“As we discussed, Mr. Rosen, it’s imperative that O’Keefe does not see you’re wired. At this point, we don’t imagine he would suspect it. Still, on the off chance he has you searched for weapons, they shouldn’t be able to feel these without a very thorough search,” Agent Montgomery replied, going over to where the tech was running tests on a laptop.
We were still at the museum, but in the next ten minutes, I’d be getting into my Jeep and making my way up the 101 to a neighboring town where O’Keefe had rented a hotel room. When he’d called me that morning to set up the meeting, he’d made it sound like it would be just the two of us, although I had a hard time believing he wouldn’t have back-up with him. He knew I was dangerous.
It didn’t matter much to me. I was wired and had an entire FBI team that’d be flanking me from a distance, ready to move in at the drop of a dime if things went sideways.
Which, with O’Keefe, was likely to be when things went sideways. Not if.
Gemma stroked a hand over my neck. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I nodded and looked up at her. Although she was resolved and strong, I could see the worry written all over her face. “It’s all going to be over soon, baby.”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Okay, Mr. Rosen, we’re ready to go.” I looked over and saw the tech who’d hooked up my wire, shutting the lid of the computer in her lap. She nodded and Montgomery turned his full attention back to me. “Let’s go over the plan one more time.”
I held back a sigh. “Geezus, dude. I’m going to the Sandy Road Inn, room two-oh-five, and I will knock on the door and announce myself to Mr. O’Keefe who, presumably, will be waiting for me inside. After gaining entry to the room, I will introduce myself to anyone else present to have their identity for the record. When O’Keefe starts talking, the goal is to keep him going until I can find a way to back him into a confession. If this does not occur, or if he gets riled, I will tell him I’m not going to sign the contract. If he gets violent, you will back me up and extract me. And if at any point, I feel he may become violent, or I want out, I say the code phrase.” I finished my monologue and stood from my seat, keeping my arm locked around Gemma. “Did I miss anything?”
“No.”
It wasn’t my first rodeo. Granted, I hadn’t done a lot of covert ops shit in my military career. Still, if there was one thing I was trained to do, it was memorizing operation instructions.
“All right, Mr. Rosen, I’m trusting you to keep your word. Don’t try to be a hero here,” Agent Montgomery reached for my hand.
“Yes, sir,” I said with a nod. I took his hand and we sealed the deal we’d hashed out in private. If I helped them nail O’Keefe, anything said about my involvement with Rick, my smuggler friend, would stay off the record.
“Let’s go.”
The two words ricocheted through me and out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Gemma wince. I squeezed her hand, dropped a kiss to her temple, and whispered, “It’s going to be okay. I won’t do anything stupid.”
