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“His father.”
Connor nodded.
“Like father, like son,” Kalen said, his eyes cold. The man was ruthless in business and had done things while growing up to make him a formidable adversary in life.
“We think it’s Declan,” Griffin added.
“He’s branching out on his own as David helms the family empire,” Connor said.
“And you think Declan is what?”
Connor blew out a breath. “He’s made some statements that suggest he’s more foe than friend.”
“What? You think he was behind everything with you and Kalen?”
The brothers had nearly been killed on separate occasions. We were sure we had those responsible.
“It’s possible the Royals may have played a part or are the puppet masters of everything.”
I shook my head. “So what? Are we shifting gears?”
“This is not an FBI matter,” Kalen warned. I just glared back at him.
“I have an inside man,” Connor admitted. “I’ve got eyes on Declan. For now, we stick to the plan.”
“And that is?”
Griffin leaned forward and pushed a manila envelope in my direction.
“What’s this?”
“It’s what you’ll need for the auction,” Connor said. “We’ve used your Shawn identity. It comes with the benefit of already having a reputation of being a dirty cop and working for Chicago’s number one drug lord,” Connor said.
Griffin added more. “We know the FBI took all that ID when they forced you on sabbatical.”
After I’d been quietly released from prison, I’d been made to leave Chicago and become Matt again. I’d been Shawn so long, I wondered where Matt began and Shawn ended.
“This is a risk. You don’t have the FBI’s approval on this.” Connor held my gaze as we spoke. “This is my problem, not yours.”
“This is all true. But I’m in as deep as you. Besides, we all know I’m better suited to this role.”
I’d been brought in by the FBI in college to play these role-playing games. Connor was a shadow man with hands in dark ties, but he was with my sister. I had nothing to lose. Plus, I’d made a promise to David. I also wasn’t an idle man. I was on vacation to do with my time as I pleased.
I aimed my gaze at Griffin. “Did you find out anything about David’s sister?”
David’s father had a love child who’d gone missing. I’d promised to find her.
“We think we’ve found a picture.” Griffin tapped on his phone, and I got a text alert. I opened it to find a picture of a gorgeous creature. I had to tamp down an instant attraction I hadn’t felt in a long time. “We think this is her. We need more than her first name, to be sure,” Griffin answered. “There isn’t a father listed on her birth certificate.”
“I’ll find out tomorrow.” Though I couldn’t show David the picture I had, he was supposed to show me some tomorrow.
“It’s a small auction,” Connor began. “I wasn’t able to find out any details of the girls or women up for sale.”
“But the timing fits?”
From what Connor had learned and research I’d done in archived FBI files, women taken to be sold to high stakes bidders were put through a grooming process first. The rich monsters that bought them wanted someone tamed and ready to be violated with little protest unless the monsters were into that.
“Anything’s possible,” Griffin said.
“Don’t make any more promises to David,” Kalen interjected.
“I’ll do me. You do you,” I snapped and focused on Connor. “What do I need to know about the auction?”
Connor rattled off the basic details of location and time. “There’s not much else to know. We’ve set up an account with a healthy amount of liquidity. That was needed to get you in. I gave the little information we know about David’s sister for your preference. You were accepted in the auction, so there is a vague chance.”
“Anything else I should know?”
Everyone looked at Connor, including me. “There is no guarantee what you may or may not have to do if given a test in there to prove you're one of them. They may ask you to do something you’d never think of doing. And you know what will happen if you don’t pass.”
“Death,” I said with a bluntness we all felt.
The thing was, they did not know the things I had to do to rise in the ranks of the cartel. They had no idea the things I had to do to survive prison. The latter I had to do, so I didn’t look like a rat. It didn’t matter that my stays had been short. One day in prison was long enough to lose your life or your pride.
“I know the stakes.”
I’d made promises to David, to Connor. And I’d become an FBI agent to stop the injustices of the world. Human trafficking was one of the worst sins that people did.
“I’ve got this.”
The men all nodded, even Kalen grudgingly did.
