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26
River
The next day,I make my call to Mitch Carter.
I still have his card from when he was trying to get information out of me on his last little visit to the house, and I kept it, just in case there was ever a time when we could use it. Working with the feds is dangerous, especially in a game like this, but throwing Julian under the bus is worth the danger.
Carter might already have his suspicions about the guys, but it’s nothing he can prove. So it’s worth the risk, even though I don’t really want to talk to him at all.
I stand in the living room and punch his number into my phone, holding my breath a little when the call goes through.
He answers the phone on the third ring, sounding professional and detached. “This is Carter.”
“Hi, Agent Carter,” I say, keeping my voice neutral. “This is River Simone. We’ve met a few times?”
I already know there’s no way he doesn’t remember me, but I have to play it like there’s a chance he won’t. As if I thinkhethinks I’m so uninteresting that he put me out of his head as soon as he walked out of the house last time.
“Yes, of course,” he says immediately, and his whole tone changes. He sounds surprised to hear from me, but definitely pleased, like he didn’t think I would call, but it’s something he’s wanted. I don’t really like that. “How are you, Ms. Simone?”
“I’m fine. You told me to call you if I had any information, so…”
I leave it up to him to fill in the blanks.
He does, but of course he fills in the wrong blanks, going off assumptions. “I did. And I’m glad you finally realized you can come to me for help. I understand you might have been afraid before, since you’re living with those four men, but if you tell me everything you know, I can protect you. You’ll be safe, and if they try anything, it will just get worse for them.”
I roll my eyes, and it definitely grates on my nerves a little. He’s so fucking excited at the prospect of me turning on the Kings, ratting them out like they’ve done something wrong. They’ve done a lot of shit, but compared to Julian and the other scum in this fucking city, they’re practically saints.
Or at least, they’re my kind of monsters.
“No, no, you’re misunderstanding me,” I tell him. “I do have information, but not about the men I’m living with. It’s about someone else.”
“Ah,” he says, and there’s a definite trace of disappointment there. “Well, I’m happy to hear whatever you’ve found out. Tell me.” There’s a rustle in the background, probably him flipping open that damn notebook so he can write down what I say.
“Not over the phone,” I say. “I’d rather talk to you in person about it.”
“Of course,” he replies immediately. “We can meet up face to face. I have time this afternoon. What time works for you?”
“I have time today. Let’s meet at three.
“Excellent.”
He gives me a location, which I recognize as being a public park.
I get why he chose it. We’ll be out in the open, but there will be plenty of little places in the park to have a private meeting. I wonder how many informants he’s met there, and how many of them were pressured into giving information away.
But in this situation, I have the upper hand, so I agree to it and end the call.
The guys are all in the living room with me, and I glance up at them. Gage and Priest look attentive, like they were paying attention to my side of the conversation to try to see if there was any information to be gathered. But that’s just how they are.
Ash is draped over the couch, flipping and spinning a pen between his fingers, and Knox has his arms folded, leaning against the wall. It’s still pretty clear that even after yesterday, he’s not thrilled about me meeting with Carter.
But it’s not like we have a choice, if we want this to work.
“So we’re ready to go, right?” I ask them. “We have everything you need me to give to Carter?”
Gage nods. “We’re ready. What we want to tell him should be enough to get him interested.”
“Then I guess I should get ready to meet him.”
