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“It’s not fucking much,” Craig admits. “You’d think the entire might of the bureau would be dropping down on this guy, but the top brass are terrified. They’re hiding in their shells like a bunch of old turtles.”
“Just point me in the right direction,” Lanzo says. “I think we can help each other.”
Craig’s quiet for a few seconds. He seems to deflate again, rubbing his face, sighing. Finally, he nods. “I’ll give you what I have,” he says, taking out his phone. “I’ve got an email set up. Just need a place to send it.”
Lanzo rattles off a random-sounding email address to a server I’ve never heard of before. “Encrypted,” he says. “Just make sure it’s encrypted.”
“Done.” Craig taps at his phone. “Carmine said if anyone can stop Burian, it’s you. He swore this was legit. I want to believe it, but I’ve got ten reasons to think my partner’s already dead.”
“If he’s still alive, I’ll find him.” Lanzo stands up. “Now, agent, I need you to go back home and pretend like this conversation never happened. If I need you, I’ll be in touch.”
Craig stares up at him. “That’s it, huh? I break all the rules, send you some serious classified documents, and you send me on my way?”
“That’s it,” Lanzo confirms, face hardening. “Burian’s mine and mine alone, and I’m going to kill him.”
Chapter35
Renata
Buried inside of that cache of documents Craig sent over is an address, which happens to show up in the data Lanzo scraped from the calls Burian kept making to my phone.
“This has to be the place,” Lanzo says as we circle the block.
“Why?” I ask, genuinely bewildered.
It’s an apartment building. The thing looks like a giant slab of concrete with holes carved into it. The structure is ugly as sin, a horrible blot on the landscape, right on the edge of downtown Dallas. I can’t imagine anyone would want to live in it, much less a rich and terrifying Russian assassin.
“Because it’s perfect.” Lanzo parks the car across from the building. We’re in a rented sedan, bought with a fake name, using a stolen credit card. Multiple layers of protection. Lanzo’s paranoia is out in force. “Good location. Dumpy enough that most people wouldn’t even notice. But with a good viewing angle. See, look how there aren’t many trees, and the buildings on either side of it are shorter? If he has a place up top, he can see for miles.”
I frown, squinting up toward the top. “Are you telling me Burian’s in there somewhere, watching the city like a creepy gargoyle?”
“Pretty much.” Lanzo sits back, making himself comfortable. “Now for the fun part.”
“Which is what exactly?”
He smirks at me, closing his eyes. “We wait.”
“For how long?”
“Until we find him.”
I prod Lanzo with my fingers. He swats at me like waving away a fly but doesn’t open his eyes. “You’re not serious, are you? Your big plan is we park outside of what you thinkmightbe Burian’s apartment building and we… watch it?”
“It’s called a stakeout. Surely you’ve seen a detective show?”
“Don’t be an ass,” I say, glaring. Although he doesn’t notice because his eyes remain closed. “You’re not staking out anything, you’re taking a nap.”
“That’s why I have you.”
I groan. “You’re really leaning on me to spot him, aren’t you?”
“You’re the only person to ever see him.” He cracks open one eye, trying not to smile. “Which you keep reminding me.”
My jaw clenches, teeth grinding. This arrogant little prick. I want to punch him hard in the arm, but I hold myself back.
Because this is what I wanted.
He’s letting me get involved again. Instead of stashing me back at the apartment and doing this all himself, he’s letting me stay in the car. He’s giving me responsibility.
