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“At first, I only planned to do a little investigation, but it quickly got complicated.” My answering tone is flat and unaffected. All business. “We knew we had to get her tonight. Before she was moved.”
He pulls out his phone and shakes it at me. “This isn’t a paperweight.”
I let my posture droop, shame filling me. “We thought you’d eighty-six the mission or force us to turn it over to law enforcement.”
“You’re damn right I would have. Why the hell didn’tyoustop this?”
When I look up, he’s shifted his focus from me to Shep, pointing a finger in his face.
I can’t let Shep or any of them take the fall for this.
“I asked them not to tell you, Leo, or Sawyer,” I interject. “All of them. I swore them to secrecy to protect our ability to carry out the rescue.”
“Someone, make this make sense. It’s late. I was on a d—” He pauses, eating his words. “Instead of enjoying my evening, I’m here at midnight, waiting for someone to explain why there are battered Russians in the holding rooms. I’d also like to know if the police chief is about to blow up my phone if that’s not too much trouble.”
“They won’t know it was us,” I offer unhelpfully. “I took care of it.”
He lifts his big hands to scrub his face, then sighs gruffly into his palms.
Once he’s done groaning, he fixes a withering glare on Klein. “I never expected this from you. Shep? Maybe. He’s not fond of authority. Kri? Why the fuck are you and Val even here?” He sweeps his finger between Jonesy, Junior, and Aaron. “And you guys? I don’t fucking know where to begin with you.” He points at Cal, making my heart clench painfully. “But you? Never would have guessed you’d do something like this. Is it because of her?” He flings his thumb in my direction. “From whatever your past is with her?”
“No, Boss,” Cal answers, resolute and calm. “We have our reasons, and they have more to do with the girl than anything else.”
“Reasons. Reasons. Everyone has their reasons, but no one has told them to me yet. Is she even a Redleg client? Or party to a client?”
“No, sir.”
“So this is because of Tomer’s relationship with her, then?” Shaking his head, he paces while murmuring to himself.
Do I lie or tell the truth?
It’d besoooeasy to tell him she’s Redleg family because of Tomer. Then we could move on to the debrief.
But I don’t want to lie anymore.
I’ve had it up to my tits with trying to remember the stories I’ve told. Even if the lies were justifiable and for a good cause, keeping track of them is an exercise in insanity. And my padded room is calling.
I’m exhausted.
I’m a hairsbreadth from blurting out the truth when Cal steps up. “Sir, she’s Redleg family. Tomer is involved with her, and we worked together to rescue her immediately. We decided to hide it from you and Lionheart for two reasons. One, we didn’t know if you’d allow us to get involved to the extent we felt necessary. And two, Mia believes that law enforcement is compromised regarding the trafficking in the area. Reporting it to the authorities could have ruined our only chance to get Lettie before she was sold or worse. Explaining all that to you and getting buy-in would have taken time we didn’t have. We had one shot, and we took it. We saved her and fifteen other girls tonight.”
Big Al’s face blanches over, the rosiness of his anger dissipating rapidly. He glances at Leo before facing Klein again. His eyes narrow to slits. “Did you just fucking call mesir?”
Muted chuckles echo around the room.
I exhale a nervous breath as relief takes root and threatens to blossom.
Something tells me that if Big Al can joke, then he’s not about to fire us. Well, not all of us.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he escorts me from the building tonight with a box of my belongings. It was a risk I accepted because getting Lettie was worth it.
He plops into an empty chair and props his chin on his palm. “Start at the beginning. I’m not here to put socks on centipedes. Let’s debrief and get the fuck out of here.”
“Yes, si—” I begin but immediately cut myself when he shoots me an icy glare. “Yes, Boss.”
The group settles, some taking the few available chairs and others leaning against the walls. Klein slips into Tomer’s usual seat. He shoots me a wink, which I translate as saying:You had my back earlier, and now I’ve got yours.
No one’s ever supported me like that.
