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John pressed a small stack of papers toward Lee. “The role you’re going to be playing. Read it. Then we will go over the plan.”
John looked at Quinn. “Bring up the files I had you working on.”
Quinn clicked something on her laptop, and a large flat-screen on the wall filled with a satellite image of a private airfield in the woods somewhere up north.
“Derek, with me. We need to talk.” John stood and left the room.
“You good?” I asked Lee.
She was already scanning the second page of documents John had given her. She looked up and met my gaze. “I’ve got to read all of this, but I think your boss might have a good idea.” A faint smile played around her lips, and I suppressed the desire to kiss her. I’d missed her smile.
In the hall, John leaned against the wall just outside the conference room.
“I want you to understand your responsibilities in this operation. You oversee security. Don’t think I’m stepping on your relationship with Vance when you don’t get a starring role. Rather, I’m counting on your feelings for her to make you that much better at your job.”
“Okay,” I cautiously replied.
“Men are idiots where love and lovers are concerned. But they will also die to protect their mate. Two sides of the same coin.” He shrugged like go figure. “It’s your job to keep Lee and all the rest of us alive, soldier. I’ll be drawing fire. You’ll be covering my ass and hers. Got it?”
“John, I don’t even know what the plan is.”
“I’m Lee’s new business partner. She and I are expanding her business, and we’re going looking for Jimmy Delgatto’s blessing.”
“Going?”
“All the way to fucking New Jersey to deliver a Trojan horse for my friends at Homeland Security.” He quirked an eyebrow at me, pleased with the devious plan. Then he left me alone to consider his words.
I leaned against the wall, not sure if my boss’s pep talk made things better or worse. The last place I wanted to take Lee was closer to Uncle Jimmy. But doing a favor for Homeland Security was a great way to get Lee’s past crimes overlooked.
I pulled open the door to the conference room. If Lee wasn’t on board with this plan, I’d keep her safe while we came up with something new.
“Jimmy’s a gangster. Why is Homeland Security involved?” Lee asked John as I slipped back into the room. A question that had occurred to me as well.
“He’s expanding his operation into slavery. Supplying domestic and farm laborers. Mostly women and children. Jimmy has the resources and network to become a major player. They want him out of business.”
“That son of a bitch. Slavery.” Lee shook her head, a mix of anger and sadness on her face. The expansion of Jimmy’s organization was obviously news to her. “I’m in. When do we make the first phone call?” She held the stack of papers in her hand, waving them emphatically.
“You know Jimmy. When would be inconvenient?” John countered.
“Four thirty. It’ll interrupt the start of happy hour.” Lee’s devious grin reminded me of John’s expression when he was plotting something.
Fuck. It was time I started planning security for our trip to the Garden State.
Chapter 40
Lee
IshouldhavetoldJohn to make the phone call immediately when he asked. Waiting had been nothing but nerves and stress. We’d gone over all aspects of the plan a dozen times or more. I’d barely been able to choke down lunch, and now that it was four thirty, my stomach was a seething pit of acid.
Quinn discreetly passed me two antacids and a bottle of water under the edge of the conference table. She had been heaven-sent, anticipating everything I might need. She even went to my house with one of the agency’s guys to pack me a suitcase. An enormous suitcase. Was I moving here permanently?
If Quinn was heaven-sent, Derek was my knight in shining armor. He would oversee all operational security in New Jersey while John and I got inside and delivered the device for Homeland. But before anything could happen, I had to get Uncle Jimmy, the slave-trading scumbag, to invite us up to his place. I’d ignored a lot of shit over the years, but this was different. It was selling people. Children.
“You ready?” Derek stood behind my chair and rubbed the tight muscles in my shoulders. I felt like a boxer getting ready to enter the ring for a title bout.
I leaned into his touch, closed my eyes, and enjoyed the massage for a moment while I finished chewing up the chalky antacid tabs. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
He gave my nape one last squeeze before taking the seat beside me at the long conference table.
