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“In jail is good, right?” Lee looked between Steel and me, waiting for an answer. There was a hopeful gleam in her eye. I didn’t blame her. I knew she missed her house and her store.
“Yeah, we already know that Tony likes to talk. Look how easily Sydney got to him. The feds will have him singing like a canary. I’d say this arrest is the beginning of the end of the Delgatto family.” Steel rubbed a tired hand down his face.
Dealing with the bikers, especially Coyote, always seemed to wear him down. And John’s lack of tact didn’t help. We weren’t a fluffy bunny group that needed coddling, but John had been careless and almost brusque with Steel. It was bullshit. Steel was one of my team, and he deserved respect.
“Give John a few minutes to make his calls. Then I’m going to go talk to him.” I kissed the top of her head.
“I can’t stay here forever.” She looked at me. “It’s time I got back to Oleander. Sara is treading water, but I can’t afford for her to get overwhelmed.”
Lee had been on and off the phone with Sara since the day I first brought her into the office. Listening to Lee’s side of the calls, I could tell Sara had things handled but was fraying at the edges. Lee had confided that giving up the extra money from fencing stolen jewelry was like giving up a financial safety net for her store. Her work-related stress grew with each phone call.
“I’ll see if John can give me some time off. I’ll be your personal security until everything shakes out. Be with you at the store and at the Sunrise Lux apartment. Until everything blows over.”
“Ah, no, you can’t, lover boy. Smith assigned us to the ambassador’s trip to the Keys. We’re picking him up at the airport late today and driving down. Three days at the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo.” Steel crushed an empty paper coffee cup into a ball and tossed it into a garbage can in the corner. He made the shot.
“Derek, he’s right. You have already done enough. Too much. I can’t keep taking up all your time. John said I have my life back, and he’s right. Tony is in federal custody. I have a life out there, one I fought for. It’s time I go live it.” She stood, and I fought the urge to yank her back into her chair and pin her in place with a kiss. Loving her wasn’t ever going to be simple. She was too independent for that, but I’d fight her on this if it wasn’t safe.
“Let me go talk to John. He was off just now. I don’t like it.” I tugged her back to the seat with the hand I still held.
I was sure it was John’s continuing distrust of the FBI’s Miami office coming into play. He wanted to know how the FBI got tipped off about the exchange. But the comment to Lee about getting her life back, I wasn’t so sure about that. He was too cavalier for my peace of mind.
A raid appeared premature. The tablet that Lee had left with Uncle Jimmy had to have been yielding a treasure trove of information about the Delgatto family and its associates around the globe. Why pick up Tony and some of Jimmy’s errand boys?
“Go talk to him.” She nodded and wadded up her empty cup like Steel had and took aim.She shoots. She scores.“But I’m going to be at Oleander when it opens today.”
“Best three out of five?” Steel asked, retrieving their makeshift balls.
Lee accepted Steel’s challenge as I was leaving the conference room. And I accepted hers. She would only be at the store if Tony was behind bars.
I knocked on John’s office door and waited for him to answer.
“Come,” he snapped.
He was on the phone, pacing back and forth behind the desk. It was rare to see him so visibly annoyed.
“I’m on fucking hold. I can’t believe this shit.” He closed a hand over the mic that hung from his earbuds.
I took a seat. This week, Kira’s desk had a vase full of sunflowers.
“Lewis Wright, please,” John barked at someone on the other end of the call.
I knew of Lewis Wright. FBI agent at the Miami field office. He was, according to John, one of the few trustworthy agents left.
“Lewis, it’s Smith. Talk to me. What the hell happened out in the swamp this morning?”
John paced and listened to the agent. His face didn’t give away the slightest hint of what was being relayed.
“Is he getting extradited to New Jersey?” John asked after a few minutes of listening. “Good. Thanks for the intel. And hey, my offer stands if you want out of that cesspool. I have a job for you here.”
“They’re sending him north for prosecution?” I asked as soon as John removed his earpiece.
“Yeah, Homeland and FBI joint task force raid.” John sat in his chair and steepled his hands on the desk in front of him.
“How’d they know about the exchange?” The exchange was a Smith Agency operation. We organized it, and Lee funded it.
“I kept my contact at Homeland abreast of the situation.”
The vague answer was all I’d get. No point in trying to dislodge a secret from John. The man was a vault.
