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Tom released Trevor’s tie, dusting off his hands and sitting back in his chair. Wiz smirked. “If no one can listen in, then you can spill the beans.”
Trevor shook his head. Even though his tie made breathing difficult, he didn’t loosen it. Borde didn’t need to know his surprise attack was effective. “My word means something to me.” And it did. In the military and after, he’d worked hard to protect his reputation.
Sam scoffed. “Your word is trash. You’ve proven that.”
Her words hurt, but from Sam’s perspective, they were true. Unable to defend his actions in college, Trevor sat back, crossed his arms, and clamped his lips together. But her outburst showed she still had feelings for him, even if they were only anger. Maybe he’d have an opportunity to change her mind. Or make everything worse.
Wiz leaned forward across the table, locking her gaze on his. “If one of my friends is injured or dies and you could have done something about it, you won’t have long to regret it. Your bosses either.”
Trevor knew she meant it. He tried to remain impassive but couldn’t keep from swallowing hard. She could easily kill him and dispose of his body so it would never be found. Shoot, shovel, and shut up was a way of life for some in Montana. With the secrets she already kept, one more would be nothing.
Wiz sat back and turned to Deb. “So, we get no help from the feds. I’m sure, though, if we set up a trap, they’ll be happy to roll in for the recovery and take all the credit. I’ve seen that before, and so have you, Mills.” She shot a glare at him. “I don’t care about myself, but don’t forget what happened the last time you tried to screw one of my clients.”
Wiz knew that he’d been involved in that case—no, he had to stop thinking about it. He couldn’t react. He slammed his mouth shut. That whole thing had been a disaster from the start. None of the people at the table needed to know about the case that almost got him killed. He’d been lucky. His honesty brought him to Aviss’s attention, saving him and the FBI from a very dangerous double agent. He’d been lucky and he didn’t forget it.
“Oh, don’t worry.” Wiz slashed her hand through the air above the table. “I know it wasn’t you; you’re just the fall guy. Doesn’t mean you can’t fall farther, especially when no one in your chain of command has your six.”
Trevor kept his mouth clamped. She didn’t need to know that had changed.
Michael cleared his throat. “Hey, Wiz, let’s move ahead. We’ll plan on the feds making the worst move possible at the worst time, and if we get something better, it’s a win. I’ll be happy if they just stay out of it.” He turned to Mills. “Appreciate the save today. We’d have gotten away, but the chances of collateral damage were rising.”
Nic shuddered. “I expected a little old lady with a tiny dog to walk down the street in front of me every second the bullets were flying. I’ll second the thanks and the warning. Just stay out of the way. You’re welcome to any and all credit if my family, our friends, and my town survive.” He wrapped his arm around Kim’s shoulders.
“And on that note, let’s get everyone safe sleeping quarters.” Pete tapped the table. “Nic, your family takes the guest house out back of here, where Deb was staying. Sam and Deb can stay at the Rocking B with me. Michael, Erin, and Ryan, you can stay at the place across the road. We’ll warn our ranch hands and lock the gates at the highway. Mills—”
“I’ll be staying at Sam’s house.” He held back a wince. That had been stupid. She’d be pissed, and he didn’t need to be that close, although he certainly wanted to.
Sam leaned forward and glared. “No, you won’t. I don’t remember offering and I won’t. Stay away from my house. And me.”
“Fine.” Trevor nodded. “Don’t worry about me. I have accommodations.” Right behind Sam’s house. Hopefully, he’d keep her from realizing that for a while.
Michael grimaced. “Mills, I warned you to stop playing games. I don’t care about your former relationship with Sam, Wiz, or anyone else. If you can’t quit poking, then leave.”
Deb joined the bashing. “Yeah. If you can’t be useful, go. None of us wants you here.”
But he was staying; he had to know what they were planning. Too bad he didn’t have any microphones with him, although Wiz would probably find a bug quickly.
Michael tapped the table, the thud punctuating his words. “We need a strategy to push the mobsters out. We’ve got social media running, but it will take more than that.”
Kim raised her hand. “I’ve been monitoring Deb’s and some of the other businesses’ channels. I’ll push a few more locals to make videos, and I’m chiming in with encouragement and smashing trolls.” She pointed at Michael. “You’ll be doing a video with Nic right after this.” Michael grimaced.
But that was psyops, and Michael had an excellent point. They needed a complete plan. Sticking to that side would make his job easier, though.
“Kim, if you’re willing to take the social media on, Sam, Tom, and I can work a larger psyops campaign with you.” Wiz smirked. “And I’ll be truly grateful if you can take that part. It’s a pain and takes a ton of time.”
Kim’s nose wrinkled. “Psyops?”
Civilians. Trevor kept his expression blank. “Psychological Operations. Winning hearts and minds.”
Kim nodded. “Sure. I’m pretty good at that. I’ve got a script for Michael and Nic, kind of a knockoff of some HGTV stars. If I can get a few pointers on SEO and hashtags, that would be awesome.” Michael and Nic pointed at each other, both mouthing, “not me.”
Deb snickered and bumped her shoulder into Kim’s. “Sign me up. I love doing that stuff.”
Michael looked at Wiz. “So, that definitely takes psyops. What’s our next move, operationally, especially Deb’s Bakery? Taking out foot soldiers is a waste of time. There’s always more. How do we run our businesses and get Igor Koslov out of town for good?”
Wiz nodded. “The first part of that is psyops, too. I’ve put together a documentary-style video on Koslov. It still needs narration, but I’ve got a script. I was going to check with the feds, but since they’re not cooperating”—she glared at Trevor—“we’ll put it out tonight or tomorrow, and then we’ll push it on a bunch of internet boards along with social media. The preppers and both extremes of the political spectrum will love it because it will give them a no-kidding bad guy to target. But Igor will push back. He’s given a lot of money to big-name charities just to kill these kinds of attacks. The other downside is we’re likely to find more people walking around armed in Marcus. Most of them are harmless, but there will be some who aren’t mentally stable, and most of them won’t consider things like collateral damage. They’ll be looking for trouble and trigger-happy, and they won’t consider what might be behind their target.”
She was playing with fire. And still doing psyops. While keeping her focused on that fed into his strategy, he didn’t want any of them dying. “That’s why the FBI would prefer you not release anything like that.” Having strangled long enough to make his point, Mills loosened his tie. “It often doesn’t end well for the people producing the video or those around them.” Unlike most US-based mob leaders, who pretended to have class, the Bratva reacted quickly and brutally.
