Page 15 of Sinner's Secret

His words sucked all the air out of the car.

She opened her mouth to defend the operation she was a part of but couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

It took two long seconds before she managed to speak again. “We thought we’d maintain control of the situation with the RFID tag.”

He shook his head slowly, his gaze never leaving hers. “If they’ve been doing this for any length of time, they’re likely adapting ways to counter anything law enforcement does to stop them. They’ll be quick to use new technology and even quicker to spot it.” He paused, then asked, “Whose idea was it?”

“What?”

“Whose idea was it to put a cop on the meat market?”

She thought back. “I don’t...know. There was a lot of discussion. Like I said, one undercover cop nearly died when his cover was blown. Ended up in surgery to remove three bullets from his chest. He’d been trying to get into a position where he could find out who the big players are.”

“How?”

“Acting as a buyer.” She shook her head. “After he got shot, the idea of getting someone in as one of the victims was discussed as an easier and quicker way to get the information.” She thought about that for a moment, considering the idea from a step or two farther back. “Your accusation about thinking of this as the same as posing as a prostitute and catching johns is pretty accurate. We figured we’d have someone snatched, then catch the kidnappers red-handed. Leverage those charges for information on the bigger players.”

Baz shook his head. “This is New York City, there are airports with all kinds of private planes and a harbour full of private boats to get you away from here before anyone is the wiser. That’s before they pull out any RFID tags they find on you. Once those are gone, there is literally no way to track you, no way to help you.”

Had he moved closer? There was something in his gaze that sent a shiver down her spine, a shiver that sliced through skin to bone. And yet his scent drew her closer, making her want to touch and taste him.

“Whose idea was it, Nika?” He asked the words in a low, soft tone—menace hidden beneath a veneer of careful control.

“I don’t know.” She should know. The idea had sounded rational, logical, doable damn it. They had discussed contingency plans if things went wrong, but the whole operation hung on her team knowing where she was or being able to find her. No one had considered that the human smugglers would be smart enough to search her body for RFID tags and remove them.

“You know an awful lot about how this kind of business works,” she said, leaving the words to hang in the hot, stuffy air between them.

He didn’t flinch or even blink. “I’m not stupid.”

“But my entire team is?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe you’re all just naïve, or maybe someone has been guiding you to all the wrong conclusions. It doesn’t really matter. The only thing you can do now is get the hell out of the situation.”

“That’s a big ask.” Weeks of work, of getting her and her surveillance team into position, and she’d almost been snatched. Only Baz had shown up before she could be taken. Would she have disappeared forever if they’d been successful?

“They’re already tracking you,” he said, his tone hard and sharp. “They have your fucking phone number.”

“I can’t just bail on the whole thing without talking to my team.”

“So, talk to them. Call them right now.”

She shook her head. “I’ll have to do it after my shift, make it look like I have something to add to my attempted kidnapping statement.”

He flung himself back into his seat with a snort. “That’s just giving them eight hours of opportunities to grab you.”

“In the diner? In front of witnesses?”

“The diner isn’t busy all the time.”

“It’s Saturday night. We’re always busy with the post bar crowd on Saturdays.”

He paused, then huffed. “Yeah, okay, that might work.”

He turned on his signal light, then pulled out into traffic. “I’m going to sit in my car in front of the diner until your shift is done, then I’ll take you to the police station.”

“That would look...weird. You won’t make any money that way.”

“I don’t give a shit.”

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