Page 25 of Sinner's Secret

“How many dead?” Baz asked.

“Eight. Six police, two civilians.”

Shit, someone had just started a war with the NYPD.

“Put your arm around me,” she said, just barely loud enough for him to hear.

He did as she asked and enjoyed being close to her way too much. “Are we still playing roles? I thought you were going to end your participation in the operation.”

“Oh, I think that’s more than over. But I’m dressed like a waitress, and my gut is telling me to stay in character.”

“You think someone is watching all this?”

“I think there are a lot of people watching, for a lot of different reasons.”

He urged her toward the entrance of the police station. “Let’s get out of sight then. Once we’re in a safe location, we can take the time to figure out what the fuck.”

She waved at Williams, smiled, and pointed at the door.

He nodded and moved to tell the other member of the team, Davis, still on site.

They went in and the noise almost made Baz want to turn around and go back outside.

Nika stepped away from him and he had to stop himself from following her too close. She gestured for him to wait and he found a spot along a wall where he could lean back out of the way. In chaos this big, it might be a while before Nika was able to speak with a superior.

It took about twenty minutes before Williams came to fetch him, leading Baz to a conference room away from all the frantic movement and noise. Nika was there, along with Davis. An older man stood at the head of the table, his arms crossed over his chest, listening to Nika.

As soon as the door closed, Nika turned and gestured at Baz. “This is Bazyli Breznik, the cab driver who came to my rescue last night.”

“The one who thinks our operation is doomed to fail,” the guy said in a dramatic tone.

“Baz,” Nika said. “This is Lieutenant Thomas, he’s in charge of our operation.”

Baz nodded at him. “It is doomed to fail.”

The man grunted. “Really? You’re a low-level member of a Russian crime family interfering in a police investigation. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t charge you with obstruction and toss you into holding?”

Baz sighed. Here was the brick wall he’d been expecting to run into. “First, my family is not Russian, we’re from Slovenia. Second, funny thing with family, you’re stuck with them no matter how hard you to try to pretend otherwise.”

“You want me to believe you’re not part of Breznik Industries?”

“I drive a cab for them. That’s all.”

“You don’t even have an address,” the lieutenant said, his voice rising.

“I sleep in the car,” Baz told him in a helpful tone that he figured would piss the man off even more. Hand-holding this jerk through a thorough explanation was nowhere on his priority list.

The man turned to Nika and pointed at Baz with one finger. “This piece of worthless garbage is who you choose to believe?”

“He stepped in front of Smith, protected him, took a bullet for him,” Nika said, anger increasing the volume of her words.

“He was wearing body armor,” her boss snapped back.

“Any of those bullets could have hit him outside of his armor,” she said taking a step toward her boss.

Ooh, a fight was coming. Baz nearly rubbed his hands together.

“What’s wrong with our operation?” Davis asked. His question cut through the hostility, and Thomas stepped back and turned away.

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