Page 58 of Escape You

“He has all the pieces in place to win the Big 5’s favor.” I met Vic’s dark gaze. “This is a new kind of low for them, but if there’s money to be made, they’ll exploit it. Somehow jail time doesn’t seem to fit this crime.”

Vic crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t even think it, Mia. You get his blood on you, you won’t live to see that through.” He pointed at my belly. Manny and Tom didn’t seem to notice his reference to my pregnancy. They were both engrossed, sifting through data on their computers. Vic pointed his chin at Tyler. “Maybe he can talk some sense into his people.”

“He already tried.”

The FBI had turned down Tyler’s case because they needed Rossi to win the Big 5 over with his diabolical business idea. How many people had to suffer for Agent Clifton to get involved and shut Rossi down? The FBI knew that if they went after Rossi now, the Big 5 would go underground again. We were on our own.

All the players swam in my mind’s eye, and I quickly realized that my crew and I, we were a very small fish in this huge pond. The cartel wanted guns, which Rossi had already proved he could provide when I busted my ass to get the guns across the border right under the ATF’s nose. The drug dealer in Maracaibo was the supplier. He already trusted Rossi since they were buddies who visited each other. The ATF was the FBI’s beck-and-call girl in this scenario. No doubt the FBI promised to hand me over as soon as they didn’t need me anymore. That left the FBI and the Big 5.

“How do we discredit Rossi in front of the Big 5? How do we make it so he never gets a seat at their table?”

“We show them that Rossi isn’t the man for the job.” Tyler stood behind me, his warm breath brushed the nape of my neck. I stepped aside before I lost my train of thought, and faced Vic and Tyler.

“Ah fuck.” Vic blew out air. He knew my thoughts before they were fully formed in my head.

“I can do it.”

“Wait? Do what?” Tyler’s gaze shifted from Vic to me. “What? No.”

“If either one of you tell me I can’t do this because I’m pregnant, I’ll walk out that door and handle my business myself.” To their credit, they both stepped back and conceded. Too many people’s lives were at stake. I cradled my belly. The more I thought of it, the more I knew it would work. It had to be me. “Rossi’s not the right guy for the job. I am.”

“Disrupt the distribution.” Tyler said.

“Yeah. I didn’t know what game I was playing before, but I do now. The only way to get rid of Rossi is to take his place. Whatever plan they have going on? We need to come up with a better one and get those people out.”

18

A Crazy Look in Her Eyes

Tyler

“I love everything about this idea of yours, except the part where you have any part in it.”

Manny and Tom exchanged knowing glances. Tom coughed, placing a hand over his mouth to cover his smirk. “Boss?”

Mia shook her head once. A quick, barely there command telling them to stand down, which they both did immediately. Vic took out a notebook and started scribbling in it. I felt like an idiot. In this world, Mia was in charge. My agent status meant nothing. Hell, my husband status meant nothing.

“What happens to you and your crew when Rossi figures it out? When he realizes you betrayed him?”

“He’s not much of a criminal if he’s not expecting me to turn on him the first chance I get. If I do nothing or everything, the end result is the same with Rossi. He takes over my crew and eventually all of Jersey. He gets bigger than he is now with the backing of the Big 5. He’ll be untouchable.”

“Mia.” I wanted to say don’t get involved, but she was already knee deep in this.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “If you want in, you’re going to have to play by my rules. Are you in?”

“You know I am.” I stepped closer to her, and she shuffled back.

I missed being alone with her in the penthouse, away from the real world. But she was right. We needed a bit of distance to focus on nailing Rossi. Her plan was insane but not wrong. If we wanted Rossi to fall from grace with the Big 5, we needed to show them that Rossi was in over his head. What better way than to have Mia pull the rug from under him.

A punishment to fit the crime. I had to admit Mia had a beautiful criminal mind. The more I hung out with her, the less of an agent I felt. The FBI had failed me. They’d failed Rebecca and all those innocent people being tricked into a life of misery, with no pay and only God knew what else. Working with Mia’s guys, I finally felt as if I were moving forward and in the right direction.

“I think this is it,” Manny mumbled from the other side of the room.

My pulse spiked. Rossi would get what he deserved. But if we could also prove Rossi was the guy who made the deal with Rebecca’s boss, we’d be killing two birds with one stone. If we could prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Rossi was the boss behind the Maracaibo operation, someone at the FBI would have to listen to me. Screw Clifton. I was ready to go over his head.

I walked over to Manny, and he turned his laptop around so I could see his screen. The email was all of five lines. In that short paragraph Rossi had sealed the fate of sixty people. He’d addressed the message to Smith, Rebecca’s old boss and Marcel’s dad. This was the proof I needed. Would the FBI accept this as evidence? Technically speaking, I didn’t access this information without a proper warrant.

Mia, a civilian, stole the information and then gave me access, which made all this evidence not fruit of the poisoned tree. If the FBI wanted to, they could nail Rossi. Fuck me. Until I figured out a way to force Clifton’s hand, Mia’s plan was the better plan.

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