Page 35 of Escape You

“You don’t say.” My phone buzzed with a new message from Dr. Pam, our contact at the hospital. “Oh shit.”

“Now what?”

“Pam just texted. Says there’s a suit outside Manny’s room.”

“Jesus. ATF?”

“No, FBI.” I waved a hand in dismissal, then quickly replied to Pam to keep the suit busy until we got there. Vic nodded, letting out a breath. He rarely had any kind of visceral reaction to things, nerves of steel and all. “Why would the FBI come knocking? Is there something you’re not telling me? Did something happen with our shipment to Mexico?”

“No, that went without a hitch. Well, except for the small fact that Rossi used it to get you to agree to go with him.”

“Right.”

Vic gripped the steering wheel and hit the accelerator. Manny was a tough kid, but he’d never had to deal with a fed. Those guys could be real assholes. “What do you think the FBI wants?”

“Only one way to find out.” Vic took the exit ramp to the hospital.

At the hospital, Pam had a nurse meet us at the side entrance to escort us to Manny’s room. She ushered us to the service elevator, away from prying eyes. No one needed to know Vic and I had visited, especially since we didn’t know how the situation with the suit would play out. I crossed my fingers. Luck was hardly a strategy, but that was where we were at this point. Please, no dead bodies today.

“Do you know what they do to pretty boys like you in jail?” The agent’s voice carried out into the hallway, where Pam met us.

“I’m sorry. I kept him as long as I could. It’s bad.”

From the nurse’s station, I grabbed a vase full of fresh flowers and tucked it under my arm. Vic had already disappeared to keep watch from a distance. How did he do that? For an old man, he sure moved fast. I barged into Manny’s room, cheery face on.

“Hey, buddy, how’s the leg today?” I placed the flowers on his nightstand and fussed with his pillow a bit. Manny flashed me a weak smile. By the look on his face, the agent was already giving him hell.

“It still hurts a lot,” he whined, looking younger than his nineteen years.

I steeled myself and turned to face the agent. As if I’d just noticed his presence in the room, I jerked my body a bit. “I’m sorry, but who are you?”

The suit pursed his lips. “Are you family?”

“Manny’s my cousin. What’s going on?”

What did this asshole think? That he could come in here, intimidate my family, and no one would intervene? He slow-blinked, regarding me with dark and greedy eyes. As I said, these guys could be vicious assholes. I stepped forward, placing a hand on Manny’s injured leg. He’d taken one for the team last week when we were loading up the arms cargo. No way was I letting this suit bully him.

The agent let out a breath through his nose and dug into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. “I’m Special Agent in Charge Clifton. FBI.”

I made my eyes go as wide as I could to show my surprise. “Oh, what has little Manny done?”

“We traced a hack IP to his computer.”

“What does that mean?” I turned to Manny. I had no clue if that was a thing. Or if the hack had anything to do with the hack on Rossi’s computer last night. Manny shook his head. The agent was bluffing? Shit. Why? What did he want?

“I swear, Mia. I don’t know what he’s talking about. I was in surgery last night.”

“I can confirm that.” Pam stepped in, flanking me. She hated the suits as much as the rest of us. Not once in our lifetime had the FBI done anything to protect us. Every time they meddled in our business, one of us ended up dead or in jail. Nothing good ever came out of consorting with the feds.

“It’s okay, Manny. Mr. Clifton, we will, of course, cooperate with the FBI. Just tell us what you need from us, and we’ll oblige.”

“It’s special agent in charge.”

Translation: he was in charge.

“Right. How can we help?”

Clifton glared at me for several beats before he answered. “We’d like to see the files Manny accessed last night.”

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