Page 2 of Winter's End

Even if, from the sounds of things, his informant status may have gotten us into this situation.

No, I corrected myself.Dad got you into this situation.You’re being used as a pawn right now because ofhiscrimes.

That sobering thought didn’t make me feel any better.

I closed my eyes and allowed myself one peaceful second in the silent air to collect my thoughts.

A shuffle of feet made me crack open one eye, only to stare into the bemused cool eyes of Kellan Carlos.TheKellan Carlos—a baddy.

He was eyeing me carefully, assessing me. His gaze kept hovering over the point where Logan held me close to him. Instinctively, I gently pulled myself out of Logan’s arms and tugged his jacket tighter over me, squared my shoulders, and stared straight into the soul of the lesser-known Carlos brother.

“You never told me you were a criminal,” I stated sarcastically, cutting through the thick loaf of quiet.

“As I remember it, you didn’t ask for my name until you were about to walk out on me.” He cocked one bushy blond eyebrow in challenge, folding his enormous arms across his barrel chest. “And I wasn’t a criminal. I’mnota criminal.”

Logan muttered something indecipherable but equally belligerent under his breath.

Kellan swiped a meaty palm down his jaw and sighed, moving to kneel on the concrete in front of me.

“I’m sorry, little song-Winter,” he corrected with a rueful smile. “I didn’t want to have to push Darren to this point, but itwas the best opportunity to get the evidence we need to take my brother down once and for all. I’ve been working on all the brothers, but Georgio—Georgio’s a slippery snake that needs to be shot in the grass.”

“So, you’re not … the Columbian Commando?” I practically whispered the title. Icicles steadily crept up my spine at the memory of reading the news article Logan had thrown in my face after I had spent one incredibly blissful night with Kellan.

It was one of my deepest secrets, one Quick didn’t even know. The only people who knew were Raven and Logan. And to this day, I never revealed to Raven who he really was.

Kellan’s booming laughter echoed off the playground of metal bars and empty concrete rooms. “Yes, I am,” he admitted with a wink, his thick fingers curling through his beard. “But I’ve been with the FBI for a very long time. A dual player, you might say.”

“Great,” Logan stated flatly, shifting away from me and glaring at Kellan with undisguised hate. “Then get us the fuck out of here, and clear us of thesebullshitcharges.”

Kellan’s warm gaze snapped to Logan, instantly freezing into frosty appraisal.

“Logan,” he barked in an authoritative tone. “You are not in a position to make demands here.”

“I am tired of thisshit!” Logan stood with an aggressive flourish, wrathful hate exploding from his irises.

“I’ve been working with you for over a fucking year. A fuckingyear.I’ve brought you everything you’ve asked for. Everything,”—he turned to the other man in the room with the contemptuous sneer—“that Icouldget, and here we are, being used again because you guys areshitat doing your fucking jobs.”

He stalked over to Kellan in such a vicious rage, it took me by complete surprise. Over many years, I had witnessed Logan be cruel, entitled, and arrogant, but I had never actually seen him this angry. Fury consumed his features, and I could see in that moment fury had embedded in his heart.

“So, I’m an addict, so fucking what? You used that over me instead of doing anything for me to fuckinghelp.Fuck you. I’m done with this game. I’m lawyering up when we get out of here, and we’ll see what the Confidential Informant Act has to say when we rake you over the coals for fucking exploitation.”

He ended his diatribe with a satisfied smirk—thatlook sure was familiar—but my heart ached for him. It was a bad day when I was empathizing with the devil, but I had been used for a total sum of an hour to assist with their end game. Logan had been used for a year? Because of drug charges?

So many things were wrong with this scenario.

Kellan let out an aggravated sigh while mystery FBI guy stepped in with equal irritation.

“It’s fucking trash like you–”

“Stop.” Kellan’s voice boomed through the cell and his partner—employee—minion?—fell quiet.

“He’s not wrong, Maverick.” He turned to face Logan and me, cocking his head in perceived thought.

“I want to partner with you, Logan. You and Winter, and your gang of friends. You’re all involved at this point; money laundering, money-running, illegal fighting, withholding embezzling information … We’ve known about much of your involvement for some time.

“We’ve been biding our time because this construction deal will actually open up a window of opportunity for Georgio and my brothers that could take them all down. We know they’re silent partners. We know that this would be the gateway to an enormous amount of unwittingly government-funded crime, and we’re going to use it to remove them from the picture, once and for all.”

Okay—that’s not what I was expecting.

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