Page 131 of Bossy Hero

“Could be the undersheriff is the one doing the influencing on behalf of Lenkov,” Tomer suggests. “We already know he’s on the list of seventy-two from the jump drive we got from Katia.”

Klein taps his pen softly against the edge of his laptop. “Hold on. Boss, what makes you think there’s a connection between them?”

“It’s mostly circumstantial. For starters, the undersheriff is one of the seventy-two, so I’m suspicious of everything where he’s concerned. As for the mayor, something doesn’t sit right with the dismissal. He’s met with me before for far less critical issues. Plus, the timing is worrisome.”

Mia stops typing and fixes her intelligent gaze on me. “How so?”

“After almost two weeks of trying to get me in to see the mayor, Lettie got the final dismissal from his office about a half hour after Dempsey physically sent me to voicemail rather than letting it ring like a missed call. He’s never done that before. Being blocked by them at virtually the same time is sketchy.”

“Could be a coincidence,” Klein suggests, repeatedly clicking that damn pen.

I shake my head. “No such thing.”

“How many days was this after we got that list from Katia?” Tomer asks.

“The next day. I should have told you sooner, but we’ve all been running balls to the wall with the fallout from the night of the op.”

“Speak for yourself,” Mia snickers. “I’ve been running breasts to the west.”

Tomer scrunches up his nose, shaking his head judgmentally at her.

“Sorry. Tits to the pits? Is that better? Nah... that’s weird. Let’s see. Grits. Glitz. Berlitz. Oven mitts.” She clicks her tongue. “Dammit. Those aren’t good either.”

“Doing splits? Cockpits?” Klein suggests.

I drag my palm aggressively across my forehead. “As I was saying, it was?—”

“Oh! Got it.” Mia bounces in her seat. “Tits having fits.Yeah. I like that one. You can run balls to the wall. And my tits will have fits.”

Despite a valiant effort, Klein fails to suppress his laughter. My eyes cut toward Tomer, and he’s barely holding it in.

“Every day, you fuckers give me more reasons to invest in those shock collars,” I grumble.

Mia puts her head down, still fighting her chuckles. “Sorry, Boss.”

“No you aren’t,” I toss back.

She shrugs casually, no longer bothering to feign being contrite. “Guilty.”

I roll my eyes. “Anyhow. This happened the day after we got the list from Katia. We had the briefing that morning, which is when Klein pointed out that Dempsey was on the list. I called him later that same day. Straight to voicemail. Then Lettie comes in to tell me she finally heard back from the chief of staff, who gave me the political middle finger.”

“The next day? Way too convenient.” Tomer stiffens, all traces of the former levity vanishing. “I fucking told you Katia was dirty. They know we’re looking into them because she told them. I guarantee it.”

Mia snaps her head to stare down Tomer. “She’s the one who gave us the list of names. Why would she do that and then run to tell them? If she were working with them, wouldn’t she just modify the list before giving it to us to remove their names? Or give us a bullshit list? There are dozens of other things she could do to fuck with us if she were aligned with Lenkov instead of Alexei’s family. It doesn’t make sense, T.”

He jabs his index finger into the table, tapping it to emphasize each word. “Because she’s playing both fucking sides.”

Tomer gets visibly agitated every damn time Katia comes up. It’s so out of character for him. Makes me wonder what he’s seeing that the rest of us aren’t.

As my mind reels, I steeple my fingers in front of my face and swoop my gaze around the table. I don’t ever discount my team’s reactions. They all have good instincts, and it’s worth hearing them out.

I raise my chin toward Klein, who’s seemingly deep in thought. “Klein, what do you think about this one?”

He leans back in his chair, folding his bent arms behind his head. “I’m inclined to side with Mia on this one.”

“Shocking no one,” Tomer snarks under his breath.

Blowing him off, Klein rolls his eyes. “You’re suggesting Katia was forced to hand over the list of seventy-two. Theunalteredlist. Then, in an attempt to fix things for the other side, she circles back to the people on the list and tells them not to talk to Redleg. Think about how unlikely that is for a minute.”

---