Page 189 of Bossy Hero

“I know you have a lot you want to ask,” he begins, intelligent eyes scanning his team members. “Just fire away. I’m too fucking tired for a structured info dump. I would have waited until tomorrow, but I knew you wouldn’t sleep until you got the details from me.”

“Heavens to Betsy, Boss Dad. That’s just so considerate of you,” Sawyer coos in a feminine Southern accent.

A few of us chuckle, but Lettie impales him with a sharpened gaze. “Child, you’re as windy as a sack full of toots.” Her facetious glare fades, giving way to mirth. “And for the love of Pete, if you’re gonna impersonate me, at least get it right. That wasn’t aheavens-to-Betsysituation. It was athank-ya-kindlyone.”

“Quite right. Quite right. A thousand apologies, milady,” he quips, back in his old faithful British impression.

Although Tomer’s grinning, he’s quick to refocus the group. “Did you ask why Patterson has been altering the files he sends to the FBI?”

Alan nods. “He’s been removing things that tie back to Bigsby.”

Mia says, “Ah, so he’s helpingthe architectfree himself so we can take down more rings of the bratva.”

“Essentially, yes.” Alan swipes his gaze around the table. “Other questions?”

Tomer brings his hand up by his shoulder. “What do we tell Detective Salgado about that?”

Alan waves him off. “Let’s put her off for now. The chief said he’d talk to her once they figure out how to explain away Patterson’s actions. He said they’ll probably couch it as though the things he changed need further corroboration or more data.”

Mia shakes her head, her features screwing to one side. “She’s pretty smart, Boss. I doubt she’d buy some bullshit like that.”

“It isn’t our problem. We’re not in the business of protecting Patterson or the chief. That said, I have no plans to turn them in, considering I trust their motives. Plus, weneedthem as partners. But frankly, how well they cover their asses isn’t my business.”

She rubs her palms together, figuratively wiping her hands clean of the topic. “Fair.”

“Boss, did you ask what’s happening at the port in January?” Leo asks.

Alan perks up as he starts to explain. “Ever since Lenkov’s foothold in Franco Financial was disrupted, he’s been scrambling like mad. He had to cash in a shit ton of favors to beat the charges. As we know, it’s predominantly been lower-level people taking the fall for him. However, his castle is crumbling. And when we hamstringed their trafficking ring, it put him firmly on the defense.”

Ah, so it was pride renewing Alan’s energy reserves. None of that would have happened without Redleg.

Yeah, he should be proud. The whole Redleg family should be.

When Alan pauses, Shep jumps in to ask for clarification. “So whatever defense Lenkov’s planning will take place in January? And since it’s at the port, that means...” He trails off, eyes widened in a silent question.

Alan jumps in to fill in the blank. “He’s pulling most of his assets out of Florida—guns, drugs, people, and whatever else he’s got. He plans to set up shop somewhere else to flee the heat he’s under from law enforcement.”

“Bon voyage, fucker,” Sawyer quips, his cupped hand waving goodbye to no one.

Mia sweeps her gaze around the table, her brows arched high and suspicion coating her words. “This doesn’t pass the sniff test, Boss. It’s not like Lenkov has warehouses full of product to move. He makes money when product is sold, not by filling shelves. More than likely, the lag time is minimal between when he gets his hands on something and when he sells it.”

Kri seems to be on the same doubtful side as Mia, adding in her own two cents. “Right, so why does he need cargo ships? And why is he waiting so long to relocate? I get that he can’t just up and move tomorrow, but four months? That seems excessive.” She shakes her head and tuts. “I’m with Mia. Something doesn’t add up.”

“I agree with you both.” Alan rolls his wrists, fanning out his empty hands in front of him. “More shit for us to figure out. Maybe it’s not entire ships, but a few shipping containers.”

“Let’s think on this,” Tomer offers, tugging his glasses off to squeeze the bridge of his nose. “For starters, he’d need to move vehicles, weapons, and drugs. To Mia’s point, he likely doesn’t need entire cargo ships for the quantity of unsoldmerchandisehe’d have on hand. However, there’s still plenty of other shit in play. We know he’s infiltrating all types of businesses, some of which carry legitimate products. He uses those as fronts or as means to launder money or smuggle drugs, guns, jewels, counterfeit cash, and electronics around the country. Some of that shit would need to go with him, or he’d lose his investment. Especially if he’s moving overseas. And he’s already lost a lot of money because of us.”

“That’s true, T,” Klein jumps in, his voice crackling the phone line. “Then you’ve got printing equipment, supplies, and raw materials they use for their counterfeit operation.”

Leo adds his theories to the mix. “Plus, they must have expensive lab equipment to make those new synthetic blends they’ve started flooding the drug market with. From what we’ve seen, those designer drugs arenotcoming into this country in their final form. So someone locally is playingEvil Bill Nye the Science Guyin a massive way. I’m sure Lenkov has a lot of money sunk into that, so he’ll move the chemist, his supplies, equipment, andallthe ingredients he’s stockpiled for those little creations. I’m sure there’s a lot to move for that operation alone. When you add that to all the other small pockets, you end up with a mammoth move to orchestrate.”

“I guess so,” Mia responds, but she still seems unconvinced.

Alan exhales, scanning his kids’ faces individually before locking on my daughter-in-law. “You’ve been quiet so far, Sue. What are you thinking?”

“This isn’t really my area of expertise. I’m just wondering if we have any ideawherehe’s moving?”

Alan purses his lips, his head languidly arcing from side to side. “We could make some educated guesses. Odds are the West Coast of the US. Other possibilities might include Canada and the UK. Some spots in Africa might be friendly and profitable for him, but not on the same scale as the US and Canada. Unfortunately, we just don’t know yet.”

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