Page 32 of Matrix

“What else do you have on him?” I ask.

“How much of the Blackstone/McNash tape did you see? We gave Reynolds the entire recording, but he only aired part of it.”

“We got the whole thing. I think. Let’s watch it again.” As he pulls it up, my stomach curdles. Listening to Blackstone talk about choosing children from binders full of them is just as disgusting as it was the first time I heard it. “Wait. Rewind it a little.”

“What?” Matrix backs up the recording.

“He mentions cartels. We know they’re going to Denver. What’s the biggest cartel operating in Denver right now?”

“I don’t know. Would you have that info in one of your databases?”

“Yes. Give me a laptop. I need to use a VPN, so they won’t know I’m accessing the files.”

“Won’t they recognize your username and password?”

“Oh, baby. You have no idea what kind of skills I have.”

He leans over my shoulder to watch me work my magic. Since I helped to set up the security system, I’m able to pop in a back door and get in without detection, but once I’m in, I’ll leave a trail. As far as I know, we don’t have anyone at the agency double-checking my security measures. That’s my job. But I want to be extra cautious, just in case.

“Bingo. Los Serpientes de Cristal.” I sit back in my chair.

“The Crystal Snakes.”

“You know Spanish?”

“A little bit, but I’m not fluent. The only languages I have mastery over are computer related.”

“Same.” I glance up to find him watching me. “What?”

“I just never figured you were that …”

“Smart?”

“We assumed you were a country girl who only knew how to cook and clean. You surprise me.”

“Thanks.” I grin.

“What else can you do on this thing?”

“Let’s see what the cartel has been up to in Denver.” I type a quick search string to pull up recent arrests in the Denver area. “Lots of little meth trafficking busts. Oh, here’s one. An OCDETF task force took down a major cocaine trafficking network three months ago. They picked up ten men and two women in connection with the illegal drug trade. It looks like the charges were dropped due to mishandled evidence.”

“Of course.” The sarcasm in his tone rubs me the wrong way.

“Law enforcement does everything they can to make sure these people are convicted of their crimes.”

“Not in this case.”

“Sometimes someone fucks up, and criminals go free. I hate it as much as you do.”

“If the Feds would do their jobs, we wouldn’t have to clean up after them. I know you must think we’re renegades with no regard for the law, but you’re wrong. We encourage people to take the legal route whenever possible, but sometimes it fails. That’s where we come in.”

“I understand that. I just wish you didn’t do things illegally to help people.”

“By the time someone comes to us for help, the law has failed. The victims we help are out of options, so they need us to do what you guys couldn’t do. We made it happen. I won’t apologize for doing what’s right, even if you think it’s wrong.”

“I don’t approve of your methods, but I understand why you feel the need to take the law into your own hands. There are times I wish I could have thrown the book away and done things my way, but I swore an oath to protect the Constitution of the United States and defend it to the best of my ability. I take that oath seriously. I can’t circumvent the law.”

Tense silence fills the room. I break away from his searching look and refocus my attention on my screen. After clicking through several files, I find the one we need.

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