Page 40 of Justus
“Yeah.”
“Crowe?”
“It’sme. Everything is going as planned.”
“Theyagreed to the transaction?”
“Yes,the day after tomorrow. Redfern Hotel.” I try to sound natural, sure that thelie is evident in my voice. Their plan isn’t my plan. I want my sister out.Before any raids or takedowns or any other shit that’ll mean she has totestify. I don’t want her anywhere near when the shit goes down. After we’reclear, I’ll call them in, tell them the truth so they can take down the operation.
“Thatdoesn’t match the intel from our agent.”
Fuck.“I don’t want my sister in the middle of this shit!” I exclaim, running my handthrough my hair. “Let me make the trade and get her clear before you startchucking tear gas or whatever the hell you do.”
Aheavy sigh emanates from his end of the line. “We’ll give you as much time aswe can, but this has to be choreographed perfectly. We need to raid all threehouses at the same time, and we need this bastard in custody before we do.”
“Fine.I have to bring him the money at five o’clock tomorrow. Alone. I swear to fuckif anyone makes you or your agents…”
“Theywon’t. There’s no need for a big show of force just for him and the bodyguardhe usually travels with.”
“We’llbe at the bank at nine in the morning to mark the money. When you come in towithdraw it, the manager will know which bills to give you. We need to be ableto trace the transaction, just in case the women won’t testify.”
“I’llbe there by ten, then.”
“Crowe…hangin there. It’s almost over. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Gotit,” I bark, punching the end button on my phone. Sometimes I wish we stillused phones that actually hung up. It must’ve been much more satisfying to slamdown the receiver when someone pissed you off.
Myfootsteps thump across the floor as I drag my hands through my hair again. I’msurprised the people in the apartment under me aren’t complaining. As much as Ihate it here, I’m grateful the FBI set it up for me. I don’t want any of thesechunks of human garbage to follow me home. I just want to get this over with,rescue my sister, and go home. Back to Sadie.
Sadie.I haven’t spoken to her in weeks. I’ve been tempted to, it’s unlikely theycould track my burner phone, but I won’t take the chance of someone learningabout her. If they looked into me, and figured out I’m really out to bring downtheir operation, they wouldn’t hesitate to use her against me.
Imiss the hell out of her though. Her smile, her laugh, her infuriating stubbornstreak. Dare assured me they would let her know I was working and couldn’t bereached for a while, but none of us expected it to be this long.
I’vebeen so torn, flipping back and forth on whether to try to make a relationshipwith her work. I know I shouldn’t. Even before I fucked another woman, there wasjust too much working against us, but the longer I’m away from her, the more Iknow I can’t let her go. I’m a selfish bastard.
Thenext twenty-four hours drag by, and I only manage a few hours of sleep,constantly interrupted by stress dreams where I’m grasping for something justout of reach. It isn’t hard to decipher the meaning of that. After all theseyears, this is the closest I’ve come to getting Hannah back.
Finally,it’s time to go to the bank. Everything runs smoothly, just as the agentpromised it would, and I leave the bank with seventy-five thousand in cash. Themoney feels like an anchor in my hand, so I head straight back to the apartmentto wait.
Andwait.
Andwait.
Mystress level builds with every second. What if it all goes wrong? What if hedoesn’t bring Hannah? What if the FBI interferes too early and she gets caughtin the crossfire?
Thetimer on my phone beeps, alerting me it’s time to go. It’s a miracle I don’tget pulled over on my way to the hotel, since I barely remember the drive. DidI stop at that last red light? I must have.
Glancingaround as I get out of my car, I don’t see any sign of the feds, so hopefully,they’re keeping their word and hanging back until I get her clear. The giantwaits for me in the lobby and again escorts me up to the same room. Once again,he swipes over me with a metal detector wand before leading me inside.
Bishopsits in a chair in the corner, his foot resting on his knee, appearing as ifhe’s just here on a vacation. I guess when you do this sort of shit all thetime, it’s no big deal. Sweat trickles down my sides, and I have to steelmyself so he won’t hear a shake in my voice. I’m not afraid. I’m aware that hecould just shoot me and take the money, but I knew not coming out of this alivewas a risk when I went in. It’s the anticipation that’s tearing me up. So many yearsall culminating at this point.
“Mr.Bishop.” I address him with a nod, my eyes wandering around the room. We’re theonly two here. That doesn’t bode well.
“Mr.Crowe. Good to see you. You have my money?” His knees crack as he gets to hisfeet.
“Yes.You have my girl?”
“She’snearby. Money first.”
