Page 135 of Possession

“We discussed it,” Tim starts as he looks around the room to make sure no one is going to come after him too. “After what happened to her with Nic Decker, and the fact she doesn’t know how to handle herself undercover, we’ve decided she should stay here. You go back alone and make an excuse as to why she stayed in New York, coordinate the delivery with the Jackals, and get out. That will give us more than enough for warrants for everyone and their dogs.”

“You want me to walk back in there without the woman who was sold into the family to pay off a debt?” Brax demands.

“Tell them you left her at a spa. Isn’t that what a cartel family would do who has hundreds of millions in the bank and even more in cash?” Micah barks.

Brax looks at him like he’s lost his mind, which I do believe is possible. “Do youwantme to get my head chopped off?”

“Please don’t talk like that,” I beg and look straight at Micah. “You don’t understand what it’s like there. If I don’t go back with him, it will raise all sorts of red flags. Trust me, it’s the last place in the world I want to be, but even I can see that.”

“She doesn’t know what she’s doing.” Micah bites, as I shrink into my husband, because he’s not wrong.

“Have you heard one thing on the wires that makes you believe they question anything I do?” Brax challenges.

Micah presses his swelling lips together and his jaw goes taut.

Tim sighs.

It’s Cole who speaks. “You’ve read every transcript we have. If anyone in that organization suspected you, we’d pull you out faster than an unwrapped dick on prom night.”

“Exactly,” Brax bites. “I came back here so my mother could see my face one last time in case she doesn’t make it through this. If I thought I was close to being made, I wouldn’t go back. I sure as hell wouldn’t take Landyn back with me. Aside from the incident with Decker, which I’ll never forgive myself for, she’s been safe. We’re down to days.Days,” he stresses, the word vibrating through my body. I feel the agitation and tension bubble within him. “I’m going back, and Landyn is coming with me. She won’t do anything different than she’s done so far.”

Tim shakes his head. “It’s a bad idea.”

“You might as well sign your own death certificate,” Micah agrees.

I shudder at the thought.

But Cole says nothing. He simply contemplates Brax.

I fist the material at his abs, and he instantly pulls me closer.

When I look up, Brax shakes his head once and speaks directly to Cole. “Do not do this to me. I’m not done, and you know it. You of all people know that if you send me back there alone, you might as well put a bullet through my brain yourself. Let me manage this.”

Cole isn’t cocky any longer. He crosses his arms and settles back on his heels in a wide stance.

The energy in the room is jittery and tangible.

“Do not do this to me, Carson. I took a bullet for Damian. They dug the fucking thing out while I was conscious and stitched me up in the backroom of a market in Tijuana. I’ve proven I’ll do anything to see this case to the end.”

Holy shit, he didn’t tell me that. I stiffen in his arms and stare up at his determined expression.

Micah looks like he’s ready to explode.

Tim drags a hand down his face.

But Cole … he’s contemplating it.

“You’ve done this long enough to know that if I don’t go back with her at my side, we might as well flush the whole operation down the shitter. We’re close. I need days—two of them. That’s it.”

Silence blankets the room like a cold, wet towel.

“Okay.”

I suck in a breath of air.

Brax exhales.

Cole points at Brax and then to me. “You’d better coach her. We hear every single conversation that goes down in that house. If I hear one slip up or nervous falter, I’ll extract your asses so fast it’ll make your heads spin. We’re headed to San Diego right on your heels to be there for the takedown—you know I’ll do it.”

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