Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Sylvie had never been questioned by the FBI before.
They took her to a local police station, where the agents asked if she wanted a lawyer. Shooting Aaron Sandford had to be a clear case of self-defense, but her hacking activities were gray area, at best. And then there was the part where she’d helped Dominic evade bail. So, she said yes.
The agents called someone, who consulted with her. Sylvie answered a few of their questions before the interviewers seemed to lose interest. They said they might bring her in for further information later on.
After they were finished, the agents told her she could leave. She insisted on speaking to Dominic but was still surprised when they actually allowed it.
He was sitting in an interview room, looking like hell. Bandages crisscrossed his face. “Sylvie.” He stood up from his chair, and she ran into his arms. He pulled her against his chest.
“I’m so sorry.” His voice was hoarse.
“I know. Are you okay?”
He paused, like he was trying to think. “No.”
Paramedics had treated him and Raymond at the scene for their injuries. Everything had been so chaotic. Ambulances, SWAT, FBI, and police—it all blurred into shouts and lights and sirens in her mind.
“Do you need a doctor?”
“No, that’s…” Dominic seemed listless, his eyes unfocused. Was he on pain meds?
Raymond limped in wearing a fresh pair of pants. According to the medic at the scene, the bullet had gone through his calf muscle, missing the bone or anything vital. He’d been lucky. But his skin was about five shades paler than normal.
“Nic. Jeez, they wouldn’t let me out of there ’til now.” The brothers embraced. Raymond asked the same questions—was he okay, was he hurting—but Dominic’s answers were equally disjointed. They all sat down.
“What are they going to do with you?” Sylvie asked Dominic.
“Keep me here, then they’re going to transfer me back to West Oaks. No more bail. I don’t know why they haven’t stuck me in a holding cell yet.”
“One of the FBI guys is a friend,” Raymond explained. “He told me he’d wait on that as long as possible, so we could talk. Given the circumstances.”
Dominic touched his injured ear. The paramedic had said hearing loss was probably temporary, but Sylvie didn’t know if it was bothering him.
“At least I’ll get a new lawyer,” Dominic said. “When are you two leaving?”
“I just spoke to Max. He’s sending cars for us.
” Sylvie had borrowed a phone to call Bennett Security.
She’d lost her device in the chaos of the last twenty-four hours.
Max had confirmed that Tanner was safe at the hospital.
He had a concussion, and the doctors were keeping him there for further monitoring.
“And you’re going to Max’s safe house?” Dominic asked her.
“Raymond is. I’m just going back to headquarters, but I’ll be fine there. I’m still trying to understand how all this happened, though.” She turned to Dominic’s brother. “Were you trying to get the Syndicate and those Russian mobsters to kill each other?”
“Not exactly. Not at first.” Raymond wiped a hand over his eyes.
“I told you that Charles contacted me after Dominic got arrested, asking me to help him unite the warring factions of the Syndicate. That’s when I went to the FBI.
But I didn’t want to seem too enthusiastic.
I had to be careful, build up my uncle’s trust. And I didn’t want to leave school yet, either.
There was a lot I had to get ready for. But the deeper I got, the clearer it was to me that bringing down the Syndicate was the only way to save Nic. ”
Dominic walked away from them, hands on his hips, cursing under his breath. Raymond sat down at the small table, resting his elbows on its surface.
“From the beginning, Charles was dropping hints about how Nic would be better out of the way completely. I kept hoping I’d get enough evidence that I could nail him, but in order to do that, I had to officially join.
But that would just make Charles want to get rid of Nic even more, because he wouldn’t need Nic’s endorsement.
So I was kind of stuck. Charles made friends with the Russians and took power on his own.
He kept pressuring me to join and solidify his claim, but he wanted to keep Nic in his back pocket, too. ”
“But then we called you,” Sylvie said. “About going to the Bennett Security safe house.”
“Exactly. You told me Charles wanted Dominic to come in. I panicked. I figured there were two possible outcomes. One, Uncle Charles was going to get rid of Nic, just like he’d threatened to do.
The other possibility? That the Russians would figure out about your whole hacking plan, and they’d send people to torture you to death.
I knew I had to do something, and it wasn’t going to be bringing the FBI into the loop, because there was no way they’d act fast enough.
I had a few hours to work with. That was it. ”
“Then what did you do?”
“Because of hanging around Charles, I’d already met some of the guys who work for the Russians.
Like Victor. I called up Victor and said I had information for him.
I told him Charles was planning to hack their computer experts.
That Charles intended to betray them. And I already knew they’d be able to find the evidence—that program you’d uploaded.
I didn’t want to tell them about your plan, Sylvie, but I had to give them something to make them trust me. That was all I could come up with.”
“No, I get it. But what did you say to Charles? He said you called him, too.”
Raymond nodded. “I had to come into the Syndicate fully, and I couldn’t act like the timing was just a coincidence.
They would’ve been suspicious. So I said that Nic had betrayed the Syndicate, and I wanted to stop him.
And of course, by then Victor had already said something to Charles about Sylvie’s hacking attempt, so I had corroboration to back me up. ”
“And that made Charles trust you, too.”
“Yeah. I packed my stuff, left my dorm, and headed straight for my uncle’s house in Bel Air.
My entire purpose was to buy you time to get to the safe house.
I thought once you and Dominic and his housekeeper were safe, I would focus on finding the evidence I needed to testify against the Syndicate.
But I couldn’t just abandon all that work and go into hiding until I had something to show for it. ”
“Why didn’t you warn Dominic about what you were planning?” She wasn’t upset at Raymond, but it might’ve saved a lot of the mess they’d gotten into.
“If I told him, that would’ve guaranteed he’d come after me.”
Dominic was still staring at the wall, arms crossed. But she was sure he was listening.
“And your deal with Victor?” Sylvie prompted.
“That was my backup plan. I had to make sure Charles had his hands full with a bunch of pissed-off Russians, and that the Russians were too distracted by my uncle’s supposed deception to pay attention to you and Nic anymore.”
Jeez, the kid had definitely been panicking, because his “plan” sounded more like a bunch of desperate moves without a clear strategy in mind. But he’d done the best he could.
“I hadn’t expected you and Nic to end up at my uncle’s house.
When that happened, it made Charles call his Russian friends for help getting rid of you.
But Charles had no idea Victor would read that request as an overt attempt to lure them closer.
Victor rolled up with an army of guys, ready for war. ”
Dominic finally turned around. “So you decided to poke that giant fucking hornet’s nest and tell everyone you were the source who ratted out Charles? How did that make any kind of sense?”
“I was making it up as I went along. And it worked. We got out of there alive.”
“Barely. Your leg is bandaged up. You could’ve died if that bullet hit a few inches to the side. And Sylvie had to kill Aaron Sandford!”
“We all did what we had to.” Sylvie didn’t like the idea of taking anyone’s life, but she wasn’t mourning that asshole.
“But neither of you should’ve had to do any of it.”
Raymond stared at his brother a moment, then sighed.
“The FBI found important documents during their raid of Charles’s house.
It’s going to make a difference. And at some point, I’ll testify to what I know about the Syndicate.
I’m not even sure how many Syndicate members are still alive.
I know things about the Russian guys, too.
I’ve spoken to people who work for the US Attorney, and they’re applying for witness protection for me. ”
Dominic stepped forward, shock on his face. “WITSEC? Like…permanently?”
“Yes, Nic. The new identity stuff. Everything.”
“But you have school. I don’t understand.”
Raymond sighed again, as if he were the older brother explaining the real world to the younger one. “This was always the plan for me since I started working with the FBI. I knew this was coming.”
“You can’t give up your life.”
“I already have. I haven’t had a girlfriend since this started. I barely talk to my friends. They wouldn’t have been safe.”
“Jesus, Ray. Do you know how fucked up that is? My baby brother had to sacrifice himself to save me?” Dominic’s eyes were shining with tears.
“Because you saved me. And I would do it all again.”
“It would’ve been better if you’d just let them kill me.”
Sylvie’s heart twisted. “Nic.”
He sank back into his chair, head in his hands. “I don’t mean I want to die. Of course I don’t. But it’s not right that anyone else has to pay for the things I’ve done.”
“You didn’t ask to be born into this family any more than I did. I want this fresh start. Maybe you should think about it, too. As long as our last name is Crane, we’ll never truly be safe from our family’s past.”
Sylvie couldn’t believe how much Raymond had taken upon himself. Dominic just shook his head, not so much disagreeing as despairing at the truth of what his brother had said.
Raymond got up slowly and headed for the door. “I’m going to find some coffee or…something. I need a minute. I’ll be right back.”
After the door closed, Sylvie asked, “Do you think you might go with him? Move to a new place? Change your identity?”
She’d known this could happen. Yet she still couldn’t begin to get her mind around it. Or what it could mean for her. As if her own needs were even relevant to this conversation.
“I don’t know.” Dominic would barely even look at her. “I’m so sorry for what you’ve had to go through because of me.”
“I feel the same way Raymond does. I’d do it again. I care about you.”
He didn’t respond. He’d dealt with too much today. She understood.
“So you might be in jail for a few days?” she asked.
“Or more than a few.”
“I could come visit you.”
“Please don’t do that. I’m serious.”
Maybe he didn’t want her to see him that way. “But is there some way I can reach you?”
He didn’t answer.
“I know it’s really hard right now. But we probably won’t have another chance to talk for a while. You said you wanted to keep seeing each other, and I still want that, too.”
Dominic’s eyes were hollow. “I did. You’re amazing. You’re everything. But I have nothing to offer you. No home, no money, no future, or security. I don’t know who I am now.”
“You’ll figure those things out.” Her voice sounded high. Desperate. Like she was pleading with him not to say the next thing, even though she could tell it was coming.
“Sylvie, I’m not a whole person.” He looked down at his hands, fingers spread wide. “I’m just…shreds.”
You’re beautiful, she wanted to say. And I’m not talking about what’s on the outside. But she knew that wasn’t what he wanted to hear right now. She looked around for a piece of paper. “I’ll give you my cell and work number, and you’ll call me when you’re ready to talk.”
“It would be better if you forget about me.”
She turned back to face him. “I can’t do that. How could I do that?” Sylvie’s eyes stung with tears.
He got up and walked toward her. “Getting to know you is one of the best things that’s happened to me.” Dominic cupped her cheek and kissed her on the corner of her mouth. “You have no idea how much I’m going to miss you.”
No. Don’t do this.
But what else was he supposed to do? She didn’t know, either.
The bail thing would get resolved. She was sure of it.
But then the DA would still expect him to testify, and he’d probably want to stay with Raymond.
Sylvie might have to testify about some of these events, too, yet she wouldn’t possibly be in as much danger as the Crane brothers.
How could she have a future with Dominic when he might be living in some other city, under some new name?
Raymond popped his head in. “Sylvie? Your friends are here.”
“I’ll be right there.” She turned back to Dominic. “Can I hug you goodbye?” Her voice was breaking.
“Of course.”
She held him as tightly as she could, trying to memorize his scent, the sound of his breathing, the feeling of him against her. As if those countless pieces of him could add up to something that would fill his absence.
He brought his lips to her ear. “Goodbye, Sylvie.”
“Bye.”
Raymond stayed in the room to say his own goodbyes to his brother. But Sylvie forced herself to walk away, wiping the tears from her eyes.