Chapter 22
I had been in the same place on the couch since I left my father’s house earlier.
I didn’t know what my next move would be—if I would go back in, debrief, and come off the case, or if I would go back to the compound and fight alongside the men who had felt like brothers over the last couple of weeks.
Bishop had felt like a father I had never known, and that was clearer after speaking to the man responsible for bringing me into the world.
One would go to the ends of Earth for their seed while the other found different ways to betray theirs.
Knowing that made me want to fight alongside the man who showed me what having a real father looked like.
The choice I had to make wasn’t easy. If it was simply choosing the man I most wanted to be like, that would be easy, but that wasn’t the full scope of things.
I’d been the best at what I did since Quantico, and that was due to being able to anticipate what the next person would do and stop them before it happened.
I hadn’t anticipated any of this, and now I questioned if I was even supposed to be an agent at all.
Soft taps on my door dragged me out of my thoughts. I was thankful for the relief from the daze I’d been in all day. I was surprised when I looked through the peephole and saw Maeve’s pretty face.
I didn’t expect to hear from her ever again. I figured the next time I would see her was on the news, standing next to her father, or maybe sitting behind him in court. I never imagined her showing up on my doorstep, but I didn’t hesitate to open the door. She was already on the brink of tears.
“I need you to tell me why you did this to me.”
The girl I had fallen for stood with burning eyes directed at me. Her shoulders drooped in defeat, showing just how much all this shit weighed on her. I hated myself for contributing to her misery.
I stepped to the side so she could come in.
If we were going to have this conversation, I didn’t want to do it from opposite sides of the threshold.
She walked in and sat in the same spot on the couch that had held me hostage for hours.
I sat next to her, needing to be close for however long she allowed me to be.
“I never expected this to get out of hand the way it did. You have to believe me when I say I’m sorry. I care about you, and I don’t want to let you go, Maeve.”
I took her hand into my lap, and she let me. Our fingers wrapped around each other as she gathered her words. I hoped she didn’t say this was done, because I wouldn’t be able to take that. So much had happened, but if Maeve and I were good, I could figure everything else out later.
“I have never felt this level of betrayal, but even through all the hurt I feel right now, I don’t want to let you go either.”
A single tear fell from her eye, and I swiped it away. I pulled her closer to me by the back of her neck and crashed my lips into hers. I knew this was a hard place to be for both of us, but we were here together. I could work with that.
“How are we going to do this?”
She spoke against my lips, both of us afraid to pull away.
“I don’t know. Just give me a chance to fix it.”
I got up from my seat and dialed Fitz’s number. He was the one who got me into this shit. He’d better have a way to get us both out of it. A way that didn’t involve me losing half of my heart due to Maeve walking away.
The phone only rang twice before Fitz’s smug ass answered. I could hear the cockiness in his voice. I knew this conversation wouldn’t go my way, but I needed to at least hear what he had to say.
“I just left my father’s house. He told me everything. That you two have been working together to set me up from the jump. What was the reason for all of this?”
“To take Bishop Moore down. That was the only goal. I didn’t mean for you to get caught in the crossfire, Walker, but it was the way your father wanted it. We have been trying to get this guy for years. You were our only way in. I’m sorry.”
“The fuck you mean, you’re sorry? This is a war now. This is more than taking Bishop down. Innocent people will lose their lives tonight if we don’t step in.”
“Walker, I suggest you get out of there. There is no we. This mission is over. Outside of you, your father and I are the only ones who know what has happened here. There will be no help for you, and this is the last time I’ll answer your call. Don’t call me again.”
Fitz hung up in my face, and I let out a scream I’d been holding in.
I let all the pieces fall together and realized just how much my father didn’t give a fuck about me.
I’d been played from the very beginning—the fight at D Bar, the attempted hit on Bishop, the raid at the border meet.
They were all pieces to a larger puzzle.
The FBI was trying to incite a war that they could use as a catalyst for the RICO they’d been building on Bishop. They wanted to put him away for life, and I had helped them. How was I supposed to ever get Maeve to forgive me for that?
“Fuck! They burned me. I don’t want to hide anything else from you, but I need you to give me time to figure out what to do next.”
Maeve got up from the couch and walked over to me. The tears that brimmed her lids when she walked in were now falling down her face. All of this was because of me.
“Dima, this whole situation is fucked up. How much do they know?”
“They know everything that has happened since I joined the crew, but all of it was orchestrated. I can argue against it. Bishop did a lot of shit before I came undercover, but none of it can be proven. They needed me to take him down from the inside. I was their trojan horse.”
“So, you basically gave them everything they need to send my father away for good?”
“Yeah. I built this case perfectly, but I can also tear it all down. I promise I’m going to fix this. I’m out here by myself, but I’m all I need.”
“If my father goes to prison, I will never forgive you. But right now, you are not alone. I’m here with you, and we can do this together.”
I couldn’t let her make that decision without giving her all the details. Maeve didn’t even know my real name, let alone how we ended up where we are now. I owed her the truth.
“I can’t ask you to stick by me through this without telling you everything.”
“So tell me. This may be the only time we have left. Don’t waste it.”
I took Maeve’s hand and led her back over to the couch. I sat down and pulled her onto my lap. Her body stiffened, letting me know she didn’t really want to be there, but she didn’t move. I was grateful for that.
“My real name is Dmitri Walker. My father is Detrick Walker, head of investigation for the Jackson Mississippi FBI. I went undercover to get away from him. I wanted out of this city, and closing your father’s case would give me that.
“If I closed this case, I would not only be able to pick my next field office, but it would also come with a promotion. I wanted that move so badly that I was blind to the strings my father was pulling behind my back. I feel so guilty for dragging you into this shit, Maeve.”
“All of this was for a promotion and a chance to move?”
“Yes, for the most part. I also wanted to prove to my pops that I could do something that he couldn’t. He been trying to catch Bishop for years and never even got close. I hated him so much I wanted to beat him at his own game.”
“If you hate your father so much, why not just move and get assigned to a new field office that way?”
“It’s not that simple. Not only am I a young agent, but I am also a legacy. I come from a family of FBI agents, and my family name carries weight. I needed to close this case to give myself enough credibility to stand on my own.”
“I get that, I guess.”
She looked down in her lap instead of at me. I could see the hurt still prominent on her face. Even the way she sat on my lap said she was unsure about me.
“I’m not asking you to understand everything I did, Maeve. I just want you to know the truth. And I need you to trust me for what is next.”
“I trust you, Dima.”
It came out as a whisper, but I would accept it. Maeve’s trust was all I needed to finish this shit.