29. Dax
DAX
We were sitting in the basement of the cute little rustic farmhouse that had a secret bunker under it with all the latest and greatest modern technology. The only good thing was the huge-ass mug I had in my hands. I think it might have been meant for soup, but right now, it was giving me life.
Corbin stood at the head of a large conference table as well as three of his men who had joined us.
The rest were doing whatever super Secret Squirrel shit in another room with a fuck ton of screens.
Of course, we weren’t allowed to know what they were doing or enter the room since we didn’t have clearance or some shit.
It’s not like we fucking asked to be brought in on this bullshit.
“So are you going to tell us what the fuck made you drag us all the way out here for?” Eagle growled out.
Corbin held up his hands. “You guys really need to chill. I get that this wasn’t how you saw this day going, and none of you want to be involved with the government, so to speak, but that’s where you’ve got it all wrong.
The CIA doesn’t have any rights or grounds to do anything in the US.
We operate outside the borders and take down the assholes like Marco who are causing chaos in the world. ”
Cam snorted. “Pretty story. Now tell us what you’re really up to.”
“Look, you took the win from the FBI when you took down Diego and put in your own choice. Now Tommaso, we can live with… he’s got morals and wants to do better than his shitty old man.
If only all his kids were like Alvaro and Tommaso, but they’re not.
Franco is now the FBI’s problem, but I’m left dealing with Marco and Martin, who are a massive problem,” Corbin explained.
“Seriously, tell us something we don’t already know,” Sprocket said, his tone bored.
Corbin rubbed the back of his neck and seemed to be contemplating how he would say this next part. Then I figured it out. “You don’t have a fucking clue where either of them are, do you? I’m sorry, are you telling me that my band of criminals has outsmarted the CIA? How can you not know?”
“Fine, you want me to be real with you,” Corbin snapped.
“We’re the second team to be put on this mission because the first one got massacred.
Marco left a trail of breadcrumbs, and they followed them right into an ambush where they were slaughtered.
They weren’t going to send another team after him until Black here started his criminal task force with arch-enemy number one leading the charge,” he announced, pointing a finger at me.
“The FBI didn’t know what to do with you, but we couldn’t step in because I knew what you were doing, and we couldn’t do it ourselves.
No involvement within the borders at all. ”
That had me uncrossing my legs and setting my coffee down on the table.
“So you knew enough to know that the Mad Dogs were part of his network as well as the role Diego played. Since you needed to hurt Marco and possibly get him to make some mistake, you let us take out both groups. Did your higher-ups communicate that to the FBI?”
“You’d have to ask them, but they don’t like to give up much,” Corbin said. “If I were a betting man, I’d say they kept you out of trouble, especially when it was clear your handler wasn’t handling anyone and never planned to. Had Black been your inside man from the start?”
I decided not to answer that but just smile and rest my hand on Cam’s thigh. This know-it-all hadn’t earned the right to get that kind of information from me, and I wasn’t going to share it for free.
“Fine, fine… keep your secrets. Clearly, you’re fucking good at keeping them, that’s for damn sure.
Having you come out as Two Tricks wasn’t a move I saw coming.
I thought for damn sure it was Weston. He was too savvy with a computer and never liked to get his hands dirty,” Corbin commented then took a seat.
“You’re right, Dax. If you know where Marco is, then yeah, you have outsmarted us. ”
“Don’t pet my ego, Corbin, it won’t get you any points,” I snapped. “Tell us what you want and what we’ll get out of it?”
He shook his head and chuckled. “Damn, cutthroat and to the point, just like every whisper on the street says. Lucky for you, I want you to do just what you planned, only you’re going to bring us along.
If we can help, we will, but I’m going to let your people run point, and if I can offer a better option, I’ll speak up.
You were gonna do this anyway, but now you just have the government stamp of approval. ”
“You’re gonna let me kill him?” I challenged.
Corbin shrugged. “War is a messy thing, and it wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that my best friend was on the team he killed. Marco put up a fight and left us no choice but to take him down the hard way.”
Fuck, this sounded too good to be true.
“Alright, hot shot, you got any connection on getting a cruise ship?” I asked, kicking my feet up on the table. “We need to move a lot of people without drawing attention.”
“Then what’s Dante Black doing?” Corbin asked. “Thought he was the one you sent to make that happen.”
“You said if you had something to offer, you would. There are other things I could have Dante doing than that, but if you don’t, then at least we have the best man on the job to make it happen,” I stated, flicking my fingers to brush off his concern.
“So is this the point where we tell you the whole plan, and you steal it from us and run the mission yourself?”
Corbin clasped his hands behind his head and regarded all of us.
“Seriously, guys, I get why you’d be skeptical of anything and everything I say.
I’m not looking to rake you over the coals, catalog every rule you break, and then toss you in jail after this.
As far as the government is concerned, they have no knowledge of us, of you, or even that this mission is happening.
They asked for people to take this on, knowing there’d be no help if things went sideways.
Whatever we do needs to work, and I’m not above admitting we can’t follow the letter of the law on this. ”
That had not been the answer I’d expected.
Things were making more sense now that I knew this was a Hail Mary, and if it didn’t work, then the CIA was going to say fuck it and let someone else take their turn dealing with Marco.
If Corbin wanted to use us to get this done, it was a win-win for all of us.
“Fine,” I answered. “But I’m not the one in charge or the one you need to convince. Cam, Sprocket, and Magnus are the leads on this fight. Get them to give the green light, and I’m in, but if not, then you’re not going to get anything out of us.”
This seemed to surprise Corbin, and I knew it would.
He’d been turning every argument into something I’d understand and appreciate, but that only gave the others time to watch and study him.
What it had also done was told me they’d been tailing us for some time and knew who had teamed up with me on this.
“Tell us what you do know about Marco, from his background, business, network, all of it. Once we know what you know, then we might be able to help you fill in some gaps,” Sprocket offered.
Magnus grunted his agreement. “If we do help you pull this off, are you getting us across the border? Guess I want to know just how on our own we really are.”
“You know what I want to know,” Cam cut in. “Who the hell do I work for. And what the fuck happens to me after I’m done with this mission?”
“On paper, you’re employed by the CIA but as a covert operative which means no one knows shit about you.
After this mission, if we are successful and make it back, you have a choice…
stay on and work missions with my team or walk away like none of this ever happened.
The FBI won’t be told anything, so as far as they’re concerned, you’re not their problem,” Corbin informed Cam.
“Something tells me you’ve been wanting out for a while and didn’t know how to do it.
Being married to one of the biggest crime bosses would create all manner of conflicts of interest, so I don’t blame you.
Do the mission, make it back home, then leave to live your life as a thank you from a grateful government. ”
Damn, with that one offer, Corbin knew he had us on the hook. There was no way we could turn down something that would set Cam free. Fuck, doing this would set us all free to live our lives with the normal amount of government interest all members of the criminal world dealt with.
“That’s a dirty play with pretty packaging,” Cam said through gritted teeth. “I’m in.”
Sprocket nodded his head in agreement. “Me too, seems you finally decided to show us the ace in your pocket.”
Magnus crossed his arms and glared at Corbin. “Fuck, if I care what happens to them. Answer my question, and I’ll give you my vote.”
“We can absolutely get the thirteen of you into Mexico,” Corbin assured him. “Alvaro has to stay here, though. We plan to move him and his mother to a secure location, putting them into witness protection. A preventative measure in case we aren’t successful.”
“About that,” I cut in. “While I love the idea behind that, and you should absolutely do that for his mother, we kind of need him to get to Martin.”
Corbin frowned. “What do you mean?”
“What I mean is… we already have a move in play, and to take Alvaro out of the mission would hurt more than it would help. Marco has made sure that Martin is in a different location so we are using the brotherly-love connection that those two have to get Martin out in the open,” I explained.
“Moving his mother works because they wanted him to bring her with him as part of the deal, so if they know she’s left the facility, then that adds to Martin thinking Mariana is coming with. ”
He started to rub his forehead like I was giving him a headache, but he could suck it. This asshole had yanked our chain enough for one day, so he could man up and take a dose of his own medicine. “Fine, we’ll make that call once I know the whole plan.”
“Where do you want to start?” Sprocket asked.
Corbin grumbled something under his breath and motioned for us to follow him. “We’ll head into the other room, where it will be easier to go over everything there.”
“Thought we didn’t have clearance?” I teased, which got me a baleful look. “Wow, man, lighten up, or we’re going to drive you fucking crazy.”
More muttered words as he typed in a code on the keypad and then used his thumbprint to let us in. All the monitors watched various locations. Some I could pick out like the facility Mariana was at and our hotel lobby, but the rest I didn’t recognize.
“Taylor, go through what we know and start at the beginning,” Corbin instructed.
For the next few hours, Corbin shared everything his team had collected, and then we took our turn and filled in some of the blanks.
Most of what they had we knew or suspected, but they confirmed it for us.
The majority of it was backstory on Marco, his father, and Diego since they were so interconnected.
Being able to tell the CIA more information about the operation and locations we suspected might be useful in Mexico was satisfying on a level I didn’t expect.
We paused for dinner and went up to the main part of the house.
One of the barns was also a bunkhouse for the rest of the team since all of them couldn’t fit in the farmhouse.
They also seemed to have divided up the jobs, so when we arrived, dinner was already made and ready to be dished out.
It was still nice out, so my group decided to take our stew and eat out on the picnic tables we’d seen.
The rest of Corbin’s people ate in the house or took their meals back to the bunkhouse where a dining area of sorts was set up.
“How is it that we know so much more than them?” Harper asked. “Honestly, it’s not like we did anything all that different or special.”
“Well, angel, I think it has something to do with the fact we are criminals and have connections to that world. We also look at things rather differently without all the rules and red tape,” Ghost reasoned.
“Marco is also someone who’s a fucking master at covering his tracks.
If we didn’t have Mariana and Alvaro to help us, I’m not sure we’d have figured this out as quickly. ”
Picasso poked at his bowl of stew with a frustrated expression. “What the fuck are we even doing? How the hell did we end up in this kind of predicament?”
“I’d say that’s a combination of factors,” I said.
“With how big of a player in the game I am, it doesn’t shock me one bit that they were watching me.
Then I got involved with you guys, who were, I’m sure, on a watch list and became a higher priority when we started working together.
It’s this interesting blend of a compliment for being that big of a threat they want to keep an eye on you combined with them keeping an eye on you. ”
“Fuck, if anyone is watched as closely as the FBI or anyone else in law enforcement watch, they’ll find anyone doing something illegal,” Void grumbled. “This isn’t as bad as it could be. We get to take out Marco, not end up in jail, and then we all walk away with nothing hanging over our heads.”
When he put it that way, it didn’t sound quite so bad. Guess we’re back to the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but I was really fucking tired of working with people who could fuck me over on the turn of a dime.
Finished with dinner, we washed our dishes and put them away after seeing that’s what everyone else was doing.
It also shocked me to find out they planned for us to join the rest of the team and bunk up.
The wall of tiredness that hit me had me begging for any flat surface I could pass out on, so I didn’t care.
These bunks were far more comfortable than the ones we slept on last night.
These were homemade wooden ones with real mattresses, and it took me all of five seconds to curl up and pass out once we were assigned our spot.
At some point, I woke as someone joined me, but his rich, spicy scent told me it was Eagle. He moved me inward so I was back to the wall, curled into his chest while he put himself as my shield.
Did I think they were going to attack us now that we’d given them what they thought was all the information on Marco?
No, because my money was on the fact they assumed we didn’t divulge everything.
We were criminals, after all, expecting us to act like upstanding, honest citizens would be their downfall.
Listening to the steady beat of Eagle’s heart, I easily fell back asleep and didn’t stir until morning.