Chapter 29 Zach
ZACH
Iarranged to meet Maria at a bar in Gretna.
She balked about meeting in person but finally decided we were safe enough that far out of the city.
I’d told Rafe that I would need her help setting things up, but really all I needed was a new ID and a convincing-looking badge.
She didn’t like it when I gave her my request, but she told me she’d bring the documents; she wouldn’t promise to give them to me though. She wanted to hear my full story first.
What if I couldn’t convince her? Then I would have to get Rafe to get the materials for me. Did he have a way to do that easily without his family knowing? I doubted it. Maria was going to have to come through for me one more time.
She was probably starting to get that this was likely to be my last assignment. I wanted to put people like Ivanov behind bars—or, in his case, in the grave—but doing it under government scrutiny wasn’t working for me.
Right, because how can you date a mobster and be a fed?
I pushed that thought away. I wasn’t dating Rafe, and I certainly wasn’t going to continue dating him after this, no matter how much I wanted to.
Then why bother quitting?
I was quitting before they forced me out. I may not even make it to the end of this assignment.
If that happened, it happened, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to stop until Ivanov was dead. If I had to fight every other agent in the bureau, I’d get him. Rafe and I would get him. And if he was right and Xavier was on my side, then I didn’t really have anything to worry about.
I arrived at the bar wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and a leather jacket—clothes I’d picked out from my gambling con man cover, the shortest-lived undercover identity I’ve ever had.
Not that anyone but Rafe actually knew who I was, and I might take it back on when meeting his family.
He sure as hell wasn’t going to introduce me as a federal agent.
I found a booth away from the few patrons who were there in the middle of the day. I ordered a beer and waited for Maria to arrive. She was frowning when she slid into the booth across from me. “How did you come up with this place?”
“Too lowbrow for you?” Maria liked nice things: tailored suits, champagne, the best wines, the nicest restaurants. She would never be caught dead in this place except to meet me or one of her other agents who depended on her. “Thank you. For meeting me here.”
She sniffed. “At least you have the decency to acknowledge how far out on a limb I’m going for you.”
“Yes, entering a dive bar. It’s about as low as you’ve sunk.” I grinned. “Let me buy you a drink.”
“So I can add drinking on the job to my list of sins.”
I rolled my eyes. “Loosen up.”
She bent down and reached under the table. “I think I’ve ruined one of my heels on their broken floor.” A few seconds later, she sat back up. “If I loosen up, who will have your back when headquarters comes down on this operation?”
“You will. A drink isn’t going to stop that.”
She took off her glasses and placed them in her designer bag. “Whiskey neat. Something as decent as you can get in here.”
“Oooh. Right to the hard stuff.”
“If I’m going to break the rules, I might as well make it good.”
“I knew I liked you.”
I came back with her drink. She took a sip and sighed, leaning back against the booth. “Go ahead. Tell me everything I’m going to hate.”
“We found the man Ivanov used to infiltrate the casino. Or one of them.”
“Do you think there’s more than one now?” Her tone was no longer mocking; she was serious now, like she always was when discussing a mission.
“I’m as certain as I can be that there’s someone else, or that someone else is about to be introduced.”
“So the man that you found—”
“Dead. Found him at his home. He’d been there at least two days, based on the condition of the body. Multiple gunshot wounds. He had written ‘Iva’ in his blood beside him.”
She tapped her fingers on the table as she took all this in. “And you left him there?”
I nodded.
“I’ll make sure someone finds him if they haven’t already. And you’re assuming the letters stood for Ivanov and that that’s who had him killed?”
“Yes, and Rafe agrees.”
Her fingers stilled, and she held my gaze. “Tell me you didn’t take Rafe with you.”
“We’re in this together.”
“Jesus Christ, Zach, I’ve put up with a lot from you. I have let you bend the rules as far as they can go.”
“And now I’m breaking them.”
She held up a hand. “Don’t say that to me.”
“Are you bound to report me or something?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“We’re going to get him. I’ve got a plan to find whoever else he planted.”
“And what makes you think there’s someone else?”
I took a sip of my beer before answering. “Because the scheme was going too well. The first guy did something wrong, but Ivanov is not going to give up on a fantastic blackmail plan.”
“Agreed. So what’s the new identity for?”
“I’m going in as an FBI auditor.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, fuck no. You can’t go in impersonating a federal officer.”
“I’m not impersonating. I am a federal officer.”
“Not the one you’re going to pretend to be. You can’t… they’re going to kill me. They’re going to fire me, and then they’re going to kill me.”
I tilted my head as if seriously considering that. “Killing off agents is more common in the CIA, but I suppose it’s possible.”
“Not helpful, Zach.”
“I’m not going to do a full audit or anything. I’ll just poke around in certain files. I don’t need to make anything authentic since Rafe’s in on it.”
She took a sip of whiskey. “And the other Theriots? When they get wind of it?”
“No one is going to get wind of it. I’m going to be willing and accommodating, keep things quiet. There will only be a reason to expose what’s happening if I find a crime in progress.”
“Which you won’t.” That statement seemed to require another sip, a bigger one this time.
“There’s not going to be anything of interest.”
“Fuck, Zach.” She laid her hand across her eyes. “Don’t tell me you think they’re the good guys now.”
“Compared to Ivanov—”
“Compared to Ivanov, most people look good. Even some serial killers. But…”
“Rafe is… not like I expected.”
“Oh my God.” She stared at me, eyes wide. “You like him.”
“That’s what I’m saying. He’s not—”
“No, no, no. You really like him.”
Was I that obvious? “I can’t. It’s… I just can’t.”
“But you do. This is compromising everything, you know that.”
“It’s not compromising me from bringing Ivanov down. That was the assignment. You told me the Theriots were off-limits. Why is it suddenly a problem that I don’t want to go after them?”
“It’s not a problem for this assignment, but it’s going to become a problem.”
I shrugged, hoping she didn’t know how I was spiraling inside. “We’ll handle that later.”
“You’re fucking him, aren’t you?”
“Of course not.” I was in so much trouble.
“Zach, do you really think you can lie to me like that? To me?”
“Okay, fine. Maybe I am. What difference does it make?”
She frowned, drained the rest of her glass, then said, “I thought you were…”
“I thought a lot of things, but the last week has pretty much turned my life upside down.”
“And you’re trying to do it to mine too.”
“Not intentionally.”
She ran a hand over her hair despite not one strand being out of place. “Fuck, Zach. I wish you’d change your mind. I couldn’t officially approve this. I got these through unofficial channels.” She slid an envelope across the table. I was sure it contained the identification I needed.
“Thank you. I owe you one.”
“You owe me a lot, but get Ivanov and it’ll be a lot closer to even.”
I smiled. “Deal.”
“I can’t protect you from everything, Zach.”
“I know. This matters more.”
“Be careful.”
“Aren’t I always?”
She rolled her eyes, grabbed her bag, and slid from the booth. “Keep in touch.”
She walked out without looking back, and I wondered if this would be the last time I worked with her.