Chapter 3 #3
We never gave a damn about what we said when we were with Cochran because she was the type of kinfolk that was kinfolk. Besides, it would always be her word against ours since none of the government equipment worked when I was in the room anyway.
Dom’s ass was fucking brilliant with the wearable signal scrambler.
Cochran glanced between the two of us with a frown on her face. “I’m wondering if you all know where the hell you work.” Her arms folded across her chest as she leaned back against the table.
“We do. But it wasn’t as obviously or abjectly stupid as it is now.
You can’t blame us when the political machinations become social media tweets that get turned into memes.
Few people have been perfect, some worse than others, but they kept up the veneer.
This shit right here is internationally embarrassing and my ass ain’t even patriotic. ”
“You know how I feel about this shit.” Alec was even less concerned because he felt no loyalty to this place, despite having been born here. His lineage was Afro-Cuban and neither side of his family had any love for the government.
Which made his position in it as ironic as mine.
“Well, that needs to take a back seat to what we have going on. Y’all know the procedure: review what we have and form your own conclusions.
I know you’re not going to play nice with anyone but yourselves but if you can come up with something at least try to share it with the class.
I’m getting those talks about playing favorites again. ”
“Talk? That shit should be confirmed by now. You can’t help that you favor the ones who actually get results. That’s just how business works.”
“Yeah, okay, that’s just how it works. I’ll make your life a living hell if one of these mediocre, white-bread bastards comes whining to me about some shit being unjust. I’ll make the months leading up to your retirement hell.” She was grinning but I knew she wasn’t playing.
“Noted. Solve this fast enough so that they don’t have time to complain. Roger that.”
She glanced between the two of us before shaking her head. Her annoyance was playful but I was sure she was tired of having to defend her decisions with us. Thankfully, she wouldn’t have that issue for much longer.
“If that’s what you heard then run with it. Shit, I might need to put in my papers if both of you are leaving.”
“You not gonna stay and fight the good fight, boss?” Alec put his arm around Cochran and she pushed him off her as she laughed.
“I’m a Black woman in the government. I’ve been fighting since I took my first breath. These people aren’t going to work me to death and then try to pin their fuck ups on me. No, thank you.”
“True. Guess if we’re all on the same page we gotta send you out with a flawless record then.”
She grinned before she stood up from where she’d been leaning against the conference table.
“I’m counting on it.”
“This is going to fuck things up.”
I felt like I sounded dramatic but the desire to voice how I was feeling overrode my usual need to stay silent. A fresh case was going to alter how I was moving and how quickly I could get out of my job.
“What you mean?”
Alec took the beer I’d extended to him over his shoulder and popped it open while he waited for me to continue.
I walked around the edge of the large navy blue sectional that took up most of my great room.
I was a simple man so besides art and my TV, there wasn’t much in here.
My condo was in Georgetown, far enough away from work that I didn’t feel like I was chronically there but close enough so that my commute didn’t make me want to commit murder every morning.
It was an older single-family mansion that had been subdivided years ago.
My grandfather had purchased it and we had eventual plans to turn it back into a single-family residence but as it stood I was the only tenant.
Several of my aliases along with those of my brothers were listed as tenants in the building but I occupied the penthouse condo.
With the news of my impending retirement, I could start to restore the place to its original grandeur at the end of the year.
I wanted a home with modern amenities but not the cookie-cutter shit that most people turned to when they purchased a historical property.
The character that came with the house had been preserved even when it was subdivided so thankfully I wouldn’t have to add back the original details that made this place unique.
“I had the official word from Pappy that’s been voted on. They decided I can leave this bitch officially.”
“For real? That’s what’s up!” He popped me in the chest with the back of his hand as he smiled.
I could tell that Alec’s ass was genuinely happy for me despite the position it would put him in.
At best, he would only be looking for another partner.
At worst, he was going to end up in some bullshit getting stuck with some asshole we were going to have to kill.
The last thing he needed was some bureaucrat getting too damn close to what he had going on and messing things up for either of our families.
Maybe the change he had been searching for would happen now that I was leaving.
I hated to leave Cochran without someone to watch her back and make her team shine.
That was the only negative part of all of this.
“You say that.”
He looked up from his beer with confusion clouding his features. “Of course I say that.”
“You mean that shit though?”
“Hell yeah why wouldn’t I?”
The confusion had shifted to annoyance and something akin to his belief that I’d insulted him.
“Because it means you’re gonna be flying solo. You ain’t even think about that did you? We joked about it in Cochran’s office but me stepping back means you’ll be out here with no one on your six.”
“I mean yeah but I can’t hate on a friend that gets to live his dreams. The fuck kinda pendejo would that make me? Besides, we haven’t always worked together. I survived without your ass before.”
I took a swig of my beer smiling to myself. “Barely, muthafucker.”
“Shut up. Besides, I work better alone anyway.”
“Understood.”
“This new case threw a wrench in your plans, huh?”
I leaned back against the sofa trying to stretch out my limbs. Alec was shorter than I was but not by much and even he had been working out the knots in his neck. “One amongst many.”
“Then we do what we’re hated for: use every resource to solve this shit quickly so you don’t have it holding you back.”
“You act like it’s ever that easy.”
“Plenty of people walk away with open cases.”
“I ain’t plenty of people so you knew before you said it that shit wasn’t gone fly. Besides, I ain’t ever let another man’s mediocrity determine the limits of my excellence. So that ain’t something I could do and live with myself.”
He grinned as if he’d been trying to hype me up and I did my best not to roll my eyes at him. “So, your solution?”
“Just like you said, solve this shit fast and then get the fuck out.” Alec raised his bottle in a silent toast still smiling. Just because I’m leaving doesn’t mean the resources that have been previously provided for you are going away.”
“Just say that you gone miss me, O, and leave that shit at that. Being all unnecessarily effusive and shit. You've got my back the same way I've got yours. Nothing else needs to be said. Y’all will handle the high-level shit and we'll do the dirtier work. Ain’t nothing changed.”
“You make us sound like some bitches.”
“If the shoe fits—”
“Shoe this dick, Vega.”
He laughed at me using his nickname, which was his mother’s maiden name.
He was hiding in plain sight since his family’s drug business operated under a different name to everyone outside of their most trusted circle.
He worked for the very government that said it was attempting to eradicate the drug problem.
Not with the number of lawmakers on the cartel’s payroll.
“What you make of all of this?”
I rubbed at my face thinking over what we’d already learned and why it had me uneasy.
We’d taken the time to review the cases together before we’d headed back to my condo.
Although we wouldn’t include anyone else on what we had going on until we had solid information, we at least pretended to follow the rules so that everyone could stay off Cochran’s back.
“Something about it ain’t right.”
“Glad your gut ain’t letting you down. I peeped that shit almost immediately.”
“It’s too—”
My brain couldn’t find the right word to describe how all of this felt.
I wondered if this was the burnout that agents spoke about.
I didn’t think I’d get there. The arrogance that I differed from others kept me from believing this job would break me.
But my immediate reaction to this case set me on edge.
Maybe it was the impatience to be done with the bureau and get on with my life but it felt strange.
Sensing my confusion he sat forward as though my words would solidify something he was also thinking. “Too what?”
“It’s too convenient. Too damn loud and too messy. This shit might be political because whoever snatched her wants the fanfare and the attention.”
“I was thinking the same but still couldn’t put a finger on why I felt that way. Snatching her up right now feels like a setup but I don’t know what for.” Alec leaned back, the weight of his own words driving his actions.
“You know this place is about to go to hell in a hand basket anyway since we’re having another administration change. The sooner you find your way out of DC the better, Alec.”
He finished his beer with a smile, as if my warning was laughable to him. “Unlike you, I don’t mind being the Trojan horse. But I have family I can trust to ensure that our shit is going well.”