Chapter 8
eight
Natalia
“Natalia…are you sure about this?” Jake bites his lip and stares at me, like he’s waiting for me to get struck by nerves that never come.
“I’m sure.” I smile. This is the most sure I’ve been about anything in years. It’s the right thing to do—I feel it in my gut, like the sky is blue, and like I know my name.
“It’s just that…this is dangerous. You could get hurt.” The young FBI agent wriggles in his seat.
“That’s not what you told Sylvia when she decided to put her ex behind bars.”
My friend throws his hands in the air. “Why do you think I’m telling you this? Sylvia almost died putting Reynaldo away. We still don’t know who leaked department information?—”
“Jake. Stop worrying. I’m doing this.”
“These things never end well, Natalia.” He says, freezing when Agent Bryce pokes his head in the consultation room door.
The older man’s gaze darts between the two of us, soaking up the silence as he rips out a chair next to Jake and plops into a seat.
“I’m glad you reconsidered talking to us.” He says, with a grin on his face.
It’s not a friendly grin.
It’s smug. Like he won a game. Like my feelings are a game.
“Let’s get one thing straight.” I interlace my fingers together and sit up straight to suppress the urge to smack the smarmy look off his face, my voice sounding a lot calmer than I feel.
“I don’t appreciate that piss-poor attempt at emotionally manipulating me.
And if you ever do that shit to me again, I’ll walk straight into Pandemonium and give Matias your name and where to find you. ”
Agent Bryce hesitates, jaw slack before he gives me a stiff nod.
Yeah. That’s what I thought. “Alright.” I expel a deep breath. “What do you want to know about Matias?”
Jake and Bryce share a look. My friend clears his throat and opens the case file in front of him, flipping through the dossier.
“So…can you tell us about some of his associates? People he’s close to?”
“His best friend’s name is Santos Castillos.
” I say delicately, remembering when I almost ran into him last week at the club.
“Do you guys have a case file on him? He’s not as careful as Matias.
Likes to flaunt his money and have a good time.
He’s probably a good place to start.” I look up at the officers, pausing when I realize they’re sporting twin blank expressions.
“You do know about Santos, right?”
Agent Bryce clears his throat and flips through the case file. “We have photos. Can you identify him?”
Oh, Jesus.
The agents put a handful of photos in front of me, some of them blurry, but identifiable.
“That’s Santos.” I say, pointing to the young man with the tattoos creeping up his neck.
He’s handsome, more in a flirty, contagious-smile type of way.
“This is Paco.” I say, holding up another photo of a reedy-looking man with overgrown hair.
“He used to work for Papa. I guess now he has a new boss.”
They show me more images. Ask more questions. And with each minute that passes in that little consultation room, it becomes more and more obvious that these agents are way out of their depth.
What does the FBI have on Matias?
Absolutely nothing.
Not enough to take him down. Not even enough to disrupt his business.
What little information I’m giving them today isn’t going to be enough.
Maybe enough to inconvenience him, to make him look over his shoulder sometimes and second-guess trusting the new guys.
But not enough to lock him away. To bring everything toppling down.
When it feels like they ask me the same question for the third time, I expel a deep breath and lean back in my seat.
“This is useless.”
Jake arches a brow. “What’s wrong?”
“Coming here was a waste of time.” I say clearly, giving Jake a pitying look. “I was really hoping there’d be more of a case to put together.”
Agent Bryce looks affronted. “This is part of an investigation. It takes time. These types of things are a marathon, not a sprint. You wouldn’t understand.”
I can’t help it. I laugh at him. “That’s the same type of ideology that let my father run rampant in Los Angeles for forty years. Until I helped Jake take him down.”
“Fine.” Agent Bryce throws the case file on the table between us. “Do you have a better idea?”
I purse my lips and pretend to think. “I do, actually.” I lean forward casually, like I haven’t been cooking up this idea since I burned down Matias’ Bentley at Pandemonium.
“I could get back in his circle. Get you all the evidence you need.”
Jake gives me a horrified look, opening his mouth, but Bryce cuts him off. “What? You’re going to get back together with him?” He snorts.
“Please. I’m not Sylvia.” No offense to my sister. Love you, girl. “I had something a little more…effective in mind.”
“We are all ears.”
I clear my throat, wondering why my heart is suddenly beating in an unsteady canter.
“I went to school for accounting. In order to persuade Papa to let me finish my education…I may have started running his numbers.” The agents freeze.
“You ran your dad’s books?”
“Not fully.” I clarify. “It was always under the supervision of Pacheco.” I say, thinking about the fatherly man who taught me about cleaning laundered money and sniffing out thieves.
“But I know the basics. I know what Matias deals in. I know how to get in his circle. I know how to get to him.” Soft glances.
Shy looks and whispered questions. He’s got a soft spot for it.
At least, he did.
Agent Bryce leans back with an incredulous look. “This is never going to work.”
“Why not?”
“He already has a money person—for starters.”
I shake my head. “His longtime money guy died the day you guys raided Papa’s house.
That much I know. Whoever is doing the job now, they’re pretty new.
I have a chance to get in.” That chance may be as slim as winning the lottery, but I’m a good liar.
A great liar, when I want to be. I’ve been lying my whole life.
Strict parents make sneaky kids. And I’m the sneakiest of all.
“We don’t know who they are. Even if we wanted to take them out of the picture—we can’t.” Jake says slowly, pressing his lips into a thin line.
“I’ll get the name. All I need you two to do is spread a rumor. Can the FBI do that?”
“What rumor?”
I pause, hoping my plan plays out like I pictured it in my head. “The FBI accidentally misplaces a report—stating that Matias’ money guy is cooperating in an ongoing investigation. You have a hacker friend.” I turn to look at Jake. “Can she make it look like a leak?”
Jake opens and closes his mouth, but Bryce answers for him. “That could actually work. We don’t need to put a name. Make it look like a memo.”
“I will find Santos, use his sense of unwavering friendship against him, and make a case for helping with their finances.” I shrug, feeling more confident in my plan than I did last night. “It’ll work.”
Agent Bryce smiles slowly, like the cat that got the cream. I hold on to that look—because I can’t quite face the way Jake is staring at me. Like he doesn’t recognize me.
I pluck a photo that slid out of the case file between us, cocking my head and inspecting it.
“Hm.” I never knew what a car looked like burned to the studs. What do you know. All cars look the same when they burn long enough.
I hold up the picture of the charred Bentley outside of Pandemonium for Agent Bryce. “If you’re investigating this, don’t bother. I did that.”
His jaw sags. He and Jake share a look, and suddenly, I feel like the elephant in the room.
I don’t like it.
“Is it…going to be a problem?” I ask delicately, pleased when they both snap to attention.
“We’ll deal with it.”
“Thank you, Agent Bryce.”