28. IMMINENT
TWENTY-EIGHT
imminent
Hudson
By the time I badge into the Hoover Building the next morning, Troy is dead in every possible sense. Dead overnight. Dead on the news. Dead in the mouths of analysts who never met him and anchors polishing the word “legacy” like it doesn’t make them choke.
The media repeatedly shows him carted out of the gala on a gurney, and I relish it, knowing he’d hate looking weak and vulnerable.
The lobby hums with urgency. Agents move faster than usual, voices clipped, eyes sharp. All hands on deck. The chaos brings my body to life, and I try to hide the smile that lives inside of my chest.
Last night, Enzo took Pippa back to her place after the gala and her victory. I joined them a few hours later when my official FBI duties were complete—duties that I want to be permanently complete someday soon.
We showered Pippa in effusive praise as we literally washed the night off our skin and collapsed into bed. Hugs, kisses, cuddling, talking. Nothing more, nothing less.
She shared a bit more about her past last night and that seeing him face to face sent her into a flashback. That gutted me. It’s time for that bitch Sophie to pay her fucking penance.
It took everything in me to leave today for work. I didn’t want to leave the comfort of Pippa and Enzo’s bodies—didn’t want her to be alone after such a huge takedown.
Enzo had to leave before me. His phone was blowing up after the world caught wind of Troy’s death.
His clients are freaking the fuck out. He wouldn’t have left Pippa’s bed for just anyone; Jonathan Vale wanted an in-person meeting.
Pippa and I agreed we still needed access to him until Sophie resurfaced.
Enzo was tasked with pressing Vale with some questions.
Eva is spending time processing the audio logs of Vale’s bug to see what we can find on Sophie or “Michael Grant”—aka Junior.
Fuck, I really don’t like the idea of Pippa home alone today. She insisted she was okay and she looked it. Relaxed, content, light. I just have to trust she wasn’t lying, but I would much rather be with her right now.
My burner vibrates before I reach my desk. It’s a thread Jules started this morning to ask whether Pippa was actually okay.
Jules
She really didn’t want to go to the mansion?
Luna
Can we force her?
Enzo
I tried.
Eva
I bribed her with food.
You all know Pippa can’t be forced to do anything.
Jules
I know, but I don’t want her alone.
Enzo
I have men stationed outside.
Luna
It’s not the outside world I’m worried about.
There is a pause in the chain. I look across the bull pen at Luna’s desk, but she is not there. She got in earlier than I did. I can only imagine all the rooms she’s being pulled into today.
Enzo
I can have Luca drive Eva over to Pippa’s later.
We have to trust her. Pippa said she’s okay. She wanted a day to rest and sleep and she’s more than earned that. She’ll reach out if she needs us.
Imay be the temporary voice of reason, but it comforts me to know my girl has so many people that look out for her.
A few hours of emails, calls, and meetings pass. Luna and I shared glances across the room once, as she was passing from one meeting to the next, but nothing more, yet. I stand to go grab lunch when my phone rings. Director Marsden. I pick up right away.
“Director.”
“Cross, I just spoke to Novak.”
“Yeah?”
“His lead on Sophie Delacroix is getting hotter.”
“That’s great,” I say. And I mean it.
“You’ll never believe who he spotted at the gala last night.”
I pause as I prepare to pretend like I don’t know what he’s about to say. There was a time when a Junior Volkov sighting would have been the biggest reveal to Enzo, Eva, and me. It would have halted everything until we had him. But now, there are more important things going on around us.
“Who, sir?” I ask.
“Konstantin Volkov—Junior.”
“Wait. What? I was there last night. Is he sure?” Seriously, I should have been an actor.
“Yeah. He had a hunch and asked one of our contracted security members to put a tracker on him. The mark ended up at the Volkov estate.”
“Well, shit. Why would he have been at the gala?” I ask, genuinely curious about his answer.
“I want to know the same thing. He was there with Lily Blackwell under the alias Michael Grant.”
“Damn.” I sigh.
“I have Steele running his alias and digging into Blackwell. I told Novak to bring you in just this morning. I want all my best on this—I want to be the team that finally brings Sophie Delacroix in. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Novak will swing by later today.”
“Sounds good, sir.”
This is a good development. I have a feeling that Luna, Jax, and me working together on-book—and Luna and I working with our team off-book—might finally lead us to finding her. I can feel it in my gut.
I walk toward the cafeteria, stomach grumbling, when Luna catches me in the hall by the elevators.
“Marsden ask you to join Novak’s taskforce yet?” she asks.
I confirm that he did.
“I feel good about this.” She seems on edge, but not in a good way.
“You okay?” I ask. I need to know where this energy is coming from.
She shakes her head yes, looks around, and simply says, “It’s just a lot.”
I agree. We stand there for a moment, letting it all settle.
“They’re reporting services will be in two days,” she says.
“That’s what I heard.”
“TruthDrop could be a bit more aggressive this time,” she whispers.
This time I look around. I tell her to join me on the elevator. We manage to catch one just the two of us. I use my de-bugging app to quickly make sure there are no hot mics before telling her to spill.
“Eva and I were brainstorming, and we think we can not only drop the unredacted Whiteman files about Maribel Island—”
“You have those?”
She gives me an incredulous look. “I’ve had them the whole time.”
I chuckle and shake my head. This fucking girl.
“Anyway, I think we can hack into the news outlets, too—TV, radio, social—make sure they don’t air the funeral. We are working on video content we can play on a loop instead. One that shows the world the truth about Whiteman, Troy, McCarter, Malin, Sophie, Volkov—all of them.”
Ping.
The elevator lands on the cafeteria level, but I’m in a bit of a daze at the magnitude of her suggestion.
Luna pulls me by the arm out of the elevator, toward the cafeteria.
I release a slow breath. “Wow. That’s. Shit. Yeah. I like it.”
“Me too.” She smiles faintly. “They don’t get to mourn a lie. If the cameras are on, the truth is on, too. And we’ll keep the media override for at least seventy-two hours. Ignorance is a choice the public will no longer have.”
A huge smile takes over my face. “It’s fucking perfect. You and Eva came up with this?”
Her smile is confirmation. A swell of pride rises in my chest. I’m so proud of all of them—all of them. The three sisters who survived hell teamed up with my chosen family, doing the work people in power haven’t had the courage to do.
I really fucking like it.
Jax rounds the corner, so quickly he almost doesn’t notice us.
“Steele, there you are. I need you. That lead on Sophie just expanded, but I want confirmation before I run it up the chain.”
Before they turn to leave Jax says, “Heard you might be joining the task force.”
“Marsden said there’s overlap,” I say easily. “You spotted Volkov last night?”
“Yeah,” Jax says, a bit of reluctance in his shoulders, “he looked familiar.” The lie rolls off his tongue like honey. I know exactly who helped him track Junior and it’s a rush. “I had to pull in Sinclair from Redline. Needed her tracker tech. It worked. Pinged back to the Volkov estate.”
I nod and look impressed, like this is news I’m still digesting.
“There’s more.” He turns to Luna. “We picked up a conversation off a West Coast bug. This DeShawn Crown party next week—Sophie’s name came up, which we knew—but they also mentioned a Michael, and Volkov’s alias is ‘Michael Grant.’ Sounded like they’re arriving together.”
Shit, that’s actually fucking wild.
“Any thoughts on how Volkov has been coming and going all these years undetected?” I ask, genuinely curious.
“Not, yet. But now that we have an alias, I’m going to lean on Steele here to do her magic.”
“Well, she’s the one for the job, that’s for sure. The rest of my team and I will support your investigation however we can.”
Jax nods, then walks off, already dialing someone.
Luna is fast on his heels. Ready to use her skills to finally find Sophie—a culmination of meticulous planning and execution. She and her sisters planned for her FBI access to lead her to this one day. Three masterminds who planned so far in advance, no one would ever see them coming.
Not for their own glory. Not only for revenge, either.
No. They’ve worked in the shadows for over a decade because no one was doing a damned thing to stop these predators in power. And they knew no one ever would.
And somewhere between grief and justice, they have ensured that the sins of these pedophiles are collected in full.