Chapter 58
STING
A week of watching and I’m done waiting.
Tommy’s routine hasn’t changed. Same morning coffee, same table, same rotation through the Rot, same careful conversations with the same rotating cast of Rotters. He’s good. He’s disciplined. He hasn’t made a mistake big enough to confront him with.
But he’s getting more specific with Mara and that’s what’s getting to me.
Rogue reported yesterday that Tommy asked Mara whether Vi had mentioned any names from the papers.
Not casually but specifically. “Has she come across anyone she didn’t expect?
” Mara deflected, which is good, but the question itself is an escalation.
The man’s not fishing for general information anymore, he’s fishing for something specific.
He wants to know if his name has surfaced.
A nervous man asking targeted questions is a man who’s running out of patience. Which means I’m running out of time.
I call the guys together to the Skylight Room. Vi is not included. I know how that looks after what she said to me. I know she’d tear me apart if she knew we were meeting without her again. But this is operational. This is the part I’m good at. The feelings can wait. The trap can’t.
“We need to test him,” I say.
Armen leans back in his chair and Rogue is perched on the arm of the couch, watching me.
“Test how?” Armen asks.
“We plant something. A piece of information that’s false. Feed it to Mara in a way that feels natural. Something she’d mention to Tommy without thinking twice about it. If Tommy reacts to it, we’ll know he’s not just being friendly. He’s running intelligence.”
“What kind of information?” Rogue asks.
“Vi found a name in the papers she didn’t recognize. Someone from the city’s development office. She’s been asking around, trying to figure out if anyone in the Rot used to work for the city before the collapse.”
Armen gets it first and his eyes narrow slightly. “That’s a direct threat to his cover,” he says.
“Exactly. If Tommy is Fischer, hearing that someone is specifically looking for former city employees in the Rot is the one thing that would spook him. He’d have to decide whether to sit tight or run. Either way, his behavior changes, and we’ll be watching when it does.”
“How do we get it to Mara?” Rogue asks.
This is the part I’ve been working through. Mara can’t know it’s planted. If she knows, she’ll act differently around Tommy. She’s not a good enough liar to carry it off. The information has to reach her in a way that feels organic.
“Rogue,” I say. “You.”
“Me?”
“You’re the most chill. You talk to her.
It’s natural. You mention it in passing.
Something like, Vi’s been asking about some name from the city development office.
She’s trying to figure out if any former city employees ended up in the Rot.
Keep it casual. Don’t make it a big deal.
Just drop it into conversation and move on. ”
Rogue thinks about it. “Mara’s not stupid. If I bring up Vi’s papers out of nowhere, she’ll wonder why I’m telling her.”
“So don’t bring it up out of nowhere. Wait for a natural opening. She’ll mention Vi eventually. She always does. When she does, you drop it in. Concerned. Casual. Like you’re venting.”
“Venting about what?”
“About Vi being obsessed with the papers. About her going down rabbit holes. You’re worried about her. She found this name, and now she’s on a mission to track down anyone who used to work for the city. You think it’s getting out of hand.”
Rogue nods slowly. “That’s actually believable. Vi does go down rabbit holes.”
“That’s why it works.”
“We’re using Mara,” he says. Not a question.
“Yes.”
“Without her knowledge.”
“Yes.”
“And without Vi’s.”
“Armen. I know.”
He looks at me. Steady. Not judging. Measuring. “When this comes out, and it will come out, Vi is going to see this as exactly the thing she accused you of. Making decisions around her. Treating her like she’s not in the room.”
He’s not wrong. Vi stood in this room and told me to treat her like a person with a brain. Now, I’m sitting in the same room, planning an operation that involves her best friend without telling either of them.
“I know what it looks like,” I say. “But if I tell Vi, she goes at Tommy. She confronts him today and he’s gone tonight.
We lose him and lose whatever he knows about Renner, about the corruption, about the six-week gap between his last note and disappearance.
I’m not willing to trade that for the sake of keeping Vi happy. ”
“It’s not about keeping her happy,” Armen says. “It’s about keeping her trust.”
“I’ll earn it back.”
“You sure about that?”
No. I’m not sure. But I don’t have a better option, and the clock is ticking.
“When does Rogue plant it?” Armen asks.
“Today. This afternoon if the opening comes. I want all eyes on Tommy. If he’s Fischer, his first move will be to verify.
He’ll try to find out if it’s true, if Vi is really asking about city employees.
He might approach someone, he might try to talk to Vi directly.
Whatever he does, it’ll be different from his routine. That’s what we’re looking for.”
“And if nothing changes?” Rogue asks.
“Then maybe I’m wrong about him. Maybe he’s just a guy who does office work and counts boxes and makes nice with the new girl. Maybe the handwriting is a coincidence.”
“You don’t believe that,” Armen says.
“No. I don’t.”
Armen stands. “Then let’s do it. Rogue plants it today. I’ll take first watch on Tommy.”
Rogue hops off the couch arm. “So I’m lying to Mara. Great. She’s going to love me when this is over.”
“She’ll understand,” I say.
“You keep saying that about people. Vi will understand. Mara will understand. At some point, someone’s not going to understand, and it’s going to be ugly.”
He’s right. I push it aside. There’ll be time for ugly later. Right now, I’ve got a trap to set.
We leave the Skylight Room. Three men with a plan. It feels good, the way it always does when we’re working together, moving in the same direction, each handling our piece. This is what I was built for. Not the feelings. Not the words. This.
The feelings are going to catch up with me eventually. I know that. Rogue’s not wrong. But right now, I’ve got a man to catch.