5. THE SETUP #2
Trust could come later.Need was faster.Need made people overlook questions.Need made them bring you closer.Need got you behind doors that curiosity never would.Chris nodded slowly.“Then let’s make him need me.”At seven twenty, Chris was back at the garage.
Roman again.The federal building disappeared.The secure briefing room disappeared.
The map disappeared.Everything disappeared except the black Dodge Charger waiting in the bay.He walked around it once.Rafael watched him.“You checking my car now?”
“Checking the tires.”
“You think Mateo’s going racing?”Chris crouched near the front wheel.“No.”Rafael smirked.“Then why?”Chris stood.“Because if I’m driving him, I’m checking the tires.”
That answer seemed to satisfy him.Chris opened the hood.Engine clean.Fluids good.
Belts good.No obvious tampering.He checked the brakes as much as he could without putting the vehicle on a lift.Then the trunk.Not because he was snooping.Because Roman would make sure there wasn’t a body inside before transporting the cartel boss.
Empty.Chris closed it.Rafael leaned against the bay door.“Nervous?”Chris looked over.
“About driving?”
“About Mateo.”Chris smiled.“Should I be?”Rafael didn’t smile back.“That’s the thing about Mateo.”
“What?”
“You don’t know until you should’ve been.
”Chris liked that line.It told him more about Mateo than Rafael realized.At eight forty, Chris parked outside the private club.The building was old money.Stone exterior.Valet.Tall windows.No sign beyond a small brass plaque.The kind of place where men moved millions over steak and whiskey and nobody raised their voice.Chris sat behind the wheel.Waited.He checked the clock.
8:42.Mateo wasn’t due out for another hour.Plenty of time to think.Bad idea.Chris kept his eyes on the entrance.Several black vehicles came and went.A senator he recognized from television entered with two other men.Not relevant.A wealthy developer.Not relevant.A woman in diamonds.Not relevant.Then Chris saw Diego.He stepped outside alone.Looked left.Right.Then directly toward the Charger.Chris didn’t react.Diego walked across the sidewalk.Came to the driver’s window.Chris lowered it.
“You early.”Chris glanced at the clock.“That’s generally how waiting works.
”Diego’s expression stayed flat.“Mateo expects his people to be ready.”
“Then we’re off to a great start.”Diego leaned slightly closer.“You think everything’s funny?”
“No.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”Chris held his gaze.“What do you want, Diego?”There it was again.
That little flicker.Diego didn’t like being addressed casually.Chris did it anyway.“You’re driving him home.”
“I know.”
“No detours.”
“Wasn’t planning one.”
“No stops.”
“Anything else?”Diego looked into the car.His eyes moved over the dashboard.Seats.
Console.Chris noticed.Of course he did.Diego looked back at him.“If something feels wrong, you call.”Chris nodded.“Sure.”Diego stared.“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”Diego stepped away.Then paused.
“Roman.”Chris looked at him.“You ever lose someone following you?”Chris’s heartbeat didn’t change.His expression didn’t change.He leaned back.
“Depends how good they are.”Diego studied him.Then walked away.Chris waited until the club door closed behind him.Only then did he exhale.Interesting.
Too interesting.Had Diego noticed something?Was that question random?
Or was he already testing?Chris looked at the rearview mirror.Nothing.He checked the clock.
8:47.Still almost an hour.His pulse remained steady.The task force was out there somewhere.Logan.Surveillance.Agents watching him.Chris couldn’t acknowledge any of them.He was alone.That was the truth of undercover work.You could have twenty agents around you.An aircraft overhead.A tracker in your vehicle.Backup two streets away.
And still—when the person beside you decided whether you lived or died—
you were alone.At nine forty-three, the private club doors opened.Mateo stepped outside.
Diego beside him.Another man Chris didn’t recognize.They exchanged handshakes.
Mateo looked toward the curb.His regular SUV sat several spaces away.The driver tried the ignition.Nothing.Tried again.Chris watched.The FBI’s planted failure.Right on time.
The driver got out.Opened the hood.Mateo checked his watch.Diego looked annoyed.
Rafael appeared from nowhere.Chris almost laughed.Of course they’d positioned him.
A short conversation followed.Then Rafael pointed toward the Charger.Toward Chris.
Mateo looked.Even from across the street, Chris could feel it.Decision.Chris got out.Not too quickly.He walked around the car.Opened the rear passenger door.Mateo approached.
“What happened to the other car?” Chris asked.“Does it matter?”Chris looked toward the dead SUV.“Only if you want to get home.”Mateo’s mouth twitched.He climbed into the back.
Diego moved toward the opposite door.Mateo stopped him.“I need you here.”Diego frowned.“For what?”
“Handle the car.”His eyes shifted toward Chris.“Roman can drive.”Chris kept his expression neutral.Inside—everything sharpened.Mateo was getting in alone.Even better than planned.Diego clearly didn’t like it.Neither did Chris.One unexpected variable removed.
Another added.Mateo settled into the back seat.Chris closed the door.Walked around.Got behind the wheel.The engine started.Mateo looked up from his phone.“You know where you’re going?”Chris met his eyes through the mirror.“Usually.”Mateo almost smiled.
“Home.”Chris shifted into drive.Pulled away from the curb.The private club disappeared behind them.Chris checked the mirror once.No pursuit vehicle yet.They drove three blocks.
Mateo answered a text.Four.Still nothing.Chris turned west.Franklin Avenue.Exactly as planned.He felt nothing.No nerves.No adrenaline.Not yet.He was waiting.One block.
Two.The light ahead turned green.Chris accelerated through.Then he saw them.
Two headlights.Black SUV.Three vehicles back.Perfect distance.Logan.The performance was starting.Chris didn’t react.Not yet.He drove another block.SUV stayed.Mateo hadn’t noticed.Good.Chris changed lanes.The SUV changed lanes several seconds later.Still plausible.Another block.Chris checked the mirror.Then again.This time deliberately.Mateo looked up.
“What?”Chris kept his eyes forward.“Nothing.”That was exactly the wrong answer.Mateo straightened.
“What?”Chris glanced at the mirror again.The SUV closed slightly.Good.He let the silence build.Mateo looked behind them.Saw it.His expression changed.Very slightly.
“Know them?”Chris asked.“No.”The SUV moved closer.Chris’s hands settled differently on the wheel.Not obvious.But everything in him changed.Roman was about to show Mateo exactly why he was useful.Mateo looked at the mirror again.
“Are they following us?”Chris waited.One second.Two.Then:“Yeah.”The SUV accelerated.Mateo’s eyes sharpened.
“What do you want to do?”Chris looked at him in the rearview mirror.There it was.The moment.The FBI had manufactured everything to create exactly this question.
Chris smiled faintly.“Depends.”
“On what?”Chris looked back at the road.“How attached are you to getting home the slow way?”Mateo stared at him.Then a smile slowly spread across his face.“Drive.”Chris pressed the accelerator.The Charger surged forward.And just like that—the setup was over.Now Chris had to sell the lie.