I stared at him. His angry eyes said he knew this was the end for him. Even if those files and all the evidence we had somehow ended up going missing at some point, we had names, and once we started pulling those people in, they’d flip on him so fast there wouldn’t be anythinganyonecould do to save him.
“I got you,” I said, and now the smug smirk came out. I just couldn’t help myself.
I thought Ford would be proud of me.
All of a sudden, the street was flooded with SUVs and nondescript cars. Lights flashed and doors opened. We were surrounded by FBI agents, some in full gear and a few in suits. For once, I wasn’t ready to slink into the shadows to get away from the agents.
Keller didn’t look in the least bit surprised to see them there.
A tall man in a navy suit walked up with two agents in full gear following behind. The rest of the agents seemed to hold back, guns trained in my direction. I wasn’t sure if they were aiming for me or for the asshole I’d just caught.
The man stopped in front of us and his hazel eyes stared intently into mine before sliding over to Keller.
“Son,” he said.
“Yep,” Keller said back, face stoic as ever. “Thanks for…” It was like it pained him to say even that much to the man.
“I wasn’t sure what side you’d take in all of this. I know how loyal you can be. But after you sent me those files…” He cleared his throat. To his credit, he looked like he was trying really hard to make a connection with Keller— with his son. “I’m sorry this happened.”
Keller gave a jerky nod. With a sigh, the man turned his attention back to me.
“Special Agent in Charge Silva,” he said, holding a sturdy hand out in my direction. Interesting he didn’t have the same last name as his son. There was a story there, but I knew better than most, it wasn’t any of my business. “And you are?”
“Austin,” I supplied, shaking his hand quickly.
No, I still didn’t trust or want to be around anyone with the title ‘agent’ before their name, especially one with ‘special’ and ‘in charge’ surrounding it.
“Austin…”
“Just Austin.” I gave him a cheeky smile. I would have sworn I saw him laughing behind his eyes.
“We’ve got it from here.” As he said this, the agents behind him moved around to take Lipton away.
My mouth opened to object, but Keller caught my eye and shook his head. I might not have known him super well, but I trusted him because Ford did. So I held back.
“I’m going to need you to come with us, as well.” Agent Silva said. “You’ll need to give a statement. Oh, and the others that are with you, I’m going to need them to come in too.”
He turned around and walked off, leaving someone else to deal with us.
“Your dad?” I asked Keller, mostly because I needed to hear him say his dad was good and shit wasn’t about to get more fucked.
“Yeah.” He licked his lip. “I knew I could trust him, so I called him. He’s had his team waiting a few blocks over sincethe day we talked to Mrs. Lipton.” He sighed before adding, “The family shit… it’s a long story, but I trust him.”
“I hear ya,” I said as I clapped him on the shoulder and left it at that.
Having worked with him over the years and hanging in tight quarters the last few days, I’d seen a few different sides to him. In the field, he was focused and driven. Once the dustsettled, he could be pretty easygoing. But I had a feeling I wouldn’t be seeing that side of him today.
“So… that’s it?” I asked, scratching the back of my neck.
“Just about. They’ll probably question us until tomorrow. It’s not going to be fun. Then they’ll want to talk to Ford, more than likely in an official setting. Be prepared for that.”
I grunted unhappily. I knew it was coming, but that didn’t mean I liked it.
I just wanted to be back home… back in Atlanta. I wanted this to be over. I wanted to be in bed with my boyfriend, sweaty after sex while we ate cold leftover takeout.
Wait, were we there yet? Was the B-word okay to use?
Or did that require some big conversation where you both agreed to it?
