“Whatever happens over the next few hours,” he continued, his gaze hard enough to cut, “you don’t let Knox out of your sight. You hear me? We still don’t know who the rat is. We still don’t know if they’ll try to tie up loose ends by killing witnesses. So you better make sure?—"
What little bit of tranquility had remained inside the cabin shattered like glass.
The front door slammed open with an explosive crack, wood splintering, as four tactical team members stormed inside. They were geared head-to-toe in black and Kevlar, and all their weapons were up and at the ready.
“FBI! Everyone down! Faces on the floor! Hands where we can see them!”
Sabrina sprawled on the floor in an instant. Knox was a little slower to drop to his knees and prone himself out on the rug. Hew leisurely folded his legs until he was seated, and then he took his time lacing his fingers behind his head. But Britt? He was the slowest of all.
“Down! Now!” barked the lead agent as he aimed his weapon at Britt’s broad chest. Julia noticed Britt’s T-shirt was printed with the words: Heavy Metal. And beneath that was Iron Man’s face.
“Sure thing, brother.” Britt dropped to his knees. “I was just appreciating the way y’all came busting in here with the guns and jawlines. Very intimidating. Veryooh-rah.”
“This is a mistake!” Julia shouted, hoping her voice cut through the din of the other agents barking orders. “You don’t understand?—”
“Are you okay, ma’am?” asked the agent who had already wrenched Sabrina’s hands behind her back so he could secure them with a zip tie.
“I’m fine. This isn’t what?—”
Dillan burst through the open door. “Oh, thank god!” He raced to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder. To her surprise, there was real relief in his eyes.
Under other circumstances, she would’ve teased him for his worry. Under these circumstances, she needed him to understand that cuffing and stuffing Britt and the others was a mistake.
Before she could get out a word of explanation, however, Dillan continued. “We spent half the night looking for you. And then, when we couldn’t find you and had to inform your family, your dad told us?—”
“Iknowwhat he told you. I know what he did. But, Dillan, listen. I have to make sure you understand what’s?—”
Agents Keplar and Maddox marched inside, looking windblown and angry. And just like that, the little cabin was packed to the seams. Julia didn’t think one more body could squeeze inside.
“Ouch!” Sabrina cried when the agent who’d cuffed her dragged her to her feet by wrapping a hard hand around her upper arm.
“Be gentle with her, you fucker!” Hew shouted, his face as red as his hair. His next words were muffled because an agent shoved him face-first into the rug. A second later, Hew’s hands were pulled behind his back. A zip tie hissed tight around his thick wrists until the plastic bit into his skin.
“All secure,” confirmed the agent who’d cuffed Britt.
Britt was still on his knees, his blue eyes shooting daggers at Julia and prompting her to lift her voice above the chaos again. She did exactly that.
“Everybody, stop talking! Stop moving!” she screamed loud enough to fray a vocal cord.
Thathad every eye in the room landing on her. On her rat’s nest hair. On her borrowed flannel pajamas—somehow, she was the only one still in sleepwear.
Awesome. Way to look professional, Jules.
Pushing her hair out of her face and pulling her shoulders back, she turned her attention first to her partner and then to the agents from South Carolina.
“There’s no need for this.” She waved a hand to indicate the four people trussed up like Thanksgiving turkeys. “Everyone in this room is innocent and will come with you willingly.”
“Innocent?” Agent Keplar sputtered. “How the hell can you know?—”
“Becausethat”—Julia interrupted and pointed to Sabrina—“is Cooper Greenlee’s sister. And she’ll be happy to confirm she was there the night her brother was killed. Knox Rollins wasn’t the one to do it. A cartel member named Eddy Torres was.”
She pinned her gaze on Agent Keplar before delivering the coup de gr?ce. “Your joint sting operation has a fox in the henhouse. Someone tipped off the cartel and told them who Rollins and Greenlee wereactuallyworking for.”
Keplar’s jaw tightened. But Julia couldn’t tell if it was from surprise or anger or mental machinations.
26
FBI Regional Headquarters, Chicago
