“While you were setting me up to be bait in a federal investigation.”
“Yeah.”
“While you were helping the FBI destroy my life.”
“While I was trying to figure out how to protect you from people who would definitely destroy your life.” His voice cracks slightly, his eyes filled with regret. “The syndicate doesn’t just let people walk away, Tate. Once they have you, you’re theirs until they’re done with you. And when they’re done, they make sure you can’t testify against them.”
“So your solution was to let the FBI use me instead?”
“My solution was to cooperate with the FBI so they could arrest the syndicate before they could hurt you.”
“Yeah, by letting them hurt me first, you asshole!”
“No, by letting them think they were going to hurt you while making sure they never got the chance.” He takes a step toward me. “The plan was to let you get recruited and let you thinkyou were working for them, while actually gathering evidence to bring them down.”
“And what would happen to me if they got arrested? If I was identified as a cooperating witness in a federal case against people who kill cooperating witnesses?”
“Morrison said they’d protect you.”
“Morrison said.” I laugh, but there’s no humor in it. “And you believed that shit?”
“I believed him because I had to believe him. Because the alternative was letting you walk into their trap with no protection at all.”
“So instead you walked me into the FBI’s trap.”
“Yes.”
Yes.No justification, no explanation that makes it better. Just yes.
“How long have they been watching me?”
“Months. Since before I took the coaching job.”
“And when were you planning to tell me?”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were just going to let me get recruited, let me start fixing games, let me become a criminal, and then act surprised when the FBI showed up to haul my ass off to prison?”
“I was going to try to find another way.”
“What other way?”
“I don’t know,” he bellows, stalking away. “But I couldn’t let you go to that meeting tomorrow night without telling you the truth about what you’d be walking into.”
Tomorrow night. My meeting with Petrov.
“They know about tomorrow?”
“They know about everything.”
“Are they listening right now?”
“No. I made sure we weren’t followed, and I left my phone in the truck.”
“So what happens now?”
“You don’t go to that meeting. You walk away from Petrov and his offer, and you hope the FBI can build their case without using you as bait.”
