“You have a credibility gap.Marquez's inner circle doesn't trust loners.”
He bobs his head.
“Why else?”
“He's vetting forgery specialists.Every lieutenant in his organization is scrambling to produce someone worthy of the inner circle.Whoever delivers gets promoted.Whoever fails gets forgotten.”
Or worse.
His face tightens.
“Why did you agree to give up your life to do this?”
I swallow.“Personal reasons.”
He shakes his head.“Not good enough.I need to know what motivated you.”
I fold my arms across my chest.“Fine.A friend of mine nearly died thanks to drugs that came out of here.”
Friend.Workmate.The only person who knows about my childhood.
His eyebrow hitches.“You want revenge.”
My eyes narrow.“I want justice.”
He lets out a short, humorless laugh.“Nice sentiment.But justice isn’t the goal.You cut off the head of the snake and ten grow back.Best we’ll get is a disruption in distribution.”
“Pessimist.”
“Realist.”
I’m not about to argue with him.I’m here because Delilah’s first field op went horribly wrong and she nearly paid for it with her life—not to trade insults with one of the DEA’s maverick undercover agents.
He eyes me and switches gears.
"Ever get caught?"
I frown hard.He’s read my file; he knows already."Never."
His shoulders drop just a fraction—barely noticeable, but I catch it.Like hearing me say it relieved weight from them.
"Are we done?"I shift my weight, suddenly aware of how small this bathroom is."If you want to make this look good, take me out to dinner.I’m starving."
He gives me a curious look, head tilting slightly."You should use tonight to prep."
"I need to eat," I wipe steam off my forearm.The shower's still roaring, filling the air with damp heat that clings to everything.
He glances at his watch.Water beads on the metal band."We'll stay in here for a few more minutes.Let them think we’re having a reunion."
My stomach tightens.
"I never agreed to being eavesdropped on the whole time," my voice comes out sharper than I mean it to.
Jagger frowns.“Nolan assured me you were thoroughly briefed on how deep this cover needs to be.”
My pulse kicks, just once, hard against my ribs, and I'm not so sure it's because of who I’m meeting tomorrow morning.
“No.He neglected to mention that part.”
