Denver fought a grin. The cop couldn’t arrest a gerbil at the moment, but his determination was admirable. “Well, we might be able to come up with a plan.” He moved to the table where Malloy already sat. He’d like to see the baby-trafficking gang taken down completely, and Malloy could accomplish that. “All right. But everything you hear, you keep to yourself. Forever.”
As Noni put together a breakfast of eggs and bacon, and as Tina sorted the medical supplies she’d nabbed from the ambulance, Denver gave the entire truth of his life to Malloy. All of it. He held nothing back. The words flowed from him and something released.
It felt good to finally be honest with Malloy. He was a decent guy. If he still liked Denver, or at least still tolerated him, after knowing everything, then maybe the truth wasn’t so bad. Maybe Denver wasn’t so fucked up.
The cop listened, no expression on his face, until his chin just dropped. “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. Supersoldiers? Government spies? Genetic manipulation?”
Denver dug into his eggs, his shoulders feeling lighter, and then told Malloy the full story about Noni, the gang, and Talia. He tried to banish the irritation he still felt about Noni refusing to go to safety, but it lay there, just under the surface. Along with guilt.
It ate at him, and he let it in so he could deal with it. His ears burned, but he forced himself to continue. He’d seen a cop nearly be killed, and the idea of Noni getting harmed pricked awareness along his every nerve like he’d been stung by fire ants. So he kept his voice level and answered every question Malloy had.
Malloy eyed his eggs but didn’t eat. “I take it that my knowing this puts me in the crosshairs of the Gray brothers? They’re coming for me?”
Denver shook his head. “No. They think you’re family.”
Malloy paled even more, for the first time showing emotion at the entire story. Was that panic? “Shit.”
Denver coughed out a laugh. “Yeah. So. Welcome to the family.” He looked at Tina. “Can you get the bullet out?”
She winced, stress darkening her eyes. “I can, but it’s going to hurt. I have only a local in the materials I took from the ambulance, and that won’t diminish the pain enough. There’s also the chance of infection. We should go to a hospital.”
“Not a chance,” Malloy said. “I need to start coordinating our plan for tonight. When we get the baby.”
Denver leaned forward, his mind rapidly calculating the facts. “The bidding closes at five, and I’ll make sure I’m the high bidder. The exchange probably won’t be until tomorrow. They’ll want to get everything in place first.”
“You’re right,” Malloy said thoughtfully. “But you can’t do it alone now. A gang this large, one spanning states? You need the authorities to get them all and do it fast. You can’t take the next fifty years to go after them one by one. You need me.”
Denver paused. The detective was probably right. He couldn’t spend his life going after each member. But the cops could. All right. Time to coordinate. “I’m doing the exchange, though. That’s nonnegotiable.”
“I won’t get that past my superiors.” Malloy winced as he moved his leg.
“You’ll have to,” Denver said simply. “Say the sellers know my face and they’ll only exchange the baby for me.”
Malloy studied him. “Do they?”
“They might,” Denver said. “Since I’ve been having issues with them for days, they won’t be surprised to see my face. My bidding to get the baby will make sense to them. They won’t care as long as I have the cash.” He reached for the briefcase that the Montana boys had sent and flipped it open.
Malloy whistled. “Wow. How much is that?”
Denver quickly inventoried it. “Three hundred thousand.” If he put paper in the bottom, he could make it look like more. “The bidding is at four hundred thousand right now.” By the time the gang counted the money, he’d have the baby.
Malloy shook his head. “You know how dangerous this is, right? They might take one look at the money and then just shoot you.”
Denver nodded. “We’d better come up with a good plan, then.” His gut hurt, and his temples pounded. What if the gang had contacts in the police department? What if the gang saw cops? At some point they’d cut their losses and lose the baby. Would they really kill a baby? Some people were evil enough to do just that, and he knew it.
Noni cleared her throat. “They wouldn’t hurt a baby, would they?”
Denver couldn’t lie to her. The clock was counting down, and this had to go perfectly.
Malloy coughed. “I don’t like the wildcard element here.” He wiped his brow. “Shit. I should clarify which wildcard I mean.” Tension sizzled off him.
“Madison and Cobb,” Denver said, on the same page. “I know. The Kingdom Boys’ motivation is clear and their trajectory foreseeable. But Madison’s soldiers? They know who you are, who Tina is, and they know we’re in town. We have to lie low until it’s time for the exchange.” Even so, he had no clue how much Madison had figured out about his plans. There was a chance she knew about the baby. Tracing Noni’s movements and ultimately her motivations wouldn’t have been too difficult.
“If Cobb and Madison figured out why you’re here and what you’re doing, they could outbid you in the gang auction,” Malloy said quietly.
Denver could feel the walls pressing in. His two ops might’ve just combined into one big one, but he had no way of knowing anything right now. “One threat at a time. It’s a live bid, so I’ll keep upping it.” He glanced at the clock, which seemed to be speeding up. They had several hours until the bidding closed. “How much time do you need to get a plan in place?”
Malloy breathed out, his wide chest shuddering. “From the moment we have a location? I’d like a couple of hours.”
