“Colehere.”
“Agent Wise got a phone call this morning,” Stahlsaid.
“Was he awake to take it?” The last Cole had heard Adam was unconscious and battling the effects of the deadlypoison.
“Yes, but he’s still weak.” Talking to Stahl was like pulling teeth; the FBI agent’s ability to keep his cards close was legendary. It was a fact Cole had once admired. Now, it just pissed himoff.
“Is he going to make it?” Cole fired off, emotion making his throat feel thick. Adam Wise was one of the few men outside the military whom Cole had gotten close to over the years. He protected those weaker than himself and always put others first. He was a truefriend.
“He’s not 100% in the clear yet, but the doctors think he should pull through. But that’s not the reason I called,” Stahlsaid.
Cole heard the sound of papers shuffling accompanied by a lightly tapping in the background. Stahl was drumming his fingers on the table. This phone call must really have him rattled. “Who wasit?”
“Luis’s man. Apparently, Luis was poisoned also. The attack on you leaving the mansion wasn’thim.”
“Who the fuck was itthen?”
“The Frenchman. Apparently, he was pissed off that Adam outbid him. He wanted to get his propertyback.”
“Son of abitch.”
Both Clint and Carter looked at him questioningly. Cole turned his back on them, pacing the small kitchen as the need to murder grew inside him. “You believethat?”
Cole could practically feel Stahlshrugging.
“Not sure. He’s insisting they still follow protocol. He plans on paying Adam a visit at his house in twodays.”
“Luis can shove his protocol up his ass. Doesn’t matter who made the attack. He lost his bargaining ground on the contract the moment he let it happen on hiswatch.”
“Wise told him the same thing, but Luis’s man insisted. So, we have one of two scenarios—either he’s telling thetruth—”
Cole drew in a breath and covered his eyes. “Or he’s scoping out the territory so he can finish the job he left half done at themansion.”
“Exactly.”
“Any hit on Luis’ or the Frenchman’slocation?”
“Not a damn thing. They’ve gone completely underground. And I don’t need to remind you that we need Luis to get to ElOscuro.”
If Luis truly didn’t know they were working with the FBI, then they couldn’t risk revealing that fact by ignoring Luis’s protocol. This might be the big break they needed to find the missing women. But then again, if Luis was simply playing them, he could be walking Tomi right into atrap.
Stahl didn’t mince his words. “We’ve got to get you set up at Adam Devine’sresidence.”
“I’m not putting Tomi at risk,” Cole saidquietly.
“This isn’t a suggestion, Fury. It’s an order.” Stahl’s voice took on a harsh, commandingtone.
“I don’t work for you,” Cole replied in exactly the sameway.
Stahl cursed. “Don’t make me hold blackballing your family business over your head to get you to cooperate. I don’t like threatening the people I workwith.”
“Then don’t fucking do it,” Cole bitout.
“I don’t have a choice. This might be our last chance to get our way back into Luis’s organization. Are you willing to risk all of the missing women’s lives just because you want to plow through an ex-girlfriend?”
Every muscle in Cole’s body tensed. Rage boiled in his gut. The urge to reach through the phone and plant a fist in Stahl’s face nearly overwhelmed him. Tomi wasn’t some ex he needed to fuck out of his system. Tomi wastheone; she belonged with him. “You and I both know she’s more than that, or you wouldn’t have put me with her in the first place. I need to tell her about theinvestigation.”
“Have you completely cleared her ofinvolvement?”
