It’s when I fully realize what happened.
That fucking woman.
First, she forces me to?—
I can’t even think the words.
Then she pretends to save me.
And then takes the one thing I needed.
The hat.
She has the hat.
Tears flood down my cheeks because I can’t contain my emotions anymore.
Because everything is fucked.
So fucking fucked, because Hedda took the hat.
I give myself five minutes of crying.
Then, I wipe them away, swallow down the emotion, and try to focus on something else. Something that doesn’t make me feel powerless.
Okay. What can you do? I ask myself when I stand up.
You already stole from Hedda. She will expect you to come for her.
Meaning she needs to be gone.
And I need to hit her with something she does not expect.
Something that is so far out of everything I have ever done, that she won’t see it coming.
I take my burner.
My thumb hovers over the keys.
But then, I press them and dial the number.
“Shaw,” she answers coldly when it stops ringing.
“I am offering you a deal,” I say.
“A deal?” she asks. “Don’t you think you are beyond deals?”
“I don’t think so,” I say. “Because I am going to give you Hedda Lagner and everyone else on your list. I am going to be your CI.”
There is a moment of silence.
“For your freedom,” she says.
“Yes,” I say. Shaw doesn’t need to know about the hat. If I have my freedom, and they get Hedda, I will get it anyway.
“You are already surrounded,” she finally says.
“I know, but I am offering what you will never get without me.”
