Page 57 of Marked By the Mob

The thought surfaces before I can stop it, and I shove it down immediately. I don’t want to consider that possibility. Can’t consider it. Langford has been part of my life since I was sixteen. He was there when my parents were murdered. He encouraged me to join the Bureau. He approved this operation.

But he also had the authority to shut down the investigation into my disappearance. He could have declared me presumed dead without raising flags.

I shake my head, forcing the thoughts away. Cole makes sense. Cole fits the evidence.

Before I can say anything else, shouting erupts from somewhere outside. The sound cuts through the quiet study, sharp and urgent.

One of the guards rushes into the study, his expression urgent. Eduard and Artur move toward him immediately, and I follow automatically, my pulse quickening.

The guard reports something I can’t quite hear, his voice low and rapid. Eduard’s jaw tightens, and he nods once. “Handle it. I want a full report when we’re done here.”

The guard leaves as quickly as he arrived, and the three of us return to the desk. Whatever the disturbance was, Eduard has already delegated it. His focus shifts back to the investigation without hesitation.

Back at the desk, Rurik’s tech contact has sent additional information about Cole’s financial activity. I lean over the laptop, scanning through bank records that show gambling debt growing rapidly over the past few months. Online betting sites. High-stakes poker games. Losses that accumulated faster than his salary could cover.

And then, buried in the transactions, several unexplained deposits. Not large enough to draw immediate attention but significant. Five thousand here. Eight thousand there. The timing coincides with the weeks leading up to my undercover operation.

“He was being paid,” I say quietly. “Someone was feeding him money in exchange for information.”

Eduard moves to stand beside me, his shoulder brushing mine as he studies the screen. Then he points to another detail I missed. A system log entry dated the day after I disappeared. “Look at this.”

I follow his finger to a line of code that shows Cole attempting to delete a record connected to my undercover identity. The actionfailed because the system automatically backed up access logs, but the attempt is there. Documented and damning.

“He panicked,” I say, my voice tight. “He realized what he’d done and tried to cover his tracks.”

Artur leans against the desk, his dark eyes sharp. “Or someone told him to clean up the evidence.”

Before I can respond, Artur’s phone vibrates. He pulls it out, glancing at the screen, and his expression shifts. “Update from my contact inside federal law enforcement.”

“What is it?” Rurik asks.

Artur reads quickly, his jaw tightening. “Marcus Cole has been arrested. Internally, by the Bureau.”

My pulse spikes. “When?”

“Two days ago.” Artur looks up, meeting my gaze. “The charge is embezzlement and small-scale misuse of internal systems.”

I frown immediately. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“No,” Rurik says quietly. “It doesn’t.”

Eduard crosses his arms, his expression thoughtful. “If Cole sold out a federal agent to an international trafficking network, the Bureau wouldn’t quietly arrest him for a financial violation.”

The logic hits me like cold water. He’s right. Someone responsible for that level of betrayal wouldn’t face minor charges. They’d either vanish completely or be prosecuted for something far more serious, like treason, conspiracy, or accessory to kidnapping.

Not embezzlement.

“They’re protecting someone,” I say slowly, the realization settling in my chest like a weight. “Cole is a scapegoat. They arrested him for something small to make it look like they’re handling the problem, but the real mole is still protected.”

Rurik nods once. “That’s my assessment.”

I sink into the chair behind the desk, my hands shaking slightly. If Cole isn’t the real traitor, then someone higher up orchestrated this. Someone with enough authority to manipulate investigations, declare agents dead, and bury evidence.

Someone like Langford.

The thought makes my stomach twist. I don’t want it to be true. I can’t let it be true. But the pieces are starting to fit together in ways I can’t ignore.

Hours pass as we continue reviewing the information. Rurik’s contacts dig deeper into Cole’s arrest, confirming that the charges are deliberately minor. Eduard cross-references the timeline with known trafficking operations, looking for connections we might have missed. Artur monitors communications from his Baltic network, searching for any mention of federal leaks or compromised agents.