Page 24 of Our Tricks

“He most certainly did,” I assured. “It was a spontaneous event. I’m sorry you didn’t get an invite, but we’re hoping to have a party to celebrate once things calm down in our work lives.”

This had Simon scowling at me as he fumed internally, the veins bulging out of his neck, giving him away. “Are you telling me you got married to a known crime lord? Have you lost your goddamn mind, Black?”

“Wait, you’ve heard of me?” I gasped, placing a hand on my heart. “I’m not sure whether to be thrilled or embarrassed about that. Babe, I didn’t know you talked about me at work.”

Eagle snorted behind me, trying not to laugh. This got him his own dirty look from Simon that did little to make any impression on the president. “You’re the leader of the Phantom Saints, aren’t you? Does that mean your whole band of criminals is traipsing around here? Maybe I ought to have them all hauled in and questioned for the death of Diego De León.”

“Why would we be called in?” I asked, just to see if the idiot would tell me.

The man removed his hands from his pockets and pointed a finger at me, almost tapping my nose with how close it came. “The two of you hated each other. It’s no secret you wanted him dead as much as he wanted you gone. Your crew rolls into New York, and the next thing you know, Diego’s found dead.”

“I see. That’s really incredibly coincidental now, isn’t it?” I agreed, giving him a contemplative look. “What if that’s what the real killer wants you to think… blame the whole thing on me while they run off scot-free to the Maldives, where you can’t get to them. At least that’s what I’d do if I were in their shoes… certainly wouldn’t be sticking around helping the newly discovered heir to the De León estate. That would just be asinine.”

Simon growled as he stepped closer, but Cam’s hand shot out, keeping him at bay while Eagle stepped up on my other side. “Don’t even think about it,” Cam warned.

“You dare to lay a hand on me, Black? I’m your superior, and I can have you kicked off this task force and sent to Alaska, where you’ll be chained to a desk for the rest of your days in the FBI,” Simon threatened, poking Cam in the chest repeatedly.

White-hot rage filled me, and I acted before my brain could tell me this was a fucking terrible idea. Grabbing the man’s pointer finger, I twisted it, forcing him to follow my movements or risk it being broken. Simon dropped to his knees, and I loomed over him as the finger I was holding needed an ounce more pressure, and it would snap.

“Don’t you ever touch my husband like that again,” I snarled. “I don’t care who the fuck you are or what rank you hold. You know who I am and the power I hold, and if I want you stripped of your title and sent to be a janitor for the training school, I can make that happen. So I suggest you take a deep breath, chill the fuck out, and let us do what needs to be done.”

Simon didn’t seem to be a fan of my suggestion at all as he started to grab for his gun, but Eagle pulled his first. “Don’t. Even. Think… about it.”

“You know you just pulled a gun on a federal officer? I could put you in jail,” Simon stated as he froze.

Releasing his finger, I squatted so we were closer to eye level. “Yeah, something tells me that’s not gonna happen. I can’t help but notice you’re here all the way from D.C., yet you’re not flashing your badge around or demanding answers. From what I could hear, you’re upset that Cam is dropping this project he started where I’d help and hand over all my friends who lurk in the shadows. If he jumps ship and joins the CIA, that means they get me too. Are you really here on official business or a self-serving mission?”

“I don’t owe you any explanation, bitch,” Simon spat.

“Shit,” Eagle muttered.

“Fuck, Dax,” Cam warned. “You can’t.”

Simon, clueless as to what my men were talking about, took his eyes off me for a moment, and I popped him right in the jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground. “Don’t ever call me a bitch,” I snarled. “I’ve been positively pleasant with you, and there you go, having to make me get violent.”

Slowly, I rose to my feet and watched as Simon struggled to sit up, clutching his cheek, eyes flashing with rage. “That’s it. I’m taking you in for assaulting a federal officer. Black, cuff her.”

“No,” Cam stated.

Finally, the man got to his feet, and he stomped up to me but stopped short when he almost ran into Cam’s gun. Now all of us were in danger of being tossed in jail for threatening this asshole. Yet something had me wondering why he was here in the first place. Turning to Cam, I asked him just that.

“Is he the one who called you, or did someone else give you the heads-up he was here?” I inquired. “Seems odd that an FBI agent would waltz into a building that’s run by a massive cartel. The fact that it’s under new management didn’t even get announced until this morning. Do we know if they officially ID’d the body they’re claiming to be Diego?”

Cam shook his head. “I don’t know about Diego, haven’t checked in with the New York office yet today. He’s the one who called me and demanded I meet him in the lobby to discuss my request to leave the Bureau so I could accept an offer the CIA extended to me.”

“Damn, babe, that’s awesome,” I offered in congratulations. “When exactly did that all transpire?”

“This morning while you were taking your nap with Void,” Cam explained. “Nothing was a sure thing since I needed the FBI to agree. Seems they went right to the top of the ladder with the request, even though people switch more often than you think. Some people aren’t meant to be out in the field.”

“Which isn’t you, Black. How can you give up being out in the field tracking down bad guys to sit behind a computer and compile data?” Simon demanded. “I ensured you had everything you needed, the reason you have the team and could bring your wife in on all this is because of me. What thanks do I get for that? You, pointing a gun at me as you stand by and let her attack me?”

“Shouldn’t have called her a bitch. It’s the one thing that will piss her off more than anything,” Cam answered. “As for the whole task force thing, I need to have power outside the United States for us to pursue the criminals that Dax has to give us. The FBI can’t offer me that no matter how much you’d like to. It’s the fundamental difference between the two agencies.”

Cam lowered his gun, but he didn’t put it away. Eagle followed his lead a heartbeat later, keeping a wary eye on Simon. “He still didn’t answer her real question, though. Are you here in an official capacity, or are you here because a certain friend of ours is pissed that we took Diego out?”

Huh, I hadn’t even thought of that. It had been fucking impossible for me to get someone on the inside of the FBI, but I suppose if you just bought off one of the top people, it would be easy to get whatever information you needed.

“That leads to the question of what does Marco have on you?” I asked, pondering allowed. “Marco won’t make a move until he believes he has a chokehold on whoever he’s blackmailing. Drugs would be too simple, alcohol too predictable… I’m thinking hookers.”