Page 29 of Our Tricks

“Now you’re freaking me the fuck out,” I said and narrowed my eyes at him. “What’s the second thing I need to know?”

“Your man Brian. He’s an undercover FBI agent in your organization, and I’m his handler,” Cam answered, laying it all out there.

Frozen with shock, I just gaped at him. My brain couldn’t make sense of the words he’d just said. I’ve known Brian for years. Everything he knows about the criminal world I’d taught him, even going as far as to consider him a close friend. Holy shit, does that mean he didn’t really torture the people I handed off to him? Has he been selling me out to the FBI this whole time? Wait, how was I still walking around a free woman if that were true?

“There it is,” Wes murmured to himself.

My head snapped in his direction. “Excuse me? Why does it sound like you’re not the slightest bit surprised by this?”

“Because I’m not, shortcake. Don’t stab me just yet. Let me explain before you decide I deserve to be skinned alive,” Wes requested as he held his hand up in self-defense.

I glared at him, letting my gaze break from his as I searched them just as Cam had been doing to me a few moments ago. “Talk fast.”

“Dante is the one who told me,” Wes started. “The fucker pretended to be wasted at the party before we left. Started gushing about how he was so happy we were family now and crap like that. Then he just carried right along telling me how Cam had been so devoted to you, he put one of his best men right by your side to watch over you. Obviously, I knew it wasn’t me, Jeff is dead, and the only other person you rely on besides me is Brian.”

“Motherfucker,” Eagle blurted. “We stopped by the drug store on the way back to get my meds, and I saw Brian in a smoke shop. He seemed super uncomfortable and really didn’t want to be at the compound while the FBI was there. Bastard was afraid someone was going to recognize him. Come to think about it, he was always a passing ship in the night while we were in Vegas. How the hell did we not see it?”

Hearing that Eagle picked up on something being fishy made me even more confused than ever. Why the fuck wasn’t I in jail?

“Beautiful,” Cam coaxed, reaching out to place a hand on my leg. “Brian is one hundred percent loyal to you. The first year, he’d give his reports like he was supposed to, but soon after that, he was selective in what he gave. Brian was moving up the ladder right on your heels, and I knew he should know more than he was letting on. That man has protected you just as much as I have over the years. Dax, you managed to flip an FBI agent to the dark side, becoming a truly loyal soldier to you. It got to the point where I had to tell him who I was and what I was really trying to accomplish.”

I held out my hand to Cam. “Phone.”

Without hesitation, he handed it to me, and I already knew my fingerprint was stored so the phone unlocked for me easily. Pulling up his contacts, I looked for a ‘Brian’ but didn’t find one. I suppose that would be too easy for someone else to possibly discover who he was doing that.

“What’s the name his number is under?” I asked.

“Bishop Black,” Cam divulged. “Everyone believed he was my cousin who I was close to.”

Switching places, I found the name in the favorites section of his phone and hit the dial button. There was a pause and then the sound of ringing. It rang three times before Brian answered, sounding out of breath and a little flustered.

“What the hell, Cam? You go radio silent after what went down last night, and then you just decided to call me as a group of bikers show up from some place in Arizona,” Brian snapped. “This better be important… is Dax okay? She didn’t get shot again getting the hell out of there, did she? I keep telling her she really needs to be more careful.”

The tightness in my chest that I’d been feeling ever since Cam told me about Brian eased. My friend was still the same, nothing about him had changed just because I knew the truth. In an odd way, Brian was like a brother to me, and we looked after each other when we went on jobs. Then I moved up, and Jeff entered the picture being paired with Brian because I needed to manage more Tricks-related things.

“No, I’m not shot, perfectly fine sitting in an insanely overpriced hotel in the city,” I said, only to be greeted to dead air for a moment.

“Dax… I mean, boss,” Brian blundered, realizing this wasn’t a typical phone call.

“You know I’d never expect you to call me that,” I pointed out. “Cameron came clean, told me everything.” Pausing, I glanced at Cam with a raised brow. “At least I think that was everything.”

“Should I be expecting my executioners soon?” Brian asked, his voice resigned to the reality of the situation.

Taking a hand, I rubbed my temple. The headache that had been lingering in the background was now fighting to take over. “Is there a reason I should put you in the ground? Cam made quite the case that you were genuinely loyal to me of your own choice. Would you agree with him?”

“Dax, I’m all in,” Brian stated. “I joined the FBI because as a young, stupid twenty-something-year-old, I thought it was gonna be like it was in the TV shows. It’s not, though. The red tape they have to follow keeps us from being able to make a real difference. When they asked me to go undercover and get in good with the Hidden Empire, they never thought I’d end up where I am today. Cameron has been my shield from the FBI for a long time, but with his help, I’ve gone dark. The FBI has no idea where I am or if I’m still alive. That’s why I couldn’t be seen by them, or it would blow the whole thing.”

“Why? Why am I not in jail right now?” I questioned. “You have so much shit on me, there’s no way you couldn’t have taken me out and gotten yourself a promotion.”

“What good would it do the world to put you in jail? Dax, you gave me a family, purpose, and meaning more than the FBI ever did. While we might be criminals, you offer protection to a shit-ton of people and control the drug movement throughout the whole West Coast. It used to run rampant with laced shit that would get people killed. They still might be using drugs, but those drugs are pure and safe if used right. Not to mention just making it safe to be in the city. No one can move in on your turf without your say-so, and then they have to play by your rules.

“So knowing all that, seeing it for myself and knowing what you’ve done for me and so many others, why the fuck would I want to destroy that for someone worse to take over? That’s the thing they don’t get, we take you out, but that doesn’t mean crime is magically gone. Some asshole steps in and turns the city to shit in a month. They’d be begging to put you back out on the streets,” Brian explained. “Trust me or don’t, but I’ve always had your back, Dax. You’re like the sister I never wanted but grew to love and respect. Whatever you choose to do, I’ll accept.”

Tears burned in my eyes at his words. Hearing him say that if I chose to kill him to protect the Empire, he’d accept it told me everything. Brian understood the game and knew the stakes and what all of us put on the line living this life. It wasn’t an easy one, and most of the time you were left picking the less shitty option of a situation. Difference was, this time it wasn’t like that.

“I’ll tell you the same thing I told Cam, I own your life now. It’s up to you to decide how long you’re gonna live it,” I said and cleared my throat. “Don’t make me have to choose to end it for you, Brian. To me, you’re part of an exclusive group of people I consider a true friend, don’t make me regret it.”

“You got it, boss,” he teased. “Are you planning on coming back to LA anytime soon? The natives are getting restless with you being gone so much.”