Page 107 of Code Name: Harbor

“This won’t take long.” Royce’s eyes go past us, down the dock, to the boat. “That’s a beautiful vessel. Grand Banks?”

“Yup,” I say.

“Replacing the one you lost.” It’s not a question and there’s something underneath it, a pick at a seam. She knows, and I’ve known for two weeks that she knows. The cover we gave in our statements held with the Coast Guard and the FBI because Josie’s testimony is the spine of the whole federal case. With her unwillingness to help if they looked at me too hard, Royce decided not to pull the thread.

“I’ll keep it simple,” Royce says. “Mikhail Sokolov’s attorney came to the US Attorney three days ago wanting to deal.”

The name feels like a fist to my chest. The man who came through my back wall and put a round in me and tried to kill the woman I love. The man whose people fired a rocket at my boat with two of my people aboard and the reason Connie now lives in a watery grave.

“What kind of deal?” Josie asks.

“The kind I think we need to take.” Royce’s voice is flat and professional. “Sokolov gives us Voronin. All of it—the trafficking pipeline, the routes, the financials, the chain of command, the names of every cop and customs officer on the payroll, and direct testimony tying Voronin personally to ordering kidnappings and killings going back six years. He’s willing to take the stand and with this testimony, we don’t just have Voronin in a cell, we have him convicted and buried under so many counts he dies in a federal facility. Without Sokolov, Voronin’s lawyers tie us up for a decade and maybe walk him on the big charges. Sokolov is the difference between an arrest and a conviction.”

“And what does Sokolov get?” Because to turn on a man as dangerous as Voronin, Mikhail will want to guarantee his own life.

Royce looks at me steadily. “Immunity to testify, which isn’t a big issue. But he wants the federal attempted murder charges for the attacks on you two dropped as part of the package.”

Josie inhales and anger surges within me. How dare he try to minimize the pain and terror he put her through.

“He tried to kill Josie,” I say, my voice very low. “He shot me in my own house. He ordered my boat blown out of the water and was responsible for Connie’s death. And he gets to walk for all of that?”

“He doesn’t walk clean,” Royce says. “He’ll do time on weapons and conspiracy counts that aren’t part of the immunity. But yes, Mr. Marlowe. On the attempted murder of the two of you specifically… those charges go away.”

“That’s a steep price for us to pay,” Josie says.

“But the payoff is we can put Anatoli Voronin in prison for the rest of his natural life and shut down a pipeline that’s been feeding women into the dark for a decade,” Royce counters evenly. “It’s an ugly trade. Most of the ones worth making are.”

“And why are you telling us this?” I ask.

“Because the US Attorney won’t move on a victim-impact matter like this without your consent on the record.”

I look at Josie, but her eyes are focused on the water, consideration obvious in her face. I’m torn, but my feelings don’t really matter.

This is about Josie.

She finally returns her regard to Royce. “Voronin’s the one who’s been running the women. Sokolov’s a knife but Voronin’s the hand. You take the knife’s testimony to bury the hand, and the pipeline closes, and the women stop coming through.” Her eyes drift to me, her hand tightening in mine. “It’s the trade I’d make every time, Finn. Even though I want Sokolov to rot, even though he put a hole in you… it’s a deal we need to make because it’s not about him and it’s not about us. It’s always been about the women.”

And that’s why I love her. Right there. That’s the whole of it.

“Yeah,” I say. I make myself say it. “Okay. We sign off.”

Royce nods once. “Good.” She looks down the dock toward the Modesto and then back to me. “And of course, that wraps everything up rather neatly. Voronin convicted. Sokolov off the board. The case closed.” A small pause. “And everybody walks out of it and goes on with their lives.”

Yeah… that is the ultimate reward, isn’t it?

Royce holds my eyes for one more beat, and everything she knows and everything she’s choosing not to know passes between us in total silence.

I can read her mind. I see what you are. I’m not going to look any harder. Keep it clean from here, and we never have this conversation, and you get the life you want.

“That sounds like a good outcome for everyone,” I say carefully.

“It does, doesn’t it.” Royce almost smiles. “The US Attorney’s office will have the consent documents drawn up by end of week. Someone will reach out to schedule the signing.” She turns to walk away, but then hesitates, looking back over her shoulder. “For what it’s worth—and it’s worth more than you think, coming from me—I couldn’t have done this without the two of you.” A longer pause, a nod of her head. “Thank you.”

And then she’s gone between the parked cars, and Josie and I stand there.

“Did that just happen?” Josie murmurs.

“That just happened.” I chuckle.