Beautiful Redemption (19 page)

Val closed the door and approached my desk. “Grove is downstairs. Will they arrest him today?”

“It’s likely,” Thomas said, still fuming.

“I thought you took care of this,” I said, closing the file and pushing it forward.

“Took care of it?” Thomas said, his eyebrows shooting toward his hairline.

I leaned forward, keeping my voice low. “I told you Grove was feeding you bad intel. You sat on it too long.”

“I was compiling evidence against him. That was part of the reason I brought you here. Val was in on it, too.”

I looked to my friend, who stared at the file as if it were on fire.

She was biting her lip. “I didn’t have to speak Japanese to know he was full of shit,” she said. “Wait—are you the language specialist he brought in on this?”

I nodded.

Thomas pointed at her. “That’s confidential, Taber.”

Val nodded, but she seemed uncomfortable that she hadn’t sniffed that one out.

Sawyer blew in, straightening his tie just as the door closed behind him. “I came as soon as I heard. What can I do?” he asked.

Val shrugged. “What you do best.”

Sawyer seemed disappointed. “Seriously? Again? He is my least favorite target. You know if we took a black light Grove’s bedroom room, every inch would be glowing.”

Val covered her mouth, disgusted.

I stood, pressing my fists down on my desk. “Would someone mind explaining what the hell everyone is talking about?”

“We have to be extremely careful with how we proceed,” Thomas said. “Travis could be in real trouble if this isn’t seamless.”

Val sat in the club chair, defeated. “When Maddox transferred to HQ in Washington before he was promoted to ASAC, he caught a lead on one of Benny’s goons from an agent working in HQ’s Asian Criminal Enterprise Unit.”

I looked to Thomas, dubious. “You caught a lead on one of your Italian mob bosses in Vegas from the Asian Crime Unit in Washington?”

Thomas shrugged. “I’d call it luck, but I’ve worked on this case day and night since it landed on my desk. There isn’t a fingerprint I haven’t checked or a backlog I haven’t accessed.”

Val sighed, impatient. “You can call it bad luck. The goon was a kid. His name was David Kenji. Travis beat him unconscious one night in Vegas to protect Abby.”

“That’s not in Travis’s file,” I said, looking to Thomas.

He looked away, allowing Val to continue.

Val nodded. “That was intentionally kept out, so it wouldn’t throw up any red flags for Grove. He can’t know anything about Travis. If he passes on the plan to any Yakuza, Travis is no longer an asset to the Bureau.”

“Why would Grove pass on info about Travis’s recruitment to any Yakuza?” I asked.

Val sat forward. “David is the son of Yoshio Tarou’s sister.”

“Tarou, as in the second-in-command of Goto-gumi in Japan?” I said, in disbelief.

Goto-gumi was one of the oldest syndicates of the original Yakuza Japanese gang. Tarou was a prominent boss, leading Goto-gumi since the 1970s. Tarou didn’t just intimidate his enemies. He was creative with his executions, leaving their mutilated bodies for all to see.

Val nodded. “Tarou’s sister lived with him until she died when David was fourteen.”

I nodded. “Okay, so you’re telling me Travis is also a target of Yakuza?”

Thomas shook his head.

I frowned. “I’m not hearing why there’s a goddamn Inspector General’s report on my desk.”

“Tarou is bad news, Liis,” Thomas said. “Grove has been passing him information via the Yakuza he’s interviewed here, and more recently, he’s been speaking to Tarou directly. That’s why we’ve had no traction on their criminal activity despite all the interviews. They’ve been one step ahead.”

“So, we let the IG arrest Grove. Who cares?” I asked.

Thomas’s face fell. “It gets worse. David died a couple of months ago. He was beaten unconscious during a fight, and no one has seen him since.”

“Does Tarou think it was Travis?” I asked.

“Keep in mind,” Sawyer chimed in, “David’s run-in with Travis was over a year ago, and to their knowledge, Travis hasn’t been to Vegas since.”

“The fights were run by the mob,” Val said. “Benny pitted David against someone out for blood. Uncle Tarou blamed Benny and sent several of his guys over to the States to get an explanation from Benny. The fighter who killed David was found all over the desert—well, not all of him. We have reason to believe the men Tarou sent over are part of this Yakuza nest we’ve been interviewing.”

I frowned, still confused. “Why was the nephew of Tarou doing low-level goon work for Benny?”

“The mother,” Val said simply as if I should have known. “When his mother died, David blamed Tarou. There was a fight. David left and came to the States. He gravitated toward what he knew and ended up with Benny.”

“This is a train wreck,” I said.

Val looked up to Thomas and then back at me. “We were waiting to pull the trigger on Grove because we knew he was playing both sides, but now that we’ve cracked the connection with Benny, we don’t know what intel from our case he’s turned over to them.”

“Shit,” I said. “How much does he know?”

Thomas took a step toward me. “Like I said, I’ve been suspicious of him for a while. Sawyer has been keeping track of his activities.”

“What kind of activities?” I asked.

Sawyer crossed his arms. “Daily activities—what he eats, where he sleeps. I know what gives him indigestion, what soap he uses, and what porn sites he jacks off to.”

“Thanks for that,” I said.

Sawyer chuckled, “Surveillance, boss. I’m damn good at surveillance.”

“Like the master,” Val said.

Sawyer smiled at her. “Thanks.”

Val rolled her eyes. “Fuck off.”

Sawyer continued, “Maddox kept Grove in the dark about the Vegas case for the most part, but when the cases began to intertwine, Grove became interested…and so did Tarou. Benny is smoothing things over with Tarou, and with these guys, money can turn enemies into friends. The fights are big money. Benny wants a champion, and Travis is a sure thing.”

Val sat back in the chair. “We can control what Grove learns at the Bureau, but if Benny or Tarou mention Travis Maddox to Grove, it’s all over. He’ll make the connection.”

I sighed. “Travis’s deal, even Abby’s access…”

Thomas nodded. “The case. All of it. We’ll have to turn in what we’ve got and wrap it up without Travis or Abby.”

“And Travis will no longer be an asset to the Bureau. He’ll go to prison.”

The weight of my words seemed to bear down on Thomas, and he used the bookshelf for support.

I looked at the file lying askew halfway between Val and me. “The Inspector General just blew us out of the water.”

Sawyer shook his head. “Grove doesn’t know yet. We need to get on the phone, delay his arrest, and drag this out just a little longer.”

“You should have told us your contact was Liis,” Val scolded. “We could have avoided this.”

Thomas glared at her, but she didn’t yield.

“How?” he asked. “Telling you that Liis was keeping tabs on Grove was going to keep the IG’s office from writing that report? Are you fucking joking?”

“Knowing we could use Liis to check Grove’s transcriptions would have been helpful,” Sawyer said.

“I
was
having Liis check them, Sawyer,” Thomas said, annoyed. “You think she’s been listening to Taylor Swift on her headphones in here?”

I shook my head. “Why the secrecy?”

Thomas held out his hands and let them fall to his sides. “It’s Spy one-oh-one, kids. The fewer people you tell, the less risk you take. I didn’t want Grove to know I had another Japanese translator in the unit. He needed to keep tabs on all the interviews for Tarou, and another Japanese-speaking agent could have gotten in the way. She might have ended up a target just to keep Grove in charge of the Yakuza interrogations.”

“Oh,” Val said. “You needed to protect her.”

Sawyer rolled his eyes. “That’s absurd. He didn’t even know her to want to protect her.” It took him a moment, but when Sawyer recognized the shame in my eyes, his mouth fell open. His index finger waggled between Thomas and me. “You two were…”

I shook my head. “It was before. He didn’t know I was here to work at the Bureau.”

“Discussing line of work comes right after name-swapping.” Sawyer cackled. “You one-nighted the new hire, Maddox? No wonder you jumped on her ass at her first meeting. You don’t like surprises. This is all beginning to make sense.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Thomas sneered.

Sawyer stopped laughing. “Is that why you gave her the promotion?”

The small smile on Val’s lips vanished. “Oh, shit.”

Thomas lunged for Sawyer, and Val and I stood between them, bouncing like pinballs as we pushed them apart.

“All right! I’m sorry!” Sawyer said.

“A little fucking decorum, please!” I yelled. “We’re grown adults! At work!”

Thomas stepped back, and Sawyer smoothed his tie and then sat down.

“Grow up!” I snarled at Thomas.

Thomas touched his fingers to his mouth while he calmed down. “My apologies,” he said through his teeth. “I’ll call Polanski. We need to get that report buried and intercept the warrant for Grove’s arrest—at least for now.”

Val straightened her clothes. “You call the S.A.C. I’ll call the IG’s office.”

“I’ll tail Grove. See if he suspects anything,” Sawyer said.

Thomas’s expression turned severe. “We have to keep a tight lid on this.”

“Understood,” Sawyer and Val said.

They left Thomas and me alone in my office, and we stared at one another.

“You left out your key agents to protect me?” I asked.

“Marks knew.”

I tilted my head. “Marks isn’t even on this case.”

Thomas shrugged. “I can trust him.”

“You can trust Val, too.”

“Val talks too much.”

“We can still trust her.”

Thomas gritted his teeth. “I shouldn’t have to explain myself. It’s dangerous, Liis. These people we’re dealing with, if they get a hold of your name—”

“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” I snapped.

Thomas blinked, surprised at my reaction.

“I can shoot a target at eighty-five yards with a twenty-two pistol, I can take down an assailant twice my size, and I deal with your arrogant ass at least twice a day. I can handle Benny, the Yakuza, and Grove. I’m not Camille. I am an agent of the FBI, same as you, and you will respect me as such. Do you understand me?”

Thomas swallowed, carefully thinking about his next answer. “I don’t think you’re weak, Liis.”

“Then,
why
?”

“Something happened to me when I met you.”

“We had great sex. You’re attracted to me. That doesn’t mean you shut out your best agents. That’s another reason it’s a bad idea for us to explore whatever this is,” I said, gesturing in the air between us.

“No, it’s more than that. From the very beginning…I knew.”

“You knew what?” I snapped.

“That I would have to be careful. I lost someone I loved before, and it changed me. I gave up someone I loved before, and it crushed me. I know that when you leave, Liis, however it goes down…it will end me.”

I closed my open mouth and stuttered out the next words, “What makes you think I’m going anywhere?”

“Isn’t that what you do? Run? Isn’t that your whole goal in life? To move on?”

“That’s not fair.”

“I’m not just talking about promotions, Liis. We are poking not one but two deadly mafia rings. They don’t know we’re onto Grove. If Grove finds out that you speak the language and can out him, they will see you as a problem. You know how these people are. They’re really good at erasing problems.”

“But Grove doesn’t know, and Val or Sawyer wouldn’t have told him.”

“I wasn’t going to chance it,” he said, sitting in the chair Val had previously occupied.

“So, now, we have two problems. He’s going to notice when your brother starts working for the FBI. If you want this to work with Travis, we have to get rid of Grove.”

“And we can’t get rid of Grove without Tarou knowing we’re onto him and Benny. The case will implode.”

I stood there, at a complete loss. “What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to stall. The timing has to be perfect.”

“So, we don’t just have to pull off one miracle but two.”

“You have to be careful, Liis.”

“Don’t start. We have to focus.”

“Goddamn it! I’m more focused than I’ve been in a long time. When I walked into that squad room and saw you sitting there…I admit it, okay? Knowing I brought you in to expose Grove scared the shit out of me, and it still does. It has nothing to do with you needing protection or you being a female agent and everything to do with the fact that, at any moment, you could have a target on your back, and it’d be my fucking fault!” he yelled the last part, the veins in his neck bulging.

“It’s the job, Thomas. It’s what we do.”

Thomas picked up the file and tossed it across the room. Papers exploded in every direction before floating down to the floor. “You’re not listening to what I’m saying! This is serious!” He leaned down, his palms flat on my desk. “These people will kill you, Liis. They won’t think twice about it.”

I forced my shoulders to relax. “We’re leaving for Eakins on Saturday and attending a ceremony in the Virgin Islands on Sunday, and we have to persuade your brother to lie to his wife for the rest of his life before we leave Monday morning because our boss wants an answer. Let’s concentrate on that first.”

Thomas’s face fell, defeated. “Just…stay away from Agent Grove. You’re not the best liar.”

“Yet you trust me to convince your family that we’re a couple all weekend.”

“I know what it feels like to have you wrapped up in my arms,” he said. “I trust that.”

He closed the door behind him, and after several moments, I finally let out the breath I hadn’t known I was holding.