She drew a breath and sighed. “It’s not great. I was going to try to get my dad to divulge the buyer or the meeting location for when Burns sells the dagger. It hasn’t happened yet, I know that much. He said tomorrow, or…what time is it? I guess, today. The trouble is, my dad’s smart, and he’s suspicious, as a con man should be. I haven’t figured out how to get him to spill.”
I stroked my fingertips up and down her bare spine. “Can you get him to take you along? If so, you don’t have to know ahead of time. We can wire you and then follow the men to the meet.”
It would be easy as fuck.
“And then what? What are you going to do with them?” she asked. “I mean, you can’t kill them.”
I laughed, and she shifted on my chest. “You’ve been watching too many movies. They’ll be arrested.”
“By whom? It can’t be me. Not only do I not have jurisdiction, but I stole the dagger. We’ll have to call in the Feds.”
“That’s what I was thinking, too. Burns is slippery when it comes to convictions. This would be an easy one. Caught with the stolen item, with the buyer.”
“And my dad?” she asked.
“Him, too. You okay with that?” She’d committed grand larceny because she cared enough for the guy. I had to wonder if she’d be okay about this.
“Putting him in jail? Yes. Hopefully for a long time,” she muttered.
I kissed the top of her head.
“We can even hand the buyer over to the Feds. They’ll be sending us gift cards to Applebee’s for all we did for them.”
She laughed.
“Sounds good. I’ll go to the meet, and your team will follow.”
“If you don’t want to go, we’ll think of another way.”
“I stole the dagger. I want to see this through.”
I couldn’t blame her.
“Especially since I’m going to jail, too. We should just make it easy for them.”
I shifted, so I was on my side looming over her. “You’re not going to jail.”
She brought her hand up and cupped my jaw. “I’m a law enforcement officer who broke the law. Burns has the proof.”
“We can make people disappear. Permanently. You think Kennedy can’t delete a little bit of digital evidence?”
“Hayes.”
She thought she was headed to jail. No fucking way.
“I know of a way to keep you out. To make you the good guy.”
She stared at me, clearly doubtful, but she whispered, “Okay. Tell me.”
MEGAN
I went to the address Burns had texted. Hayes hated that I was going to see Burns on my own. I’d reassured Hayes I hadn’t done the man any good dead, and Hayes hadn’t responded well to that. Still, it was Hayes’ plan, and I had to go in alone.
I climbed from my car thinking about the supposed job Burns had for me. I didn’t care about it. There was no way in hell I was doing it or anything else for the guy. I was here for one reason and one reason only.
To put my dad and Burns behind bars and get my life back.
It was a shitty warehouse in a shitty part of town. One of the goons who had been at my house manned the dented door. I gave him a chin lift as greeting, and he opened the door for me.
That was easy.
“Meg!” my dad called from across the space. From what I could guess, it had been a factory at some point decades ago. There was a rickety-looking conveyer belt high in the air along with other metal contraptions that I couldn’t guess what they did. There was an office off to one side, but it didn’t seem like anyone lived here. It was more of a stupid clubhouse or something.
I accepted my father’s hug with a mental grimace. Seeing him only made me hate him more. I could see now with such vivid clarity that he’d used me my entire life. He was so selfish. I felt sick. I’d loved him, even after he left me high and dry. I hadn’t forgiven him, but I’d still cared.
I had. I’d broken into the Straight’s house the other day.
No more.
I knew what real love was like with Hayes. It wasn’t tainted. There were no conditions tied to it. No deals or coercion. No lies.
“I’m here. I want to know about my cut.”
Dad laughed. The bruising around his eyes was fading. He looked happy, which made me want to throat punch him.
Stick to the plan!
“Greedy?”
I frowned. “I learned from the best.”
He preened at the praise, missing the sarcasm. “Sure did. We’re meeting the buyer today.”
“I’m going.”
“No.”
We turned at the voice. Burns approached.
“Your loyalty hasn’t been proven yet.”
I crossed my arms. “I stole the dagger.” I glanced around at the men who were part of his gang. There were about six of them of varying ages. “What did these men do? Huh? Nothing. I’m the one who brought you a five-million-dollar payoff.”