“Sorry.”
“Look, I know your mind is blown, but this shit is serious.” She stepped closer to me and flitted her gaze up to mine. “So, take it seriously. Choose your words carefully.”
Cori had flipped into agent mode, like Abe. She might look young and innocent, but I saw the fire in her eyes. Her professionalism helped me feel better about all this.
“Got it.”
“Now, Jason… it sounds like he’s a club guy. What else?”
“Anything I’m paying for. He likes to sail, watch baseball, and he’s a big movie buff.”
“Okay, that’s good to know. For us to appear into each other, it may require us to be close. Get my meaning?”
“Whoa… no! I don’t get your meaning.” I stepped to the side, studying her youthful face. No makeup, a small gap between her top front teeth… She was nothing like Miranda.
“Will, I thought rich boys like you knew your way around a woman?” She pushed her hip out and crossed her arms.
“That’s the available version. I have a girlfriend I plan to marry once this bullshit is over. I’m committed to her. Loyal. Faithful. I’d never cheat on—”
“Miranda. I saw her file.”
My shoulders tensed at hearing Miranda had a file. “I hate that she’s mixed up in this and she doesn’t even know. I hate lying to her.”
“You’re a good man. I’m pleasantly surprised. I thought I might be dealing with a billionaire douchebag. My boyfriend will be relieved to hear you’re a decent guy.”
“That’s not fair.”
“What?”
“That your boyfriend gets to know stuff and my girlfriend has to be kept in the dark.”
“You’re right. It’s not fair. But it is what it is. You want us to take down Jason, don’t you?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then you have to get your shit together. You need to keep your cool. I’ve worked this case for two years now—”
“Two years?” I was floored. Abe hadn’t told me how long they’d been onto Jason.
“Yeah, your friend is a sneaky bastard, but I don’t think it’s him so much as it is the people he’s working with.He’s not the brains. He’s a puppet.” Cori smirked. “Somebody is pulling his strings, and they’re lying to him.I’ve watched his accounts, and he doesn’t have that much money compared to what he’s stolen. Someone else is making out big, and Jason is the one who looks like the thief.”
A pang of sadness hit me. Jason had always been gullible, falling for the latest and greatest get-rich scheme. Seemed he’d landed a big one that would give him thirty years in a concrete cell. More if he was behind poisoning Simone, but Abe seemed to think it hadn’t been him. Which concerned me. How in the hell did we find ourselves in this shit with two different criminals?
I took a deep breath, trying to get my shit together. “Tell me a bit about yourself. If I’m supposed to be into you, I should know some things about you.”
She smiled and nodded.
We hiked back down, casually talking, and parted ways when my Uber arrived.
From what Cori had told me, Jason had ended his lease in El Paso and secured a place in Marina del Rey. His ETA was next Friday. Once he arrived, I was supposed to suggest going out for a celebratory drink at Club Rendezvous, where I’d meet Cori Jansen for the “first time.” She’d told me Cori was her alias and didn’t tell me her real name. I was okay with not knowing anything personal about her.
Whether her answers were real or not didn’t matter. After the FBI took down Jason, I hoped to never see any of them again.
On the drive home, I gave myself a mental pep talk. Even if all this crap was outside my comfort level, I had to hold it together. I couldn’t crumble under pressure. Fear would not control me. There were sacrifices to be made for SJI clients, my sister, my family, and for Miranda.
Taking down a criminal organization was a massive undertaking, and the FBI would not fail because of me.