“We’re here to talk about Rafael Buscella.” I cross my arms in front of my chest and take control. “What do you know about him?”
Mac sits again and pulls his phone from his pocket. “I received a text from his second, this morning. The guy is David Plank. He invited me to a game next week with a twenty thousand dollar buy in. I’ve got an address, and a time.”
He tosses the phone across the table, and Milo picks it up to read the chain of texts. Mac sniffs and scratches his nose. “I don’t do shit like this. I’m clean, but people still invite me. I always turn these offers down, and I never rat ‘em out. He won’t think it’s me who’s turned.”
“Why’d you come here today, then?”
Milo turns the screen so I can read the texts.
“Rafael has been stealing my legitimate business clients. He’s become a thorn in my side, and I want him out.”
“We want you there,” Milo says. “Wired up, so you can tell us when he arrives.”
Mac chuckles. “You fronting the buy-in?”
I glance at Milo, wondering if we even have the approval for that. “I’ll talk to my sergeant.”
“I want the buy-in covered, and compensation as a confidential informant, otherwise you can do it yourself.”
“I always wondered how you afforded that bar, Mac. Middle of Sacramento. High rent there,” I say.
“With hard earned money,” Mac snaps, and stands. He turns to Milo. “Deal’s off until you confirm.” He grabs his phone from Milo and heads for the door.
He pauses and turns to me. “Andi and Haley will be at the bar tonight. Don’t fuck it up this time, yeah?” Then he is out the door.
It’s a peace offering that confuses me. He never liked that I was with Andi, and should hate me even more now that he knows I lied to her.
I turn to Milo. “What are the chances we get the brass to give us twenty-grand in bills?”
He gives me a pathetic snort. “Slim to none. Looks like we’ll be working that bust without his help.”
“Right. Well, let’s get to training for it.”
“Wanna fill me in on who Andi and Haley are?”
“Yeah, tonight,” I say. “At Mac’s. You’ll probably see a drink or two thrown in my face, too.”
Milo snickers and opens the door to leave the interrogation room. “Levins and I are always up for that.”
I groan and follow him down the hall. As much as I’m dreading this, I know that a drunk Andi will be easier to crack than a sober one.