Jason
When the meeting was over, I spent the rest of the afternoon in something like a daze.
I couldn’t believe I’d done it.
Years spent avoiding the law, and I’d brought it right into my living room.
Agent Martinez had laid it all out for me. Her presentation—more like a sales pitch—was so clear and effortless that I had the impression she’d spent months working on it, hoping that she’d one day get the call from me that I’d placed earlier in the day.
But it wasn’t over. She’d only given me the details. And they weren’t easy ones to swallow.
I’d have immunity—after serving a short sentence, of course. In exchange, I’d give her Scott and Anton, the heads of the organization for whom the FBI had been gunning for years.
Could I really do it, though? Could I really sell out my own brother? Anton was one matter—I didn’t have any problem seeing him put behind bars. But Scott…he’d been working with me these last few weeks, promising me he was doing everything I’d asked.
So, I decided to give him a call.
His face appeared on the screen in my office, his blue eyes narrowed and serious.
“Jason,” he said. “What’s going on?”
“That’s actually the question I’ve got for you,” I said, sitting back in my chair. “What’s the story with your assignment?”
He glanced away, appearing cagey.
“It’s all going well,” he said, bringing his eyes back to mine. “Still on the timeframe we discussed.”
“That’s good to hear. But I want more.”
“You want more?”
“I want details. I want to hear from the people under you that we’re making progress.”
“I don’t know if that’s possible.”
I was confused. “And why not?”
“Because this is all very delicate, Jason. We’re separating business arrangements that’ve been in place since we were kids. And that’s to say nothing of keeping it all from Anton.”
“I don’t understand why that means I can’t speak to anyone.”
He took a deep breath, as if frustrated with my request. “Listen, Jason—you wanted me to do this, so I’m doing it. If you don’t like the way I’m handling things…”
I knew what the next words out of his mouth were going to be.
“No. That’s not even an option.”
He shook his head. “Are you serious? It’s the only option, the best option. You put me in charge, and I can have this all taken care of in a week.”
“And remove my ability to have oversight in the process.”
“You don’t need to have oversight. Just let me handle it—make me CEO, and you don’t have to worry about any of this anymore.”
I wasn’t convinced. And I didn’t care for the way Scott seemed so intent on stripping me of my power, keeping me out of the loop. Something about it sat poorly with me.
“I’m not stepping down. Continue shutting the division. And I want progress reports—I want to see what you’re doing, when you’re doing it.”
Another frustrated sigh. “Fine. I’ll keep you posted.”