Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 113056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Zack approached and shook my hand and then gave Angel’s shoulder a squeeze.
“This way,” he said, and ushered us into a small board room.
Randall was sitting there with three other guys. They were all in wrinkled suits and looking like they hadn’t slept in three days.
“Fuckin’ great job, you two,” Randall greeted with an enthusiasm I hadn’t seen from him before.
“Uh, what’s up?” The vibe in the room was weird.
“Well… Sylvia Frost is dead.”
“I heard.”
“We know. We heard you hearing that. Though we already knew. We, uh… listen, things have changed. I just got orders. Your help was invaluable. All this information is being kept securely, you have no worries about that, but the task force is being dismantled and the investigation is being put on hold.”
“On hold?” Angel squeaked.
“Indefinitely,” Randall said and his face was red.
There was major shit going on here. He had a shitty poker face and I knew he wasn’t happy about this.
“What the fuck?” I asked.
“My boss, Barry Dresden, he sent the orders down about ten minutes after Frost’s death hit the news.” Randall slammed his laptop shut.
My eyes moved to Zack. Zack was standing there, his arms folded across his chest, his face like stone.
“What the fuck?" I snapped.
“These things happen sometimes. Priorities change. These guys are all being reassigned. That’s all I know,” Randall waved his hands and shrugged.
“What the fuck?” Angel shrieked. I was in agreement with my wife. And I’d never seen her so visibly pissed.
“I’m sorry, Dario. Your immunity agreement stands. I suggest you hang onto it in case this resumes.”
“Hang on a second. What the fuck happens now?” Angel demanded.
“Nothing. Nothing happens now,” Randall said, and aggressively threw his empty take-out coffee cup in a trash can. “All our work, how far we’ve come, it’s all…” He threw his hands up in the air.
“So, what happens to us?” I asked, glaring at the guy.
“You? You’re on your own. Sorry to say that. I suggest you hang onto your NDA and immunity deal. In case things change. I don’t really know. If things resume, someone will likely be in touch.”
“If things resume?” Angel crossed her arms. “Unfuckingbelieveable.”
My eyes moved to her. My jaw ticked. I was gonna explode.
“Do you people have any concept of what you’ve put us through?” Angel demanded. “You’re hanging us out to dry, basically.”
“A minute?” Zack requested.
He walked out of the room we were in and I saw that people were packing up their desks. Some of them had faces like, I’d imagine, mine looked like.
But they didn’t have the personal stake in all this that I had.
Zack pulled us into the coffee room and shut the door. “Dresden’s main objective was to fuck over Sylvia Frost. Kruna killed her. Dresden ain’t so focused. This investigation was bleeding money. He’s an idiot who is being watched for his department’s spending.”
“We gave you a shit load of solid evidence…” I pointed out unnecessarily.
Zack nodded. “This shit happens sometimes.”
“So I’m supposed to go back to being a silent partner? They want to recruit Tommy and me even deeper with another fuckin’ voting membership.”
“I know. I’ve heard the audio.” Zack pinched the bridge of his nose.
“These fuckers can’t get away with this. I can’t be tied up in this shit much longer,” I clipped. “My actions on this trip, for this fuckin’ task force, it got us deeper. I did what I did, getting us deeper, for this fuckin’ cause. I’m here with my wife, sneaking around. Fucked if they’re looking at her tracker data or some shit. This shit, Zack?”
“What can I do to help?” Zack asked.
“You serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
He was. He was almost as pissed as I was. We had some nonverbal communication and I knew he would help. I just needed a plan. I was already beginning to work it out.
“Let’s go, my baby. We’re getting a hotel room here for the night. Zack, I’ll text you where to meet me.”
Zack gave a swift nod and he and Hal walked out.
I text messaged my brother.
Can you come to Chonburi?
He answered.
You ok?
Need you. All = fucked. FUBAR!! I’ll explain when you get here. Bring Nino and Tino. Get ready to call in favors.
Got it. I’ll get there asap. Call you from the flight.
Thx.
As we walked out, I saw Randall, sitting on the edge of a desk, on the phone, in a pose of defeat. His hand was on the back of his neck and he looked at me with what looked like apology. The guy had no power to do anything about this cluster fuck.
But, I did.
Zack was standing there, outside the car, eyes on me.
“I have resources,” he said. “They’re at your disposal.”
“Good,” I said, slapping his back.
“I’m making another call and suspect you’ll have even more resources,” Zack added. I nodded, not sure what he meant. He drove us back to near where our borrowed car was.