placed in solitary for now.”
Comrade Two was lifted to his feet and ushered from the room.
Ian waited until everyone was gone and only he and Cody remained. He gestured to the computer. “Whatever we find will be important.”
“I thought as much. Just wanted to let you know before I turned it over to Jones.”
Special Agent Marcus Jones was with the FBI. At the beginning of the year, he had contracted Rocky Mountain Justice to find Nikolai Mateev. It had proved to be an uncomfortable relationship for Jones and Ian—neither man wholly a subordinate, nor entirely in charge.
Yet this was RMJ’s raid. The computer was their find. But once Jones took over, Ian would never see the computer again.
And he damn well wasn’t going to let that happen.
“For now, let’s keep this discovery between the team. We don’t know how significant it may turn out to be,” Ian answered.
Cody narrowed his gaze. “This is evidence,” he said, “and belongs with the FBI.”
“That may be, but right now we have custody.”
“I’m not going to get into a pissing match over evidence that we’re lawfully bound to surrender.”
Then again, maybe Cody had spent too long working in government bureaucracy. “Jones hired us to do the things that he can’t, to circumvent the law. You know what will happen once he gets this computer. It’ll be tagged as evidence then sent to the tech lab for analysis. It will be weeks, or maybe months, before anyone will act on what’s found.”
“And that’s the law,” said Cody.
Ian stared him down, refusing to yield. “If we have the laptop, we can get information now.”
“By breaking the law?” said Cody. “We agreed to this mission. There are still protocols to follow.”
“We aren’t going to catch Nikolai Mateev by following all the rules,” said Ian, his tone growing steely.
While with the DEA, Cody had opened a secret investigation against the Mateev crime family. An informant had been killed and it cost Cody his job—and his reputation at the agency. The road to getting his life back had been dangerous, including discovery of betrayal by people Cody had had true faith in...until Mateev and his money had undermined everything. Cody had nearly lost his life, and the woman and child he loved, fighting the Russian crime lord’s influence.
“Point taken,” he said now.
A rancid notion came to Ian. If he was really serious about stopping Nikolai Mateev, he’d have to break more than a few laws. He’d have to abandon every principle he’d ever possessed, break every oath he’d taken.
In fact, the only way to really stop Nikolai would be to put him in the grave.
Petra Sloane sat in the cramped radio studio, her elbows resting on the table. A microphone on a metal arm was suspended before her eyes. A blue-and-orange banner hung on the wall, reading All Sports, All the Time. The tagline of Denver’s sports station KDEN AM 1460.
An illuminated red off-air light glowed in the corner. The interviewer, Steve Chan, sat opposite Petra. He had a similar microphone and a reputation for being the toughest sportscaster on the Front Range. As a commercial for custom floor mats ended, Steve flicked up his fingers—one, two, three. The light in the corner changed from red to green and the words On Air appeared.
“Welcome back to our final segment of the morning,” Steve said. “We have with us, in studio, Petra Sloane, a renowned sports agent who represents many famous names in the Denver scene, most notably Joe Owens, quarterback for the Colorado Mustangs. Petra, thanks for agreeing to sit in the Hot Seat today.”
Petra could think of a thousand places she’d rather be than on the popular radio show, forced to talk about a client. The stress registered as a pain between her brows. Forcing herself to ignore the oncoming headache, she leaned in to the mic. “It’s a real pleasure to be here, Steve,” she lied.
Even though she was on the radio, Petra had taken extra care with her appearance that morning. She wore a sheath dress of ballet-slipper pink, with a matching lip gloss. The light color set off her tanned skin, just as the short sleeves accentuated her toned and muscled arms. Her dark wavy hair was up in a bun at the nape of her neck.
“Let’s not waste any time,” Steve began. “Your client has had a rough month. Two weeks ago, he was kicked out of a downtown club for disturbing the peace. Then last week there was a viral video of Joe cursing at a waitress who didn’t get his order right. And just yesterday he was ejected from a press conference after throwing a punch at my fellow KDEN reporter for asking a question about the preseason debacle against Washington. The city of Denver loves Joe, but I have to ask—what’s his deal?”
Petra exhaled. “There is no deal. I think we forget that sports stars, or any celebrities, are humans first. They have good days and bad, just like the rest of us. I’m sure you’ve had difficult days, and said or done things you later regretted. Why isn’t Joe Owens allowed the same latitude?”
“I’ve never screamed at a waitress for not remembering to bring ketchup with my meal,” said Steve.
Petra’s phone vibrated with an incoming text. It was her boss, Mike Dawson, with a terse two-word message: Take control.
“I’m glad to hear that you’ve never done anything so stupid,” Petra said. “But I think we forget that celebrities are people whose lives are lived under a microscope. Joe’s behavior has been bad, rotten really, but we all deserve a second chance.”
“By now, Joe Owens is on to his third, fourth and fifth chances. When do we stop forgiving or demand better?”
Steve was right, and Petra refused to argue, despite what her boss wanted. The seconds ticked by. “Now,” she said, finally. “We should require better now.”
Steve lifted his eyebrows and cleared his throat. “I’m surprised to hear you be so honest.”
Petra shrugged, then remembered that she was on the radio. “Everyone should be more forthright.”
“Why do you do it, then?” Steve asked. “Why did you become a sports agent?”
Petra smiled and shook her head. “I didn’t come here to talk about myself.”
“I’m just asking because you’re the first agent we’ve had on the show. My listeners will be interested in hearing about you and your job.”
Fair enough. Besides, if she talked about herself, then she didn’t have to defend the indefensible any longer. “I played basketball in college and when I graduated, I wanted to remain involved with sports. Going to law school and becoming an agent seemed like the perfect way to achieve that. And it is, really. I help bring the players to the fans, and also help players manage their own careers, finances...you know, the works.”
“Seems like the safe answer,” said Steve.
