What Happened to the Bennetts(92)

“And I did.” I smiled, all proud of myself. Lucinda beamed, and our eyes locked, but I looked away, at Dom. “Not just another pretty face, eh?”

“Ha! Have you seen a mirror?” Dom laughed, and everyone joined him, including me, then I got serious.

“We need a plan, and I think I have one.”

“I have one, too.”

“It might be the same one.” I met his eye. We both knew what had to be done, but neither of us said anything. I didn’t know how to talk about it in front of Ethan.

Tig interjected, “Dom, whatever you need, you know I’m in.”

Skeet nodded. “Me, too. All for one.”

Richardson smiled grimly. “One for all.”

I felt touched. “So we have the Sexy Black Musketeers.”

They all laughed, and Dom nodded. “Jason, you need to brief me.”

“Will do, but we have to do this tonight. The shit is hitting the fan.”

“O-kay!” Dom broke into a grin. “I like the new Jason.”

“Me, too,” I said, smiling back.

Lucinda looked over, but she wasn’t smiling.

I didn’t ask her if she liked New Jason.

I was trying not to care.





Chapter Sixty-One



We sat around the kitchen table on stools, orange crates, and the dorm-size refrigerator, and I brought everybody up to speed. I started with Hart’s hit-and-run by Phil Nerone and my finding Contessa dead in her apartment, then in the composting plant when Milo killed Phil Nerone and Bryan Krieger, and finally my meeting with George, which caught Dom up short.

“You met with George Veria?” he asked, his lips parting in surprise.

“Yes, at his cabin.” I smiled. “What, did you think I beat myself up?”

Dom laughed.

Lucinda recoiled and Ethan winced, but I continued.

“Anyway, I’m off the hook with him now. I convinced him it was Milo who killed Junior, not me.”

Dom blinked. “And he let you walk?”

“Why not?” I said, smiling, and Dom smiled back, so I continued my update. I told them about how George got me thinking about Gitmo, then looking through my photos and finding them deleted except for the duplicate of my birthday photo.

Lucinda interjected, “Honey, I know that photo, I remember it.”

Dom looked over. “You remember a photo from 2003?”

Lucinda nodded, her expression bittersweet. “I remember he looked good, that’s all. I was sorry I didn’t get to spend his birthday with him.”

I let the awkward moment pass and resumed my update, telling them about Senator Ricks and how the photo busted him, proving he was lying when he claimed he wasn’t involved in the Doha interrogation and death. When I was finished, I met Dom’s eye. “So it all goes back to my time at Gitmo.”

Dom nodded, gravely. “Right.”

“They want that photo and they want me.”

Lucinda looked stricken, putting an arm around Ethan, who kept his head down. During my recap, I’d downplayed the violence of the past few days, but the boy wasn’t stupid.

“Buddy.” I reached over, touching his arm. “I know this is scary—”

Ethan looked up. “I can handle it, Dad.”

“Good.” I turned to Dom. “If Milo isn’t going to stop until he finds me, the plan is obvious. We have to let him.”

Dom nodded, tense. “Yes. We draw him out, set a trap. Obviously, not here. I know a place from my undercover days, down by the airport.”

Lucinda recoiled, aghast. “Wait, what? You’re going to use Jason as bait?”

“Not exactly,” I answered, though she was right.

“Are you crazy? It’s too dangerous. You’ll get yourself—” Lucinda stopped, glancing sideways at Ethan. “Jason, I don’t know why you have to be there. Why don’t you just let Milo think you’re going to be there, but stay here?”

“I want to be there. This is my fight, not theirs.” I gestured to Dom and the others.

“But they’re professionals!”

Tig chuckled. “I’m no professional.”

Skeet grinned. “That’s the truth, I’ve seen you shoot.”

Richardson laughed. “Me, I’m better than a professional.”

“There we go.” I smiled, grateful. “Thank you, gentlemen.” I remembered they were armed and turned to Dom. “I need a gun.”

“No. You’ll be safely out of the way.”

“But you need me, and I know how to shoot. I learned, growing up.”

“I don’t have an extra, anyway.”

Lucinda leaned to Dom, upset. “I don’t know why you can’t get somebody in the FBI to help you. They can come with a SWAT team or whatever.”

Ethan interjected, “Yeah, they call for backup, even with Pablo Escobar.”

Dom turned to Lucinda. “Don’t misunderstand. I am going to make a call.”

“To who?” I asked, confused. “I thought we were doing this on our own.”

“It may end up that way, but I have a better plan. We can’t wait for Milo to find us, and I can’t access files about confidential informants, so I don’t know how to reach him.”