Mine To Protect (Mine #6)(58)

“He tells me things…because I’m his lawyer. Because he knows that I can’t do anything with the crimes he reports. Confidentiality and all that. Lawyer and client privilege.”

“No.” Her chin notched up. “He tells you because you’re just as sick and twisted as he is and you don’t care what he’s done.”

Tom’s face hardened. “I’m giving you the opportunity for payback. You should be thanking me.”

Had he always been crazy?

“Don’t you think it’s fitting that you be the one to take him out? And only you can do it. You can get close enough. He’s on guard with everyone else. Go in there, kill him…and get your life back.”

“If I kill Luther, then I’ll be the one in prison! I’ll be rotting behind bars!”

Tom snorted. “For killing Luther Bates? Hardly. I’ll be your lawyer,” he promised. “I’ll get you off. All I have to do is tell the jury about your mother. About the poor teenage girl who was found clinging to her mother’s dead body because she couldn’t let her mom go. The girl who has a history of mental and physical abuse at her father’s hands. They’ll pull jury nullification. No one will convict you, no matter what evidence is there. You will walk, I guarantee it.”

***

Her mother. Dear God, her mother…Victor had suspected this truth, but hearing the story this way cut him up. He could barely breathe because he hurt so much…for her. All for her.

Zoe had been through too much in her life. All that pain and she still smiled. Still looked for the good in the world. In people.

In me.

He wanted to take her far away from any pain and betrayal. He wanted to make sure that she was happy for the rest of her life. That she was always smiling. Always happy. Always…

With me.

But she probably wanted to get as far from him, as fast as she could.

“We have the confession we needed.” He yanked off the head phones. He stood facing the van, his eyes on the other two agents. “Now we have to get her out of there.”

“No.” The voice was sharp and it came from directly behind him. “No, Special Agent Monroe, that is not how this operation will go down.”

Victor turned—very slowly—and came face-to-face with FBI Assistant Director Percy Chase. The guy wore a long trench coat and his shoulders hunched forward as he glared at Victor.

“There is a police officer still missing! Or have you forgotten that?” Percy blasted at him. “If we move now, we may never see that woman again.”

“I haven’t forgotten a damn thing, and if we move now,” Victor gritted right back, “we can force Tom to tell us where Michelle Lane is. We have the power and the f*cking confession, thanks to Zoe. Now we need to do our part and get Zoe out of the Vine before she gets hurt.”

When he’d left her in that elevator, he’d known that she would be able to get Tom’s confession. Zoe was smart and tough and strong. She humbled him with her goodness. She made him want to change the whole world for her. She made him—

I love her.

“Once we know where Michelle Lane is, then we move.” Percy was adamant. “Not a minute sooner. It’s not like Tom Winters is going to kill Zoe. I was listening, too.”

Of course, he f*cking was. That had been one of the reasons Victor hadn’t wanted the truth about Elizabeth to leak. He’d known Percy was out there on surveillance watch, too. There had been far too many ears listening.

“He needs Zoe,” Percy said. “He won’t kill her.”

“If she doesn’t do what he wants, then Tom will hurt her. He could be hurting her right now.” He couldn’t stand the thought. “Shit, the man took out a hit on her! Doesn’t that tell you he isn’t exactly sane? If he’s pushed, if he gets angry with her, he’ll spiral out of control. Zoe—”

“Can survive a little pain.” Percy waved his hand dismissively. “This case is huge. It will go down in the books—make my career and yours. You hear what I’m saying? When we do this…the right way…you can have any job at the Bureau that you want. We’re going to have Tom Winters for all the crimes he committed, and we’ll have a new murder to pin on Luther Bates. Bates will tell us everything we need to know about the crime syndicate in the East. We will destroy them all.”

There was silence from behind Victor. He could feel Russell and Lauren watching him.

“And all of that…” Percy murmured. “All of that can’t really be measured against a bit of pain that one woman might experience for a just a little while, now, can it?”

Victor studied the assistant director. Tall, thin, balding. An arrogant, cold bastard.

“Tell me what you want,” Percy continued, swallowing a bit nervously as the silence stretched and Victor kept glaring at him. “Name your title, tell me the job, just tell me what you want because you have more than earned everything—”

“I want Zoe.”

Percy’s face hardened. The streetlight overhead glared down on him. “She’ll be fine, once we’ve finished the case. When we know where Michelle Lane is being kept, when we have the police officer in custody, then you can take Zoe back into protective custody.” He rubbed his hand along the back of his neck. “Though I’m thinking that it will be time for us to turn her over to Witness Protection. She gives us what we want on Bates, and then we set her up in a nice house somewhere in the country.”