The Suspect

chapter 23

"What do you mean the plan's fucked?"

Oh my god.

"What I mean is if I go out there and bust them, of course, Agent Miller will know I'm here, which no one was supposed to know in the first place because of you," I hold up one finger, counting my reasons, "Number two. We haven't even called for backup yet. If you wanna go out there and get your ass killed, be my fucking guest."

I don't even know if SSA Miller is dirty for sure. I mean if he was, why would he not be doing something about this? Whatever he is, he can't know I was here. He'll see me with the suspect of the case he assigned to me and I'll lose it, which can't happen.

"Okay, hold on I gotta make a call," I pull out my phone from underneath my dress and dial Kie.

Thankfully, she picks up on the second ring, "Hey, what's up? How's the ball thing going?"

Oh, you wouldn't even know.

"It's okay. There's more to it than we thought."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't have time to explain, but I need you to do me a quick favor."

"Hit me."

"Okay, I need you to send an anonymous tip to the main server and let them know there's a case of trafficking going on at the Phoenix Jewelry Auction right now," I reveal, and I'm pretty sure I hear her shriek.

"What the fuck? Oh god. Okay, wait if you're there why can't you just bust them yourself, not to sound rude or anything but you've dealt with way worse than this before. You're like a god at your job, you know," she deadpans.

Yeah, if I only were.

"Um, so here's why I can't do that. SSA Miller's here."

"Isn't he supposed to be in Vegas?" she asks me the question we all already have the answer to.

"According to him, yeah. But he's here right now, very much present."

I hear a deafening silence at the other end before she speaks up, "Do you...do you think he's a dirty cop?"

I hate that phrase. Dirty cops are the rock bottom of working in this field. They screw you over, have all the power to do so, and don't care in the slightest.

"Seems as though. If he wasn't, he would be stopping whatever is going on here. But it's still too soon to just assume he is, we barely have any evidence or proof," I deduce and hear a hum in response.

"I mean he always did seem shady. Like he was so adamant on getting you to drop this case or when he was so blunt about giving the case to the DHS," she begins and I almost drop the phone.

Could he be connected to Brandon or Tyler's case? It's a huge assumption and it seems far-fetched but his behavior and his presence here beg to differ. There is a big possibility he's connected to the auction, but Tyler's case? No...

"We can look into him later. I'm shooting you the blueprints of this place. Have backup be here as soon as they can. Have them enter through the back door, and into Conference Room A. The men will be right there to arrest in about," I grab Tatum's hand and look at his wristwatch, "About nine minutes. Sound good?"

"Yeah, I got you. Be careful and don't get yourself hurt," she says softly and then adds, "And Will..."

"Yeah?"

"You got this."

I smile and hang up, putting my phone back where it was. I glance up and look at Tatum, when he's just staring at me, his eyes almost burning a hole through my forehead.