Page 101 of Eyes in the Shadows

Dimitri scratches his chin, the noise rasping against his stubble even through the call. “I have an idea, but James will not like it.”

“I already don’t, just from that lead in.”

Dimitri lifts a brow, and goes on, “Our problem is that we do not know for sure the mayor’s involvement and, if he is involved, we do not know what he knows.”

“That about sums it up,” Wes acknowledges.

“If we kill Rossi, and it actually has been the mayor’s operation this whole time, we lose. Even though Rossi is the job. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Wes says.

I’m done with the buildup. “Quit edging us and tell us your idea.”

“We should use the cop. Eleanor could—”

“No.”

At Dimitri’s sigh, Wes nudges me, “Unless you’ve got one locked and loaded, let’s hear his idea out.”

“I’m not putting the woman I love in danger,” I say.

“I am not suggesting this is what we do,” Dimitri snaps. “Well, not really.”

“The woman you love?” Wes says slyly.

“Yes, it was obvious he loves her. Focus! It is like being a goat herder sometimes,” Dimitri mutters. “This cop came to Eleanor to ask for information about me weeks ago. Now they think that we are connected because Rossi saw us together at the restaurant. So, she can offer this cop information about me to get a meeting, then we can use him to determine how involved the mayor is. And you can be there, you can ensure no harm comes to her.”

I grind my jaw. I hate the thought of Eleanor being anywhere near that dirty cop. Or Rossi. Or the Mayor. Or any of this.

“Think about it. Rossi is in hiding. All his men are dead, other than Owen Johnson, who is in the coma—”

“A coma,” Wes pipes in.

“That is what I said. The mayor’s part in this has eluded us so far, so he is likely not directly involved by design. This officer is the last connection we know of between them and a good opportunity for us. Perhaps the last we will get.”

“I don’t want her involved,” I say, rubbing my eyes.

“Eleanor is involved, my friend. She has been for many weeks now.”

“But if she does this, we can’t know how McCloskey will react or what he’ll do. What if he goes right to Rossi, or tries to arrest her for some bullshit charges? She’ll be in danger.”

Wes catches my eye. “So, we do what we do best—we make our plan, we control the variables. His hands are tied, too, he won’t arrest her for the same reason Rossi never reported Dimitri to the police. It’s really not a bad idea, Mac.”

I sigh. There are ways we could protect her—mic her up, be in her ear and coach her on what to say, be there in person. The cop hasn’t seen my face, or Wesley’s… “I can’t believe I’m considering this.”

“You are considering it because you are a reasonable man and you know we are very good at what we do,” Dimitri says, not bothering to hide his satisfaction. “You know we take precautions so no one on the team gets hurt—this would now include Eleanor.”

Truthfully, I did know that. He’s come a long way from thinking of her as collateral damage. “Okay, but we let her decide if she wants to help.”

“A given,” Wes says. Dimitri rolls his eyes, but nods.

“And if we do this, we finish it—one fell swoop. It needs to be soon, and we’ll need a trap, or something foolproof so there’s no time for it to escalate.”

“I agree,” Dimitri says.

Wes leans forward in his chair. “Then we don’t have time to do anything clever with costumes or—”

“Costumes?” Dimitri repeats, appalled.

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