Page 101 of Breaking the Rules
Waverly moved away from the shelves and stood in front of a cheerful window seat to stare out into the fall night.
“This would throw any suspicion off of them, if they can hang it all on me. ‘She did a few jobs for us and must have gotten cocky or greedy. She thought she could moonlight—’” She froze where she was and then turned slowly to face Xavier.
And Xavier knew exactly what she was thinking. “Dante,” he said.
She nodded at him.
“What?” Dante asked.
Waverly held her breath and waited for Xavier to say it.
“They think you’re dead,” Xavier answered. “So why not pin that on Waverly, too?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Malachi arrived with the setting sun to a tense crowd gathered upstairs. He’d lost his jacket somewhere during the course of the day. His tie was askew, sleeves rolled up, and his narrow shoulders hunched. Waverly kept herself between Xavier and Malachi, just in case Xavier was feeling ready to fight.
“Agent Travers,” Petra rose so quickly the fashion magazine she’d been reading tumbled to the floor. “How can the FBI think that Waverly kidnapped me? She saved my life! I will tell them this.”
Grigory nodded gruffly coming to his daughter’s side. “Of course we will tell them, my daughter.” He patted her hand.
“I’m sure that will be a big help, Mr. Stepanov,” Travers said unconvincingly.
“How exactly does Brad think he’s going to get away with pinning a fake kidnapping on you?” Dante asked Waverly.
Her gaze skimmed to Petra and Grigory and back to him. Xavier saw realization dawn on Dante’s face. The man swiped a hand through his perfectly styled curls.
“What? What are you not saying, darling?” Petra frowned.
Dante went to her and reached for her other hand. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you or your father, okay?”
“What is he saying?” Grigory demanded, his usually flushed face pale and covered with a light sheen of sweat.
“What he’s saying,” Xavier began. “Is that Tomasso is counting on there not being any witnesses left. If he is trying to cover his tracks, once he has possession of your daughter and you sign over the drug licenses, he has no more use for either of you.”
Petra gasped and clasped Dante and her father’s hands to her chest. “No!” Pixie, the tiny ball of fluff, yipped from her pink satin cushion as if responding to her mother’s distress.
“We aren’t going to let that happen,” Dante promised.
Malachi joined Waverly and Xavier. “Travers, what the fuck is going on in your office?” Xavier demanded.
Malachi shook his head. “All I know is it came from somewhere on high. They’ve got ten agents assigned.”
“Isn’t that practically your entire office?” Micah asked, approaching with a diet soda in his hand.
“Do you think Brad’s partner leaned on someone?” Waverly asked Malachi.
The man shrugged. “I think it’s likely. We’re the FBI. We don’t move that fast without extreme motivation.”
“How does this work without the FBI?” Waverly asked. “The whole point of the plan is to catch Brad in the act. We can’t just walk up to him and yell ‘citizen’s arrest.’”
Xavier shook his head. “It’s too late to move the exchange. If we put it off, it puts you at risk in case the feds are tailing one of their own,” he looked pointedly at Malachi.
Malachi held up his hands. “I ran a surveillance detection route on the way here. No one’s any the wiser as to your whereabouts,” he assured Waverly.
“Look on the bright side. At least no one knows where you, Dante, and Petra are,” Micah said.
“Okay, Pollyanna.” Xavier crossed his arms. “How do we make this work?”
