Page 8 of The Professional
“Okay?” Conall glanced between them, dark blue eyes curious. “What’s his family life got to do with the Virtue?”
“I’m getting to it,” Forrest said.
“You don’t need to give Conall the man’s history,” Rourke finally snapped. It earned him raised eyebrows from both of them. “Just tell him what Adrian said today.”
“Fine.” Forrest’s gaze narrowed and he huffed. “Adrian said he overheard a conversation between his father and a detective by the name of Diaz. He didn’t hear much, but what he did hear happened to be about the Virtue. Apparently she’s out to bring down Killough, and she wants to start by taking down some of his businesses.”
Conall sighed.
“You know her?” Forrest asked carefully.
He nodded in answer. “She’s a pain in the arse, but Rourke already knows that.”
Rourke hummed in agreement. “She’s been giving the boss hell long before you came along, sir.”
“Why’s she got such a hard-on for him?” Conall asked.
“I’m not sure. I only knew of her name because before I came here, I did some jobs for Sloan. Low-level, knee-deep-in-shit jobs, but they needed to be done. Diaz nearly caught me once, but I managed to get away. She’s been going out of her way to catch Sloan since she made detective status.”
“Yeah, well, she pushed too hard last year. Sloan was going to have her killed.”
Rourke glanced at Forrest, but Conall waved his hand.
“I trust him,” he said.
So did Rourke, but he wasn’t sure if Sloan would, and talking business in front of a whore might not win them brownie points. While Conall could get away with it because he was Sloan’s pet, Rourke might not be so lucky.
Conall looked at Forrest. “You remember the stuff that went down with the Italians?”
Forrest made a noise of acknowledgement.
“The war with them really began when they killed two Customs agents working for Sloan. Those agents were allowing Sloan to bring in coke.”
“And they killed them for the DEA to find?”
Conall nodded. “Yeah. Local detectives found them first. DEA came in later. Sloan took me with him to the port, and Diaz was there. She enjoys seeing people squirm, so she teased me about Sloan’s former pets. It pissed Sloan off enough that it got him talking about killing her.”
“It would have been a mistake. Killing a detective will bring the entire US law enforcement down on us.” Rourke had already told Sloan just that, which is what made him back down. The last thing they wanted was for vigilant eyes to turn to them in a time like this. While they paid off certain powerful people to keep their activities quiet, murdering Diaz would start a series of catastrophic events for their business that they wouldn’t be able to stop. No one really cared what they did unless a detective or agent was killed.
“Is that why he changed his mind?” Conall seemed surprised. “I wondered why.”
“Sloan’s not going to make that kind of mistake. He might have talked about it, but after he gets past the anger, he thinks rationally. The only reason he is so hellbent on destroying Diaz is because she said those things to you.” Rourke smiled at him. “The boss really cares about you, sir.”
Conall’s mouth curled and something like a blush attacked his cheeks. He cleared his throat and glanced away. “Yeah, well, the sex is pretty good.”
Forrest laughed. “The guy is hot, he can get good sex wherever he wants. It’s more than having the hots for you, Conall.”
Conall finished off his drink. “Maybe. So let’s talk about Diaz and what we’re going to do about her. If we can’t kill her, what would be the next option? Until we know what she’s planning, we’re running blind.”
“That’s true, but we have an insider,” Rourke said.
He and Conall looked at Forrest, who stared at them with wide green eyes. “You want to use Adrian? I told you, he and his father have never seen eye to eye. If he starts trying too hard, his dad will know something’s up.”
“Does the senator know Adrian comes here?” Conall asked.
“Not as far as I know. I mean, the kid is all kinds of fucked up because of his dad. He has this sad outlook on life, which is why he comes here. He’s not just looking for a hole to fuck, but someone who’ll listen to him too. He’s not the kind of guy who’ll be good undercover.” Forrest’s voice rose. His spirited defense of Adrian twisted a knife deeper into Rourke.
“He doesn’t need to go undercover, he just needs to keep an eye on his dad, and if Diaz visits again, he needs to listen to what they say.” Conall stood and rolled his shoulders. “Either way, this isn’t going to be pretty. She’s looking for alternative ways to take Sloan down, and I think it’s retaliation for getting her demoted through her captain. She doesn’t get the interesting cases anymore.”
