Page 102 of Hard Wired

Raymond nodded. She took that to mean Dominic would get out, too. But she didn’t understand what was going on. She held out her hands and shook her head, trying to convey her confusion.

Her eyes widened at the words on the next piece of paper.

I’m working with the FBI.

That note he ripped into small pieces before shoving it into his mouth, chasing it with another swig of tap water.

She had a million questions, but she couldn’t ask them. Then she had an idea. She switched on the water in the shower, then beckoned Raymond closer. He shut the door to the bathroom.

“Can we talk now?” she whispered into his ear.

He hesitated. “We have to be careful. There’s a bug in the light over the bed, and it picks up a lot. It might help if you scream every once in a while.”

She cringed. She tried not to think of how close she’d come to ending up in the hands of the real Syndicate members.

Raymond told her a brief outline of what happened. After Dominic’s arrest, Uncle Charles had approached him, asking him to join forces to unite the Syndicate.

“All my life, I’ve seen what this business has done to our family. To my brothers. Nic saved me by keeping me out of it, so I had to do something to return the favor. I went to the FBI. Offered to infiltrate the Syndicate in exchange for my brother’s safety and immunity. But they expected me to deliver the Syndicate before they lifted a finger to help Dominic.”

“But they wanted him to testify. Why did they need your testimony, too?”

“Because they’re greedy? Dominic’s testimony could get them what they needed in case I failed. Which I still might. The two of you being here has fucked all my plans.”

With each new bit of information Raymond gave her, she only had more questions. But this wasn’t the time. “What are we going to do?”

“Can you fire a gun?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll get you a weapon as soon as I’m able. I can tell you mean a lot to my brother, so I’ll do my best not to let anything happen to you. But if we’re going to pull this off, I need your help.“

“What about the Russians who’re coming to get Dominic? We can’t let them take him.”

“I thought Dominic would be at the safe house right now, but then he went and tried to trade himself for me. I guess I should’ve known he would do something stupid like that. I just figured… I didn’t think he’d be willing to go that far.”

She hadn’t either. Maybe Dominic himself hadn’t known until he did it. But doing something courageous often seemed impossible until the moment that you stepped up.

Raymond had done it, though. He’d been working undercover for months now. She couldn’t believe the guy was only around twenty years old. But Raymond had the kind of backbone that might have made him an effective leader of the Syndicate. Thank goodness Dominic had saved him from going down that path. It had given Raymond the chance to see another way and take it.

“I’m improvising at this point,” Raymond whispered. “The FBI can kiss my ass if they don’t like it. It’s going to be messy. But with some luck, we have a decent chance of making it out of here alive.”

Some chance was better than none. “Tell me what to do.”

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