Fool Me Twice (Riley Wolfe 2)

That wasn’t good enough for Finn. He pushed a little. “Wouldn’t it be a hell of a lot easier to do what they want him to do? And then be done with it?”

Delgado gave Finn a skeptical look. “If it was you,” he said, “would you trust either Boniface or Stone to let you go? Once you’d been inside their heads?”

Finn smiled. “No. I would not. I would be very damn certain that they would either kill me or keep me on a string forever.”

Delgado nodded and picked up his coffee again.

“So you think Riley Wolfe will . . . do something?” Finn said.

“He has to,” Delgado said.

“Has to, Frank? Why?”

Delgado shrugged. “Because he’s Riley Wolfe.”

Finn looked at Delgado. When Delgado stayed silent, Finn looked into his own coffee cup. There was no secret message in the Styrofoam cup. He thought about what Delgado had said. On the surface, it was absurd to think of one man taking on either Boniface or Stone. Even if that one man was Riley Wolfe. But Finn knew that Frank Delgado knew Riley Wolfe better than anyone else in the world. And he trusted that a good agent has good instincts. Delgado, for all his tendencies to chase Riley, was a very damn good agent. “All right,” he said at last. “What will he do, Frank?”

Delgado shook his head, a single slow shake. “I don’t know,” he said.

“Will it be something that keeps us from taking down Stone and Boniface?”

“No,” Delgado said without hesitation.

“You’re sure?”

Delgado nodded. “I think—I think that’s what he wants,” Delgado said.

Finn shook his head, somewhat puzzled. “He wants us to take down Boniface and Stone.”

“Of course,” Delgado said. It was obvious to him. “He gets us to do the heavy lifting—take out one, or both, of his big problems.”

“And that bothers you?”

“No,” Delgado said firmly. “It’s what he does after that—that’s what bothers me.”

Finn sipped his coffee. He wasn’t quite sure where Delgado was going with this. He was willing to follow along, but he needed an answer to one supremely important question. “Just because Riley Wolfe wants us to do it,” he said, “is there a reason why that should stop us from doing it anyway?” Finn said.

Delgado frowned, then slowly shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t think so, but . . .”

“You don’t think so?”

Delgado hesitated, then said, “No. No reason.”

Finn waited. Delgado stayed silent. After two minutes, Finn finished the last sip of his coffee and stood up. “Well then,” he said. “Let’s do it.” He turned to go.

“Dellmore?” Delgado said.

Finn turned.

“I’d like to keep the surveillance on Wolfe’s mother,” he said. “Just in case.”

Finn thought about it. It was a hassle, but it made sense. There had been absolutely no way to tail or track Wolfe. But he would definitely be back for his mother. Finn nodded. “I’ll start the paperwork,” he said. He pointed at Delgado. “But you gotta finish it.”

Delgado nodded. And he almost smiled.

33

Buongiorno!” Father Matteo said, a bright and cheerful greeting based partly on his basic kindness—but mostly on his hope that this new man truly could restore The Liberation of St. Peter to its pristine glory.