I shake my head. “He’s referring to Cecil probably. Right before the wreck, I had assumed Cecil was coerced by Benny to turn over information to the feds. Obviously now I’ve reworked it to where he was working for Ben and not Benny.”
Axle looks surprised. Drex looks furious.
“You figured it out?” Axle asks.
I nod. “Yeah, it made sense after working with Drake for a bit. What I can’t figure out is why involve the feds? Is the other guy linked to this inside the FBI? If so, how didn’t Ben know about the Hell Breathers’ FBI problem? I mean, I guess it could have been a deep cover operation where only a few other FBI guys knew, but if you guys figured it out, one of their own should have been able to. Right?”
“Stop,” Drex growls, glaring at me as Axle swallows whatever he was about to say. “Don’t think about it. Don’t even try to think about it. Just fucking forget anything and everything dealing with this.”
His eyes are icy cold and almost verging on murderous. I don’t like that look. Especially when it’s pointed at me.
“So you’re back to not trusting me?” I glare back. “Really? You’re such an asshole.”
I cross my arms over my chest, and Drex stalks toward me. I don’t move or flinch. He stops short, then looks at Axle.
“I’ll go check on Drake. You stay here. And don’t let her fucking talk about any of that shit,” he snaps.
When he turns and storms out of the room, Axle cocks an eyebrow at me.
“You’re right,” he says, shrugging. “The feds don’t make sense.”
My smile curves up, and he and I start running any possible scenario that would involve the feds.
The problem is me. I thought I fit into this puzzle, but thanks to Ben, I know I was an unexpected coincidence. I’m really starting to hate the word coincidence. I also became the wildcard that exposed part of their hand.
Someone is going to be pissed, and a bigger target is going to be on my head when they want to seek revenge for fucking up their elaborate scheme.
The question is… who?
Chapter 27
DREX
“The doc said she could go home yesterday. Why are we keeping her here?” Axle asks me as Eve whimpers my name in her sleep.
I gently crawl into the bed beside her, and she stops whimpering the second her head is resting on my chest and my arms are around her.
She’s been in here a week, but I don’t want to risk her leaving too soon.
“I’ll let her leave tomorrow. She had a headache today,” I explain.
“She had a headache because of the dickheaded way you’ve been acting,” he growls. “Hell, you barely stay in here when she’s awake. The fuck is your problem?”
I don’t answer that. In fact, if I wasn’t holding Eve right now, I’d be punching him in the face to show him how much that question pisses me off.
“Get anywhere with that list Liza brought you?” I ask to shift the conversation.
He rolls his eyes. “No. I’ve looked over every name we have. Eve’s right about the feds not fitting in.”
My blood boils. “I fucking told you not to let her talk about that shit. Have you still been talking about it?” I snap.
Eve shudders against me, and I internally curse myself while pulling her closer. The second she sighs peacefully, I turn my glare back on Axle.
“She’s fucking smart. You should hear her out. She was piecing this thing together before Ben. She’s right about the feds being involved, and that’s what we need to focus on. Why would Ben want Cecil to give them info when it wasn’t enough for a warrant?”
“They did get to raid one of our places with a warrant,” I remind him. “Stop fucking talking about it with her. I want her far away from all this shit.”
“She’s right in the middle of it,” he groans, exasperated as though I’m being difficult.
“I’m perfectly aware,” I growl. “Doesn’t mean I want to drag her in it deeper.”
“Not sure she’s going to give you much of a choice.” The bastard seems amused right now. “She’s stubborn. She also seems to be adapting to our world a hell of a lot quicker than anyone I’ve seen. It almost seems like she was just dropped off in the wrong world for the first part of her life.”
That has me glaring at him harder. “The last fucking place on earth she belongs is with us.”
His expression sobers. “So you’re giving her up again?”
Blowing out a heavy breath, I kiss her forehead as she nestles into me again. “I fucking wish. But no. She’s stuck with us. At least until this is all over, shit is handled, and she’s ready to get back to her own life.”
“And if she chooses this life?” he muses, probing for more info than I plan to dole out.