Page 116 of Almost Beautiful (Beautiful 3)

“How did you manage to get Brandon to go for it and have his wife fake a pregnancy complication to skip it?” I asked.

“The convention organizer, who happens to be our Agent Marks, stroked his ego and offered to sponsor him for the trip … and hookers.”

“And Becca? Don’t tell me you fed her bad food or something.”

Thomas gestured to Liis.

She nodded once and turned to me. “Becca is fine. Brandon met who he thought was a college freshman, got extremely drunk, allegedly roofied, and robbed. Becca was an excuse. He didn’t have an ID to fly.”

“Thank God,” I said, relaxing back into my chair.

“And,” Thomas said, “you’ll have an ongoing alibi until we wrap this thing up with Benny.”

“When will that be?” I asked.

“Trav, I have to be upfront here. We began this investigation two years ago, and it just keeps getting deeper.”

I shrugged. “What does that mean?”

“That means, be patient.” Liis said. “When we have all the evidence we need, we’ll make arrests. Your ties to Benny and Mick Abernathy will help us get there.”

“And how am I going to do that?”

Thomas shifted in his seat, and I knew I was going to hate whatever would come out of his mouth next.

“Benny offered you help to get out of prosecution for the fire, yes?”

“How did you know that?”

Thomas smiled. “We’re the FBI, Trav, we know everything. You’re going to accept his help. He’s going to get you off the hook you’re already free of and agree to have you fight for him.”

I sat forward. “No fuckin’ way, Tommy. I promised Pidge …”

“Things are different now.”

I sat back in my chair—hard—and crossed my arms. “You’re really going to make me break every promise I ever made her? With a smile on your face? Fuck you.” I looked at Liis. “And fuck you, too.”

“Hey,” Thomas said, bristling.

Liis raised her hand. “I don’t blame you, Travis. It’s a tough spot to be in. But this is the only way your brother could secure your immunity, and his plan is the quickest way to get you into Benny’s inner circle.”

Thomas leaned forward. “You accept your invitation, beat ass, slide into his security detail. You’ll have access to everything. This is going to work, and better than any of us could have hoped.” He was entirely too impressed with himself, and it was pissing me off.

Thomas’s landline beeped and he pushed a button.

Constance didn’t wait for him to answer. “Agents Marks, Taber, and Kostas, sir.”

“Send them in,” Thomas said. He spoke to her in a different tone than I’d ever heard. He didn’t use that tone with Liis, either. It was authoritative, distant. It was jarring.

Three agents walked in, two I recognized—the man and woman who’d come to tell me I was off the hook—and a giant of a man I didn’t.

My muscles had swelled since I started working at Iron E. This dude’s arms were two times bigger than mine.

He was built like Lou Ferrigno in his Hulk days, but looked like a Roman statue, with blond hair and ice blue eyes.

“Travis, you’ve met Marks and Taber. They’ll be your points of contact. Agent Kostas is taking over Iron E from Brandon.”

I shot Thomas a dubious look. “Brandon isn’t giving up that gym, Tommy.”