Page 34 of Bossy Hero (Redleg Security #8)

Chapter 33

It sounds almost too easy

Maddie

L ettie winks at me as she approaches us in the corner of the conference room. “I brought the popcorn this time.” She shakes the bag, her big blue eyes dancing with deviousness.

Sammy reaches for it with two stiff arms and ten grabby fingers. “Gimme, gimme.”

Lettie purses her lips and glowers at Sammy. “Now, now. Don’t be rude. How do you ask?”

My daughter feigns being confused, pinging her index finger back and forth through the air between Lettie and me. “Wait. Which one of you is my mother?”

Lettie takes the chair on my right. “Samantha Jean, your mama has clearly had a rough day, so I’m just doing my part to make sure you don’t forget your raisin’. After all, it takes a village to rear a wild child like you.”

I’m unsure if I should worry more about how accurately Lettie has pegged my daughter or me.

She’s damn right on both accounts. It’s been a hell of a night for me. And my daughter is a freaking handful. Always has been and always will be. Fortunately, she’s entering that stage of life where she’s about to find out what goes around comes around.

Alan catches my eye from across the room, flashing me a quick wink. It’s just enough to make my heart flutter and my thighs press together.

After I cried all over his chest while his cock was still inside me, he kept me wrapped up in the warmth of his embrace. I lost track of time as he held me. We stayed like that until the physical awkwardness of the situation began to demand our attention.

Once we were cleaned up, he dropped the bomb on me about the chief’s identity and what happened with his wife and kids. Then he shared some tiny details about what these revelations can do to help Redleg take down Lenkov. Now, I understand a little better why Alan was so revved up. The whole situation is kind of exciting and terrifying.

And it turns out those emotions are an arousing combo.

As the last few stragglers file into the conference room and take their seats, the individual conversations slowly dry up.

Given the late hour, this briefing is only for those staying at Redleg. He said he’d have another meeting tomorrow for everyone else.

Although she typically stays at Klein’s place at night, Mia is still here since she never left after the earlier op.

Alan bends his open palm in half twice, wobbling his fingers toward him. “Ladies, you don’t need to sit in the corner.”

Leo throws a bemused glance in his sister’s direction. “It’s not like you’re gonna be quiet anyway, Sammy. You might as well belly up to the table with the rest of us.”

Shrugging, I rise and head to the table. Sammy and Lettie follow suit.

Unlike last time, there’s plenty of room. On Alan’s right are Leo, Sue, Sawyer, and Junior. On his left are Tomer, Mia, Shep, and Kri.

I take the chair next to Kri and softly ask, “Is Valerie alone downstairs?”

“She’s asleep and would probably be bored to tears listening to this. Or potentially triggered, depending on whatever the big news is. Figured it was best to let her rest.”

I offer a half smile, which is about all I can manage after the emotional ringer I’ve been through tonight.

Shep adds, “She’ll text us if she wakes up wondering where we are. And with the guards manning the lobby, it isn’t like she’s going anywhere.”

Alan knocks his knuckles on the table and artificially clears his throat. “All right. Let’s get started. Klein, can you hear us okay?”

His voice calls back from the speakerphone on the table. “You’re coming in Lima Charlie, Boss.”

Leo directs his voice toward the speaker. “Is everything okay at home? Is your mom good?”

Klein answers, “Yeah, she’s good. She’s asleep.”

Since someone needed to stay with his mother, he wasn’t able to work late at HQ. Alan sent another guard to his house tonight to ensure their safety. Usually Mia’s there with him, which they consider adequate protection since she’s thoroughly trained. However, with her here, it was wise of Alan to move things around.

The way he cares for his people never fails to impress me.

“Excellent. So where to begin?” Alan flicks his gaze to the ceiling, oddly enjoying drawing out the moment. “Well, tonight I met the architect.”

A series of sharp gasps sweep across the room.

Sawyer is the first to speak, surprising no one. “ Chief Bigsby is the architect?”

Shep piles on his disbelief. “ He’s Alexei Bugrov?”

“Nothing gets by you two, does it?” Without waiting for a reaction to his jab, Alan angles his head toward Shep. “And I met your Russian buddy, Yuri. Patterson was also there.”

Shep’s head kicks back, and he puckers his lips, a blend of skepticism and alarm crisscrossing his features.

Mia closes her laptop and leans her elbows on the table, putting all her focus on her boss. “Where exactly was there ? I tried to locate the Chief’s vehicle, but his tag wasn’t working. Same with Patterson.”

“Why did you track him?” Alan asks.

“We caught him driving by on your dash cam right after you left with the chief.”

Alan nods. “Bigsby drove me to a caretaker’s shed in Booker’s Creek Preserve. He and Patterson intentionally disable their tags when they go there. I assume Yuri’s careful about that as well. Apparently, it’s been their off-the-grid meetup for years. Given the remote location, there aren’t traffic cams in the area for Lenkov to hack. It’s a ghost town at night, so there’s a low risk of someone seeing them and reporting it to Lenkov. Bigsby made me leave anything trackable in the car, thus lessening the risk of the location being exposed.”

“Since we haven’t tagged Yuri’s vehicle yet, we didn’t know he was in the area either,” Shep adds. “Not that we would’ve known to check.”

Alan steeples his hands in front of his face, his elbows braced on the armrests. “The whole thing was pretty clandestine. Chief didn’t even let me talk to him on the drive, which makes me wonder if his SUV has been tapped previously.”

Klein chimes in, “Not speaking in your own vehicle is a new level of paranoid.”

Alan cricks his neck to the side, giving his head a subtle shake. “It’s warranted in this case. Based on what he shared about his long-time position with Lenkov, I’d imagine most of his communications are monitored by the bratva.”

“That would explain why he was always using those over-the-top riddles,” Mia muses.

With a hearty eye roll, Alan huffs. “Yes and no. Mostly, that was Yuri’s influence. The pair of them go way back, and when plotting this shit out, Bigsby let Yuri have a little fun while trusting we’d figure it out.”

“What is his history with Yuri and Lenkov, Boss?” Tomer asks.

Alan tells the group the story he told me in his office earlier about the chief’s past with Lenkov and how he came to be involved when he fell in love with Yuri’s sister. Including the part about her murder and their babies being taken to keep him in line. So tragic.

Collectively, everyone in the room goes still.

Alan leans back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. He unabashedly yawns, making me want to smile, but it’s not the right time for that. He’s exhausted and ready for bed. Same here. Our age is catching up to us.

“I know you have a lot you want to ask,” he begins, intelligent eyes scanning his team members. “Just fire away. I’m too fucking tired for a structured info dump. I would have waited until tomorrow, but I knew you wouldn’t sleep until you got the details from me.”

“Heavens to Betsy, Boss Dad. That’s just so considerate of you,” Sawyer coos in a feminine Southern accent.

A few of us chuckle, but Lettie impales him with a sharpened gaze. “Child, you’re as windy as a sack full of toots.” Her facetious glare fades, giving way to mirth. “And for the love of Pete, if you’re gonna impersonate me, at least get it right. That wasn’t a heavens-to-Betsy situation. It was a thank-ya-kindly one.”

“Quite right. Quite right. A thousand apologies, milady,” he quips, back in his old faithful British impression.

Although Tomer’s grinning, he’s quick to refocus the group. “Did you ask why Patterson has been altering the files he sends to the FBI?”

Alan nods. “He’s been removing things that tie back to Bigsby.”

Mia says, “Ah, so he’s helping the architect free himself so we can take down more rings of the bratva.”

“Essentially, yes.” Alan swipes his gaze around the table. “Other questions?”

Tomer brings his hand up by his shoulder. “What do we tell Detective Salgado about that?”

Alan waves him off. “Let’s put her off for now. The chief said he’d talk to her once they figure out how to explain away Patterson’s actions. He said they’ll probably couch it as though the things he changed need further corroboration or more data.”

Mia shakes her head, her features screwing to one side. “She’s pretty smart, Boss. I doubt she’d buy some bullshit like that.”

“It isn’t our problem. We’re not in the business of protecting Patterson or the chief. That said, I have no plans to turn them in, considering I trust their motives. Plus, we need them as partners. But frankly, how well they cover their asses isn’t my business.”

She rubs her palms together, figuratively wiping her hands clean of the topic. “Fair.”

“Boss, did you ask what’s happening at the port in January?” Leo asks.

Alan perks up as he starts to explain. “Ever since Lenkov’s foothold in Franco Financial was disrupted, he’s been scrambling like mad. He had to cash in a shit ton of favors to beat the charges. As we know, it’s predominantly been lower-level people taking the fall for him. However, his castle is crumbling. And when we hamstringed their trafficking ring, it put him firmly on the defense.”

Ah, so it was pride renewing Alan’s energy reserves. None of that would have happened without Redleg.

Yeah, he should be proud. The whole Redleg family should be.

When Alan pauses, Shep jumps in to ask for clarification. “So whatever defense Lenkov’s planning will take place in January? And since it’s at the port, that means...” He trails off, eyes widened in a silent question.

Alan jumps in to fill in the blank. “He’s pulling most of his assets out of Florida—guns, drugs, people, and whatever else he’s got. He plans to set up shop somewhere else to flee the heat he’s under from law enforcement.”

“Bon voyage, fucker,” Sawyer quips, his cupped hand waving goodbye to no one.

Mia sweeps her gaze around the table, her brows arched high and suspicion coating her words. “This doesn’t pass the sniff test, Boss. It’s not like Lenkov has warehouses full of product to move. He makes money when product is sold, not by filling shelves. More than likely, the lag time is minimal between when he gets his hands on something and when he sells it.”

Kri seems to be on the same doubtful side as Mia, adding in her own two cents. “Right, so why does he need cargo ships? And why is he waiting so long to relocate? I get that he can’t just up and move tomorrow, but four months? That seems excessive.” She shakes her head and tuts. “I’m with Mia. Something doesn’t add up.”

“I agree with you both.” Alan rolls his wrists, fanning out his empty hands in front of him. “More shit for us to figure out. Maybe it’s not entire ships, but a few shipping containers.”

“Let’s think on this,” Tomer offers, tugging his glasses off to squeeze the bridge of his nose. “For starters, he’d need to move vehicles, weapons, and drugs. To Mia’s point, he likely doesn’t need entire cargo ships for the quantity of unsold merchandise he’d have on hand. However, there’s still plenty of other shit in play. We know he’s infiltrating all types of businesses, some of which carry legitimate products. He uses those as fronts or as means to launder money or smuggle drugs, guns, jewels, counterfeit cash, and electronics around the country. Some of that shit would need to go with him, or he’d lose his investment. Especially if he’s moving overseas. And he’s already lost a lot of money because of us.”

“That’s true, T,” Klein jumps in, his voice crackling the phone line. “Then you’ve got printing equipment, supplies, and raw materials they use for their counterfeit operation.”

Leo adds his theories to the mix. “Plus, they must have expensive lab equipment to make those new synthetic blends they’ve started flooding the drug market with. From what we’ve seen, those designer drugs are not coming into this country in their final form. So someone locally is playing Evil Bill Nye the Science Guy in a massive way. I’m sure Lenkov has a lot of money sunk into that, so he’ll move the chemist, his supplies, equipment, and all the ingredients he’s stockpiled for those little creations. I’m sure there’s a lot to move for that operation alone. When you add that to all the other small pockets, you end up with a mammoth move to orchestrate.”

“I guess so,” Mia responds, but she still seems unconvinced.

Alan exhales, scanning his kids’ faces individually before locking on my daughter-in-law. “You’ve been quiet so far, Sue. What are you thinking?”

“This isn’t really my area of expertise. I’m just wondering if we have any idea where he’s moving?”

Alan purses his lips, his head languidly arcing from side to side. “We could make some educated guesses. Odds are the West Coast of the US. Other possibilities might include Canada and the UK. Some spots in Africa might be friendly and profitable for him, but not on the same scale as the US and Canada. Unfortunately, we just don’t know yet.”

Lettie sets down her bottle of water and cocks a doubting eyebrow at her father. “Well, why didn’t the chief tell you where? I thought he was done keepin’ secrets from us.”

“This isn’t the type of info Bigsby has easy access to. He does things for Lenkov locally , not internationally. None of this has been discussed with him by the source.”

“How does he know it’s happening at all then?” Sue asks.

Alan’s eyes quickly bounce to Tomer and then back to Sue. “His daughter, Katia, is feeding him information from inside Lenkov’s compound.”

A sound emanates from Tomer that can only be described as a growl. I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume he isn’t a fan of Katia.

I trade questioning glances with Sammy. Kri must notice our confusion because she leans over and whispers. “Katia is his least favorite subject. Tomer doesn’t trust her at all. And he’s been adamant about it every step of the way. Looks like tonight’s revelations have done little to change his perception.”

My curiosity is piqued. However, I let it go for now, since I’m really only here as an eavesdropper. I’ll ask Alan for the scoop later.

Unless someone else happens to ask now , she thought hopefully.

I scan the table. No takers.

Drats.

Funny enough, Sammy isn’t barking out questions. She and Lettie are just passing the popcorn back and forth. They’re gobbling it up as fast as the others in here are wolfing down all of the information from Alan.

Leo shifts in his chair, propping his cheek on his hand. “To sum this shit up... if we can catch Lenkov trafficking all of his products out of the country, it’ll be enough to take him down once and for all?”

Alan sighs heavily. “That’s the idea.”

Mia rubs small circles on her temples. “On top of that, we’ll need to figure out how to keep the chief’s long-running role in the bratva out of the bust so he doesn’t go down with the ship.”

“Patterson too,” Klein adds. “Oh, and don’t forget Katia. We need to ensure she’s protected when this shit goes down. And anyone else who Lenkov has trapped against their will.”

“Piece of cake,” Shep grumbles sarcastically. He glances at his boss and flippantly tosses, “Did we get it all? Sounds almost too easy.”

Alan grins but tries to hide it behind his hand. “We need to remember that Lenkov is a wild card. He’s as smart as he is evil, and a lot can change in the next few months. As for now, if he has any reason to suspect Katia of spying on him, the January date and location might be a decoy that he let her overhear. For all we know, his plans could change ten times over by then. And we’re not even sure exactly what he’s moving or how. There’s a lot still in play. Tonight was a huge step forward, but we’ve still got our work cut out for us.”

Sawyer places his hand on Sammy’s thigh, and she laces their fingers together. “Are we planning on staying here at Redleg for months ?” He glances at Sammy’s belly. “I mean, our twins are due before January, and we’re not even married yet. This isn’t exactly an ideal situation for us.”

“It’s okay, babe,” she comforts him.

They share a look that could melt the most frigid heart. So much compassion, love, and support in their relationship.

Gah . Now I’m getting misty-eyed.

Alan notices my reaction, his gaze warming as if sending me his affection across the room. He clears his throat and settles his eyeline on the table. “I’m gonna finish that rotation schedule. We can’t stay here all the time. We’ll go mad.”

“At least we’re safe,” Lettie offers, sprinkling some positivity on the suddenly bleak vibe.

Sweet child.

As seems to be his way, Tomer redirects them to work tasks. “Boss, knowing what we know now, where do you want our focus between now and January?”

“For starters, I need to know more about the mayor’s involvement. Keep working there. Additionally, I want you to continue digging into the list of seventy-two. We will be taking it public at some point. Bigsby and Patterson confirmed those people are all repeat customers of the trafficking services.”

My gut sours. Poor Lettie.

Yet the way she’s healing is nothing short of miraculous. I’ve heard she’s had some rough times here and there, but she’s still come so far.

Klein’s voice is thick with disgust as he asks, “Even the undersheriff?”

“Yeah, man,” Alan answers despondently, his face down and posture sagging.

Junior raises his hand above his head, twice as high as Tomer did earlier. All heads whip in his direction.

Mia snickers under her breath. “I guess he does that to everyone and not just me.”

Alan squints at Junior and nods once, encouraging him to speak.

“Sorry. Force of habit.” He lowers his hand, his cheeks flushing red. “If the chief and the detective already know these people are guilty, then why don’t they just arrest them?”

Sawyer leans toward Junior, brushing his arm with his. “Excellent question.”

Alan responds. “If they did, Lenkov would know the intel came from the inside. That would make Katia the prime suspect since she assisted Viktor with that ring at Nikolai’s direction. We can’t risk her safety like that.”

Mia and Tomer have some silent conversation across the table, making me wonder if they’ve discussed this before.

She finally speaks, making her statement sound like a question. “So we need to find shit on these seventy-two fuckers that links them to the trafficking while keeping the mystery list out of evidence. That way, as far as Lenkov would know, the names were found by us and not handed over in full.”

Alan nods twice. “Yes. And we need to do it in waves rather than everyone at once. That would be far too coincidental.”

Lettie straightens beside me and offers, “Perhaps some of the girls who were rescued can be witnesses. I’d be willing to talk to them.”

Her father smiles warmly at her. “Thanks, Lettie. We’ll see what we need for that.”

“My pleasure. Happy to help.”

Silence settles around the room, giving me hope that the meeting will soon end so I can get Alan to bed. He needs some rest.

Klein dashes my hope by asking, “Without seeing everyone’s faces, I can’t tell what everyone is feeling about Patterson now. Do we trust him, or are we supposed to keep digging?”

“I still don’t like him,” Tomer mutters, then looks to Alan. “But we haven’t found anything alarming in our research yet.”

Alan takes only a brief moment to deliberate. “For now, I want to focus on the list of seventy-two and find out what’s going on with the mayor.”

Leo extends his hand toward Big Al, hovering it a few inches over the table. “Alexei, err... Chief Bigsby didn’t have anything to share about the mayor?”

“As far as Bigsby knows, there’s nothing going on with him. However, he didn’t rule it out as a possibility. As soon as we get something we can use, we’ll feed it to the chief, and he’ll approach Lenkov about it.”

Shep’s eyes bulge. “Why would he do that? Wouldn’t that be tipping his hand?”

Alan shakes his head assertively. “It’s what the chief would be expected to do if Redleg started sniffing around one of Lenkov’s assets. In doing so, he could potentially find out even more about the mayor’s role.” He lowers one ear toward his shoulder. “Assuming he’s part of this.”

I don’t know the background or history with the mayor. But in looking at Alan’s reaction right now, I’d bet my life that the mayor is involved. Now, they just need to figure out how and why.

Like Shep said earlier, piece of cake.

Alan dismisses the group, ordering them to get some sleep.

When everyone stands, Sammy balls up a napkin and tosses it on the table. “Well, this meeting was simultaneously interesting and sadly uneventful. Next time, I want more drama, people. If not, I’ll have to hire someone to pretend to be a long-lost secret relative back from the dead. Don’t tempt me.”