Page 93 of Final Approach

Corey bit his lip and shrugged. Mumbled something.

“What?”

“Bobby Bigfoot!”

Andrew wanted to bang his head on the door attached to the handle he should have pushed ten seconds ago. “Dude...”

“I know. I’m an idiot.”

“To put it mildly.” Bobby Bigfoot was one of the most feared organized crime bosses on the planet. He was ruthless, evil even. A man no one wanted to cross. Including a lot of those in law enforcement. You sure didn’t want him knowing your name. Andrew sent up prayers for patience and wisdom. And this time paused to listen. It was a short pause, but something shifted inside him. Compassion.Thankyou,God.He sighed and turned back to Corey. “Fine. I’ll help you. On one condition.”

“What?”

“You have to be a CI.”

Corey huffed out a harsh laugh. “You mean be a snitch.”

“Yeah. It’s the only way.”

“But how? He doesn’t trust me. He wants to kill me.”

“We can fix that. When you show up with double what you owe him, he’ll want to know where you got the money.”

“I want to know where I got the money.”

“You’re going to kill someone to get it.”

Corey’s eyes bugged and Andrew almost smiled. “Not really, but we can make it look like you did. Then you’re going to convince him you’re the master of mansion home invasions and he wants you on his team. That you’ve learned your lesson and you’re going to make it up to him if he’ll give you the chance.”

“But what if he doesn’t? What if he decides to shoot me right there on the spot? I saw him do it to another dude and I don’t want him feeding me the next bullet.”

Andrew stilled. “You saw him shoot someone?”

“Yeah. Right between the eyes. It was awful.” He shuddered. “One minute he was begging for his life and the next, his brains were scattered on the back wall. Truly the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I have nightmares about it.”

“Okay, new plan.”

“What kind of new plan?”

“I need to make some phone calls.”

For the next two hours, he worked on the plan, got everything set up, then closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and turned to his cousin, who’d been stretched out on the bed watching game shows. “Listen up.”

Corey muted the television and sat up. “What?”

“Here’s the deal. The FBI is going to protect you for now. They have to be sure they have a solid case. You’ll need to tell them everything, help them build this case so they can establish that the person you saw murdered disappeared without a trace. You understand what I’m telling you?”

“Yes,” Corey muttered. “And after that?”

“Well, not so much after that, but while they’re establishing all of that, they’ll also be questioning you about Bobby Bigfoot and his associates, any other crimes like gambling, extortion, burglaries, truck hijackings, and so on, along with any other potential witnesses to those crimes.”

“Um ... that sounds like a lot.”

“It is. You can cooperate or die. It’s pretty much your choice.” He really wanted the man to cooperate.

Corey held his hands up in surrender. “I’m in, Andrew, because in spite of what you think, Idon’thave a choice. I want to live, and if this is what I have to do to make that happen, then I’m in.”

Andrew narrowed his eyes and studied him. Yes, he was all in. Andrew relaxed a fraction. This might work out well for all of them. “Okay, perfect. Also, during all of that, the application will be filed for WITSEC, and US Marshals will review it and determine yoursuitability for the program and that you understand and agree to all the terms that will be outlined and explained to you.”