Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Big Tag snorted. “Wanted outlaw?”
“Well, there is a Red Notice out on me,” Zach pointed out. “And I’m fairly certain there are BOLOs in the States.”
“Why would that happen?” Ian sank down in the chair and in the low light looked every bit like a mafia boss. He would have made an excellent one if he’d chosen to go that way. “I mean I allowed the Red Notice so it looks good for Huisman, but has anyone actually tried to take you in? I know you’ve been careful, but I assure you there have been times you were caught on camera.”
“Obviously, or the Canadians and my father wouldn’t be here.” His father. He was still trying to wrap his head around it. His father was close and had tried to take Devi. To drug her and do whatever to her and hold it over his head.
“Son, you look a little crazy right now. Are you thinking about murdering your father?” Ian asked as though that was a normal, everyday question to ponder at the end of a long day.
“Yes.” Maybe it was normal for his life. Maybe he should embrace the fact that he was cursed and go out in a blaze of glory. Maybe that would be better than prison. Better for him. Better for Devi.
“Let Kala do it.” Big Tag sat back and gestured for Zach to join him in the seat Henry had previously occupied. “She’ll do it however quick or slow you like, and you don’t have to get your hands dirty. I know the whole revenge thing sounds like a fun plan, but it gets murky on an emotional level. I thought about killing my father a couple of times, the first being when I was a teenager and he left us. Turned out he had a whole other family and if I killed him, I might not have met my younger brothers. Or they might have helped and it would have been bonding time. We can’t look back. I’m going to give you some advice. He’s an annoyance. Like a fly that won’t stop buzzing around you. Let someone swat him for you and don’t think twice about it. Don’t make more nightmares for yourself. Let your team handle it.”
The words threatened to shake his wall. The idea that someone…anyone, much less the people he admired…would put themselves on the line for him made him emotional. It wasn’t happening. “I fucked my team over.”
“Did you?” Big Tag seemed to think about that for a moment. “Don’t get me wrong. I think you’re facing some time in a ring with your brother and maybe Tris. Although Tris will probably worry about his pretty face and decide to forgo vengeance. Smart kid.”
Big Tag was known for his sarcasm. Sometimes he had to ignore it and move the conversation forward. “I lied to everyone.”
“Yeah, but I like to look at actions over words. I’ll give you the whole Jester thing was shitty because Tristan thought he was doing something revolutionary,” Big Tag said with a huff. “Like we all haven’t killed international arms dealers and taken over their operations. That’s Agency 101. Tristan had to turn it into some overly dramatic romantic tragedy. I blame his papa’s DNA. That shit did not come from Jacob Dean. But other than that, tell me one way you’ve put the team at risk.”
Zach had a list. He counted all his sins at night when he was trying to sleep. “I didn’t tell you I knew who the bombmaker was.”
“And I should spank you for it, but she’s your mother.” Tag shrugged him off. “It’s a touchy subject. I know you won’t like hearing this, but I knew you were hiding something. I could have gotten you reassigned. Do you know why I didn’t?”
He had an idea. Big Tag was a strategic thinker despite all the sarcasm. “Because it’s better to keep eyes on an enemy.”
Big Tag frowned and shook his head like he was deeply disappointed. “You are a dramatic motherfucker, Zach. Where has this been hiding? I greatly prefer the dude who tells it like it is. Are you my enemy, Zach?”
“No.”
“Then stop this morose shit and help me work this out. You don’t have to be in a corner. You don’t have to die or go to jail. There are far more doors open to you if you work with me and stop shutting out your team.”
Emotion welled inside him. “Don’t do this, Ian.”
Big Tag slowed down and considered him. “What, son? Give you hope? I’m going to ask you a question. Do you care about this team?”
There was only one answer. “More than anything in the world, with one exception. I know I haven’t shown it, but this team is my family. Not just Cooper. Everyone on the team.”