Mia poked her finger into the glass. She wished she could poke the jerk’s chest. “If you don’t get me a sit-down meeting with the agent in charge of the Rogers matter, I am going to the media.”
The agent tried to interrupt, but she kept talking.
“I am going to get up in front of all those reporters and live feed cameras and tell them that the FBI had a chance to take down the dirtiest criminals in our city and they fucked it up because they sent a rookie like you to handle the job.”
She stepped back. “So you go into the back and you get me someone who matters. Right. Now.”
Agent Duncan swallowed. “I’ll see what I can do.”
As the door shut behind him, Mia exhaled. She’d been squeezing her fingers to hide the shake, but now that he was gone, the trembling took over.
Damien’s hand landed softly on her lower back and she leaned against him. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”
She smiled. “I thought you knew that by now.”
The door beside reception opened and an older man with brown hair graying at the temples appeared. “Ms. Davenport, I’m Agent Clausen. How about the two of you come with me?”
Mia grabbed ahold of Damien and they followed the agent down the hall.
He showed them into a room with a small conference table and a handful of chairs. Mia and Damien sat down.
The camera on the ceiling recorded their every move.
Mia had been nervous before, but now, sitting inside the FBI’s offices, staring across the table at an agent wearing a shoulder holster, the butterflies grew. I can do this. She swallowed and waited for him to speak first.
Agent Clausen had to be in his late forties. Thick, but not soft, with kind blue eyes and an easy demeanor. If he was Melanie’s main contact, Mia could understand why the woman trusted him.
“So how do you know Melanie Rogers?”
Damien sat forward in his chair. He might not look like a good man, but Mia knew that deep inside, his heart pumped the same blood as hers. Damien might be right that everything was a shade of gray, but he wasn’t lost in the darkness. He was fighting to do what was right.
“I’m her brother. Damien Rogers.”
“You’re a wanted man, Mr. Rogers.”
“I’m aware of that.”
Mia reached for him and squeezed his hand. “We’re here in good faith. Damien didn’t know his sister was an informant. Now he does and we both want to help take Marcelo and the ADA down.”
The agent rested his forearms on the table. “What is it you’re looking for in return?”
Mia sat taller in the chair. “Full immunity. Witness protection. New identities and new lives somewhere far, far away from Wellington.”
“That’s a tall order, Ms. Davenport.”
“It’s worth it. Between the two of us, we have enough evidence to not only arrest most of the Marcelo cartel, but also a good number of police officers and Steven Willows.”
“You seriously think the interim District Attorney is involved with Marcelo’s crimes?”
Mia glanced at Damien. “I know he is. Yesterday he tried to kill us.”
Agent Clausen sat back in his chair. “Any proof?”
“Do my bruised ribs count?”
The Agent turned to Damien. “Unfortunately not. We need more than that. To accuse someone like the ADA, we need a video, photo, some incontrovertible proof. Without it, the federal prosecutor won’t touch it.”
Mia bit her lip. After all this, there had to be a way. She couldn’t let Steven get away with all that he’d done. She couldn’t let Marcelo walk away from all the hurt he’d caused Damien and so many others.
She spoke without looking at Damien. “I could wear a wire. Try and get a confession.”
“No. You can’t. I won’t let you.”
Mia turned in her chair. “This isn’t your choice to make; it’s mine.”
Damien’s eyes searched her face. “It’s too dangerous.”
“It’s a risk I have to take.” She reached out and squeezed his hand. “If I can get him to talk, then it’ll all be over. Marcelo, Willows, the dirty DA’s office and the cops. Everything I’ve worked for in law school, everything I wanted to do since I was a kid, Damien. It would all happen.”
“What about the baby?”
She glanced at the FBI agent. “I’ll have backup, right?”
“We would have an entire team in place to assist.”
“For our family, Damien. Our future.”
His jaw worked back and forth and Mia could see the fear and anger at war in his eyes. But he couldn’t protect her this time. He couldn’t take the fall and be the man to save the day. She needed to do this on her own.