Together Again(76)

                “Bullshit,” Tony said. “You’re just … ”

                “I thought I was pulling it out of thin air but … ”

                “More like out of your ass … ” Sam said.

                “But,” she talked over his comment, “he already knew. So, I have to go in alone tomorrow. I’ll wear a wire. You can hear the whole thing and come get me out if you need to. I can guarantee you, though, if Tony’s with me, the least that will happen is we lose Viktor. At worst … well, let’s just say it won’t be a good outcome for me and maybe not for Tony, either.”

                “Christ, Margo, this is really fucked up,” Sam said.

                “Wait just one damn minute. When Tony negotiated with him without talking to you, he was doing a great job. I negotiate with him and I’m a fuck-up?”

                “Let’s start with the fact that Tony told me about it as soon as it happened. And he’s a cop. He knows what he’s doing.”

                “So, am I to understand that you’d trust a cop you’d just met over someone you’ve worked with for years? Is it because he’s a cop or is it because he’s a man and I’m neither?” She snapped her fingers. “Damn. Of course, it must be because I don’t know how to negotiate. I never do it. Oh, wait, every now and then I do negotiate about minor stuff. You know, the death penalty or life in prison. But I guess that doesn’t count as much as emailing a mobster about an imaginary deal. In your world.”

                “Jesus, Margo, you are … ” Tony started.

                “For Christ’s sake, you can’t think … ” Sam said, his voice getting louder with every word.

                “Hold it, you three,” Danny stood up and held out her hands, like a school crossing guard stopping traffic. “Do I have to send you to neutral corners?”

                Sam muttered something that sounded like an apology.

                Tony glared at her. Margo refused to look at either of them.

                “Now,” Danny said as she sat down, “let’s get back to tomorrow. Margo, you did good getting him to accept that you’ve still gone to the dark side.”

                “You shouldn’t have kept it from us,” Sam said.

                Danny continued to talk only to Margo. “Given the reactions we just saw, I understand why you hesitated to tell these two. Although you did cut it a bit close. Luckily, it doesn’t change the plan that much. We’ll have you wired, you’ll have your cell phone on so we can trace that and the package with the hard drives will have a GPS on it. Once you’re out, we take him down.” She leaned across the table toward Margo. “Are you sure Viktor bought what you told him?”

                Throwing Danny a grateful look, Margo said, “As sure as I can be. It was all done through email so I couldn’t read his face but he backed off the threats after I gave him the explanation. Even said at one point my father would have been proud of me.”

                Margo sat back in her chair and kept her mouth shut for the rest of the discussion as the three detectives went over what they’d be doing now that Tony was with them and not with Margo. She didn’t look at him, knowing more would come when they got back to her office.

                It didn’t take long. The door to her office had barely clicked shut when he lit into her.

                “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, have you lost your fucking mind, Keyes? You cannot go waltzing into that grocery store alone for a little chat with a killer.”