Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Focusing my rage on putting Ruin behind bars was another driving factor in helping me get past the past. That was why I had to finish training and pass the final test to become an agent.
At night, when I’d wake up in a cold sweat, I’d picture Shawn and his earnest expression telling me to trust him. It soothed me in a way I didn’t understand. Above all, I had a mission. I planned to fulfill it by any means necessary.
“Tay.” I looked up from where I was sitting on my bed and saw my dad. Not my biological one, but the one who’d raised me when it mattered. He was a former cop, and it was his service that had inspired me to join the FBI.
“Hey,” I said.
He held out a hand, questioning if he could sit next to me. I nodded.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“I’m good.”
He looked at me like a father who knew his daughter. “It’s okay if you aren’t ready yet.”
“I am.” I gave him a smile with all the warmth I felt for him. “I’ll be gone a few days and then I’ll be back.”
“You be safe, Tay. You’ll never know how grateful I am for what you sacrificed for Tabby.”
The shimmer of tears in the big man’s eyes struck me. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”
He took my hand in solidarity, as we both knew the same was true of him. “You don’t have to do this. You can come on vacation with us.”
Because I’d been impulsive in my previous decision to go confront Tabby’s predator, this time, I was honest with both of my parents about what I was doing.
“You know I can’t. Besides, Ruin knows my name, our names. Where we live. I‘ll never feel completely safe until he’s behind bars.” I could sleep better once I knew he was put away for good. Part of the reason my family was going on vacation was because I’d encouraged it to keep them out of harm’s way if anything went wrong.
“I believe in you,” he said and glanced down at his bum knee. The knee that forced him into early retirement. “I wish it could be me.”
I squeezed his hand. “You need to keep Mom and Tabby safe.”
That conversation would play over and over in my mind days later as I absorbed my current situation.
As required, I’d completed my training and been cleared for work. I’d been assigned to the Chicago area, which surprised me. Most times, new agents were assigned somewhere other than their home state, though they considered your choice of area. Here had been mine. On my very first day on the job, I’d sought out the special agent in charge. I’d laid out my idea on how to get Ruin.
Of course, my boss pointed out that it was too personal to me. I’d been ready for that question and explained all the ways it had to be me.
Ruin was careful. He wouldn’t trust a stranger. To put someone in my place to do the same thing would take months for that person to earn enough trust to possibly be put in Ruin’s orbit. I, on the other hand, already had that level of trust.
It would be easy for me to play up that I missed Ruin. You know, Stockholm syndrome. Ruin was enough of a narcissist to believe it. I could also come off as a junkie. I had been given drugs to keep me compliant at times during my captivity.
My boss was sold, but he put a team of senior agents in to put the op together. Things didn’t happen overnight. It would be several weeks of careful planning and every contingency put in place before today arrived.
Though it wouldn’t take me months to find him, it was going to take days or even a couple of weeks. I didn’t know where Ruin was. The plan was for me to go to strip clubs and toss out Ruin’s name to see if anyone bit.
It had been four days since my conversation with my dad when we hit pay dirt. I’d gone into a club on the south side of Chicago known to be frequented by criminals who would end up on the most wanted list. I’d made my pitch while looking stoned and sloppy drunk, asking for a score. When they predictably claimed they didn’t sell that, I’d dropped Ruin’s moniker.
“Ruin, huh,” the older barmaid asked, with a gravelly voice as if she was a chain smoker.
“Yeah, you know him?” I slurred.
“The question is, how do you know him?”
I feigned being unsteady on my feet and gave a loopy grin. “I was one of his favorite pets.”
“Is that so? What did he call you then?”
This is how I knew I’d found an in. Only someone who knew Ruin would know he named his pets. “He’d say bring me my panther,” I whispered conspiratorially.