leukemia. He understood that Travis had the disease and would probably die, but after Travis went on experimental drugs, he deteriorated and died three months sooner than the doctor’s worst prognosis.
“Shit, Colton—”
“That’s why I need you. The next step of the plan—we need to get into PBM.”
“And where does Paxton fit in?”
“I couldn’t do it alone—the cost of the equipment alone is astronomical.”
“But you’ve been doing well.”
Colton shrugged.
“You’ve given your money away.”
“Maybe a little too much.”
Colton had always been generous to a fault. Other than the carriage house on the Upper East Side, he’d never spent money on himself. He never forgot his roots in South Boston, even though he’d painstakingly worked to lose the accent. With Colton, it was feast or famine.
“Tell me,” Sean said. A sick feeling crowded the beer in his stomach. If Colton was playing games with Paxton, this would not end well for anyone. “What’s Paxton’s plan?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Then I can’t help you.” Sean had to be willing to walk. If he didn’t, Colton would be suspicious.
Sean drained his beer.
Colton looked panicked. “I need you.”
“You just said you trusted me. If that’s true, then I need to know your game plan. I’m not going to risk my freedom. I’m not the same arrogant, reckless kid I was in college.”
“It’s sensitive right now. I’ll tell you everything tomorrow night, once I put the rest of the pieces together.”
“How do you know Paxton is the only one involved?”
“I don’t care if he has a whole gang of senators, none of them know about me. ”
“You can’t be certain.”
“Sean, I just told you I can take down PBM and you’re squabbling about irrelevant details.”
“Not so irrelevant if we want to live free when this is all over. I don’t want to lose what I have.”
“It’s your girlfriend, isn’t it?”
Sean hadn’t lied about his relationship with Lucy because it would have been too easy to verify, and no way would Sean break it off for this operation. If he broke it off without telling Lucy why, he’d hurt her deeply. And if he brought her into the plan and faked a breakup, she would constantly worry about him and jeopardize her graduation. He didn’t know how long Colton had been keeping tabs on him—it could have been since they’d parted nine years ago or only during the last few months. But either way, Sean had to assume that Colton knew everything about him—which was why he had had to officially, and publicly, leave RCK.
“I told you when I agreed to help that Lucy is off-limits.”
“It’s never going to work between you and her,” Colton said.
Sean’s jaw tightened. “I said—”
“Sean, I know you better than anyone. We might not have kept in touch since—”
“Another off-limits subject.” He didn’t want to discuss what had happened after he destroyed Martin Holdings.
“I know what drives you. I know what keeps you getting up each and every day. No federal agent is going to understand that the system doesn’t work. That people like us are necessary.”
“First, you don’t know Lucy. You don’t know what drives her. She’s not even interested in white-collar or cybercrime; she’s driven to put sex offenders and killers in prison. Something I can get behind and support. Sometimes, the system does work.”
“Then why did you agree to come back?”
“You know why.” He hadn’t spoken to Duke since he quit. He’d talked to Patrick a couple of times, helping him adjust to being a solo operation, but Sean wasn’t going to talk to Duke. Sean didn’t even know if he wanted to talk to Duke when it was all over, but he’d figure that out later.
Breaking with RCK was necessary, but his emotions were still raw. Sean had been acting. Duke hadn’t. Rick Stockton felt it was absolutely essential that no one at RCK know about the undercover operation.
“I’m really
“Shit, Colton—”
“That’s why I need you. The next step of the plan—we need to get into PBM.”
“And where does Paxton fit in?”
“I couldn’t do it alone—the cost of the equipment alone is astronomical.”
“But you’ve been doing well.”
Colton shrugged.
“You’ve given your money away.”
“Maybe a little too much.”
Colton had always been generous to a fault. Other than the carriage house on the Upper East Side, he’d never spent money on himself. He never forgot his roots in South Boston, even though he’d painstakingly worked to lose the accent. With Colton, it was feast or famine.
“Tell me,” Sean said. A sick feeling crowded the beer in his stomach. If Colton was playing games with Paxton, this would not end well for anyone. “What’s Paxton’s plan?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Then I can’t help you.” Sean had to be willing to walk. If he didn’t, Colton would be suspicious.
Sean drained his beer.
Colton looked panicked. “I need you.”
“You just said you trusted me. If that’s true, then I need to know your game plan. I’m not going to risk my freedom. I’m not the same arrogant, reckless kid I was in college.”
“It’s sensitive right now. I’ll tell you everything tomorrow night, once I put the rest of the pieces together.”
“How do you know Paxton is the only one involved?”
“I don’t care if he has a whole gang of senators, none of them know about me. ”
“You can’t be certain.”
“Sean, I just told you I can take down PBM and you’re squabbling about irrelevant details.”
“Not so irrelevant if we want to live free when this is all over. I don’t want to lose what I have.”
“It’s your girlfriend, isn’t it?”
Sean hadn’t lied about his relationship with Lucy because it would have been too easy to verify, and no way would Sean break it off for this operation. If he broke it off without telling Lucy why, he’d hurt her deeply. And if he brought her into the plan and faked a breakup, she would constantly worry about him and jeopardize her graduation. He didn’t know how long Colton had been keeping tabs on him—it could have been since they’d parted nine years ago or only during the last few months. But either way, Sean had to assume that Colton knew everything about him—which was why he had had to officially, and publicly, leave RCK.
“I told you when I agreed to help that Lucy is off-limits.”
“It’s never going to work between you and her,” Colton said.
Sean’s jaw tightened. “I said—”
“Sean, I know you better than anyone. We might not have kept in touch since—”
“Another off-limits subject.” He didn’t want to discuss what had happened after he destroyed Martin Holdings.
“I know what drives you. I know what keeps you getting up each and every day. No federal agent is going to understand that the system doesn’t work. That people like us are necessary.”
“First, you don’t know Lucy. You don’t know what drives her. She’s not even interested in white-collar or cybercrime; she’s driven to put sex offenders and killers in prison. Something I can get behind and support. Sometimes, the system does work.”
“Then why did you agree to come back?”
“You know why.” He hadn’t spoken to Duke since he quit. He’d talked to Patrick a couple of times, helping him adjust to being a solo operation, but Sean wasn’t going to talk to Duke. Sean didn’t even know if he wanted to talk to Duke when it was all over, but he’d figure that out later.
Breaking with RCK was necessary, but his emotions were still raw. Sean had been acting. Duke hadn’t. Rick Stockton felt it was absolutely essential that no one at RCK know about the undercover operation.
“I’m really
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