“Technically, but— that’s not important right now!” I snapped, pissed he was getting me off track. “The point is, I have a way out for you, and if you do as I ask, I can get you out of this.”
“There’s no getting away from them. I was stupid,” she sighed. “Even if I give back the case, they won’t let me go.”
“I know, which is why you need me.”
There was a spark of hope in her eyes. “How?”
“I have papers. A new identity for you. All I need you to do is get me inside DeLuca’s apartment.”
“Are you insane?” she shouted, her eyes growing wide. “If I do that, they’ll kill me on the spot!”
“They won’t because you’re going to stall. Tell them you have information they need. And while you’re doing that, I’ll sneak in and get blackmail on DeLuca.”
She tried to jerk out of my grasp, but I held her tight. “They won’t let me live long enough to tell them anything I know!”
“Yes, they will when you tell them it’s about a missing shipment of cocaine.”
“But I don’t know anything! I can’t stall long enough to keep them from putting a bullet in my head.”
“I have the information, and itwillbe enough,” I stressed. “This is your only way out. If you do this, you’ll live. If you don’t, you won’t be able to run far enough or stay hidden long enough to enjoy what little freedom you have.”
I knew I had her. She could see this was her only way out, and if she didn’t do as I asked, she would be dead by the end of the week. Resignation filled her eyes as she nodded slowly.
“You have papers? Real papers? Not the fake stuff that won’t even get me on a plane?”
“Everything. I can show it to you first.”
Biting her lip, she nodded, taking the first step toward the house. Her arm trembled in my grip, but she wasn’t crying, which meant that she was at least considering what I had to say. That was something.
As we walked inside, she ducked her head. “Just let me get cleaned up. I’ll be right out.”
I nodded, then signaled for Sinner to get the paperwork. She needed to see that she had a way out. Words would only get me so far.
By the time she returned from the bathroom, Sinner was back with the paperwork in hand. Pulling out the documents, he handed them over to her. She picked at them, studied them, until finally, she nodded.
“They look real.”
“That’s because I know a guy who does this for a living. Trust me, these will get you anywhere you need to go.”
Taking a deep breath, she shook her head, handing the papers back. “I can’t do it.”
“Alicia, this is your only way out,” I pressed.
Lifting her head, she stared me square in the eyes. “And I’m dead if I walk through those doors. It’s not just about the case. I was with DeLuca.”
“I know.”
“He knows me. He won’t believe for a second that I have information that I’m willing to hand over.”
“Not even in exchange for your life?”
“Not even that.”
That didn’t make any sense. “Why?”
“Because he knows if I had that information, I would have used it sooner. I never would have stolen the case.”
“Maybe you got it after,” I said in frustration.