I arch a brow. “Not yet? What the hell does that mean?”
“It means,” Seth says, “that we believe Martina’s visit this morning was about him trying to draw you into his circle.”
“The man has a god complex,” Nick adds. “He believes he can mend all, and do all, including your resistance to this partnership. Emily won’t be in danger until he decides you’re a problem he can’t solve by simply including you, where Derek has excluded you.”
My jaw sets hard. “Then, as I’ve already stated, we need to get him the hell out of my company before that happens.”
“I agree one hundred percent,” Nick quickly says, “which is what we want to talk about today.”
“Let me summarize what we’ve done thus far,” Seth interjects, sliding a folder to me. “This is all inside the file if you want to follow along.”
“Just get to it,” I say, eager to hear solutions, not problems.
“We have a paid informant inside the locker rooms at Mike’s ball club, as well as for the one associated with Brody Matthews. We also pulled records on Ridel, the drug that we assume is being used to package an illegal performance-enhancing drug. We’ve found prescriptions have doubled since last year’s records, with a concentration in Colorado.”
My lips thin. “A drug that is all but retired has doubled in usage. Were the users athletes?”
“We’re still working on that,” Seth replies. “As well as looking closely at the doctors and medical clinics involved.”
“And while doubling in numbers sounds big,” Nick adds, “the numbers are still extremely low. This is good news, as I doubt Martina would be involving you if he planned to localize Sub-Zero. He’ll plan a wider release, which we have no reason to believe has happened as of now.”
I think of the video Seth obtained of after-hours packages being moved out of our Boulder division. “What about the transportation division?”
“They may be testing it out,” he replies. “Using it to supply these doctors, or for other substances.”
“That is way too deep into our operation for comfort,” I say. “What if one of those trucks gets stopped?”
“Which is all the more reason to shake things up now, not later,” Nick says. “Adrian wants to rule the world. He’s power hungry, savvy, and smart, which makes him dangerous, but it also means he doesn’t make stupid mistakes. If we can give him cold feet, I’m of the opinion Adrian will be forced to pull out. If he doesn’t, and his father gets word of what’s happening, he’ll yank him out of here himself. And believe you me, Adrian doesn’t want that to happen.”
“Cut to the chase,” I say. “What’s the proposed plan?”
Nick and Seth exchange a look, with Seth delivering my answer. “We stage a raid of both the main BP facility and the Boulder warehouse in unison. We’ll do them late at night when there are limited employees present.”
Nick quickly adds, “We believe that this is the kind of heat that will get Adrian’s attention, especially this early in the Martina-Brandon relationship. Will that be enough to get him to pull out? We can’t promise it will be, but this is only step one of a two-part plan.”
I am not ready to move away from step one. “Who would do these raids?”
“Obviously we need it to appear official,” Nick says, “but we have to tread cautiously. Pretending to be an agent when you aren’t is a federal offense.”
“But I have a solution to that problem,” Nick quickly offers. “And his name is Ted Michaels. He’s an active agent that contracts for me.”
I flick a hard look between them. “Are we really going down this path again? I told you both no Feds.”
“He’ll run the raid off the books, and after hours,” Nick assures me. “He’s a good man, and we can trust him.”
“Define ‘off the books,’” I say, far from ready to say yes. “And if he’s trustworthy, why is he operating off the books at all?”
“Tragedy and necessity,” he replies. “His sister had a DUI accident and ended up paralyzed.”
I narrow my eyes on Nick, looking for where this goes south. “What about insurance?”
“She was the drunk driver and her own victim. Insurance isn’t covering anywhere near the special care she needs. In other words, Ted needs money, and since this is not something he’d normally do, it’s going to cost you.”
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand,” he says.
I whistle. “That’s a big number for a one-hour operation with no guaranteed outcome.”
“I’ve checked out Ted,” Seth says, sliding a thumb drive in front of me. “That includes my notes, his personal history, as well as my live interview with him earlier today. He gets my thumbs-up.”
“Even if I agree,” I say cautiously, slipping the drive into my jacket pocket, “aren’t there repercussions to Ted for doing this off the record, and still using his badge?”
“There could be,” Nick agrees, “thus the price tag, but we have a plan if this ever surfaces to cover his ass.”
He stops there, as if I’d actually let him get away with telling me nothing more. “Go on,” I press. “Because if he’s busted, the FBI is then linked to my facility.”
“We’re covered and so are you,” Nick says firmly. “We’re contracted by the Feds on several Most Wanted List cases. It’s known he works for me on a contract basis because of his sister’s situation. We’re going to tell them we were on a case that led us to your facility. With reasonable cause, Ted made the decision to lead my team inside. That story also covers any press that might arise out of this.”
I shake my head. “No. I don’t like the Feds being involved at all. And I’m damn sure not paying fifty thousand dollars to invite them into my facility.”
Seth leans in closer. “Think about this, Shane. You need to shake Martina loose, and it’s better to do this on your terms, not someone else’s.”
I bite back another rejection, reminding myself Martina is a problem we might not survive, quite literally. “You said you want to do the raids here and in Boulder, in unison. Ted’s one man. He can’t be in two places at once and this Most Wanted List idea won’t hold water for multiple locations. He can’t chase someone into two of my locations. Not without implying we’re sheltering fugitives.”
“That’s where I come into play,” Seth says. “I’ll go to Boulder, report an insider tip about a raid that never materializes, but everyone will scramble and I’ll get a bird’s-eye view.”
My mind goes back to this morning. “Martina assured me there is nothing to find in my buildings.”
“It’s not about what we find,” Nick responds. “It’s about him thinking the FBI is looking into you, which leads to him.”
I lean back in my chair, considering all they’ve said, but not ready to make a decision. “I’ll think about it. What else?”