Page 166 of What Started In Deception

“Let’s give it a couple more minutes.”

Ty nodded, even when Mason couldn’t see him. “Sure.”

Will rushed to his feet and immediately started pacing across the area rug, clearly as on edge as he was.

Ty pushed the mute button on his phone. “We have to trust this guy. He’s supposed to be a good agent.”

Will nodded as he continued to move. “I just—It’s starting to sink in that if Richard doesn’t show, I’m probably a dead man. I guess it’s a good thing that Mac left—that the kids aren’t here. Look what I’ve done, Ty. Look at the danger I’ve caused my family.”

Ty forced himself to take a deep breath and get his shit together. He was the one who knew how this game worked and needed to keep Will calm. “He’s going to show up. He’s smart, so he’ll wait. He’ll have his lookouts searching for cops, making sure he’s not about to get popped.”

Will looked at him, still pacing. “You sound like a cop again, man.”

It was so tempting to just tell Will the truth, but he shook his head instead. “It’s just common sense.”

“The truck’s nearly there,” Mason said as Will’s cell phone started to ring on the coffee table.

Ty looked at the readout. “It’s Russo.”

“Oh fuck,” Will said as he instantly paled.

“Russo’s calling,” Ty said to Mason, taking them off mute. “Calm down and answer,” he told Will. “He probably knows you’re not there yet. You’ll tell him that you’re right up the road. By the diner.”

Will nodded as he grabbed his phone and answered. “Hey, man. Yeah, I’m right up the road. I’m passing that little diner on 3A right now. I’ll see you in just a minute.” Will hung up with trembling hands.

“That was good,” Ty said.

Will shook his head. “What if he didn’t buy it? What if he knows that I’m right here?”

“He doesn’t.” And he knew that for a fact because after they got back from dealing with the mess that they’d made at the warehouse, he’d used one of the cars in the garage to drive around the area throughout the day, making sure that no one was keeping an eye on the compound.

“We’re sending in the decoy,” Mason told them.

“Okay,” Ty said, letting his leg bob up and down again, needing to get rid of his restless energy.

“The decoy’s one block from the storage unit. He just picked up a tail.”

Ty nodded as Will continued to pace, knowing that a tail in this situation was normal. Millions of dollars were at stake for Russo and Michael Giordano.

“The decoy’s pulling up in front of the storage building. Russo just pulled in, too,” Mason said with unmistakable excitement. “The decoy just tossed up a casual wave from the driver’s seat in the shadows. Where’s the fucking truck?” Mason said to someone else on his comms.

“Come on,” Ty whispered as things started getting dicey. If the truck didn’t hurry the fuck up, their pretend Will would have no choice but to get out of his car and make contact with Russo.

“The truck’s pulling in,” Mason said with unmistakable relief. “Holy fuck. Holy fuck. Giordano’s with Russo. He and Russo just got out of the car. Go, go, go!” Mason yelled into his comms, and all hell broke loose on the other end of the phone as law enforcement vehicles squawked, and ‘Get down on the ground!’ was yelled by numerous people.

Time stood still while Ty waited for confirmation from Mason that all was well.

“What’s going on, man?” Will asked as sweat dribbled down his temples while he paced a frantic path.

“They’re securing the scene—making sure no one gets hurt.”

“We’ve got them!” Mason came back on. “Giordano, Russo, a bunch of their guys, and a truckload of heroine. Holy fuck, Ty!”

Ty closed his eyes as he let his shoulders relax. “This is good.”

“Are you kidding? This is great! Holy fuck,” Mason said again. “We’re throwing cuffs on our decoy, too, so it looks like he’s busted. They’ve just put him in the back of a police car.”

Ty nodded, appreciating the extra measure to further protect Will from any suspicion. “Sounds good. I’ll let you go. I know you’ve got a lot of work to do.”