Inside (Bulletproof 1)

“You need to calm down. You don’t know what you’re saying.”

He yanked on his tie, loosening it. “Yes, I do! I’ve told you what I can offer you. And I’m not just talking about a good living and professional success. You’re right—this isn’t all about our jobs. Would you really rather be with him than me? You’re that interested in screwing around with this murderer?”

Tension rolled off Virgil like a tsunami, making her fear where this might end. She grabbed his arm while she tried to placate Rick. “Let’s leave all the personal stuff out of this, okay? I called Virgil in here because I wanted to discuss Weston’s note. It’s his life on the line, not yours. He has a better feel for what’s happening, what the Hells Fury might do. He knows what to expect from gang members.” With her free hand, she gestured toward Weston’s note, which she’d set out on the desk before Virgil arrived. “I just wanted to show him what Jager gave me. See what he thought we should do. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

She thought he’d rant about the risk of exposure and blowing the whole operation, but he didn’t. “So you figured you’d start by showing him a little titty?”

Virgil jerked away from her. “That’s enough!”

“Stay out of this,” Rick said. “You have nothing to do with it.”

“You’ll see how much I have to do with it if you keep this up.”

They circled Peyton while she struggled to keep them apart. “Look, you’re both acting…crazy, okay?”

“I’m not acting crazy at all,” Rick said. “I’ve asked you both not to let your personal feelings interfere with the operation.”

“But it’s okay if your personal feelings interfere?” Virgil said.

Rick turned to her. “You had no good reason to bring him in here. You didn’t need to discuss that note with him. I’d already told you what to do.”

She couldn’t claim he hadn’t been clear because he had. “I was gathering more information. I want to be sure we’re making the right decision.”

His gaze dropped and she realized that her top button was still unfastened, partially exposing her bra—and Virgil’s medallion. “So it’s dangerous men who excite you, Peyton? That’s the secret? You’d rather whore for prison trash than have a legitimate relationship with an upstanding citizen? How many of the others guys in this prison have you done?”

Virgil’s chains rattled as he tried to circumvent her, but Peyton grabbed him again. She didn’t think he’d have much trouble punishing Wallace, even with his sutures and his hands cuffed. It was the consequences he’d suffer that she hoped to avoid. “No,” she told Virgil. “Don’t you see what he’s doing?”

Once again, he jerked loose of her grasp, but he didn’t advance on Wallace. “Of course I see it. I’m not going to hurt the little prick, even though he deserves it. What I am going to do is give him exactly what he wants.”

This seemed to surprise Rick. “Which is what?”

“The man who ordered the hit on Judge Garcia. And I’ll do it without making any deals with Weston Jager.”

That slowed Rick down. “Even if he can help you get inside?” he asked.

“If we trust him, it’s all over.”

“You can get in on your own?”

“That was the plan from the beginning, wasn’t it? I’m making progress with Buzz. I’ll get you the evidence to bust the HF for that judge’s murder. All you have to do is keep Laurel and the kids safe and leave Peyton alone.”

Rick gave him a dirty look. “Peyton is none of your affair.”

“Then unlock these.” Virgil held out his cuffed wrists. “I’ll find another way to protect Laurel and start a new life.”

Peyton was hoping Virgil would quit the operation. She reached into her briefcase and got the key, but Wallace stopped her. He’d already lost his marriage. He had to realize by now that he wasn’t going to get her. Why not hang on to what he’d originally hoped to accomplish with Operation Inside? Considering how much he cared about his career, that was better than nothing.

“Fine.” He shoved a hand through his hair, standing it upright, which made him look as crazy as he’d been acting. “Maybe you’re right. Let’s…let’s not be too hasty. We need to think this through.”

“I don’t need to think it through,” Virgil said. “I know what I want.”

Rick gestured to Peyton. “And what you want includes her.”

“If you can’t accept that, say so now, and we’ll make changes.”

A tense silence gripped the room. Virgil and Rick glared at each other; Peyton waited, holding her breath.

Finally Rick stretched the muscles in his neck as if he had a headache. “No, let’s finish it. That’s all we can do at this point.”

Virgil wasn’t quite so quick to agree. “There’ll be no second chances. You do or say anything to Peyton that I don’t like, and it’s over, you understand? I may be prison trash but I take care of my own.”

“If you think your relationship with her will last, you’re deluded,” Rick scoffed.

Virgil glanced at her. She detected a trace of uncertainty—he feared Rick was right—but he was determined not to betray how he felt. “You let me worry about that.”

“So we leave Weston in the SHU?” Rick clarified.

“That’s exactly what we do.”

The associate director smiled as if he couldn’t wait for everything to blow up in their faces. “Fine. Have it your way.”

Virgil grinned back at him but there wasn’t an ounce of amiability in it. “That’s how I like it.”

“Don’t be too sure of yourself,” Rick warned. “Your pals in The Crew tracked Eddie Glover down and shot him three times.”

Virgil’s muscles went taut. “No…”

“I wouldn’t lie about that.”

“Is he dead?” His voice sounded strangled.

“No. He’s going to make it.”

“Then The Crew must know where Virgil is,” Peyton said. “And you were aware of it.”

Rick lifted a hand as if asking her not to leap to conclusions. “Eddie swears he didn’t tell them where you are.”

“Then he didn’t,” Virgil said. “He wouldn’t hang me out to dry.”