Chapter 114: A Dangerous Discovery

Gyran's POV

I'd been working at Sentinel for three weeks when I noticed something strange. There was a file on Patricia's desk that I wasn't supposed to see but I caught a glimpse of it when I was dropping off some reports. The name on the tab was Valentino.

The Valentinos were another mafia family based out of Chicago. They'd been trying to expand into our territory for years. Seeing their name on a file at my legitimate security job made my stomach drop.

I didn't say anything that day but I started paying more attention. Patricia took a lot of calls in her office with the door closed. Some of our client assessments seemed to focus more on gathering information than actually improving security. And whenever I mentioned the Junkies in casual conversation people got very interested.

It took me another week to confirm what I suspected. I stayed late one night and went through Patricia's office when everyone else had gone home. I found files on at least five different mafia families including the Junkies. There were detailed reports on operations, territories, and key players. This wasn't a security firm. It was an intelligence operation.

I took pictures of everything with my phone and got out of there. When I got home, Evelyn was already asleep, so I went to my office and looked through the photos. Sentinel Security Solutions was owned by a shell company that traced back to the Valentino family. They'd been using the firm to gather intelligence on their rivals for years. And they'd hired me because they wanted insider information on the Junkies.

I called Braydon even though it was almost midnight.

"This better be important," he answered.

"It is. I need you to come over right now."

He showed up twenty minutes later looking worried. I brought him into my office and showed him the photos on my computer.

"What am I looking at?" he asked.

"Proof that my new job is a front for the Valentino family. They're using the security firm to spy on other mafia operations including ours."

Braydon leaned closer to the screen. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. They hired me because they want information on the Junkies."

"Do they know you found out?"

"No. I was careful. But we need to figure out what to do about this."

Braydon sat back and ran his hands through his hair. "You need to quit. If they find out you know they'll kill you."

"Or I could stay and use this to our advantage."

"How?"

"They want information on us so I give them information. False information. I feed them bad intel, and they make moves based on it, and we're ready for them."

Braydon looked at me like I was crazy. "That's incredibly dangerous. If they figure out you're playing them you're dead. And probably Evelyn too."

"They won't figure it out if we're smart about it."

"I don't know man. This seems like a bad idea."

"What's the alternative? I quit and they know something's wrong? Or I stay and pretend I don't know anything and they actually get real intel on us?"

He didn't have an answer for that. We sat there in silence for a few minutes.

"If we do this we need rules," Braydon said finally. "You can't give them anything that could actually hurt our people. And you need to be careful. One slip and this whole thing falls apart."

"I know."

"And we need to tell Marcus and the other senior guys. They need to know what's happening."

"Agreed."

"Also Evelyn needs to know."

I hadn't thought about that part. Evelyn thought I had a safe legitimate job.

"I'll tell her tomorrow," I said.

"Tell me what?"

We both jumped. Evelyn was standing in the doorway in her pajamas looking confused and annoyed.

"How long have you been there?" I asked.

"Long enough. What's going on Gyran?"

Braydon stood up. "I should go."

"Don't leave on my account," Evelyn said. "Just tell me what's happening."

So I told her everything. About discovering the files and realizing Sentinel was a front for the Valentinos. About them wanting me to spy on the Junkies. About our plan to feed them false information.

She listened to the whole thing without interrupting, and her face got angrier as I talked.

"So your legitimate job that was supposed to get you out of the mafia life is actually a mafia job," she said when I finished.

"Yeah."

"And instead of quitting you want to stay and become a double agent."

"It's not that dramatic."

"It sounds pretty dramatic to me. You're talking about lying to a criminal organization that will kill you if they find out."

"I'll be careful."

"You can't be careful enough. This is insane."

We spent the next hour going over everything. Evelyn asked questions about how we'd make it work and what the risks were. Braydon and I tried to answer honestly but we didn't have all the details figured out yet.

"I don't like this," Evelyn said finally. "But I understand why you think it's necessary. Just promise me you'll be smart about it."

"I promise."

"And if things start to go wrong you get out immediately. Your life is more important."

"Okay."

She looked at Braydon. "You'll watch his back?"

"Of course. We'll set up regular check-ins."

"Fine. But I'm not happy about this."

After Braydon left, Evelyn and I went to bed, but neither of us could sleep. We just lay there in the dark.

"I thought we were done with this stuff," Evelyn said quietly. "I thought we were building a normal life."

"We are. This is just one more thing we have to deal with."

"There's always one more thing Gyran. When does it end?"

I didn't have an answer for that. Maybe it never ended. Maybe this was just who we were.

"I love you," I said.

"I love you too. Even when you make terrible decisions.”