Nate's POV
Half an hour later at the CSI parking lot, my team clustered near the entrance, jackets half-on, weapons holstered but hands restless. Ryan was pacing agitated and rubbed his face in frustration. "That's it?" he demanded the moment he saw my face. " I mean, that
Sophie folded her arms. "You look… altered."
"I'm fine," I said automatically, and the defense mode was already up.
Clara didn't buy it, and I watched as she studied me the way she studied crime scenes,s not what was obvious, but what didn't fit. "You didn't answer the question Ryan asked.
I exhaled. "Lets all talk back in the office."
Ryan stopped pacing. "That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting right now." I snapped, and my mood was getting worse by the minute.
We moved as a unit into the CSI building, where it hummed with fluorescent lights, distant keyboards, radios crackling with background noise, and we all ended up in the conference room that waited for us like a mouth.
Ryan threw his jacket over a chair the second we entered. "Someone explain to me why this case suddenly feels like we're the ones being profiled."
Clara dropped her bag on the table. "Because we fucking are."
Sophie pulled up the files on the screen. "He anticipated jurisdictional pressure, procedural resistance, and personnel psychology and ensured he only met you alone, Cap.
Ryan frowned. "He?"
"Yes," she said. "Him."
Ryan ran a hand through his hair. "That's not cooperation, that's premeditation."
The intercom buzzed, and we all froze.
"Captain Cole," the receptionist said carefully, "you have a visitor."
"Who?" Clara asked.
The pause was deliberate. "Enzo Vitale."
Ryan barked out a laugh. "No. Absolutely not."
"He doesn't have clearance," Clara said.
"Yes, he does," the receptionist replied. "Legal verified. He's… very persuasive."
Of course, he was, "Send him in," I responded.
Clara turned on me. "Cap—"
"I said send him in."
The door opened, and Enzo Vitale entered like he'd been invited weeks ago. Tailored charcoal suit, polished shoes that made no sound on the floor, and he carried a briefcase identical to the one on our table.
He smiled. "Captain Cole," he said smoothly. "I trust your meeting was enlightening with my client, Adrian Blackwood.
Ryan muttered, "I already hate this guy."
Enzo's gaze flicked to him briefly, sharply, then returned to me. "That's understandable."
Sophie stepped forward. "You followed us."
"No," Enzo said pleasantly. "I arrived ahead of you."
Clara crossed her arms. "You can't just walk into a federal building."
Enzo smiled. "You'd be surprised what paperwork can accomplish."
"You drafted this before we finished negotiations," Sophie said, tapping the folder.
"Yes."
"So you assumed compliance."
"No," Enzo replied. "We prepared for inevitability, but Mr. Blackwood never loses."
Ryan scoffed. "Arrogant."
"Efficient," Enzo corrected. "Arrogance would be assuming you had a choice."
The room tightened.
Clara's voice went cold. "You're dictating operational terms."
"No," Enzo said. "Mr. Blackwood is defining survival parameters."
Ryan leaned back. "From prison."
Enzo tilted his head. "Prison is merely geography; it does not stop him from being who he is. That is why you all approached him for a co-operation as he is who he is, and no one stops him from being a Blackwood who has powers and resources."
That landed harder than it should have.
I stepped forward. "Once signed, cooperation is immediate."
"Yes."
"Full intelligence."
"Yes."
"No manipulation or tricks or whatever traps"
Enzo smiled faintly. "That depends on your definition."
Sophie snapped, "Don't play semantics."
"I don't," Enzo replied. "I play outcomes, and Mr. Blackwood pays me well."
Clara studied him. "You're isolating communication to Captain Cole."
"Yes."
"Why?" Ryan demanded.
Enzo's eyes returned to me. "Because Mr. Blackwood trusts him and wants to deal with only him. Those are his terms of the co-operation."
The room went silent.
Ryan stared at me. "That's not reassuring."
"It's deliberate," Sophie murmured in annoyance and rolled her eyes.
Clara's voice sharpened. "Trust implies leverage."
"Only if misused," Enzo said calmly. Too calm for our own good.
"And you never misuse leverage?" Ryan shot back.
Enzo smiled wider. "Only when necessary."
I clenched my jaw. "What happens if we refuse?"
Enzo didn't hesitate. "Mr. Blackwood remains silent."
"And people die," Sophie said flatly.
"Yes," Enzo replied. "That would be unfortunate."
Clara's eyes flashed. "You're comfortable with that?"
"I'm realistic," Enzo said. "Mr. Blackwood did not create violence; he understands it."
Ryan muttered, "That's one hell of a rebrand."
Enzo snapped his briefcase open and slid out a thin file. "We've already identified three expansion points in the network you're tracking."
Sophie stiffened. "That information isn't public."
"No," Enzo agreed. "It isn't."
Clara leaned forward. "You're already inside our case."
"Yes."
Ryan looked at me. "He's not bluffing."
I knew it. I knew that Adrian had a plan, and this plan included me,e and he was showing it to everyone. "Why now?" I asked.
Enzo closed the briefcase. "Because Mr. Blackwood is… bored." That chilled me more than any threat. "He enjoys complexity," Enzo continued. "And Captain Cole presents an interesting variable, and that means that you are the ones who need him and not the other way round. "
Ryan scoffed. "Lucky you."
Enzo paused at the door. "One more thing." Every nerve in my body tightened.
"Mr. Blackwood asked me to pass along a message to Captain Cole," Enzo pressed on.
I didn't blink. "What message?"
Enzo's eyes locked on mine. "He said: Tell Captain Cole that curiosity is dangerous but irresistible."
The room went dead quiet, and then Enzo smiled politely and left. The door clicked shut, and the elephant in the room grew into a large size that could not be taken down.
Ryan exhaled slowly. "He didn't even need to be here to intimidate all of us."
Sophie whispered, "He's already inside the fucking room."
Clara looked at me. "He's playing you."
I swallowed. "He's playing the board."
"And you're a piece," Ryan said softly.
I closed the folder. "No." They all looked at me. "I'm the hand." But even as I said it, doubt curled in my gut, and because Adrian Blackwood hadn't spoken a single word in this building, and yet every move we'd made tonight, and every fucking breath suffocated me to the core.
" Fuck" I cursed inwardly as he had already been accounted for, and I knew, with a certainty that unsettled me to my core: This wasn't about intelligence anymore, it was about fucking control, and Adrian Blackwood had just tightened his grip.