Chapter 83: The Investigation Begins
Ben and Lip sat in Ben's car three blocks from Jimmy's expensive condo Thursday morning.
"This is stalking," Lip said, adjusting the camera with telephoto lens they'd borrowed from one of his MIT friends.
"This is reconnaissance. There's a difference." Ben's Danger Intuition hummed steadily—not screaming emergency but maintaining low warning that kept his attention focused on the threat. "We need evidence before Fiona will believe the scope of danger."
"She's meeting him for coffee this afternoon. Says she needs closure."
"She needs distance. But she won't accept that without proof."
Jimmy emerged from the building at 9:15 wearing another expensive suit. The car he climbed into—a BMW that probably cost more than Ben's entire shop inventory—screamed money that didn't come from honest work.
They followed at careful distance, Lip documenting locations and times while Ben drove. Jimmy made three stops—dry cleaner, restaurant where he picked up takeout order, finally parking at a café where he sat alone for an hour working on a laptop.
"What's he doing for income?" Lip muttered. "That car, that condo, those clothes—we're talking six figures minimum. He was car thief and grocery bagger when he left. Now he's living like investment banker."
"Working for the cartel," Ben said quietly. "They pay well when they own you."
At the fourth stop—gas station—Ben made his move. While Jimmy was inside paying, Ben used MacGyver Mind to assess the BMW quickly. Modern car, sophisticated electronics, but accessible to someone with his knowledge.
Audio bug. Small, battery-powered, transmits to receiver. Hide it under passenger seat where it won't be noticed.
Ninety seconds of work while Lip kept watch. The bug was installed, receiver synced to Ben's phone, just as Jimmy returned to his car.
"Got it?" Lip asked as they drove away.
"We're live. He talks, we listen."
Lip
The recordings started immediately.
Phone calls in English and Spanish, the latter too fast for Ben to follow. But one name appeared repeatedly: Estefania. And another: Nando.
"We need Mickey," Ben said after an hour of recordings. "He speaks Spanish fluently, knows cartel operations from his family's dealings. He can tell us what we're hearing."
They found Mickey at the Gallagher house watching TV with Ian.
"Need your help," Ben said without preamble. "Translation and cartel knowledge. Paid consultation."
Mickey's eyebrows rose. "How much?"
"Five hundred dollars for your time and silence."
"That's serious money for translation. What's the situation?"
"Fiona's ex-boyfriend is back. He's involved with cartel people. We need to know how deep and how dangerous."
Mickey went very still. "Cartel people. Like actual cartel, not just wannabe gangsters?"
"Actual cartel."
"Show me what you've got."
They went to the shop where they could work privately. Mickey listened to recordings, expression darkening with each conversation.
"Fuck," he finally said. "Your wife's ex is married to a cartel boss's daughter. Guy named Nando who runs operations out of Brazil. Jimmy's being forced to work for him—money laundering, transportation logistics, legitimate business fronts. This Estefania chick is his handler and warden."
"How dangerous?" Ben asked.
"Exponentially dangerous. These aren't street dealers—they're professional criminals with resources, connections, and no hesitation about violence." Mickey looked at Ben directly. "If they think your family is complication or leverage, they'll hurt you to control Jimmy. If Jimmy wants Fiona back and Estefania finds out—or worse, if Nando finds out—they might see you as obstacle that needs removing."
Lip went pale. "Ben's married to Fiona. That makes him the current husband who'd need to be... removed... for Jimmy to go back to her."
"Exactly." Mickey's tone was grim. "Your wife's ex-boyfriend is gonna get your whole family killed if you let him near them. This isn't neighborhood drama—this is cartel-level shit where people disappear and nobody asks questions."
Ben
Friday brought surveillance of Jimmy meeting Estefania.
Ben used his Illusion Power carefully—glamour making him appear as building maintenance worker in coveralls and work boots, face different enough not to register as himself. The power cost him headache and slight nausea, but he pushed through.
He positioned himself near the restaurant where Jimmy met a beautiful dark-haired woman. She was exactly as Ben remembered from the show—bored, dangerous, possessive. Armed too—Ben's Danger Intuition pinged the gun in her designer purse.
Their conversation drifted through open windows:
"You're distracted," Estefania said in accented English. "Thinking about her again."
"I'm not—"
"Don't lie. You went to her house. Saw she's married." Estefania's smile was sharp. "Does it hurt? Knowing she moved on?"
"I'm happy she's happy."
"Liar. You want her back. You think you can escape this marriage, escape my father, run away with your first love." She leaned forward. "If you try, I tell Papi. He makes examples of people who try to leave. Examples their families see on the news."
Jimmy went pale. "I'm not trying anything."
"Good. Because I like you, but I like my father's approval more. Don't make me choose."
Ben photographed them together, recorded the conversation, documented the threat. When Estefania left—flanked by two men who were obviously security—Ben followed at safe distance.
She led him to a different condo, high-security building with cameras and guards. The cartel's Chicago operations base, most likely. Ben memorized the location, the security setup, the patterns.
This is worse than the show. In canon, Jimmy/Steve was complication for Fiona's relationship with "Officer Cop" Tony. Here, he's complication for marriage to me—man who has resources, skills, and ability to be actual threat to cartel operations if I choose.
They won't ignore that. If they perceive me as obstacle, I become target.
That evening, Ben played the recordings for Lip and Mickey in the shop office.
Estefania's threat—"examples their families see on the news"—hung in the air.
"You have to tell Fiona," Lip said. "She's meeting him tomorrow for coffee. She deserves to know what she's walking into."
"She'll think I'm being controlling. That I investigated her ex because I'm jealous, not because he's genuinely dangerous."
"So you show her the evidence. Recordings, photos, Mickey's assessment. Let the facts speak."
"The facts say I went behind her back to spy on her ex-boyfriend. She's going to be furious regardless of what I found."
Mickey lit a cigarette, thoughtful. "Marriage is about trust. You investigated because you sensed danger—that's your power and your responsibility. But doing it secretly instead of explaining why? That's breach of trust. You're about to face consequences for that."
"I know." Ben rubbed his face, exhausted. "But I also know she's in danger. Jimmy wanting her back plus Estefania's jealousy plus cartel enforcement equals Fiona in crosshairs. I can't let that happen."
"So you tell her tonight," Lip decided. "Before she meets Jimmy tomorrow. Give her the evidence, explain the danger, let her make informed decision about whether to keep seeing him."
"And deal with fallout of going behind her back."
"Yeah. But better that than her getting hurt because you kept quiet."
Ben looked at the recordings, the photos, the evidence of cartel danger wrapped around Jimmy like barbed wire. His wife was scheduled to have coffee tomorrow with a man whose cartel handler had explicitly threatened to make examples of families.
No choice. She has to know. Even if it costs me trust, even if she's furious, even if it damages what we built. Her safety comes first.
Always.
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