Gentling the Cowboy

by Ruth Cardello

  A young boy, maybe fifteen, sauntered over to the thug with a cocky attitude. His athletic shorts fell to mid-calf as he hiked them up over plaid boxers. The thug nodded his head to the nearby ice cream cone stand. The kid and the thug walked over, got in line and started talking.

  She had been tracking this thug for weeks. He was a drug soldier for Juan Carlos’s gang. About six months ago, Annie’s team at the DEA had been notified by an ER doctor of his suspicions of a new drug being pushed to kids, a drug that caused heart attacks in young, athletic boys. Annie investigated and found all the victims were local high school football players ranging in age from fourteen to eighteen.

  Then, two weeks ago, she got a call from the same ER doctor. A kid was admitted for collapsing during a friendly football game. She rushed to the ER and interviewed the kid before he went in for heart surgery. She had been told of Diego, the friendly neighborhood drug dealer. She had tracked him to this beach as his primary place of dealing while the kids were out on summer break.

  She adjusted her dark pink sarong to make sure the small Sig 9mm Mosquito that was tucked into her pale pink bikini bottoms was hidden from view. The last thing she needed was for someone to see her walking down the beach with a gun. She pulled her long, red hair from the ponytail and shook it out. The guys told her they liked seeing long hair dancing in the breeze, so she went with it. She pushed up her breasts so they were almost spilling out of her triangle top. She was pretty sure Diego wouldn’t become suspicious of a big-breasted, beach bimbo.

  “Geezus, Blake! You trying to garner attention? You’re supposed to be undercover,” her earpiece crackled. Annie looked past the ice cream stand to the ice truck parked in the lot. She gave the DEA agents who filled the truck along with surveillance equipment a little wink.

  Annie gave one last toss of the hair and started walking across the beach to the ice cream stand. Her voluptuous hips swayed, and her breasts teetered precariously in her top as she banked the intelligence behind her dark green eyes. Diego and the kid had just bought their cones and were now standing to the side of the ice cream stand. She headed right toward them and gave Diego a sultry smile when he looked up and saw her.

  “Hey,” she bit down seductively on her pouty, lower lip. “I heard you were the man to contact if I wanted to score,” she winked.

  “Dios mio. I would love to help you, but I don’t sell what you’re looking for.”

  “But, I was told you were the man. That you could give a girl anything she wants.” Annie paused, “Well, how about whatever you’re giving the kid. Maybe that can hold me over until I find a real man to give me what I want.”

  “Oh, lady, you’re killing me. This stuff is for athletes. How about you both meet me here tomorrow at two?” Diego turned to the kid, “You bring your buddies. Tell them it’s five hundred a vial.” Annie bit her lip again in a pout and wrapped some of her straight hair around her finger. “And you, hmm,” he said to her as he rubbed his crotch, or what she guessed to be his crotch. She couldn’t tell where anything was under his baggy shorts. “You meet me here, too. I will get something special for you. Three hundred.” He gave one last rub to his crotch and started walking down the beach, holding up his shorts as he went.

  “Good job, Blake. We lost sight of the kid. Do you have eyes on him?”

  “Yeah, he’s with five other boys, ages fifteen to seventeen. Looks like they’re going to be playing a little beach football.” She lay down on her towel and pulled out her camera. She snapped some photos of the beach and then swung the camera around and got some photos of the boys. She zoomed in on the t-shirt of one of the boys with the name of a local high school football team. Bingo.

  “Hey, sexy, how about we put that camera to good use?”

  “Get lost, jackass.”

  “Aw, don’t hate the player, hate the game.”

  She looked up at the muscled beach bum, “How about I hate both. Now get lost, I’m not going to have sex with you now or ever.” He looked stunned at the rejection and slowly walked off towards his next victim.

  “Ouch, Blake. We thought you were a bitch because you couldn’t get laid.”

  “Bite me.”

  “With pleasure.”

  “The boys are leaving.” She watched as they started to walk toward a minivan that had just pulled up and honked its horn.

  “Copy that. Go home. Same place and time tomorrow.”

  Annie stood up, rolled up her towel, and stuffed it into her beach bag. She closed her eyes for a second and felt warm rays of the evening sun on her face. She’d have to try to make it to the beach more often.

  Annie reached her one bedroom apartment in twenty minutes. She unlocked the deadbolt and threw her bag down on the chair in the living room. She placed her gun in the safe and walked into the small kitchen that overlooked the living room. The walls were white, as she’d never bothered painting them. This wasn’t her home. It was just a place to live.

  She opened the freezer and pulled out a Lean Cuisine at random. She tore open the box and tossed it into the microwave. As she walked through the living room, she turned the TV on to the Dolphins’ exhibition game and headed for the shower. Tomorrow she’d be one step closer to bringing down this drug ring.

  *

  Annie was worried that her gun might not work if she sweated on it anymore. The sun was so hot on her skin that the sweat running down her spine was cascading around her Sig tucked securely in her lavender bikini bottoms.

  She saw the kid and his buddies eyeing the ice cream stand and decided it was close enough to the meeting time to head up there. Diego hadn’t shown yet, but he could be waiting for them. She tied her hair back into a ponytail and slipped off her flip flops. She needed to be able to run if anything happened.

  Annie saw the second the kid recognized her. He ribbed his buddies and they all stared. Maybe she should have worn a one piece. She was meeting with kids after all. But, Diego really liked her bikini so the tiny bikini won out.

  “Hola, senorita. Let me take care of these kids and us adults can talk,” Diego said, appearing suddenly beside her as he ran his hand slowly down her arm. “Hey, kid. You all got the funds?”

  “Yup, twenty-five hundred, just like you asked for.” The kid handed a plastic shopping bag over to Diego who in return handed over his own shopping bag.

  Annie watched as the kids sauntered off, knowing that part of her team was waiting to follow them. As soon as they had Diego in custody, they’d arrest the kids and scare them and their parents into full confessions and lots of information.

  “Why put up with those brats?” she asked as she turned back to Diego, who was ogling her breasts.

  “Have to. I specialize in a new product. It’s steroids on steroids for young athletes. High school mostly, but our middle school market is picking up.”

  “Sounds expensive at five hundred a pop. Where do kids get that money?”

  “That’s the best part. The majority of our clients are middle to upper class. They just take it from their parents and are above suspicion. No one will question the star of the private school football team, and it reduces the risks on our end.”

  “How?”

  “Kids like this have more to lose if they talk. They also aren’t used to life on the streets, so the risk of violence is low. It’s a win-win for us.”

  “Do you make the drug yourself? It sounds very interesting.”

  “No. We import it from up north. Now, enough about them. Let’s talk about you. I got you something special.”

  “Ooh! What did you get me?”

  “A nice designer drug that gets you high as a kite but with the sensations of Ecstasy. How about we go back to your place and test it out? If you like it, you can show me your gratitude and I won’t even charge you for it.” He reached out and grabbed her waist with his hands. He ran them up her ribcage, stopping at her breasts. She counted to ten to try to rein in her temper.

  “So, if I have sex with you, you’ll waive
the three hundred dollar fee? Look at me. I think I’m worth more than three hundred. Throw in two more packages and you have a deal.”

  “You run a tough bargain, but you look worth it.” He pulled out three little pouches from his pocket down by his knee and slipped them into her triangle top.

  “Now, let’s go party.”

  “Sure thing, big boy.” Annie reached into her bag and brought out her cuffs. “You’re under arrest for the sale and distribution of narcotics. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say may be used against you in…” Annie’s head was snapped back by a strong slap to the face. A slap? Who slaps these days?

  Diego took off down the beach in what could barely be described as a run. It looked more like skipping as his shorts kept falling down, causing him to miss steps while trying to keep the pants up.

  “We got him, Annie,” she heard in her earpiece.

  “No. He’s all mine. Go pick up the kids.”

  “Remember your temper. Take a deep breath. It was just a little slap,” the agent chuckled.

  “Don’t forget the boob grab.”

  “Really, Annie. Take it easy.” But it was too late. She had reached him in just a couple strides. She pushed off the sand with the balls of her feet and launched herself at him. She wrapped her arm around his waist, taking him to the ground as his shorts slipped from their precarious perch on his thighs to his ankles. Annie sat half on top of him trying to secure her cuffs.

  “Puta!” Diego grabbed whatever he could, which happened to be her top, and pulled. Her ties dug into her neck as she felt his nails dig into the soft skin above her breast.

  He brought his hand up and boxed her ear. Sand burned her eyes as her ear rang. Okay, that was enough. Annie pulled back her right arm, tightened her hand into a fist and brought it down as hard as she could onto the side of his face. She heard the satisfying grunt and watched as his eyes rolled back in his head. She secured his hands in the cuffs and stuffed her breasts back into the tiny bikini top. She’d hear about this for months. Nothing like having her boobs popping out on surveillance to suddenly have every agent in the department wanting to review the footage to “help out.”

  She looked up and saw the telltale sign of federal agents: cheap suits on a beach. No blending in for these guys coming towards her.

  “Blake, you’re going to be in deep trouble when Cruz hears about this. This is the fourth guy you’ve knocked out in three months.”

  *

  Annie took a deep breath. She knew every set of eyes on the floor was on her now. She looked up at the door belonging to her boss, Special Agent in Charge Manuel Cruz. Show no fear. She raised her hand and knocked on the door before opening it. She was expected, she had been summoned. She hadn’t even had time to get dressed before she had been called to his office. There was no dignified way to face your boss in a barely there lavender bikini, but she lived by three rules – one, never show fear, two, never get attached, and three, if all else fails, fake it until you make it.

  She stepped up to the large oak desk covered in papers and files and clasped her hands behind her back. “You wanted to see me.”

  “Jesus, you could have gotten dressed first.” Cruz took in her apparel, or lack of apparel, and shook his head. “Here.” He threw her a DEA t-shirt and waited until she slipped it on.

  “You said it was important, sir.”

  “I know I did. I have a huge problem. I have a massive drug ring targeting kids, and I am this close to having my ass chewed out by the U.S. Attorney because I have another perp beaten up. Luckily, it was caught on camera that he sexually assaulted you and hit you on the head. At least that’s the angle we’re taking.”

  “So, what’s the problem then?”

  “The problem is I can’t cover for you anymore. You’ve had three mandatory cycles of anger management, but I still can’t control you. The problem is you’re my best agent, and you know the most about this new drug.” Cruz paused and shuffled through some of the papers on his desk until he found the one he was looking for. “Diego spilled his guts as soon as we said we’d let you interrogate him. He doesn’t like you very much anymore. It turns out the shipments all originate from a small town called Keeneston, Kentucky.” He handed the paper to her.

  “I’m being transferred to the Lexington office?” She stared in disbelief at the paper in her hand.

  “Yes. You’ll be undercover as Annie Hill. I got you a job in Keeneston at the high school so you can keep a close eye on the kids there. If it’s being made there, then I’m sure they’re using it. You’ll be at ground zero and reporting to Special Agent in Charge Vincent Romero. You’re his problem now.”

  “When do I leave?” She stood straighter. She would not show the hurt she was feeling. It was just one more move in her life. It’s not like she hadn’t done it a dozen times before.

  “You’re transfer is immediate. Good-bye, Agent Blake.”

  Contact Ruth:

  Website: RuthCardello.com

  Email: Minouri@aol.com

  FaceBook: Author Ruth Cardello

  Twitter: @RuthieCardello

  Table of Contents

  About the Author

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Other Books by Ruth Cardello

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