Private Eye

by Katrina Jackson

  He let out a tense breath of air as Lane’s face came into view. That damn smile and a soft chuckle.

  “Hold your horses, I’m coming,” Lane drawled.

  Asif rolled his eyes.

  “Ugh, what happened to you?” Lane scrunched his nose up at him and Asif was reminded of how much he wanted that shower.

  “Move,” Asif said.

  Lane stepped back into the utility room. Asif turned to watch Lane scan the alley again. And then they walked to the elevator. On the third floor, Asif followed Lane to one of the corner units. The hallway was dingy with dim lighting, but the electronic biometric lock was state-of-the-art.

  Lane punched in a code and nodded his head for Asif to place a finger on the keypad. They waited as his fingerprint scanned and the door unlocked. Lane followed Asif inside.

  “Honey, I’m home,” Asif called out.

  “Good, you’re alive,” Monica deadpanned.

  “You look terrible though,” Kierra added helpfully, perched on the arm of the couch next to her.

  “Who are you?” Asif said, a rakish smile on his face. He knew he looked dusty, but he had long since tested the theory that a good smile and a lot of nerve could seduce anyone already willing to be seduced.

  “He’s Kenny’s… friend,” Lane said from behind him.

  Asif frowned, “Never mind. Where’s the bathroom, I feel disgusting.”

  Kierra nodded gravely at him, as Lane walked around the couch and pressed a kiss against her temple.

  Asif rolled his eyes.

  “Last door down the hallway,” Monica said with a dismissive nod of her head. “And hurry up. We only have so much time. We need to be ready to go as soon as the sun sets.”

  Asif walked across the living room, but Kierra stopped him in his tracks.

  “I talked to Chanté,” she called.

  Asif turned quickly. “When? Where is she? What’d she say?”

  Kierra’s smile was predatory. She looked as if she liked knowing that she had him on the hook. And considering that she had the two best agents he’d ever met at her beck and call, maybe she did. “Earlier. Not here. She told me not to let you get yourself killed.”

  Asif sucked in a harsh breath. He didn’t cry. He wouldn’t cry. That was not who he was. But he felt the pressure of phantom tears at the back of his eyes.

  Kierra’s grin melted away and she frowned at him. That look was full of pity. He thought maybe she would say more, but she didn’t. Instead she leaned forward and kissed the crown of Monica’s head gently.

  Asif turned and walked to the bathroom. He tried to tell himself that he wasn’t running away from the judgement in her eyes. But running was what he did best.

  ***

  “Kierra and I will arrive together. Lane will arrive separately. Lamont,” she said, turning toward him. “Once you locate the other Setter brother you’ll have to stay on him, but you can’t take him down until I give the word. Understood?”

  Lamont frowned and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Understood.”

  “What about me, boss?” Asif asked.

  “We’ll need you watching the exterior,” she said.

  “Wait, what?” Asif breathed. “I don’t even get to go in? It’s a sex club. How can you not take the sexiest person on this mission inside?”

  “Take it back,” Kierra hissed, her eyes shooting daggers at Asif.

  Asif lifted his eyebrows. “Make me.”

  Lane laughed out loud, “I really missed you idiots.”

  Monica locked eyes with Lamont who seemed appalled and shocked at their behavior. “We’re much better behaved in the field.”

  “We’ll see,” he said gravely.

  “Anyway,” Monica continued, “Kierra and I will shadow Maya and Kenny in the public areas. But from all of our intel, everything about the fourth floor is heavily restricted and we might not be able to breach their security easily or at all.”

  “Don’t worry. I left my probes in the air vents. That should give us some cover.”

  Monica nodded at him.

  “Kenny and Maya won’t have any tech on them besides a comm piece. We can communicate with them, but let’s assume that Mehmeti or his bodyguards will be close at all times, so keep the chatter to a minimum.”

  “We should be on radio silence unless absolutely necessary. After Kierra’s run in with the flight attendant, we should assume that everyone is a potential Mehmeti operative,” Lane offered.

  Monica nodded in agreement.

  “So what’s the plan?” Lamont asked.

  “It’s simple,” Monica said, even though simple was relative. “Once we confirm Mehmeti’s identity, and locate your ATF mole, we take them down quietly if we can.”

  “And loudly, if we can’t,” Lane breathed.

  “Maya and Kenny will handle Mehmeti, with Lane as floating backup. Our job is to make sure they can do their jobs.”

  Lamont nodded. “Sounds half-baked and like a probable death trap.”

  Kierra perked up, “That’s kind of our style.”

  Monica eyed her warily. She wished they didn’t have to take her to the club. She wished they could leave Kierra at the safe house, especially now that she knew how close she’d come to danger at the airport. But they didn’t have a choice. They needed Kierra now for the same reason they’d needed her earlier. Even with Lane and Lamont’s arrival, they were still down an agent in the field. And like in Berlin, Kierra was a magnet for attention. If Maya could hold Mehmeti’s attention and that of his inner circle, Kierra would hold everyone else’s. They would never know what hit them. But that didn’t mean Monica had to like it.

  “So now we wait?” Lamont asked, tearing Monica from her fear spiral.

  “When Mehmeti contacts Maya with details, we head out.”

  Asif stood from the couch, “Sounds like a plan to me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a hacker-dancer to hunt. Call me when it’s go time.”

  ***

  Lamont checked his phone again. No new text messages. He hadn’t expected that there would be. If his office needed to contact him, they’d call. And his ex-boyfriend was completely unlikely to send him a message since he’d kicked him out of their condo two weeks ago.

  He leaned against the window and looked out at the street below. There was nothing to see, nothing out of the ordinary. But he couldn’t believe how much had happened professionally and personally in such a short period of a time. Even though he would be best served by staying focused on the professional changes and preparing for the mission, his mind kept straying back to the only thing that wouldn’t help him right now: Caleb.

  He looked down at his phone and opened the text message from an unknown number.

  Maybe one day.

  He stared at the short message. Just three words. He knew they were from Caleb. He wanted more. But he’d been right to push him away in Cincinnati. Even if it had felt completely wrong at the time and had only felt more wrong each day since he’d watched him drive away.

  Kierra’s giggle tore his attention away.

  Lamont stared at Woodhouse… Lane, trying to reconcile the FBI agent who’d shown up in Columbus – all flirty and cryptic and, when necessary, deadly – with the man cuddled up on the couch with his wife, their girlfriend between them. He’d seemed in control and at ease during their op in West Virginia, but now that he saw him actually relaxed, he noted the subtle differences.

  Kierra turned her head and brushed her lips against Lane’s. Their eyes were intent on one another as they kissed lightly. A pit of jealousy opened up in Lamont’s stomach that only made him miss Caleb more. He turned away when he saw the pink flash of their tongues between their lips.

  The street was still quiet.

  “Okay, let’s get down to business,” the new agent, Asif, said as he walked into the room. “Oh, unless we’re doing something else?” He aimed the question at the tangle of bodies on the couch.

  Kierra pushed up from the couch. “You wish,�
�� she said.

  “I do,” Asif replied.

  Lamont watched as Lane and Monica rolled their eyes, but Kierra raised a suggestive eyebrow at Asif. Or at least Lamont thought she did. It was hard to tell. If he’d thought Lane was a flirt, Kierra was a tsunami of innuendo that stirred something in Lamont’s chest. Something that was mostly a longing for the hacker he’d let get away.

  His phone chirped.

  He looked down, expecting – hoping – to see another anonymous message.

  Instead, it was a text from Kenny. He looked up and everyone had turned toward him. “Mehmeti wants them at the club at midnight. We have three hours.”

  Kierra squealed. The entire room turned toward her. “Wait until you all see my outfit,” she screamed and practically ran from the room.

  Lamont and Asif watched as Monica rose from the couch and followed her down the hall.

  Lane stood and smiled at them. “We’ll try to keep this brief,” he said apologetically over his shoulder. “But maybe you two should go over the plan a few more times. Together.”

  Lamont frowned in confusion. He turned to Asif who was shaking his head.

  He laughed, “They’re going to fuck, new guy. Wow, you really are Kenny’s friend.”

  “My name’s not new guy. It’s Lamont.”

  Asif raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. “I’ll call you new guy until you give me a reason not to.”

  Lamont shook his head and turned away. “Is The Agency just a clearinghouse for spies who want to fuck each other?”

  He jumped as Asif’s breath tickled his ear, “Shhh, don’t say it too loud. That’s our best kept secret.”

  Asif’s hand trailed lightly down Lamont’s back as he moved away.

  Fuck, he missed Caleb.

  fifteen

  “This is really romantic,” Maya whispered. “Completely fake, but romantic as fuck.”

  Their chins were resting on their folded arms at the edge of the infinity pool as they watched the darkened city below them light up. They could see brief snatches of lights at the docks bouncing off the inky water and taillights lit the path of the city’s streets.

  “If this were our second date, it would be great,” he said.

  He saw Maya turn to him in his peripheral vision.

  “If you brought me to a hotel like this on our second date, we’d be having the filthiest sex right now,” she said in a husky voice.

  He turned to her and smiled. “How filthy?”

  She moved toward him in the water and slipped her leg between his. He swallowed a groan as her thigh came into contact with his dick, which hadn’t had a chance to deflate since he’d found her making good on her promise to go skinny dipping.

  She ran her hands up his chest and bit her bottom lip, fluttering her eyelashes at him seductively. “Spoilers.”

  His chest ached at how she could bring him to his metaphorical knees so easily. She abruptly pushed away from him with a laugh, floating in the water, the beautiful rise of her breasts and stomach just visible above the water. He would have fallen to the actual floor if he weren’t floating. And thank god he was floating, because his entire body felt as if it were struck with electricity as Maya climbed out of the pool. The water dripping off of her body was literally the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. And she knew it.

  She turned to look at him over her shoulder and sucked her bottom lip into her mouth. He knew exactly what that look meant. He couldn’t swim to the edge of the pool fast enough.

  Maya laughed as he hopped from the pool and wrapped his arms around her. “Be careful. Didn’t you ever learn not to run by a pool?”

  He cradled her neck in one hand and pulled her mouth to his. He tasted the last remnants of her laughter and happiness and he couldn’t help but wonder if this was what it would be like between them. She smiled against his lips and pulled back. As she looked at him, her eyes were bright, sparkling in the dusk and he almost forgot where they were or why they were there.

  And then her phone chimed.

  She’d dropped it on a deck chair and they both looked down at it.

  Maya leaned over to pick it up. The short gasp of breath told Kenny all he needed to know about who had messaged her.

  “What’s it say?”

  She read the message to him, “Maya. Welcome to California. I look forward to meeting you and your boyfriend tonight. A car will arrive to bring you to me at midnight.”

  Kenny checked the time on her phone. They had three hours.

  “Please accept these small tokens of my appreciation and enthusiasm.”

  “Huh?”

  She shrugged and turned to look at him. “That’s all it says-”

  The elevator dinged as it opened. Maya dropped her phone and grabbed the beach towel next to her, throwing it haphazardly around herself. Kenny grabbed another towel and wrapped it around his waist as he stepped back into the sitting area. The elevator doors opened, but no one entered.

  “Hello,” he called.

  “May I come in, sir?” The porter from earlier projected the question into the room in his crisp, formal accent.

  “Yes.”

  When he walked into their room, he had two large boxes in his hands. Behind him, another porter held two garment bags in his outstretched arms. They put the parcels onto the coffee table and draped the garment bags over the couch.

  “These are gifts from Mr. Mehmeti, sir.”

  “Is it clothes?” Maya gasped from the deck.

  Kenny turned to her, she was still outside, craning her neck around the sliding glass door, trying to hide her nakedness.

  “Yes, ma’am. Mr. Mehmeti has very particular tastes. He hopes that you will enjoy these tokens.” He nodded and walked back to the elevator.

  “Thank you,” Maya called after him.

  “Uh, yeah,” Kenny stumbled. “Thanks. Oh wait.”

  The porter turned, “Yes, sir.”

  “Can we um, can we have some food sent up?”

  “Yes, sir. Absolutely. The menu is just there,” he said, indicating a desk near the couch. “Instructions are inside. I will bring you whatever you like.”

  “Oh, okay. Great. Thanks,” Kenny stammered.

  They stepped into the elevator and were gone. As soon as the coast was clear, Maya walked into the room and tossed the beach towel over a chair. She walked naked to the desk and picked up the menu. “Great idea. I’m starving.”

  He gulped, “Yeah… I… I thought you’d be.”

  He tried not to stare, but not that hard. Not as hard as he’d wished.

  Maya cleared her throat. His eyes shot up to her face. She was smiling smugly at him. “I’m not distracting you, am I?”

  He furrowed his eyebrows. “No, what would you…?” And then he remembered and blushed. “I’m uh… gonna wring out my clothes and shower.”

  He walked back to the pool and picked up his phone, happy that it had fallen out of his hand before Maya pulled him into the water.

  He tapped out a quick message to Lamont and then wrung his sopping wet clothes out on the concrete deck. He slipped back into the sitting area, his eyes flying to Maya, still nonchalantly and nakedly perusing the menu.

  “What do you want to eat?” She asked him.

  “I’ll eat whatever. You choose,” he said, turning his head to keep her in his line of sight as he walked across the room.

  “Great, I want the pasta and the salmon. We can share,” she mumbled to herself.

  He couldn’t help but smile. By the way she said the word “share” he assumed that whichever dish Maya liked least would be his. Just before he walked down the hallway to their bedroom, he turned to look at her one more, brief moment. This time, his eyes lingered on her face.

  His cell phone chirped. It was Lamont. He knew that. And he knew he would have to shut off the part of his brain that was distracted by Maya soon – which was his entire brain along with his body – so he let himself look his fill. And even though he wasn’t the kind
of man who prayed, he sent up a silent prayer that they would make it through this. Because he desperately wanted to take Maya on another date. She could have his entire meal, tonight and every night for as long as she wanted him around. Straight-laced, by-the-book Kenny had finally found something more important to him than his career. And it would fucking suck to lose her now that they had a real chance together.

  ***

  “Is this too short?” Maya asked. “Or too tight?”

  She turned her torso left and right, admiring the open expanse of her chest, exposed by the bustier top of her mustard yellow dress, the hem just barely longer than the length of her arms. “This color looks fucking fantastic on me,” she said as she turned around to admire the way her ass looked in the tight dress. “And my butt,” she exclaimed. “Although I probably shouldn’t bend forward. What do you think?” It took Maya a second to take her eyes off of herself to realized Kenny hadn’t answered any of her questions. When she finally looked at him, she understood why.

  She smirked and nodded, “I look great, right?”

  He swallowed loudly and nodded.

  Kenny didn’t look bad either. The dark blue suit and matching tie were casual, but there was something about the way they hung off of his body that made him seem sharper, a little more severe, sexy. Maya liked the look on him. A lot. She walked in bare feet toward him and ran her hands up his chest.

  He hissed at the contact but immediately wrapped his arms around her waist. “You look perfect in everything,” he said.

  She dropped her head and blushed. “You should see what I wear when I clean the oven at three in the morning,” she joked.

  Kenny moved his hand under her chin and tipped her head back. They looked into each other’s eyes. “I can’t wait.”

  Maya would not have considered herself a romantic or the kind of woman who could be wooed by romantic gestures. And yet, there she was, looking deep into Kenny’s eyes and wondering how long she’d been falling for him.