“I think I forgot to feed my goldfish one night.”
I could see her resisting the impulse to roll her eyes. “Do you have problems with authority?”
I smiled. “Depends what you define as a ‘problem.’” I made air quotes.
“Let me be specific. Do you have a ‘problem’ with following orders from Headquarters to take down Luis Reyes?” She imitated my air quotes.
“No. I hate that fucker as much as you do.”
“Will you follow all orders we give you, to the letter, without thinking about them?”
“No,” I said. “Follow orders blindly? What is this? Nazi Germany? Of course I won’t do that.”
She nodded and glanced down at the monitor then at Ned. “Do you more often act on impulse, or do you think things through?”
“Neither. I act on instinct.”
“Sounds a lot like impulse.”
“It’s similar, but different,” I explained. “Impulse implies that I am making an uninformed decision. Whereas instinct means that I am taking into account all of the possible angles and making a calculated decision without hesitation. I know what I want, and I take it.” I flashed a micro smile in Eva’s direction. And you know better than most people that I get what I want.
“My, aren’t you impressive,” Eva says, scribbling some more notes. “This isn’t a job interview, just so you know.”
She tapped her pen on her pad and flashed her eyes at me. “Just a few more questions.”
“Please.”
“Do you love anyone?”
“My brother. And what the hell does that have to do with this mission?”
“Those close to you could be in danger for a mission like this, if Reyes finds out your true identity. He might go after them.” Eva said. “So you’re not in love with anyone? Romantically, I mean.”
I scoffed. “Ale—Doctor Napleton. I just got out of prison four weeks ago. That’s not a lot of time to fall in love.” I stared into Eva’s eyes as I said the words. “Besides, I’m not a big love guy. I’m more of a one-night stand type of guy. Maybe two if you’re lucky. So don’t get any ideas.”
“Jesus, Corbin, that’s enough,” Ned barks from his seat.
Eva sat back in her chair and paused for a bit before asking the next question.
“Did you kill Arnaldo del Valle?”
Coming with the big guns. I knew the question was coming.
Arnaldo’s death was one of the man-slaughter counts I’d been charged with.
“Yep. Self defense. We done here?”
Ned nodded.
“Yes,” Eva said, taking the equipment off me.
I stood up. “Good. Because it’s time for me to meet with Marco Reyes and get this sting started.”
“You’re meeting with Marco Reyes?” Eva asked.
“Well somebody has to set this fucking plan in motion, and that someone is me.”
“Corbin, don’t you walk out,” Ned barked. “You need to go through us when you are planning this stuff.”
I looked at Ned. “I’ll let you know how it goes.” I turned and walked out the door. These motherfuckers had no idea what they were about to get into. And if this mission was going to succeed, I didn’t need them poking around in my business.
7
Eva
Corbin left, and I let out a big breath. I turned to Ned with a businesslike smile, doing my best acting job of holding it together.
“What the hell was that?” Ned asked me from behind his desk.
“What the hell was what? We finished the interview like you wanted.” My head pounded. There was no denying I was currently stressed.
“No, I mean what the hell was going on there between you two? You added a question, ‘are you in love with anyone?’ That wasn’t on the list of mandatory questions.”
Damn. He caught my sly little plan to put that in there. I thought I’d at least mess with Corbin a little. Had to.
“It wasn’t? I thought I saw it somewhere,” I looked through the list of questions, knowing it was in vain. My mind raced. Sleeping with patients was definitely unethical. An investigative psychologist in the DEA who had slept with a known criminal?
Let’s just say it was good to keep that under wraps.
“Jesus H, Eva. I mean the entire interview. The way you interacted with Corbin. It was simply…” Ned gazed off and out the window, as if searching for some elusive word.
This is it. Ned knows and he’s going to fire me.
What utter bullshit. If I were a man who had slept with a sexy female criminal, Ned and I would be cracking jokes about her, about how good the sex was, how good we were at bedding women—it would be male bonding. But because I was a female, I was going to lose my job.
I had reached my boiling point. “Stop Ned. I have something I need to say. This isn’t fair.”
He turned back from the window smiling.
“Fair? It was so simply…brilliant!”
I gulped. “Brilliant?” Was he serious?
“Yes, yes. I suppose that’s the word I’m looking for.” Ned stood and began pacing right in front of me. “I forget, sometimes, why I fell for you in the first place. But seeing you in action reminded me why I…I mean why we…had such a spark together when we were going out.”
“Ned, please stop. I thought we’d put our feelings to rest after the breakup. I’ve spent a lot of time moving on, and you should too.” Was he really getting into this right now? I’d had enough of going down this road. It always led me to a night of feeling guilty for how we ended.
Ned sat down on the couch in front of me, precisely where Corbin had been sitting. “You were incredible, though! I swear, I thought I noticed that you and Corbin had a certain chemistry. You put him right back in his place, didn’t take any shit from him. That’s exactly what headquarters is looking for in Corbin’s partner.”
I clear my throat. “Corbin’s…partner?”
“Yes,” Ned said, folding his hands. “A directive has come down from on high—and they want me to choose an undercover field partner for Corbin. I felt bad for you after what happened between us, so naturally I put your name in the hat. And after seeing how you interacted with him, I want to give you the position...Eva, are you okay?”
I was so lightheaded I had to close my eyes. This time, it wasn’t the hangover that was affecting me. Ned’s words, the way he emphasized them. I felt bad for you, so…
“Eva, you’ve been wanting to go into the field. I get that. I thought about our conversation this morning. And as hard as it is for me to put you in harm’s way, I know it’s important to you.” Ned leaned forward and put his hand on my shoulder. “I’ve spoken with headquarters—they called me earlier this afternoon—and they’d like to give you the opportunity to go into the field on Operation D.”
Ned left his hand on my shoulder just a bit too long. His next words made everything worse.
“It’s just, sometimes, when I get close to you, I feel that attraction that we had coming back. Don’t you feel it?”
“Enough,” I stood. Ned jerked back his hand, startled.
“Sorry,” Ned said.
The reality was that I didn’t feel it for the last year of our relationship. And that’s why I did the thing I swore I’d never do to someone.
“Ned, I’m sorry, I have to go. I’ll let you know about the field.” I stood up and walked toward the door. Ned stood up and moved to follow me out. Right before reaching the doorframe, I turned around. “Ned, answer me this. Did you recommend me to go into the field because you think I’d be good at it, or because you feel bad for me?”
I looked Ned in the face, and he lowered his eyes to the ground. I didn’t need a lie detector to sense his bullshit. I sighed. Ned didn’t think I would be a good field operative. He probably didn’t even think I did a ‘brilliant’ job in dealing with Corbin. This was all just a ploy to get me back. He felt bad for me. Sure, it was my fault that Ned and I had ended our relationship, but he didn
’t see me the way I wanted to be seen. I was his little office pet, and he didn’t think I could handle myself in the field.
His silence held the answer I was looking for.
“That’s what I thought,” I said. He took hold of my arm before I walked all the way out.
“Dammit, Eva, this is what you wanted, isn’t it? You’ve been asking me for months to get into the field! Now I give you a golden opportunity, and all of a sudden you have cold feet? Well, I have some news for you: whether it was because I felt bad, or because I think you’ll do a good job doesn’t matter. I put my neck on the line for you with headquarters. And you walking out on this opportunity is not going to make me look good.”
“Let go of me,” I said, glancing down at my elbow where Ned was still holding onto me.
He released me. “Fine. I’ll give you twenty-four hours to decide if you’re in or out. Tell me by this time tomorrow, or else we’re going to have to start looking for someone else for this golden opportunity. Tick tock, Eva. Tick tock.”
I stormed down the hall, adrenaline and anger surging through my veins.
Outside, I opened the door to my car and pulled my phone out of my purse to answer it.
“Hi, Dr. Napleton.”
Speaking of assholes.
“Corbin. How did you get my number?” The way he’d pushed my buttons had me furious. Didn’t he know the code for ‘we had a one-night stand and that’s behind us?’
“Oldest trick in the book, Alexa. I made friends with the secretary. What a secure operation you guys are running in the San Diego DEA. All it took was a flirty smile and she basically let me go behind her desk and use her computer. No wonder you haven’t caught Luis Reyes yet. Bunch of clowns running the Agency.”
I rolled my eyes, but my body shuddered a bit at the name he’d called me.
It was like there was a piece of me only he knew about.
An extremely sexual, badass piece of me.
“I’m surprised you called, and didn’t text,” I fired back. “Calls are so 2006. It’s all about your text game now. Not sure if you kept up your game in prison, or…?”
I could see Corbin’s cocky expression through the phone. “Your voice is so hot though, Dr. Napleton. Of course I would call. Besides, I’m an old fashioned kind of guy. 2006 was a great year. I honor the classics.”
Silence hung in the air for a moment. “So what do you want, Corbin?”
“What are you doing tonight?”
Is he actually trying to hang out?
“Oh man, I’m really booked up tonight.”
“Oh yeah? What are you up to? Spin class? Dying your hair a new color?”
I rolled my eyes. “A whole lot of none-of-your-goddamn-business.”
“Ouch! Classic comeback. Well, I’m living at my brother’s place on the beach for now. Do you like bonfires?”
I could hear the wind passing by Corbin’s voice receiver. He was not getting the message.
“What are you even trying to do? I think I made it clear that our night several weeks ago was a one-night stand. We are not getting together again.”
“Okay, I hear you loud and clear. No more one-night stand stuff. Hooking up is off the table. Roger that. So, how about just dinner tonight?”
Relentlessly cocky. As much as a part of me would enjoy another night with Corbin, this could not happen again.
“You’re not getting me again. This isn’t even an option, Corbin.”
“Oh come on. Isn’t that the order of modern dating these days anyway? First have sex, then eventually have dinner together after we get to know each other, and then after we’ve hooked up for a few weeks I go ghost and stop replying to your texts and calls. Don’t you want that? It’s the great American relationship dream.”
I exhaled and stifled a chuckle.
If he was an asshole, he was a funny asshole.
I felt a warm tingle come over my body as I remembered our night in Tijuana. How he pressed me up against the wall. Gently cupped my cheek before he made me come multiple times.
Still, I resisted. This could not happen again.
“Seems like you are adapting pretty well to modern dating for having been in prison for so long.”
“C’mon. No expectations...I just want to get dinner and learn more about Luis Reyes’ psychological profile. No one knows him--they only know his cousin Marco. Honestly, I don’t feel comfortable talking in front of Ned. But for some reason, I trust you. So I’m inviting you over. We should be friends.”
“Really? Friends. You can do friends with me?”
“Being honest, I’ll want to rip your clothes off as soon as I see you. But if being friends is all you’ll give me, fine. I can do that. I’ll stay on the other side of the room and we’ll talk…just strategize about Reyes. We’re colleagues now, so I’ll fill you in. I’ll text you the time and my address.”
A fire lit inside me.
“Fine.”
I pressed the red button on my cell and hung up angry. But also turned on. Then angry because I was turned on. Even over the phone, Corbin got me all riled up. This wasn’t fair.
In my mind’s eye, his washboard abs pressed into me, his muscled arms wrapped me up, and I could almost feel myself getting turned on, just at the thought of being with him.
I turned the key in my ignition and ignored the warm tingle that spread through my limbs, and centered in my core.
8
Corbin
I was on the third story balcony of the beachside penthouse I shared with my brother, sipping tequila on the rocks. I loved the smoky mezcal flavor on my throat and I enjoyed the burn. A gentle warm breeze blew off the beach into my hair.
I watched below as Marco Reyes pulled into my driveway in a yellow Maserati convertible; a deep cumbia beat surging through his speakers. For a man who was second-in-charge to direct the flow of pounds of cocaine per day across the US-Mexico border, he was remarkably indiscrete. A blond bombshell in a red dress was in the passenger seat. Or was her face in his lap? It was hard to tell from the third floor. Knowing Marco’s proclivities, I suspected the latter.
Marco stepped out of the car and away from me, appearing to zip up his pants. I saw the red dress sit upright. Definitely in his lap.
He looked up and saw me on the balcony. “Ey! cabrón Corbin!”
I smirked at my old drug dealer nickname.
“Come on up. Door is open.”
I swigged the last of my tequila and headed downstairs. Marco was just inside the door, hands at his sides. Seeing me walk down the spiral staircase, he let a rare smile fall over his face.
“Corbin, my friend, it’s so good to see you.”
The girl next to him was a trophy piece that you’d expect to see at one of those car shows in a bikini. She stared down at the floor.
“Likewise.” We hugged. A small pang of guilt flashed through me as I looked over his shoulder. But as much as we might want to sugarcoat our friendship, Marco was the reason I got caught and put into prison.
So I felt a little bad about doing what I had to do for the DEA, but he fucked me, and now it was his turn to get fucked.
Funny how knocking eighteen years off your prison sentence can give you some extra perspective.
Although this wasn’t going to be easy--not by any stretch of the imagination.
Marco rubbed my shoulders. “I brought you a gift.”
He flicked his fingers. “Dixie, give Corbin his gift. Dale.” He said the Spanish word with native emphasis, and the girl, who I thought was off in her own little world looking at the floor, smiled at me. She lifted a bottle of something in her hand with a red bow tied around it.
She was one foot short of me. “Mr. Young, I present you this gift. It is La Suicida Mezcal.”
Suicida Mezcal was a special mezcal tequila that had long been thought to be extinct. Legend had it that Luis Reyes himself was the maker. The stuff was rumored to have magical, almost cleansing qualities.
I looked at
the bottle, and then back at Marco. “I didn’t even know they still made this stuff.”
He said. “Luis sent it to me. Special, for you.”
Dixie took the bottle from my hands and went into the kitchen.
“I didn’t think Luis even knows who I am.”
Marco gave me the closest thing to a smile his dark soul could muster. “When you were in jail, Corbin, our sales took a noticeable hit.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t be sorry, this is a good thing. It showed that you are valuable to us.”
“So now I’m valuable? That wasn’t how it seemed when you were letting me take the fall for that drop off that you fucked up that ended me in fucking jail.”
Marco’s minimal smile faded, tension filled the air for a moment as we narrowed our eyes at each other.
Dixie broke the ice when she came back into the room with two glasses holding ice and tequila.
“Dixie. Finish the gift,” Marco said sternly, the smile rubbed away from his face.
She gave one glass to Marco, and one to me. “Mr. Young, please take me to your room.” She spoke the words robotically, reminding me of the Stepford Wives.
“Isn’t she fucking hot? Take her in the room and fuck her so hard she can’t walk straight tomorrow. Give her the Corbin Young treatment.”
I looked at Dixie. Objectively, she was hot, a legitimate bombshell by most standards. Her red dress barely covered her huge fake tits.
Truth be told, I hadn’t managed to get Alexa—I mean Eva—off my mind since the afternoon. I had zero desire to get it on with this girl.
“Thanks for the Mezcal,” I said, swirling the tequila. “Sorry, I’m not in the mood for…whatever else this gift entails. “
Dixie’s mouth opened in shock when I turned my back on her. Clearly this was not a woman who was used to being turned down for sex. “Besides,” I added. “The men have business to attend to, don’t we?”
Marco grinned. As much as he liked women, business had always been his first mistress. He could respect the fact that I was blowing off Dixie in favor of man talk. “Let’s head up to the balcony.” He turned to Dixie. “Stay down here, honey. Man talk time.”
Dirty Trick Page 5
