by C. J. Miller
“How can I be too in character?” Lucia asked. But she knew what he was referring to. Given the opportunity, she had kissed and touched Cash in ways she wouldn’t elsewhere.
“Just letting you know that turnabout is fair play,” he said.
She nodded. “Bring it, Cash. I can take whatever you dish out.” Despite her strong words, she knew she’d melt under his touch. Given the right set of circumstances, she would find herself willingly naked beneath him.
And she knew she would enjoy every moment.
* * *
“I’m surprised to hear from you,” Wyatt said, shaking Cash’s hand and smiling at Lucia.
“I thought it would be better for you to meet Lucy outside the casino,” Cash said, taking a seat across the table from his father. Cash knew his father was a regular at this restaurant. Did Anderson frequent this place as well? Old habits died hard. Would they run into Anderson?
Lucia hugged Wyatt and kissed his cheek. “When Cash told me you were at the casino, I figured fate was calling and we had to answer.” She giggled. “I’ve been dying to meet you. Cash is so secretive about his family.”
Wyatt took a sip of his drink. “How did you two meet?”
Lucia pushed her chair against Cash’s before she sat. She slipped her arms around his right arm and her breasts were pressed to him. Cash shifted, his pants growing tighter.
“It was love at first sight. I was volunteering at the prison teaching a class on writing and Cash was in one of my classes,” Lucia said. “I feel like I was meant to meet him, like destiny played a role in our relationship.” She smiled again at Cash.
Though it was over the top, Cash liked being on the receiving end of her attention and having her close to him was making this meeting with his father bearable. The distraction of her closeness was good for him. He would otherwise want to spit in the other man’s face and walk away.
He and his father had a long history of problems. His father had made his childhood difficult. He’d been against Cash’s marriage to Britney, saying she was trouble because she was estranged from her family and older than him. Wyatt hadn’t wanted to know Adrian.
The list of his father’s failures was long and Cash derailed the downward spiral of his thoughts by imagining what Adrian must think of him. Likely, his son had a long list of grievances.
Lucia was still dressing the part of his fun-loving, partying girlfriend. It was hard to forget she was in character when she was wearing a purple halter top and pair of floral shorts. The sandals on her feet had a thin, tall heel. He wasn’t sure how she managed to walk in them, but she made it work.
“How have you been?” Wyatt asked. “What’s it like to have your freedom after being inside?”
His father had a paralyzing fear of prison. It had been his excuse for why he hadn’t visited. But Cash wasn’t cutting him a break. If he was so worried about prison, he should have chosen a different career. “I’m working for the FBI. Consulting. The pay is terrible and the perks are lame. But it’s better than being in prison.”
“Working for the FBI must be bad, but don’t ignore the benefits,” his father said. “You have access to information it would take others much more effort to acquire.”
Cash nodded. His value to his father and to Anderson was his willingness to work his FBI contacts and exploit the access he had. “That’s true.”
“Do they keep you on a short leash?” Wyatt asked.
Was his father feeling him out for how useful he could be? “I have the tracker, which they’ve talked about removing for good behavior,” Cash said. “I’ve won over most of the team.”
“I’d expect nothing less from you. I haven’t talked to Anderson yet. After you went to prison, he was worried you would sell out everyone else for a shorter sentence.”
Cash shook his head. “I didn’t say a word about anyone else.”
His father beamed with pride. “That’s what I told him. My boy isn’t a snitch.”
The decisions he’d made to save Adrian’s life were his and no one else had to pay the penalty for that.
The sound of glass shattering erupted around them and Cash threw himself over Lucia. They hit the floor and rolled.
Gunfire peppered around them.
“Are you hit?” Cash asked Lucia from their spot on the ground.
She looked at her arms and legs. A smear of blood marred her clothes. Her eyes grew wide as she looked over his shoulder. “Your dad.”
Cash’s father had hit the ground, too, but he wasn’t moving. “Dad!” A hundred thoughts stampeded through him at once, most strong among them that his father could not be dead. They had unfinished business. Cash wasn’t ready to lose his father from his life, not with the anger that still lingered between them. The realization shocked him. His feelings for his father were buried somewhere underneath the resentment he’d been carrying.
Cash raced to his father and checked for injuries. There was no red swatch of blood across his body. He had a pulse. “Dad!” Cash slapped his father’s face, trying to wake him.
Lucia was on the phone and she crawled over to Cash and his father. “Door’s locked and help is on the way.”
She didn’t have her weapon on her. If she did, she would have pulled it. The FBI was monitoring them close by, but storming in could blow their cover. They’d need a reason why the FBI was responding to a 911 call.
Cash’s father opened his eyes and winced. “What did you bring to my favorite bar?”
Cash shook his head at his father. “Not me. I was thinking they were after you.” Except it was the second time he and Lucia had been targeted. No point in advertising that.
His father closed his eyes again, his chest rising and falling unevenly.
“We’ve got outside cover,” Lucia whispered. Benjamin and the team had been watching outside of the building in case Anderson had shown at the meeting, but likely being careful on the approach.
For the first time in his life, Cash was relieved to hear the sound of sirens.
* * *
“You could take the afternoon off,” Cash said, dropping into his desk chair.
Lucia took a sip of her coffee. Her nerves were still frayed from the shooting that morning and her energy was waning. She didn’t have time for rest and tonight they were planning to return to Anderson’s casino.
Ballistics weren’t back on the bullets and the CSI team was still working the scene. They didn’t know how the drive-by shooting would affect Cash’s relationship with Anderson. If Anderson believed the shooters were after Cash, he might not want him as part of his crew.
“Is your dad okay?” she asked. Cash’s father hadn’t been hit by a bullet, but the hospital reported he’d had a “minor heart event.” Lucia didn’t know if that meant a heart attack or just a terrible scare, but either one worried her.
Cash had gone with his father to the hospital. “He’s already been discharged. He’s fine. Go get some rest. We have a long night ahead of us.”
Lucia couldn’t slow her thoughts enough to rest. “I need to review the interviews we have from Holmes and White. Benjamin sent another team to talk to Leonard Young about Kinsley Adams. He’s still keeping his mouth shut although he did imply they were conducting a thorough internal investigation and would let us know if they found anything.” Lucia guessed they would bury anything they found. They wouldn’t want any more backlash than they were already getting from the public.
“Have you considered that whoever is trying to kill you, or us, is either lazy or incompetent?” Cash asked.
Lucia had considered it. Several failed attempts spoke to an amateur. “I’m also wondering why he keeps changing techniques. Most killers have a preferred method to dispose of their victims. A bomb, the direct approach at the hospital and a shooting don’t fit a pattern.”
> “It supports the theory that it’s a group,” Cash said.
That was part of her fear. The assassins’ ring she’d broken up had men of many violent talents. They could be pooling their resources to take her out. But why hadn’t anyone else from the investigative team been targeted? She was certainly not the highest-profile member of the unit. “None of my theories are making sense.”
Cash looked around the office. “Can we take a walk? There’s something I need to talk to you about.” He spoke in a low voice.
Lucia stood and followed him to the elevators. He said nothing until they were on the ground floor, walking outside.
“Is everything okay?” Lucia asked. Would he tell her if it wasn’t?
“I heard from Boots today.”
“Okay.”
“Anderson wants me in,” Cash said.
“That’s great.” Why had he felt the need to leave the office to tell her this? It was the break they’d been waiting for.
“I won’t meet with him directly. Anderson will have someone else talk to me.”
“This is what we wanted,” Lucia said.
“I want to find Anderson. Not be jerked around by him.”
“Why would he jerk you around?” Lucia asked.
“He’ll test me. Of course he’ll test me. I’ve got a GPS tracker identifying me as the FBI’s errand boy and I’ve been in prison. He’ll want a show of my loyalty.”
Now the picture was becoming clearer as to why Cash was anxious about it. Getting into Anderson’s crew wasn’t a straightforward operation. “What are you afraid he’ll ask you to do?” Lucia asked.
“Could be anything. Steal. Lie. Cheat. Whatever it is, he’ll collect the evidence I did it and use it to control me,” Cash said.
“I am not a fan of you or anyone breaking the law, but depending what he asks, you’ll have to use your best judgment.”
“I don’t have immunity for anything I do for this case,” Cash said.
Lucia stopped and faced him. She took his hands. “I won’t let you be sucked into Anderson’s world. I won’t let you go back to prison.”
“Are those things you can control?” Cash asked.
Lucia would be watching Cash, helping him make the right decisions, the decisions that would keep him away from breaking the law and she would stand behind him if bad things resulted. “Yes. I can. You can count on me. We’re partners, right?”
Cash lifted her hands and kissed her knuckles. “I’ve said it from the beginning. But what if Anderson asks me to do something illegal? I can’t say yes, but if I say no I’ll be out.”
“We’ve come this far. I won’t let that happen to you.”
* * *
“Are you sure you want to go out tonight?” Benjamin asked for the tenth time that day. He’d called her at home to check on her. Though she had only a minor scratch on her arm from diving off her chair at the restaurant, her leg wasn’t fully healed. She’d been injured more on this job than in the violent-crime unit.
Lucia leaned closer to the mirror to apply her mascara. “Cash and I can do this. Cash’s father was released from the hospital and he said we should come to the casino.” She hadn’t told Benjamin about Cash’s concerns that Anderson would force Cash to do something illegal. She’d wait to see if his fears were justified.
She could hear Benjamin tapping a pen against his desk. “If you have the smallest inkling that this could go bad, I want you out of there.”
“I understand. I’ll text you the location if we go anywhere else tonight,” Lucia said. She disconnected the call and slid her phone into her clutch bag.
Cash was waiting in the living room for her. This wasn’t a date. And yet she was nervous. Not nervous about getting into the casino again or about the night she had ahead of her, but nervous about being alone with Cash.
Every hour they were together was a test of her control. Watching him with his father earlier that day had shown her the softer, caring side of him. It had been a raw and honest portrayal of the hurt Cash must feel.
Add to it that Cash had tried to save her life—again—and Lucia had completely let go of her initial dislike of him.
The casino hadn’t moved, but it would shortly. It was Friday night and more crowded than it had been previously. Word was spreading and the more people who knew about its existence, the higher the probability of law enforcement busting it.
Cash took Lucia’s hand in his. “Stay close to me. I don’t want to lose track of you tonight.”
Lucia remained at his side. Her eyes were wide open and taking in every face in the room. Any sign of Anderson and she’d alert Benjamin. They could close in on him tonight before Cash was pulled further into Anderson’s criminal world.
Cash swore under his breath, breaking into her anticipation of a big win tonight.
Lucia nuzzled her face close to his. “What’s the matter?”
“Audrey’s here.”
She followed his gaze and her heart fell. If Audrey spotted them and greeted them, they’d tangle her up in this op. Anderson would have questions for Audrey, putting her and their operation in jeopardy.
“Can we leave?” Lucia asked.
“Not without a good reason. Whoever’s watching surveillance already knows we’re here,” Cash said.
They needed a plan B. “I could text her and tell her she needs to come home,” Lucia said.
“Try it,” Cash said.
Lucia typed her message, careful to conceal her screen. Video cameras could zoom into details human eyes could not.
Audrey didn’t reach for her phone or touch her clutch. She either couldn’t hear her phone or was ignoring it.
“We could have Benjamin raid the place,” Cash said.
Lucia touched the side of Cash’s face and drew him close. They were in a difficult spot, but they couldn’t pull the plug yet. “We’ll play this out. We’ll meet with Anderson, then we’ll zip out of here like we have somewhere to be.”
Lucia smiled, gazing into Cash’s eyes. They were supposed to be in love. Weren’t dopey stares part of falling in love? “You were in prison for four years. You have a lot of sex to catch up on.”
His eyes widened. “We can play that angle.”
“I know what to do,” Lucia said. “If I bend this way,” she brushed her hip against his, “and that,” she moved her hips the other way, “it’s plausible this will lead to the bedroom.”
Cash ran his hand down her back and cupped her bottom.
The action startled her as did the heat that zipped through her. She giggled. “Careful, we’re in public.”
Lucia felt the wall at her back. Somehow he had maneuvered her between a fake potted tree and a gold statue of a Roman bust. “What’s your next move?”
“I need to make it clear where my mind is,” he said.
Her thoughts rocketed to the idea of Cash naked. She couldn’t help it. He had shaved that morning, but a day’s worth of growth covered his jawline, giving him a rugged, roughened appearance. His suit fit well and his smile was seductive and warm. The combination was devastating to her control.
He moved his hips against hers and she felt the evidence of his excitement. Was he faking it? Could a man fake that?
“Impressive,” she said.
“I aim to please,” he said.
Now all she could think about was leaving. They were in the casino for an important reason, but that reason drifted further from her mind with every passing second.
“Why haven’t we done this?” she asked.
He was moving slowly, but every inch of contact was causing friction in the right places.
“You keep stopping me,” he said. He dropped his mouth to her neck and if his hands hadn’t been at her hips and his lower body wasn’t pinning h
er to the wall she would have crumpled to the floor.
She let her head fall to the side and his mouth grazed over her skin, just shy of rough. Though she was playing a part, there was nothing pretend about her body’s reaction, urging her to find someplace private where she could do more of this. She would turn her body over to him, with undoubtedly fantastic and satisfying results.
She dipped her mouth low and caught his lips. His tongue swept inside hers in a slow, possessive gesture. The kiss was the right blend of desire and technique.
“Let’s leave now,” she said, hearing the pant in her voice and not caring how she sounded. “We can come back later for your meeting.”
“Cash?”
Cash turned at the sound of his name and Lucia snapped to the present. She checked her green dress to be sure nothing had popped out during the last thirty seconds. Her mind felt fogged and her body hummed with unmet need.
Cash was speaking to a man she recognized from their file on of Anderson. Matt Mitchell, the fiancé of Kinsley Adams, a.k.a. Grace Tidings, and associate of Clifton Anderson.
“Why don’t you two come to the VIP area? I’d like some privacy to talk with you,” Mitchell said.
His words were spiked with a dangerous proposition: a private place with a known criminal.
Cash appeared to have no reservations about Mitchell’s suggestion. He extended his arm to Lucia and she took it, following Cash and Matt.
* * *
Cash was patted down before being escorted into Mitchell’s small, private office. The guard ran his hands down Lucia’s sides, but her dress didn’t make concealment of a weapon an option.
Mitchell had a laptop open in front of him. Cash knew Mitchell’s reputation, though he hadn’t met him. He was cold, hard-working and had been the mastermind of several big scores. He wore a diamond earring in his right ear.
“Please have a seat,” Mitchell said. “I’m sorry to hear that you and your father have had some trouble.”
Was it trouble that Anderson had sent their way? “He’s okay. Thankfully,” Cash said. He hid his suspicion and anger under a lazy smile.
