by Mia Ford
Maybe next time… uh… hell yes…
Trying not to sound desperate for company, I asked, “So, what are you up to this weekend?”
“Well, I have some shopping to do this morning, but I’m free later on today. Why do you ask?”
“Well, I am driving out to the country this afternoon to take a look at some property I’m thinking about buying. I was hoping you might like to come along for the ride.”
She hesitated for a second. I thought I was about to be turned down for the first time in my life. I wasn’t used to being the one doing the chasing. Women normally flocked to me. It was an odd feeling. I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. I just knew I liked her.
“Okay, sounds like fun. I’ll text you my address,” she finally said.
“Excellent. I’ll pick you up around two.”
“Perfect,” she said, cooing the word in my ear.
“Okay. Great.” I said. “See you then.”
* * *
I had several cars in the underground garage beneath the building where I lived. I called down and had the valet bring around my 1975 Mercedes 400 SL red convertible that I rarely got to drive. It was a beautiful day, so I put the top down, donned my Raybans, and drove across town to pick Claire up at her apartment. She was standing on the sidewalk waiting. When she saw me and the car, her face broke into a big smile.
“Wow, what a cool car,” she said, sliding into the passenger seat. “I didn’t know we’d be going in a convertible.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said. “I can put the top up if you like.”
“No way,” she said, sliding on a pair of dark sunglasses. She rubbed her hands through her short hair. “I have perfect convertible hair. Let’s go!”
I smiled at her like a lovesick pup. She smiled back, then turned to strap in. I waited until she was buckled up, then put the car into gear and pulled away from the curb.
I glanced at her from the corner of my eye and smiled.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt so content.
Claire
We drove for nearly two hours on the interstate, heading south out of the city, then Sean took an exit that turned onto a narrow two lane country road and we drove for another thirty minutes.
For a just a brief moment, it occurred to me that Sean might have found out that I was a cop and was taking me out to the country to put a bullet in my head.
I know, I watched too many episodes of The Sopranos.
I knew exactly what he wanted to put in me and it wasn’t a bullet.
Besides, if he found out I was a cop he would have just shunned me, not killed me. I pushed the thought out of my head and settled in for the ride. I wasn’t the least bit afraid of Sean. To the contrary, with my hand resting on his on the console between us, I felt completely safe at his side.
We chatted as we drove and the more we talked, the more I grew to like him, even though I told myself not to get too close.
He’s a criminal, Claire.
He breaks the law.
You’re going to put him behind bars.
Don’t get too attached.
Focus, Claire. Focus…
Along the way, we talked about places we’d been and places we wanted to go. We talked more about our families, swapped stories about our parents and our upbringing. I noticed the respect in his voice when he talked about his dad. It was easy to tell that Sean loved Patsy O’Connor despite his crimes and shortcomings. It was also clear why he got involved in the family business when he had so many other opportunities available to him.
Sean O’Connor was a loyal Irish son. He would do anything for his father, including, I suspected, break the law.
We eventually stopped on the side of a dirt road next to a rolling field of tall grass that went on as far as the eye could see.
“This is it,” Sean said, shutting off the engine and opening his door. He came around to open my door, then extended a hand to help me out. He closed the door and we both leaned back against the car to look out over the pristine landscape. It reminded me of an oil painting I’d once seen.
“It’s beautiful,” I said, lifting my sunglasses to the top of my head. “What do you plan on doing with it?”
“You see that hill?” he asked as he slid his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. “I am going to build my dream home on that spot.”
I frowned at him. “Really? I thought you would probably say that you were going to build a subdivision or something and make a bunch of money off it.”
He shook his head. “No, I’ll probably spend a bunch of money getting exactly what I want, but there will be no development and no neighbors. My house will be in the middle of twenty acres and the nearest neighbor will be five miles away.”
I watched his face as he talked about building his home on the hill. His eyes were animated, excited, as if he could already see the home sitting there. He told me everything he planned to do, talking with his hands.
“There will be a big farm house there on the hill with a pool and tennis courts out back, a barn over to that side, stables for horses over there, maybe a few cows and goats.”
“Goats?” I asked, looking at him sideways.
He smiled. “Goats eat grass, they will help keep the pastures cut.”
“Ah. Look at you, Farmer Brown.”
“That’s me,” he said with a sigh. “Farmer Sean Brown.”
“And when do you plan on building your house here?”
The smile faded from his lips. He let the arm drop from around my shoulders so he could fold his arms over his chest. “No idea. At least not until I can convince my dad to retire.”
“You want him to retire?”
He stared into the distance as he spoke. “Yes. I’ve been trying to get him to retire for years. As soon as he does, I’ll arrange the sale of his business and he and mom will have a nice nest egg to carry with them to Florida or wherever they decide to go.”
“And what will you do?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Practice law, maybe. Do what I was meant to do in the first place.”
I tried to study his face without staring. I asked, “So you want to sell the business? I assumed it made you a fortune.”
“The business does very well, but it’s not my business. It belongs to my dad. It’s never been mine. I take a nice salary, but I don’t own any part of it.”
“I get the feeling that you don’t like the business very much.”
He gave me a little sideways smile. “Between you and me, Claire, I hate the fucking business. I’m only involved because dad needed my help. Now I virtually run the place. Without me, it would go under. I can’t let that happen. Dad’s worked too hard. His whole life is tied up in the place.”
“I had no idea,” I said quietly.
“Don’t worry,” he said, bumping me with his elbow. “I’ll need a great secretary to keep me straight if I open a law office.”
“That’s nice to know,” I said absently.
My mind began to race. How was he going to sell a business that ran illegal goods in and out of the port? Unless he had managed to separate the bad from the good, as Lester’s source had suggested.
“Are you sorry that you took over the business?” I asked. I looped my arm through his and put my head on his shoulder. I wasn’t sure why, but I suddenly felt sorry for him. Maybe he wasn’t a criminal after all. Maybe he was just a good son put in a bad situation out of loyalty to his father. Still, that didn’t matter. If he was breaking the law he was just as guilty as his father.
“Sometimes I regret getting involved,” he said, taking a deep breath and blowing it out slowly. “But that’s what good Irish sons do.”
“You really are a good son,” I said, reaching up to kiss his cheek.
“Thanks,” he said, finally smiling. He held out his hand. “Come on. Let me show you where the bedroom is going to be.”
Claire
Monday morning came too soon. I’d spent much
of the weekend with Sean, getting to know him better, looking for any hint that he was doing something he shouldn’t have been doing, any sign that he wasn’t the man he was presenting himself to be.
I was starting to think that he was either the best liar in the world or totally innocent of any wrongdoing. Or maybe the truth lay somewhere in between. No matter, I had to find out the truth. That’s why I was there, I kept reminding myself. That was my job.
We had checked into a little roadside motel after checking out his property and spent the rest of the day and night exploring each other’s bodies. Our lovemaking ran the gamut from total abandon to gentle tenderness wet and wild in the shower. I got to know every inch of Sean O’Connor and he got to know every inch of me… well, of Claire Goodman.
He dropped me back at my apartment on Sunday afternoon and gave me permission to come in late on Monday. I accepted his offer not because I was worn out from our sexual Olympics, but because Ed wanted to meet with me before I went to Sean’s office.
Ed showed up at my door before eight o’clock with Robbie the department’s IT guy in tow. He grunted a good morning and handed me a cup of Starbucks coffee.
“Three sugars, no cream,” he said, walking into my living room and sitting down without being invited to do so. He nodded at Robbie, who was carrying a small computer bag. Robbie sat on the couch and set the bag between his feet, then unzipped the bag and started unpacking its contents on the coffee table.
Ed said, “We brought the bugs for you.”
“Thanks,” I said, sitting on the other end of the sofa. I pried the lid off the coffee and took a careful sip. Ed was staring at me. I could tell he was not happy.
“How was your weekend?” he asked.
“Fine. How was yours?”
“Fine,” he took a sip of his coffee and let his eyes drift around the room. “I noticed you were out of the city this weekend.”
My lips froze on the rim of the cup. “How did you…”
“He’s tracking your burner phone,” Robbie said matter-of-factly as he lined up what looked like a dozen small watch batteries on the table in front of him. He picked up one and handed it to me. “There are the bugs, wireless, of course. All you have to do is peel the tape off the back and stick them wherever. Under a desk, behind a lamp, on a picture frame...”
“Behind a headboard,” Ed said, his eyes still avoiding mine.
“Right, just stick them in place and I can remotely activate them,” Robbie said. He carefully took the bug out of my fingers like he thought I might drop it and set it on the table with the others. “Do you have the USB stick?”
My purse was on the floor next to the coffee table. I reached inside to get the tiny USB stick Ed had given me a few days before. I handed it to Robbie.
“Okay, all you have to do is stick this in any computer on the network and type in the code I give you,” he said, holding up the stick between two fingers and shaking it at me. “It takes about thirty seconds to activate and connect after you type in the code, so make sure you give yourself time.”
“Okay,” I said. I held out my hand and Robbie set the stick into my palm. I dropped it back in the purse and picked up the coffee cup. Ed was giving me a hard stare now. I liked it better when he wouldn’t look at me. I didn’t want to get into anything in front of Robbie, so I just shrugged my eyebrows at him.
“That it?” I asked, glancing at my watch. “I need to get ready for work.”
“That’s it,” Ed said, getting to his feet. He waited for Robbie to pack the little bugs into a plastic container and hand them to me. Robbie slipped the computer bag over his shoulder and started toward the door.
Ed followed him, then turned back to me and lowered his voice. “You be careful today.”
“I will,” I said, putting a hand on his arm. “Don’t worry.”
“I am worried,” he said. “I’m worried you are getting too close to the suspect.”
I wanted to tell him to mind his own fucking business, then remembered that Sean was his fucking business.
And so was I.
I gave him a reassuring look.
“I’m getting right where I need to be to nail the mother fucker,” I said, trying to sound convincing even though my head and heart were locked in a battle that had kept me up most of the night.
“I hope that’s the case,” he said as he went through the door.
“Don’t worry, Ed. I will get the job done. You have my word.”
Sean
It was a little weird at first, taking Claire around to introduce her to my dad, the warehouse workers, and The Three Stooges as our new secretary and office manager. My dad literally licked his chops as he shook Claire’s hand and welcomed her to the fold. The Stooges just gave her the once over and went back to their coffee and donuts.
I gave her a tour of the warehouse and loading docks, showed her where all the files and office supplies were kept, how to log onto her computer and into the network, and how to use the printer.
She got a quick tutorial on how to use the ancient coffee maker that dad refused to replace and how to fix the washroom toilet when the damn thing kept running.
We ended back at her desk where we’d started. She sat in the office chair and gave me a smile. She was wearing a black pencil skirt that hugged her rounds hips and a dark blue blouse that showed off her boobs without being slutty. Her makeup was modestly done and her fingernails were a muted shade of red. She wore just a hint of perfume. She was a thousand times more professional than Boozie had ever been. Even my old man couldn’t help but give her an admiring look.
I couldn’t help but picture her without her clothes. And it was all I could do to keep my hands off her as we walked around. Our hands kept brushing together. Each time my skin touched hers I felt a little tingle in my cock. I knew she felt it, too, but we had both agreed to behave ourselves in the office. I’d never looked so forward to the end of the day in my life.
“Okay, dad and I have a meeting on the docks with a guy from the union,” I said, standing in front of her desk, giving her a big smile. “Is there anything you need? Anything at all?”
“I think I’m fine,” she said. She tapped a fingernail to the stack of file folders that contained bills of lading that needed entering into the system. “I think I have enough to keep me busy for a while.”
“Okay,” I said, rubbing my hands together. “If you need anything, just ask one of The Stooges.”
She blinked at me. “The Stooges?”
I smiled and leaned in to lower my voice. “That’s my nickname for the three lugs who are always camped out in the breakroom. The Three Stooges.”
“Ah, that seems appropriate.”
“You have no idea just how appropriate it is,” I said. “Okay, I’ve gotta get going. Maybe we can grab lunch if I get back in time.”
“I’d like that,” she said, giving me a look that was full of heat and promise. “Now get out of here and let me do my job.”
Claire
I stood at the window and watched as Sean and Patsy O’Connor climbed into Patsy’s Cadillac and drove away. My heart was racing, knowing that what I was about to do could get Sean put in prison for a very long time.
The bugs and the USB stick were in my purse in the desk drawer. All I had to do was plant a bug in Sean’s office, one in Patsy’s office, and one each in the conference and break rooms. And insert the USB stick into a computer for a minute. It all seemed so easy.
So why was I hesitating?
Because I detested the thought of Sean going to prison just because he felt some twisted loyalty to his dad.
Ed would have argued that Sean crossed the line and the reason why didn’t matter. My heart would tell Ed he was wrong, but my head knew he was right.
Sean was a criminal.
He had broken the law.
And I had a job to do.
I sat back down at the desk and opened the drawer to get my purse. I took out the USB stick first along
with my burner phone. I had Robbie on speed dial. He was waiting for my call.
“Okay, I’m going to insert the USB stick,” I said. “Do I have to do it from Sean’s computer or just from the one at my desk.”
“Are they all networked together?” Robbie asked. He sounded completely bored. I said yes, Sean said they were all networked. “Okay, then stick the USB in your computer and tell me when the window pops up.”
I watched the door as I stuck the stick into the USB drive on the side of the computer. A little window popped up on the screen. I said, “Okay, give me the code.”
Robbie gave me a sixteen-digit code that I typed in with one finger. The computer thought about it for a moment, then a message box popped up.
“Okay,” I said. “See if you can connect.”
I heard fingers flying across keys for a second. Robbie said, “That’s it. I’m in. I can see all the computers and servers on the network.”
“Good,” I said, glancing at the doorway. One of the Stooges, I wasn’t sure which one, sauntered by the door with a newspaper in his hand, headed toward the washroom. I lowered my voice. “Is that it?”
“Yes, you can remove the stick now,” Robbie said. “Let me know when you have the bugs in place and I’ll activate them.”
“Okay.” I hung up and blew out the breath I’d been holding. I didn’t realize that my hand was shaking and my lip was sweating until I slid the phone back into my purse.
I knew I was shaking because there was no turning back.
Whatever feelings I had for Sean O’Connor no longer mattered. Robbie would spend the next few hours or days sifting through everything on the network. If there was anything incriminating there, he would find it.
I reached into my purse again and took out the plastic container of bugs. I peeled the backing off one and stuck it to the underside of my desk. I peeled the backing off another and carried it into Sean’s office.
I stood behind his desk for a moment, letting my eyes graze across the top. There were stacks of folders and various papers scattered around. I pushed through them for a moment but didn’t see anything that looked out of the ordinary. I knew Sean was too smart to just leave evidence of criminal activity on his desk. I leaned down with one hand to plant the bug under the desk. When I looked up, someone was standing in the doorway.
