The Steve Williams Series Boxed Set

by J. E. Taylor

  “You ready to take that ride?”

  Steve glanced at the few unopened email messages and nodded. He wanted to see the operation up close, and on a different level, he wanted another vial of white powder. His jaw tightened and he glared at Charlie, breezing past him to the elevator.

  “What the hell was that look for?” he snapped as they pulled out of the garage.

  “Jennifer found the vial,” Steve answered. “She was not happy and made me sleep on the couch.”

  “What’d she do with the vial?”

  “She smashed it on the wall.”

  Charlie whistled. “She’s a bit of a psycho that way.” He glanced at Steve. “You sure you want to marry someone like that?”

  He took a deep breath. “I’m sure. Life would be dull without her in it, even if that means dodging projectiles every once in a while.” He allowed a small smile to surface. “Besides, she’s carrying my child.”

  Charlie huffed.

  “What?” Steve looked over at him.

  “Nothing,” he said and pulled into the same parking spot as before.

  Steve got out of the car and walked with him to the keypad.

  Charlie looked at him expectantly.

  “Oh.” He got the hint and punched the number in; stepping aside as the green light signaled the door was unlocked.

  Instead of heading upstairs to the office, Charlie headed to the entrance of the lab. He punched in a different set of numbers and glanced at Steve. “You get that?”

  “Five, four, three, two, one. Not very original,” he replied.

  “Yes, but it’s easy for the staff to remember.” He held the door open for Steve.

  He stepped into the lab, which encompassed the equivalent of a city block and held a greenhouse with several thousand coca plants thriving in the warm moist environment. Several different processing stations harvested and broke down the leaves into the fine grains of cocaine Charlie distributed. As Charlie explained the process, pointing at the different stations in the greenhouse and outside of it, Steve listened in awe.

  This lab had been operating successfully for fifteen years, growing and harvesting cocaine. The complex network of vats, tubes and substances was impressive, and again he had to remind himself that this was illegal and he was sworn to take each and everyone in this room down.

  “So, there’s no direct access to the lab from the street.”

  “Correct. There’s only one way in the building and one way out.”

  They crossed to a door on the ground floor under the office. Charlie slid his key in and flipped the light switch on before standing aside.

  Steve thought the operation was impressive, but Charlie’s arsenal was downright extraordinary. “What the hell are you expecting? The invasion at Normandy?” He walked in the room and scanned the multitudes of rifles, handguns, AK-47s and assault rifles. A majority of the items in the room were banned weapons. “Is that a Tommy Gun?” He pointed at a sub machine gun with a round drum magazine attached.

  Charlie smiled and nodded. “That’s my favorite.”

  The weapons charges alone racked his brain, and he smiled, turning toward Charlie. “You’ve got quite the operation here.” He stepped out of the artillery room, glancing at the packing company façade again.

  Charlie shrugged as he locked up the gunroom. “I filter the chemicals through the fiber optics warehouse. Once a month the supplies are re-routed here, where my girls sign for the orders. He pointed to the shipping office entrance on the far wall before climbing the steps to the office and holding the door open for Steve.

  He collapsed in one of the overstuffed chairs across from the monitors—the entire operation at a glance. Damn is right—this is fucking brilliant. “I’m impressed,” he said after a few minutes of silence. “I thought the fiber optics outfit was slick, but this, this is…” He trailed off, not able to articulate the awe.

  Chapter 34

  “Do you have a problem with me?” Desiree asked from the couch.

  “I don’t like the fact that my husband had a body guard assigned,” Jennifer answered from the kitchen table. She’d fought hard all morning to keep the orange juice down and now that battle was on the cusp of being lost. She crossed quickly to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Making it to the toilet just in time, she gagged on the acid as it flowed up her esophagus and into the toilet in a violent torrent.

  A soft knock followed by, “Are you okay?” came through the door.

  “Morning sickness,” she called out over the flush of the toilet. She brushed her teeth and shuffled into the living area.

  “Try this. My sister swears by it.” She held a spoonful of organic honey out for Jennifer. “Trust me,” she added when Jennifer scoffed.

  She looked between the spoon and Desiree and then accepted the offer, swallowing hard, forcing the sweet lump down her throat. It felt like a bomb hit her stomach at first and she doubled over, thinking it was going to come up. Suddenly, the nausea disappeared and she slowly stood. Swallowing, she glanced at Desiree.

  “My sister had a real tough time with her first child until someone suggested organic honey.”

  “Thank you.” She didn’t know what else to say. It was the first thing she’d tried that had worked.

  Desiree smiled. “Your boyfriend said you were attacked in the apartment. Do you want to tell me about it?”

  She opened her mouth to say something snide and thought twice. “My fiancé, and I’m not sure I want to really get into it right now.”

  “Okay. Maybe some other time.”

  Jennifer crossed the room, flopping onto the couch. She glanced up at Desiree. “He was in the apartment when I came out of the bathroom. If I’d been asleep or anywhere else in the room, I wouldn’t be alive right now.” She studied her hands. “I was able to call Steve before he knocked the phone away.”

  Desiree took a seat and reached out, placing her hand on top of Jennifer’s. “You don’t have to get into this now if you’re not ready.”

  The softness of her voice and the genuine concern reflected in her eyes threw Jennifer and her lower lip began to tremble. It had been a very long time since she had really talked with another woman. Ever since her best friend Tracy died, she hadn’t connected with another female. Something about Desiree reminded her of Tracy and her eyes welled with tears. She managed to get a grip on her emotions and pulled her hands away. “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping the tears off her face. “It’s just been a hell of a week.”

  “You don’t have to apologize to me.”

  Damn straight. The thought popped into her head and she bit back from letting it escape her mouth. Desiree seemed to be genuinely concerned. “Why do you care?”

  “Because all men are pigs and the ones who physically attack us should be castrated, hung on crosses in the desert, and left for the buzzards.”

  She sat in stunned silence, staring at Desiree. “You’ve got a little hostility there, haven’t you?”

  Desiree’s laugh filled the apartment. “It comes from years of abuse and finally breaking free.”

  Jennifer cocked her head.

  “My father abused me from the time I was ten. The minute I turned eighteen, I enlisted, to get away from the bastard. The army gave me the wherewithal to tell him to drop dead, and then Charlie came along.” Desiree’s sarcastic smile softened at the mention of Charlie. “He took me in and made sure my father never got the chance to hurt anyone else. He throws me special details like this one to keep me living in the style I like without invading his space or feeling like I owe him something.” She shrugged.

  “We’re talking about the same Charlie?” Jennifer couldn’t help the question.

  Desiree’s brow creased.

  “I’m sorry, but the man I’ve met just seems so… so…” She searched for the word, “superficial!”

  “He is very materialistic, but he’s got heart.” She shifted on the couch, folding her leg under her so she could face Jennifer. “What
happened here?”

  “He tried to strangle me and… and…” She swallowed and drew a deep steadying breath. “He tried to strangle me while he raped me. If I hadn’t knocked his knife across the room, I’d be dead.”

  “Sounds like luck was with you that day.”

  Jennifer glared at her.

  Desiree put her hands up. “Let me rephrase that. It sounds like there were several directions that the situation could have taken and they all seemed to be in your favor. If just one of them had backfired, you wouldn’t be here. To me that says luck was in your court, even though you may not see it that way.”

  She softened. Whether she wanted to or not, she liked this woman. “Can I ask you something?”

  Desiree nodded.

  “Why’d you screw around with my fiancé?”

  Desiree’s eyes went wide. “Did he tell you?”

  Jennifer nodded. “Yes,” she sighed and tilted her head, her glance trailing to the corner of the kitchen and back. “If you’re with Charlie, why’d you come on to Steve?”

  Desiree’s mouth opened and closed a few times and then she shut it, looking down at her hands. Her cheeks turned crimson. “I’m sorry.” She raised her eyes, meeting Jennifer’s gaze. “He was just so…” Without finishing the sentence, she shrugged.

  Jennifer inhaled deeply and nodded. “If you do it again…”

  Desiree shook her head. “It was a one-time deal.”

  Her eyes narrowed. Something about how fast the statement came from her lips crawled under Jennifer’s skin. “It better be, otherwise you’ll be the one hanging in the desert.” She stood and headed to clean up.

  Why the hell had she seduced Steve?

  Jennifer let the warm water cascade over her skin while the questions piled up in her mind. Desiree obviously cared about Charlie, so why do something that could potentially blow up in her face?

  Her eyes shot open. “Oh my God,” she whispered. Charlie. Charlie set Steve up. First the cocaine, now the indiscretion. He probably had her tape it for some sort of black mail. But why?

  “To keep him in line.” The answer was so simple she had to laugh. “Oh, Steve, what have you gotten yourself into?”

  Chapter 35

  Steve entered the empty apartment, scanning the room. There were no new knick-knacks or anything out of place and he sat down at his computer and pulled out his cell phone. He punched in an access code and put the phone to his ear.

  “Jack Murphy.”

  “You can’t do anything, yet,” Steve began without formally introducing himself. “I don’t have the distribution channels, but I can get those, Jack. Just give me some time.”

  “How deep are you in this, Steve?”

  The words tumbled out in rapid succession. “He gave me a walkthrough of the plant today and it is one of the slickest setups I’ve ever seen. Not that I’ve seen any before, but you know what I mean. This blows any textbook case out of the water. I need to get those distributor lists before we bust the operation and you can’t just barrel in there—he has the place wired. There is only one entrance into the building and he has it rigged to explode if any unauthorized people enter the building. I’m sure if there is access from the roof, he’s got that rigged as well. He’s militant about security and has a secondary defense outside of the door. There’s a trigger that stretches under the entrances to the lab and he said he has enough nitrous and C-four to blow up an entire city block. We have to get to him before he has a chance to set those triggers in his office, otherwise there will be a shit load of dead people.”

  Jack quietly digested the information.

  “He also has enough weapons in the warehouse to assemble a small army.”

  He sighed. “Jennifer called.”

  “And?” Steve snapped, suddenly irritated.

  “How deep are you into this, Steve?”

  “What did she tell you?”

  “That you’ve stepped over the line.”

  He bit back the response and stood, pacing.

  “She said you’ve been using, voluntarily.” When no response came, he continued, “And that you were manipulated into cheating on her.”

  Steve stopped. “We knew this was a possibility when you sent me undercover. He’s a drug dealer. It stands to reason he would use his own product.”

  “He’s manipulating you.”

  “I’m aware of what Charlie is doing. He wants so many hooks in me that I would never turn on him. The first step was clearing my debt. The second is getting me hooked on his product. I’ve got to give the impression that I’m moving down that path, otherwise he’ll start having doubts about trusting me.”

  “You forgot the third piece of leverage,” Jack pointed out.

  “What’s that?”

  “The tape of what happened in your apartment.”

  Steve felt the blood drain from his face as he spun toward the kitchen. “What are you talking about?”

  “Jennifer thinks Charlie set you up and has proof of your indiscretion to keep you in line.”

  He pulled out the desk chair and sat heavily, his brain firing off in rapid succession. If Charlie did videotape the episode, he was hoping for more, but why the fuck would he do that? Jennifer. Shit.

  “Does Charlie have leverage over you, Steve?”

  “No, he doesn’t. Jennifer already knows what happened.”

  “Okay, but if I get another call from your wife telling me things are out of hand, I’m pulling you from the case.”

  He smiled. The only way Jack would pull him from the case was if his cover was blown. And, at this point, that was highly unlikely. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “How long?”

  “I don’t know. He’s hit me with a bunch of stuff the last couple of days, but his contact lists might take a while to flush out. I also need to see if I can get concrete proof of his connection to Bondino. I don’t think that will be quite as easy.”

  “Be careful, Steve,” Jack said. “On both the investigation front and with the cocaine. I don’t want to have to pull your badge and throw you in detox when this is done.”

  Steve inhaled and looked at the vial of white powder Charlie had given him before he left the warehouse. “Me, neither,” he said, slipping the vial into the desk drawer. “I’ll watch my back.”

  Chapter 36

  The next few weeks consisted of the same routine—the morning wake-up from Desiree, the evening pick-up at the theater, and the cold shoulder in bed. Weekends were worse, and when the phone rang the Saturday afternoon before Thanksgiving, Jennifer snatched it off the hook after half a ring.

  “Hello?” She folded the book she was reading. “Hi, Mom.”

  Steve’s head swiveled in her direction and his jaw dropped. No one in the family was supposed to have the apartment number. No one. That had been the strict order of the FBI. Their cell numbers could be given out in case of emergencies, but not the landline.

  She covered the mouthpiece. “I called them.”

  “Jesus, Jen!” He shot to his feet. “On the landline?”

  “My cell was dead,” she shot back and uncovered the phone. “Yes, everything is just fine. Thanksgiving?” She turned her back on him. “We’d love to come up for Thanksgiving. What time?”

  Steve glared at her back with his hands on his hips. He couldn’t believe her audacity, and now this. She knew they had been invited to Charlie’s. She knew! “What the fuck are you doing?” he snapped when she hung up.

  She turned and pointed at him. “You owe me. And I’m collecting. I haven’t seen my parents for seven months and this is what I want.”

  “But Charlie?”

  “I don’t give a shit what you tell him, but neither of us will be there for Thanksgiving. Period.”

  He crossed the room until he towered over her. “I’ll overlook the fact you used the land line even though we were expressly told not to. And I’ll even blow Charlie off and spend Thanksgiving with your folks, but only on one condition.”
/>   “What’s that?” she shot up at him.

  “That you cut this cold shoulder attitude and forgive me.”

  “That’s two.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Okay, two conditions.”

  Jennifer pursed her lips and stared into his eyes.

  “I miss you,” he admitted, lowering his gaze.

  Those three words melted the hardness in her eyes and she nodded. “You need to do one more thing for me, though.”

  Steve took the opportunity to wrap his arms around her. “What’s that?”

  “Promise me, no more cocaine.”

  He took a deep breath. “I can’t promise that. Not until this case is wrapped up. Then I’ll be as clean as a whistle.”

  “You better wrap up this case before the baby comes, otherwise you’ll be living alone.”

  “I’ll do my best.” He wanted to be long gone by the time the baby arrived as well. Steve lifted his hand to her cheek, feeling the satin skin. “I’m sorry for my lapse in judgment. I know it hurt.”

  “Don’t ever do it again.”

  “I won’t. I promise.” He leaned forward, gently pressing his lips to hers. The sweet kiss turned insistent and her lips parted, allowing his tongue access.

  The pent-up passion that had been bottled for the past month erupted with the kiss and Steve moved her toward the bed, stripping her clothes off along the way. He ran his hand over her once flat belly, feeling the slight roundness that hadn’t been there before. Steve stepped back, his eyes grazing her from head to toe, noting a fullness in both her breasts and her hips that was new. “God, you’re beautiful.” With that, he pulled her onto the bed and made love to her slowly, savoring every kiss, every stroke and every sound she made.

  * * * *

  He walked her from the subway stop to the side door of the theater. “I’ll be back at ten. Break a leg tonight.” He had said the same thing every weekend night since the attack, but this time she leaned up and kissed him, a long, slow, lingering kiss that left him breathless as she disappeared through the door.