Deep Cover

by Kimberly Van Meter

  The memory of her riding him in the front seat of his car blasted his brain and he poured himself a shot of whiskey to blot it out.

  It wasn’t healthy to dwell on a situation that’d been out of their hands.

  They both accepted that they’d acted outside their realm of what they’d normally do because of the drug.

  Neither was blaming the other.

  And they were both on the same page about making sure it didn’t happen again.

  So why was he fixating on last night?

  It’d just been sex.

  Okay, sex on Bliss had been something extraordinarily amazing—if the general public caught wind of what it could do, there’d be an epidemic worse than the meth wave.

  But he couldn’t help but wonder, just a tiny bit, if the reason the sex had been out of this world wasn’t so much about the drug but because he still missed Poppy.

  Shaine chewed on that for a minute. They’d had no closure. She’d just bailed, leaving him behind with a broken heart and no explanations.

  And now they were working together.

  It was as if they were never apart.

  That worried him.

  He still loved the smell of her hair.

  Somehow she always managed to smell like summer rain on a hot day.

  Should he admit that he’d buried his face in the pillow she’d slept on last night and inhaled so deeply, he could’ve sucked up the whole damn thing?

  Knock it off, already.

  Shaine wondered what kind of words Angelo would share about Capri.

  It was too much to hope that Angelo would admit that he was somehow responsible for Capri’s death so Shaine could nail him for it.

  Solving a throwaway kid’s murder wasn’t the priority, but he wanted justice for Capri and he knew Poppy wanted it, too.

  Maybe with some luck, something would go their way and they’d manage to take down their target and find some kind of peace for Capri.

  * * *

  Poppy paused, catching Shaine behind the bar as she entered Lit and, knowing that Angelo was watching, sent Shaine a sizzling smile before heading to the dressing room.

  Big Jane was comforting a girl Poppy didn’t recognize, but she immediately saw Raquel and Brandi squaring off in a corner, whispering furiously to one another.

  She decided to mind her own business and went straight to her vanity, dropping her bag and beginning her makeup. Her gamble paid off. Whatever Raquel and Brandi were discussing had ended because Raquel grabbed her bag and split, leaving Brandi to stare daggers in her direction.

  Poppy took that as a cue to ask questions.

  “Are you okay? What was that about?”

  “Bitch, doesn’t know her place,” Brandi growled, still pissed. “She’s lucky she still has a job. As far as I’m concerned she can go peddle her fat ass over at Tank, that’s about her speed, anyway.”

  “What were you arguing about?” Poppy asked.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Brandi told her, flicking her gaze to Big Jane. “Now’s not the time to talk about it, anyway. We’re grieving.”

  “Grieving?”

  Brandi shot her an incredulous look, and then she remembered. “Ah, that’s right, you went home with Rocco last night. You missed all the excitement.”

  “Sounds like I’m glad I did?”

  “Capri is dead,” Brandi said without softening it. Poppy covered her mouth as a tiny sound popped out. “Yeah, it was awful.”

  But judging by Brandi’s flat response, Poppy wasn’t entirely sure that Brandi was truly sad to see Capri gone.

  For crying out loud, the kid was only sixteen. Had Brandi known that? Would she have cared?

  “What happened?” Poppy asked, stricken. “Oh, my God...this is terrible. She was such a great kid.”

  “She was no angel,” Brandi retorted, going to the costume rack and thumbing through it idly. She selected a sparkly number and admired it. “Capri won’t be needing this any longer. It always looked better on me, anyway.”

  “Criminy, Brandi,” Poppy murmured with a frown. “A little empathy wouldn’t be out of order.”

  “Look, am I sad that the kid bit it? Sure. I didn’t have a beef with her but she was a pain in my ass most times and that’s the truth. I didn’t have time to constantly babysit her. She was a handful. Always getting herself into trouble. You know that car she drove? Do you know what she did to get it?”

  Poppy shook her head, not wanting to know. “I can imagine.”

  “No, you can’t. Anyway, the kid had something wrong with the wiring in her head. I hate to say it, but she was living on borrowed time. Sooner or later someone was going to punch her clock. It just so happened that she brought it on herself this time.”

  “How so?” Poppy asked, offended for Capri. “No one deserves to die. Especially not one so young.”

  Brandi eyed her with interest. “And just how young do you think she was?”

  “I mean, she looked twelve, but I’m assuming she had to be eighteen to dance at Lit, right?”

  Brandi shrugged. “Well, that’s what her ID said, anyway.”

  “Do you think she was younger than she let on?”

  “What do I care?” Brandi replied as if Poppy’s question was stupid. “I’m not her mother. That’s what Big Jane is for.”

  “I thought you and Capri were close.”

  She sighed and replaced the costume. “Yeah, I guess. One screwed up family. Birds of a feather, right?”

  The sound of sobs reached a crescendo and Brandi rolled her eyes with disgust as she hollered at Missy even as the girl continued to sob on Big Jane’s shoulder. “Get it together, you hag. You’re supposed to go on in five minutes. Like anyone is interested in a weepy stripper.”

  “Did she know Capri?”

  Brandi sank into her vanity chair with a smirk. “Does anyone truly know anyone?”

  “I mean, she seems pretty upset.”

  Brandi waved away Poppy’s observation. “Missy cries at the drop of a hat. Hell, I think she cries over YouTube videos of cats. She’s a hormonal mess. Ever since she gave that kid up for adoption, all she does is cry whenever she gets the chance. Get over it, already. I say she’s better off, anyway. Who needs a brat hanging on your tits when you can have some rich old man buying you everything you need for the price of a little show?”

  Poppy hid her distaste and left Brandi to get ready.

  Brandi might very well be a borderline personality. She was definitely walking a fine line toward narcissism.

  But was she involved with the Bliss operation?

  Brandi seemed more put out that everyone was mourning Capri’s death rather than concerned that Bliss had been what killed her.

  And someone who was in the inner circle would care about the product killing customers.

  Big Jane came over to Poppy, a concerned smile wreathing her weathered face. “How ya doin’ honey?”

  “Okay, I guess,” Poppy answered. “I’m still in shock.”

  “We all are, sweetie. We all are. It’s such a tragedy when a brilliant, vibrant beauty goes much too soon. Capri was a special girl.”

  “I didn’t know her very well but I wish I’d had the chance to know her better.”

  “Oh, honey, she was a good egg. Hard to find in this business, but she really was.”

  Brandi overhead Big Jane and snorted in disgust, muttering, “Good grief. By the end of the evening, the kid will have a halo and angel wings.”

  “Shut your bitter mouth,” Big Jane snapped. “Just because she was sweet where you are sour, doesn’t mean you get to run her over in death. You did enough of that while the poor girl was alive.”

  Poppy took quiet note of that statement. Maybe it was time to have a private chat with Big Jane, away from the club.

  “I’m just saying, she wasn’t perfect. I don’t know why everyone is trying to make her out to be now that she’s dead,” Brandi said, but she looked away from Big Jane and returned to her makeup.
“Hell, just last week you were bitching about how she was a little whore because she moved in on your target and got him to buy her that flashy new diamond around her neck. Remember that?”

  Big Jane sniffed. “It’s bad luck to speak ill of the dead. Didn’t your mama ever teach you that?”

  “My mama was a crack addict whore, so no, she didn’t teach me much more than how to get her fix.”

  “Figures. You’re broken to the core, child.”

  Big Jane left with a final look of disgust toward Brandi and then ambled off, leaving Poppy with more questions and no one to ask.

  She couldn’t explain it, but Poppy felt certain that Capri didn’t intentionally overdose.

  And if that was true...was El Escorpion involved or was it just a case of jealousy?

  CHAPTER 13

  Selena Hernandez sipped at her caramel skim milk latte, smiling faintly at the delicate foam art swirled at the top. She savored the full-bodied flavor of the hearty roast, enjoying the simple pleasure of an excellent cup of coffee.

  If only life’s problems were so easily solved with a hot beverage.

  Her lunch date was officially late.

  She abhorred tardiness. Being unable to manage one’s time was a sign of a messy mind.

  If only it weren’t her twin brother holding her up.

  Mateo walked into the café and found her immediately. He pressed a kiss to her cheek and took his seat.

  “You’re late,” she said unnecessarily. Mateo didn’t care about being punctual, but Selena enjoyed pointing out that she knew he was purposefully needling her. “Please tell me you have a good reason for wasting my time, brother dear.”

  “Charming as always,” Mateo said with an engaging smile. Mateo was quite handsome—debonair might even be the word—but he was a smug asshole when it suited him. “Did you order my latte, as well?”

  “Of course,” she answered, moving to pull a spreadsheet free from her satchel. She settled her glasses on top of her nose and started reading. “A shipment from our friends in China was waylaid in Customs. We will not be able to get the necessary help to make the scheduled timeline, which puts us in a significant bind, as you can imagine.”

  “Straight to the point, sister? Do you ever take a moment to enjoy a fine day? Breathe the salty air and let it invigorate your soul?”

  “I don’t have time for that nonsense,” Selena answered with a short smile. “Besides, you do enough of that for the two of us.”

  “A workaholic to the core. How did we share the same womb for nine months?”

  “I’m sure I did all the work then, too,” Selena retorted, returning to the subject. “We’re going to need to find a new distributor if we cannot get our product out of Customs.”

  “I’ve already told you I have a new distributor lined up. I know you think I do nothing all day but comb my hair and get facials, but I actually had a meeting with a particularly eager new potential partner who already has an established pipeline.”

  Impressed, Selena said, “Is that so? And when did this happen?”

  “When you were off in the Caribbean last week, entertaining those dreadful women you insist on calling friends.”

  Selena waved off Mateo’s comment. “Friend is a loose interpretation. I like to think of them as useful and potentially profitable acquaintances.”

  “However you choose to classify them.”

  Selena chuckled, but it was time to speak of serious things.

  “We do have a problem. Something that requires immediate attention.”

  “A bigger problem than our distribution issue?”

  “The latest batch is not promising.”

  Mateo appeared shocked. “What happened?”

  “The chemists aren’t sure. All we know is that it’s dangerous.”

  Selena knew she didn’t have to say much more. Mateo swore under his breath. “This new batch was supposed to correct that problem.”

  “Well, it didn’t. And now we have a mess to clean up.”

  “Just dump the evidence in a drum and drop it off as chemical by-product. We pay for the service. No one will ask questions.”

  “You are too cavalier and it’s going to end up biting us both in the ass.”

  “And you worry too much. Thank God for all the Botox you put in your face otherwise you’d be Wrinkle City. You need to relax. Everything will work out.”

  Bless his heart, the idiot. Mateo didn’t understand the full implications of what was happening. “We’ve already attracted attention.”

  Becoming serious, Mateo said, “I’ll find out who is on this task force and make them go away.”

  “If you’d been more careful with the shipment manifest, this wouldn’t have happened.”

  Mateo scowled. “Careful, sister. I am not to blame for this latest development. But I’ll handle it.”

  “No. I will handle it.”

  Selena had always been the stronger of the two, a fact their father used to lament, saying it wasn’t natural for a female to be so headstrong.

  But Selena had inherited her father’s sharp mind and cutthroat disposition, whereas Mateo had inherited their mother’s love for fine things and fun parties.

  “You don’t think I will succeed?”

  “I love you, brother, but some things you are not cut out for.”

  “Now you sound like Father.”

  Selena reached over and patted her brother’s hand. “My apologies, mijo. I did not mean to bring up bad memories. However, too much lies in the balance. I will not trust that it is done properly unless I do it myself. That is my flaw, not yours.”

  Mateo sighed. “Sister, you’re ever, as always, the smarter of the two of us. What can I say? Whatever you have in mind I am sure will work.”

  Selena smiled, satisfied. “In the meantime, I need you to follow up with the new distributor. We have a timeline to keep and investors to keep happy.” She grabbed her purse and prepared to leave, surprising Mateo.

  “Aren’t we having lunch?”

  “Sorry, my schedule is packed. Perhaps if you’d arrived on time...”

  Selena rose and tossed a few bills onto the table before pressing a kiss on her brother’s cheek and exiting the small café.

  A woman’s work was never done.

  * * *

  Shaine, Marcus, Poppy and Victoria all gathered at headquarters to compare notes. Victoria was the first to start the conversation.

  “Since Ramirez isn’t coming, we need to clear the air,” she said, shocking Shaine. “The elephant in the room is that you left your mics on and we heard everything between you two that night.”

  But Poppy surprised him more when she said, “Yes, it’s true. Shaine and I withheld that we had history because we didn’t feel it was relevant to the case. I’ve already informed Ramirez and now it’s no longer a secret we need to hide. As long as we remain professional, everything should be fine.”

  “Why’d you tell her?” Shaine asked, irritated that Poppy took matters in her own hands. “You could’ve discussed this with me first. It affects me, too.”

  “I overheard a conversation Ramirez was having with Hobbs about her misgivings about us as a team and I decided to put her fears to rest.”

  “You could’ve let me handle it,” Shaine growled. “Your gamble could’ve cost us the case.”

  “And how were you going to handle it? Lie? That would’ve made things worse,” Poppy returned coolly. “I took action. It worked out. Deal with it.”

  Shaine knew now was not the time to hash this out. Poppy was right in that since things had worked out, it was best to leave it be, but he was still pissed.

  He turned to Victoria and Marcus. “So the question remains, do either of you have a problem with the fact that Jones and I have history?”

  “If it doesn’t affect your ability to close this case, I couldn’t give a crap,” Victoria answered, looking to Marcus. “Your turn.”

  Marcus shared a look with Poppy. “I trust you. If
you say there’s nothing to worry about, I’ll go with that.”

  “Thank you, Marcus,” Poppy murmured, nodding to Victoria, as well. “I promise we can be professional.”

  “Glad that’s over with,” Shaine grumbled. “Can we get back on point?”

  “Happily,” Poppy said.

  “Good,” Shaine said. “Since Capri didn’t have any family who was interested in her well-being, I think we should ask the people she hung around with. Someone has to know what Capri was into. The other night, I was actually invited to the warehouse by a friend of Capri’s. Her name was Carly but I didn’t get her last name. Unfortunately, she wrote her name and number on my palm and that’s already gone.”

  Poppy jumped in. “I might be able to help with that. Maybe Big Jane knows who Carly is. She seemed soft on Capri.”

  “Good idea,” Marcus agreed, and Poppy added another tidbit.

  “Another thing, Capri had said something to me on the drive over to the party about Raquel. Something had gone down between Raquel and another dancer, but Capri wouldn’t elaborate. She just said that I should stay away from her, saying that Raquel was dangerous.”

  “Dangerous how?” Shaine asked.

  Poppy wasn’t sure. “I don’t know. She wouldn’t say. But I’ve had dealings with Raquel and the woman is a nightmare. Not that Brandi is much better, but at least Brandi isn’t so openly hostile. Raquel has a permanent chip on her shoulder.”

  Poppy looked to Marcus. “I want you to run a background on Raquel and see what you can come up with. I want to know why she has a scorpion tattoo on her back. It might be related to our target or could be completely coincidental. But we won’t know unless we dig.”

  Shaine approved of the plan, liking Poppy’s direction. “And I’ll try to find Carly. Hopefully Big Jane knows who she is. Something tells me that there’s a tight circle surrounding the Bliss operation. Someone has to know something.”

  Poppy remembered something else. “Another thing, Big Jane mentioned something about Brandi and Capri’s relationship that seemed worth digging into. Big Jane implied that Brandi bullied Capri frequently.”

  “Do you think it’s more jealousy?” Victoria asked.