Devil's Playground

by Arianna Hart

  “You and me both, sister.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Mac waited outside a seedy looking apartment building for the Chief of Police to emerge. He was on the outskirts of Children’s territory and his neck prickled with the danger of it. Now he had to worry about getting spotted by the chief and any random passer-by. The relaxed, satisfied feeling he’d had with Caitlyn seemed years ago instead of only hours.

  His pulse jumped as he remembered the feel of Caitlyn surrounding him. She was a confusing mixture of tough girl and sexy vixen and he couldn’t get a handle on her. First she told him her feelings ran deep, then she told him to get out, that her world didn’t revolve around him.

  Hell, he knew he wasn’t the center of her universe, but she could’ve given him a chance to recover before tossing him out of the house.

  “Mac, come in.” Tom’s voice came through the earpiece of the two-way radios he had scored for them.

  “Go ahead.” He barely had to whisper for the microphone to pick up his words.

  “What’s your location?”

  “I’m outside an apartment on the corner of Washington and Lincoln. Where’re you?”

  “About half a block away. Is this where you lived?”

  “Nope, we were closer to the park. The chief went in about ten minutes ago. I wonder if Miguel is headed this way?”

  “I’ll let you know in a few. Man, this kid’s good at checking for tails. He managed to shake me once, but I caught up with him.” Tom’s voice held a bit of admiration.

  “Makes you wonder if he knows he’s being watched.”

  “Don’t insult me.”

  It didn’t take long for Mac to pick up Miguel slipping onto the fire escape on the side of the building. If he hadn’t been hiding in the alley, he’d have missed him completely.

  “I’m on the B side of the building, behind the dumpster. Miguel just shimmied up the fire escape like a squirrel.”

  “I got you in my sights, make some room for me.”

  Tom slipped silently next to Mac. It was a good thing Tom had warned him of his approach or Mac never would have recognized him. A black skullcap was pulled low over his head, almost hiding his eyes. Baggy jeans and a loose shirt disguised his shape and he’d done something to darken the skin of his hands and face. He blended in as well or better than Mac did, and Mac had lived there the last six months.

  “This puts a bit of confirmation on things, doesn’t it?” Tom crouched down behind the dumpster and pulled a candy bar out of a deep pocket.

  “Got any more of those?”

  Tom handed a second one over. Mac blocked out the smells of rotting food and urine that were prevalent in the alley and focused on the sweet chocolate instead. He’d eaten in worse places.

  “We need some surveillance equipment so we can find out what they’re saying and get some evidence.”

  “Can’t do that without a warrant.”

  “No shit, but how are we going to get a warrant for surveillance equipment unless we can take something to the judge? I’m not going through the locals, that’s for sure. Could Liam help?”

  Tom looked thoughtful. “Maybe, but I hate to involve him if we don’t have to. He’s already risking his career by searching the records illegally.”

  “Might I remind you that hundreds of automatic weapons are flooding the streets? If we don’t find out what’s going down, losing his job is going to be the least of his worries.”

  “I’ll talk to him tonight. Did you see the apartment Miguel went into?”

  Mac let the subject die. Tom would come around eventually. “Third floor, two windows from the left.”

  Mac lifted his binoculars carefully. A stray glint of light off the lenses could give him away.

  “Can you see anything?” Tom asked.

  “No, the shades are down. I can’t even get a silhouette to tell how many people are in there.”

  “Then we wait.”

  A plan began to form in Mac’s mind, but it all hinged on getting Liam’s help. If they could snag at least a listening and recording device, they could get enough evidence to set up a full-blown sting. If nothing else, they’d know what was going on.

  “Should we put a tail on Carlos too?” Tom asked, interrupting his thoughts.

  “Not yet. We don’t have the manpower, and I think Miguel is making a play to take Carlos out. Let’s keep an eye on him and the chief, see if we can get some more information and take it from there. I want to know when all of this is going down as much as I want to know who the players are.”

  “Here comes Miguel.” Tom pointed to the fire escape.

  Mac froze in place. If Miguel looked down, he’d be able to spot them around the dumpster. The youth slid down the rusty ladder and landed in a crouch. Looking furtively in both directions before getting up, Miguel’s gaze passed their hiding place and moved on. With one last look, he scurried to the end of the alley and slipped out into the street.

  Less than ten minutes later, the chief slipped out the back door and climbed into a beat up Chevy that waited on the street.

  “Guess that answers that question,” Tom said.

  “We’ve got to tell Liam.”

  “I know,” Tom said with a resigned sigh. “Come on, he should be home by now. Where’d you leave my car?” Mac had used Tom’s car to follow the chief’s activities. Since Miguel stayed pretty close to home, usually, Tom didn’t need it.

  “Commuter lot. You got bus fare?”

  “Great. We smell like dumpster and now we have to take the bus.”

  “Could be worse, we could smell like outhouse, again.”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  * * *

  “I’ll get you the equipment on one condition. I get to be in on it.” A muscle twitched in Liam’s jaw as he faced down Tom and Mac.

  Caitlyn’s heart ached for him. Liam had respected the chief a great deal, so this must be killing him. It was one thing to think there was a dirty officer in the department. Hearing that it went all the way to the top must be devastating.

  Tom looked to Mac who shrugged as if to say, “it’s your call”.

  “Okay. We could use some extra manpower anyway. Will you be able to take this to a judge to get a warrant?”

  “I’ll do it. Just because my chief’s dirty doesn’t mean I am too.”

  “Li, no one thinks you’re dirty. We just don’t want you in the middle anymore than you have to be,” Tom said.

  “Like I have a choice? If I don’t do something, who will? You can’t trust anyone else. I’ll do my job.” Liam stalked out of the room.

  Tom went to follow him, but Mac held him back. “Let him go. He needs to work this out for himself.”

  “I’ll go,” Caitlyn got up from the table and searched for Liam.

  She found him in her room, playing solitaire.

  “Do you need something? I can go—somewhere.”

  “Nope, just thought I’d watch and see if you’re a better card player than I am. Doesn’t look like it.”

  Liam gave her a weak smile and clicked off the game. “Did Tom send you in here to talk to me?”

  “No, he wanted to come in, but I figured you two would get into a fist fight and break something and then I’d have no place to sleep, so I came instead.”

  “Ha, ha. Very funny. Look, I’m fine, I don’t need a shoulder to cry on just because my department is dirtier than the river.”

  “I didn’t think you’d need a shoulder to cry on, but I thought you might like to talk about it a bit.”

  “What’s there to talk about? I became a cop to help others, and my Chief of Police is using that pledge to run guns and drugs that will be used on other cops. Serve and protect, yeah, right.” He tipped back in his chair and looked out the window.

  “We don’t know the whole story, maybe there’s more to it than meets the eye.”

  “Yeah, maybe he’s just running guns to pay for his sick mother’s operation. Wake up! He turned his back on
all of us on the streets. And I’m going to make sure he gets nailed for it.”

  “Why don’t we prove it first? Then you can worry about nailing him.” Caitlyn didn’t like the look on his face.

  “Oh, I’ll make sure we get proof. I have a friend in the equipment room, I can get us anything we need.”

  Caitlyn didn’t know what else to say. Liam was obviously feeling betrayed, and nothing could change that. Only time could lessen the pain, but that wasn’t what he wanted to hear right now.

  “Just don’t do anything stupid. Who knows what’s going to happen when everything shakes down? I don’t want to see you get killed. Who else would I be able to pick on?”

  Liam smiled and dodged her mock punch. “Come on, let’s go in the kitchen and work out a plan with your boyfriend.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” Caitlyn said quickly.

  “Oh really? Then I guess you use condoms for decorations these days?” He pointed to the blue foil wrapper on the floor.

  “Ah, I, ah.” She didn’t know what to say. It was one thing to discuss her sex life in general, it was another to have evidence of it right there in front of her brother.

  “Don’t panic. I’ll keep my mouth shut about it.”

  “Until you need to use it against me.” Caitlyn picked up the wrapper and buried it in the garbage under some tissues.

  “Of course. What do you see in him anyway? He’s arrogant as hell, and even more annoying than Tom. Or is that it? Sleeping with him pisses Tom off, so that’s why you do it.”

  “Not by a long shot.” Caitlyn sat on the bed. “I didn’t plan on sleeping with him. It started out I was just trying to keep him alive, then we spent more time together and got to know each other. He can be really funny, and he’s so smart. He really isn’t arrogant, you know.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “Honestly. He’s just dedicated to his job and focused on it. He wants to solve this case and nothing is going to stand in his way. Even when he could barely stand because of the pain, he insisted I keep his cover.”

  “You don’t have to get all mushy about it.”

  “I’m not getting mushy, it’s just, well…I like him.”

  “Does that mean I’m going to have to look at his ugly mug across the dinner table every holiday?”

  Caitlyn’s heart lurched. She wanted that more than anything else, but didn’t see it happening. “Probably not. He’s not interested in long term.”

  “Then what the hell is he doing—”

  “Never mind.” Caitlyn stood and kissed Liam on the cheek. “I’ll worry about my future, you just make sure you stay safe while you’re playing cops and robbers.”

  “I’m not playing a cop, I am a cop.”

  “Are you sure?” She poked him in the side. “I bet you went to one of those internet police academies and got your badge in two weeks,” she teased, poking him again.

  “Cut it out.” He batted her hands away.

  “Whatcha gonna do, tough guy? Arrest me?” Caitlyn continued to tickle him, hoping her teasing would distract him from her love life and his bad mood.

  “I don’t need to arrest you when I can kick your ass.” He stood and tried to grab her hands.

  “You and what army?” She jabbed him in the ribs.

  “Ouch! Your nails are sharp.” Feinting to the right, he dodged left and grabbed her arm. With a quick heave, he had her over his shoulder.

  “Put me down!” she shrieked, breathless with laughter.

  “Not so tough now are you?” Liam spun around in the tiny room.

  “I’ll throw up all over you,” she laughed, getting dizzy.

  “You’d better not!”

  Before Caitlyn could catch her breath, Liam stepped on something and lost his balance, dropping her on the bed with a thud. Her head hit the headboard with a resounding thunk and the frame collapsed beneath her.

  Tom and Mac came racing into the room to find Liam sprawled on top of her.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Mac stormed into the room and hauled Liam off her. “Are you okay? What happened?”

  Caitlyn stood slowly, rubbing her head. “Nothing, Liam and I were just horsing around.”

  “Are you hurt? Let me see.” He pulled her close to look at her head. “Jesus, you could have killed her! You outweigh her by seventy-five pounds, man. You should be more careful,” Mac shot at Liam.

  “I don’t need you telling me how to treat my sister. At least I’m not fucking her and leaving her high and dry.” Liam accused.

  “Liam, shut up.” Caitlyn moved between the two of them.

  “I’m not leaving her high and dry, and I’m not ‘fucking’ her.” Mac faced him down.

  “Enough!” Caitlyn put a hand on either chest. “Mac, Liam and I horse around like that all the time, there was no harm done, so back off.”

  He stepped back, but his face was still thunderous.

  “Liam, what Mac and I do is my business. Mine. So butt out.”

  “It’s not right. He has no business…”

  “I said enough. Why don’t you go back to your place for a bit and take a break. We can’t do anything today anyway.”

  Liam gave one last furious glare to Mac before pushing past Tom and stomping out.

  “That was real helpful, Mac, thanks,” she snarled at him. “I almost had him out of the grumps and you had to bust in here like some rescuing hero.” Caitlyn squatted down to check out the damage to the bed. Thank God their earlier activities hadn’t broken it. Of course, that was probably what weakened it in the first place.

  “How bad is it?” Mac bent down next to her. His scent invaded her senses and her mind spun with images of him moving over her.

  “Not that bad, the frame just came out of the slot. If you pick it up, I should be able to get it back in.” Don’t think about putting tabs into slots!

  Mac tried not to think about the last time he’d been this close to Caitlyn and a bed at the same time. He could feel Tom staring a hole in his back and knew he had some explaining to do. Great. That would be loads of fun.

  The frame slid into the headboard without much fuss and Caitlyn hurried away from him. What had she told Liam before the two of them started wrestling?

  “Come on, Mac. I want to get an early start tomorrow, so let’s get the game plan straight tonight.”

  “Don’t forget I need a ride into work tomorrow,” Caitlyn said from the hallway.

  “Out of the question,” Mac said before Tom could open his mouth. There was no way she was going to work unless he could post a guard on her.

  “I don’t believe I asked your permission. I have a job to do.”

  “Cat, the hospital is smack dab in the middle of the Children’s territory. Don’t you think you could call out until we know what’s going on?” Tom asked.

  “No. I’ve already had extra days off because of my back, I can’t leave them short-handed again. Besides, if all hell breaks loose, the hospital needs to be prepared. Lives could depend on it.”

  She had a point there, but Mac hated the idea of her being vulnerable.

  “If one of you drops me off and another picks me up, I don’t see how there could be a problem. No one’s going to come into the ER with guns a-blazing and take a shot at me.”

  “How do you know?” Mac met her gaze over the bed.

  “Because we have security guards and I’m behind locked doors.”

  A cold knot of fear formed in his gut. He’d felt a measure of comfort knowing she was safe in the apartment with one of the O’Tooles always handy. The thought of her being in the middle of everything scared the hell out of him.

  “We can’t keep her prisoner here. Jim can take her in and we’ll pick her up,” Tom said.

  If her overprotective brother wasn’t worried about it, Mac couldn’t very well keep pushing the issue. But it still made him feel uneasy. Someone had taken a stab at her—literally—at work already, what would stop them from doing it again?

&nb
sp; Chapter Seventeen

  The Man waited for the cop to leave his office, then closed the door. The last shipment of guns had arrived and everything was in place. He’d contact the three gang leaders and get them ready to move. The timing had to be perfect.

  Months of preparation had gone into this operation and nothing was going to ruin it for him. Not even one hard to kill federal agent. How much did he know? That idiot Carlos assured him that “Diego” hadn’t been involved in any of the gun runs, but he could just be covering his ass.

  Diego must know more. But how much? Enough for the Man to abandon his operation? His fist clenched around a pencil. Not when he was so close. Summer was ending and the media was hungry for a story. Just as he’d planned. When the gangs started rioting and looting, he’d sweep in and look like a hero on the ten o’clock news.

  A slow smile spread over his face at the thought. Once he got rid of Carlos and the others of his ilk, he’d have total control over the gangs’ activities. He wouldn’t be greedy about it, oh no. A ten percent cut of the profits was a fair exchange for protection from the cops. Money would trickle into a secured account in the Caymans, and after his retirement, he’d have something to supplement his government pension.

  And the city would thank him for it.

  All he had to do was dispose of McDougal. And thanks to his informants, he knew just the right way to do so.

  * * *

  Caitlyn had never looked forward to work so much in her life. She was showered and dressed a good hour before her shift started and nagged at Jim until he got out of bed to take her in early.

  “Come on, lazy bones. I want to get in and make some phone calls before I go on duty.” She whipped the covers off Jim’s slumbering form.

  “Hey!” He yanked the sheet up to cover his boxers. “Can’t you make your phone calls here? I didn’t get home until after three.”

  “It’s not my fault you had some heavy sucking up to do with Maggie. You should have called her and told her what was going on.”