by Taylor Lee
Jake eyed Peter. “It wouldn’t hurt for you to bring Paul up to date prior to the meeting. I don’t want him to be blindsided. He’s a sharp young guy but we can’t assume Spellman will update him. Dan Rourke and Mark Peterson will speak for Vice and for the SFPD as a whole.
“Peter, from what you told me earlier, the Mayor wants you to represent him. That’s great news. I’d hate like hell to have to deal with any of the other Council members—or frankly with the Mayor or his staff.”
Jake grinned. “Let’s face it. It’s not often that an unassuming City Councilman also happens to be a Korean NIS undercover agent.”
Lexie laughed with the rest of them although it was still hard to believe that the wealthy, urbane Councilman was in reality a deep undercover double agent. One who worked with the most unsavory factions of the Korean equivalent of our CIA, no less. Not too long ago Peter had been their most likely suspect as the local impresario for none other than Young-soo, the international head of the despicable Korean human trafficking enterprise. When both Lexie and Jake were captured by the Jopok, Peter came to the rescue and saved their lives. Peter revealed his true identity at great risk to himself and to the cover it had taken him years to create. It was a credit to them that she, Jake, Brady, and Master Wan were the only ones who knew who the urbane Councilman truly was.
Jake shoved back his chair and walked over to the cabinet. He grabbed several bottles of water and passed them around the table then sunk down in his chair. He was silent for several moments, his rigid frown signaling he was deep in thought. Taking several sips of water, he steepled his fingers together, then rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward. Meeting each of their gazes, his concern was apparent. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, commanding.
“I know it isn’t necessary for me to say what I am about to say, but it is important we all agree that we are on the same page.”
Lexie felt her face flame. Dear God, surely Jake wasn’t going to remind her that he was in charge and that she damn well better know it. Her ever ready anger flared. So help me God, if he gives me the “we’re a team” lecture I’m going to throw this bottle of water in his face.
Jake glanced at her and a grin swept across his face.
“No, Darlin’, this isn’t about you. I’ve figured out the best way to keep you in line and it isn’t gonna be in public.”
He laughed when she scowled at him but his expression quickly turned grim.
“No, this is not about how we operate. Specifically it’s about how we operate within the bigger group. I’ll be clear. Whatever we discuss is among us. I’m willing to participate in the larger discussion. There is no way that we can avoid the oversight of the various branches of government. And yes, to a degree we will keep them apprised of what we’re doing. But most of what we do will be private. Known only to us.”
“You expect a leak, Jake?” Peter’s expression was as grim as Jake’s.
Jake shrugged. “Don’t you?”
When Peter and Brady both nodded, Jake continued.
“Don’t know about the rest of you but I’ve never been involved in something this big, this sensitive, that doesn’t leak. We have to operate as though everyone but us is suspect.”
Brady frowned. “Does that include Dan and Mark?”
Jake nodded in agreement. “No, both of them are clean. We couldn’t have a stronger head of Vice than Dan Rourke, and Mark Peterson has proven himself Dan’s loyal partner. But the fact that they have to report to a lot of higher-ups makes them vulnerable. Unintentionally they may give information about what we’re doing to the wrong people.”
Lexie’s head was swimming. She’d been waiting to talk to Jake alone. But if they were supposed to be a goddamned team maybe she should raise it now with all of them. Unfortunately much of what she was about to say was based on her intuition. She knew she would have to risk their scorn. She sighed and looked up to see Jake staring at her with a questioning frown.
“What’s up, Lexie? I know that look. Spit it out.”
Lexie shrugged then swallowed hard.
“This… this is only conjecture on my part. I have no evidence. It mostly comes from intuition. It may not prove to be useful.”
Jake nodded. “Your intuition has proven to be a hell of a resource in the past. Go ahead Lexie. What’s got you thinking?”
Grateful for his encouragement, Lexie pressed forward.
“It’s about the girls. It occurred to me in the middle of the night that something isn’t right. I… well, okay, here’s what I’m trying to figure out. How did the men who ordered them killed know who they were? We never released the girls’ names and worked like crazy to keep their identity secret. We videotaped them in private. Dewa and I took every precaution to make sure that no one saw us with them. We interviewed them one at a time, in different locations. Even Dewa didn’t know their names. It is highly unlikely that the girls told someone. They were terrified to give the interview but did it because I convinced them how important it was.”
Lexie forced herself to breathe deep. She knew she was on to something big. The back of her neck told her that much. The excitement roiling in the pit of her stomach reinforced her zinging nerve endings. She faced the men and laid it on the table.
“The only people who knew who the girls were are the five of us and Dan. My question: Since none of us would reveal their identity, how did the killers find out who they were?”
She was encouraged by the silence around the table. She knew in her gut it was a critical question. She was profoundly relieved at Jake’s response.
“Tell you what, Darlin’. That may just be the most important question we could ask. The answer may help us bring this goddamned evil enterprise crashing to the ground.”
Chapter 5
“Damn, hotshot! Tryin’ to show us up again? Jake’s right. Unless one of us inadvertently gave away that information, if we can figure out who else knew the girls’ names we may be able to find our Mr. E.”
Lexie smiled at Brady and basked in the admiration from the rest of the men. Not only did they not dismiss her question but they acknowledged it could be a critical key to finding the man they’d codenamed Mr. E, shorthand for Mr. Evil.
Brady continued. “I sure as hell don’t want to point fingers, but let’s face it. Dan had the most opportunity to reveal the names. Not purposefully, of course. After all, the girls had arrest records for prostitution. Some enterprising asshole could have found their names in the police records.”
“No, Brady, I thought of that. But it doesn’t make sense. In the last two years the SFPD has arrested more than 500 women for prostitution. I know I don’t have to remind any of you that the number of arrests for their ‘Johns’ is less than 5% of that number.”
Lexie shook her head. “It’s important to understand how I found the girls. I have an underground of informants on the streets. Many of them are veteran prostitutes but some are from other ‘industries’ as well.”
Lexie ignored Jake’s raised eyebrow, satisfied that she could surprise him the way he often surprised her. But then they both knew that the other had secrets they might never learn. Too many lives depended on it.
“I promise you, my sources know more about the illegal sex trade than any SFPD cop does—except maybe Dan and Mark. The important thing is that they are loyal to me. Some of them participate in the Strong Women program. None of them are part of the new wave of Asian girls being trafficked internationally. My sources are as offended as we are about the exploitation of these unsuspecting teenagers. I got the names of the three girls from my most trusted source.”
Jake frowned thoughtfully.
“That’s great; but isn’t it possible that other people heard about her inquiry? Let’s face it. The Jopok has sources buried so deep in the Korean prostitution business that they could have inadvertently picked up the information. And hell, if they were looking for it, they would have beaten it out of anyone they suspected.”
; “I agree, Jake. But none of the girls knew each other. We kept their faces shielded so it wasn’t possible to identify them from the video. We manipulated their voices. None of them knew the other girls in the video. We made sure that they were from different parts of the District.”
“That may be so, Lexie. But what about your informant? Could she have been bought off?”
Lexie threw Master Wan a questioning glance. When he nodded she turned back to Jake. “Jake, I trust this source with my life. Plus no one and I do mean no one would suspect him.”
“Him?!” Brady and Peter echoed Jake’s surprised exclamation.
“Fine. I hope you know that the only reason I’m telling you this, is so you’ll get off my back about being a lone ranger. This person is part of the Chinese ‘business’ community.” Lexie smiled at Master Wan whose lips curved slightly in what might have been a smile.
“Several years ago, Master Wan asked me to help a friend whose daughter had gotten involved with a charming guy who turned out to be a major player in one of the drug cartels. The girl was convinced that she loved the asshole, even though he got her hooked on everything from ecstasy to heroin. Her father knew his daughter would never forgive him if he had the bastard killed, so he came to me. I worked with her, got her clean, and she became one of my best students. You don’t know her. She lives in China now with her ‘reasonably’ respectable husband.” Lexie winked at Master Wan. “At least he’s not in the Korean mafia.”
Jake whistled. “Damn. Just when I thought I was the only one who had secrets. Tell me, is Madam Juen a confidant of the Prime Minister of China or she is content to be ‘friends with benefits’ of the Pope?”
Lexie laughed and exchanged an amused glance with Jake. Not too long ago they’d seen Master Wan and his seventy-year-old wife in a compromising position in the herb garden wheelbarrow. Jake was shocked but she wasn’t. When Jake later commented that he was impressed that the elderly couple was sexually active, Master Wan had shrugged and said with a mysterious grin, “Wives of Kung Fu masters are always smiling. Like the sunrise, those smiles do not stop with age.”
“Okay, that’s compelling, Lexie. A Chinese Mafioso would go to his grave with information that might help the Jopok. I assume you’ve followed up with him?”
“Yes, he assured me that he and his second in command are the only ones who spoke with the girls. I trust him, Jake, the way I trust you and Master Wan.”
Peter coughed slightly. When he had their attention, he said with a charming smile, “Now shall we deal with the question of me?”
He held up his hands to ward off their murmured protests. He met Jake’s gaze head on.
“The only way that I can prove my loyalty is you, Jake. If anyone can spot a turncoat, it’s you and likely, Brady.”
Brady stepped in. “Thanks Peter, for addressing the elephant in the room. Up until a few months ago, Jake, Lexie and I all suspected that you might be the American liaison to Young-soo. You shocked the hell out of me when you revealed your identity and saved the Big Guy and Lexie. But we’d be nuts not to have questions. I don’t know when I’ve met a more slippery character than you, Peter. And by the way, my friend, that’s a compliment.”
Peter grinned. “Coming from you, Brady, I will take it as a supreme compliment. But you have reason to be suspicious. I am Korean. I have a hell of a lot of money that won’t show up on any tax records and I am on Young-soo’s payroll—among other payrolls. I’ve spent the last five years getting to the place where Young-soo occasionally calls on me to do work for him. If I can maintain those connections, I believe I can play a major role in busting the Korean Sex industry hierarchy in this city. That is my goal. Asking for your trust is brazen at the least. And for you, dicey at best. But, that’s where we stand.”
Lexie watched Jake take in the exchange without betraying his thoughts. She grinned to herself. And they thought Master Wan was inscrutable. Of course they should have questions about Peter. God, talk about an accomplished spook.
No one spoke for what felt like several minutes. Jake ran his hands through his dark hair mussing it further and in Lexie’s view making it even sexier. His slow smile lit up his eyes and ended with his trademark twinkle.
“Yeah, you could be a triple, or even a fucking quadruple agent, Peter, but I have irrefutable proof that you are on our side.”
Peter quirked a brow and fought a smile.
“And how exactly did I prove myself to you?”
“Well, let’s see. Right before you let us know who you were, you had Lexie bent over the back of a chair preparing to fuck her. As I recall, a screaming pack of Kkpangae was egging you on. But you stopped. Even before you cut me loose, I knew that you were one of us. That you planned to live another day. No one who’d been ogling Lexie’s ass the way you had for weeks would have stopped. Hell no! That you did proved irrefutably that we shared a code of honor. That we were on the same team. Team etiquette. You don’t fuck with one of your guy’s women. Especially when you were about to cut him loose. Certain death.”
Peter’s eyes were dancing.
“That’s an interesting theory, Jake. And a correct one. Most of what I do overtly and covertly borders on the dishonorable. My greatest difficulty is remembering which version of the truth I am telling at the moment. But there’s one code I’ve never broken. I do not and never have fucked with a comrade’s woman. Although I’ll admit that Lexie tested me to the extreme. If ever I were to break that code it would have been with her.”
Lexie threw up her hands in disbelief.
“I can not believe what I am hearing. That is how the two of you decide whether or not you’re going to kill someone? Whether he is friend or foe? Is that some primitive law of the jungle? You don’t screw my little baboon’s ass and that means we’re buddies? Good God!”
Jake chortled, his eyes dancing.
“Hey, Darlin’, haven’t you heard of ‘honor among thieves’? But, yeah, it’s a primal code. Goes back to the caveman days. When two alpha males confront one another, and one backs off, it’s a signal that he respects the other’s territory. No harm, no foul.”
Lexie glared at the two men sharing wicked grins and scoffed.
“God, you men are predictable. It all comes down to who’s screwing whom, is that what you’re saying?”
Jake shrugged.
“Works for me. How about you, Peter?”
“Sums it up for me.”
Lexie snarled, glaring at Brady who was grinning as broadly as the other two men.
“Well, lover boy, I guess I don’t have to ask if you are in this ‘my life is ruled by sex’ group?”
Brady laughed.
“Hotstuff, if anyone proves the law of the jungle, it’s me. Hell, I’ve been sniffing after you since the moment I met you. Only reason I haven’t swept you up in my arms and hauled you back to my cave is that even I acknowledge you belong to the Big Guy.”
He hopped out of his chair and rounded the table. Leaning over next to Lexie’s ear, he said in a loud stage whisper, “Admit it, sweet cheeks. You’re as bad as us guys. Damn, Jake can’t even walk in the room and you start drooling. Hell, the rest of hustle to get out of the way. The sparks between you two are fucking dangerous!”
Lexie tried to stifle her grin but it was impossible not to laugh at Brady. He’d thrown himself on the floor with his hands up panting at her feet like a puppy dog.
“Brady, you are crazy. Get up, you silly thing! And, fine. I’ll concede. We women came out of the same jungle that you horny guys did. Now most women don’t know how to fight the way that I do but let me tell you, if anyone went after my man, she’d be begging for mercy. After I’d kicked her ass out the door and to the curb, that is.”
In the hoots of laughter that rang out, Jake sprang up and strong-armed Brady out of the way.
“Back off, buddy. Get your own hot chick and leave mine alone.”
An amused voice spoke from the doorway.
“I think that�
�s a good suggestion. Particularly since I came all the way from Seoul to claim you. What do you say, Brady? Ready to give up on the blonde and see how you fare with a redhead?”
Chapter 6
“Damn!”
Brady sprang from the floor. In seconds he reached the gorgeous redheaded woman standing in the doorway. She tossed her head and put her hands on her hips, a saucy grin curving her full lips.
“Jesus, Tiffany! I thought you weren’t coming ‘til Wednesday. Hot damn, little spitfire, I woulda picked you up at the airport. Christ, Tiff, why didn’t you let me know?”
Tiffany shrugged.
“I wanted to see if I could catch you on your knees in front of some other woman panting like a lovesick puppy dog. And guess what…”
She looked at the group around the table and winked at Jake.
“Really, Commander. Even if I couldn’t count on lover boy to behave, I’d have thought I could trust you to keep him away from your woman.”
Her words died in a shriek when Brady grasped her under her arms and swung her in a dizzying circle, not putting her down until she was begging for mercy.
He set her on the floor and yanked her head back, his hands twisted in her hair. Staring into her eyes, Brady’s casual joking words were belied by the passion in his eyes.
“Damn, spitfire. I should have warned you before you flew 14,000 miles. I’ve had a thing for Lexie since the first time I saw her. Good thing Jake’s got a leash on her or you would have come all this way for nothing.”
“A leash? How dare you, Brady?” Lexie gasped in mock outrage.
“Just sayin’, hotstuff.” Brady tossed her a wink over his shoulder.
Tiffany gave Brady a playful punch.
“I don’t know, Brady, given Lexie’s skills on the mat, I’ll bet she’s the one holding the leash.” Glancing at Jake, she added, “Hmm, let me take that back. Seeing that look in the Commander’s eyes, maybe that leash goes two ways.”
Jake rose up from his chair and headed toward Brady who now had Tiffany wrapped securely in his arms. He jerked a thumb at Brady.
