by Mia Taylor
Charlotte chewed on the insides of her cheeks so hard, she tasted blood.
Just another night and you’ll be done with him.
She could not get the evening over fast enough.
She didn’t speak again and instead reached for the door to let herself out.
“I guess we’re doing this,” Rand muttered, following her lead as she stalked up to the front door of the charming house on East Scott Street.
“Nice digs,” Rand commented irrelevantly as he took her arm. Charlotte’s impulse was to shove him off but before she could, the door opened and they were facing a butler.
“Good evening,” he intoned. “This way.”
“Look at Lurch,” Rand whispered in her ear and she scowled, wishing he’d shut up for five minutes.
They were led into a beautiful front room, reminiscent of the 1930s. A high, crystal-and-gold chandelier dangled from the ceiling, casting an almost magical sparkle around the elegant furniture. A full buffet of food had been laid out while liveried waiters walked around with silver trays of champagne.
The women were dressed in long, shimmering cocktail gowns while the men wore tuxes.
“I didn’t get the memo that this was black-tie,” Rand whispered and Charlotte knew exactly how he felt. They were both underdressed for the event.
“Ah! Craig!” Theo called, spotting them from across the room. “You made it.”
“And Charlotte, too,” Rand quipped. Theo barely looked at her but he did manage a frosty smile before nodding to where Mia stood, her face waxen, by the piano.
“Steph is over there. Come on, Craig. I’ll introduce you around.”
The men wandered off, leaving Charlotte to lock eyes with her nemesis, but there was a plaintive, almost scared expression on Mia’s face which caused her to falter.
She’s a seasoned actress. She’s been doing this as long as you’ve known her.
“Charlotte, why are you here?” Mia murmured when Charlotte joined her. “I haven’t done anything wrong!”
“Let’s go somewhere private, shall we?”
She didn’t give Mia a chance to answer and she steered Rhett’s ex away from the party, snatching up a glass of champagne from a passing waiter as she did. Charlotte’s nerves were shot.
They ended up in the study, Mia’s face ashen.
“We don’t have long to talk,” Mia warned her. “They’ll come looking for me.”
Charlotte’s brow furrowed. “What does that mean?” she demanded. “Are they on to you?”
“I don’t know!” Mia wailed, tears filling her blue eyes helplessly. “I didn’t think they were but Theo’s been making little threats, subtly… you know?”
“No, Mia, I don’t know!”
Her face was opaque as she gasped. “Don’t call me that!” she hissed. “If anyone hears you—”
“You just said they’re onto you. Isn’t that why you married Theo? Or isn’t that the story you’re going to try and sell me?”
Mia hung her head miserably. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” she breathed. “I-I was just under so long…”
“You did this to yourself! No one asked you to hook up with Theo Susi. That was something you did all by yourself. No one told you to marry into the mob, for Christ’s sake!”
And no one told you to hurt Rhett the way you did! Charlotte screamed silently.
“I don’t expect you to understand,” Mia spat, the look of woe vanishing from her face. “You always were holier-than-thou, weren’t you?”
“This isn’t about me, Stephanie. This is about the choices you made. Intelligence isn’t sure about you anymore. They’re certainly not going to be happy to hear you’re married to Theo Susi. How the hell did you manage to hide it?”
“We eloped,” she confessed. “I told him I didn’t want my family to find out where I was. My cover story was that I came from an abusive home in Toledo.”
“Jesus, Mia, what were you thinking? Why didn’t you just get Kelly to pull you out before things went so far?”
She lowered her eyes and shook her head. “You really can’t understand unless you’ve worked undercover, Charlotte. You never liked me and were determined to see the worst in me because you’re in love with Rhett but—”
“Wait, wait a second—don’t you deflect on me with that bullshit!”
“It’s not deflecting—it’s a fact. You’ve always been in love with Rhett, even before I met him. I used to ask him why you two never hooked up and he had no good answer for me.”
A hot flush touched Charlotte’s face and she shook her head in denial.
“You’re wrong,” she muttered but the words sounded weak even to Charlotte’s ears.
“Am I?” Mia chuckled mirthlessly. “Then what are you doing here? You came here, hoping to catch me doing something illegal so you could run back to Rhett and tell him how I did him a favor filing for a divorce.”
She’s a master manipulator, flipping the story like this. This is how she gets away with everything.
“So, what’s your take now, Mia? Hm? Are you claiming victim because your husband never loved you enough? Or is it that Theo Susi forced you? Can you pick a story so I know what to report back to Kelly and I can wash my hands of you?”
Slowly, Mia raised her head and her eyes narrowed.
“You can’t tell Kelly anything but that I am doing my job. I’m doing exactly what I was supposed to do—infiltrating the Susis.”
“While feeding them information about the CPD’s movements?”
“I haven’t betrayed the force,” she insisted but Charlotte didn’t believe her.
“I guess she’ll have to decide that for herself. Goodbye, Mia. Best of luck, however things turn out.”
She spun to leave but Mia’s voice rang out like whiplash. “You’ll tell Kelly nothing,” she hissed.
Lazily, Charlotte turned back around and looked at her. “Or else what?”
A nervous leer appeared on her face. “Or else I’ll out you.”
Charlotte blinked. “What? What does that mean? I’m not gay.”
Mia snorted. “I think we both know what I’m talking about,” she replied quietly. “And it’s not about your sexuality.”
Charlotte’s breath quickened as she met Mia’s eyes.
Has she known all along?
As if reading her mind, Mia nodded slowly. “You can’t be married to someone and not know he’s got a secret life, even if I was away so much.”
“Funny,” Charlotte snapped back. “Rhett couldn’t seem to see yours.”
Mia’s smile faded. “I was always faithful to Rhett—”
“Just shut up, Mia. What do you want?”
“I want to be left alone to my new life,” she replied shortly. “I want my paycheck from the CPD and I don’t want anyone else ever coming to check up on me.”
Charlotte scoffed. “And how would you like me to accomplish that?”
She shrugged. “I know you and Rhett are shifters. There must be more of you on the force. Work it out.”
Charlotte snickered and shook her head. “And you’re saying if I don’t arrange this, you’ll what? Go to the newspaper about the mythical bear shifter you were married to? Don’t make me laugh, Mia. You’d have to out yourself as a cop—or should I say, former cop. Everyone will think you’re insane.”
Mia arched her eyebrows and shook her head. “You don’t know me at all, do you?” she sighed. “If you want to test me, by all means, but remember, I’ll be putting yours and Rhett’s lives under a microscope. Your entire pack, or whatever it is your gang of bears is called, will be at risk.”
Their eyes clashed.
“Haven’t you done enough to Rhett?” Charlotte hissed.
“That’s up to you.”
There was no doubt in Charlotte’s mind that Mia would find a way to make good on her threat.
Or die trying if I don’t give her what she wants.
“Think about it,” Mia said, sauntering by, a wave of Chan
el wafting over Charlotte’s body. “Before you do anything rash.”
“I don’t need to think about it,” Charlotte called out as Mia’s hand touched the brass handles. “I won’t rat you out to Kelly.”
Mia smiled warmly. “I knew you’d see it my way. Go, enjoy the party, then. I know you don’t get to attend anything like this day-to-day. Not on a detective’s salary.”
Mia left the study and Charlotte stared after her blankly.
There was only one way she could think of out of this mess, one which would sate everyone and keep their secrets hidden.
I’m going to have to kill Mia.
Chapter Eight
Complicating Matters
Rhett had stared at the address in the Heart of Italy for a day, weighing the repercussions of going to the safe house.
On one hand, he knew that confronting Charlotte when she was undercover was dangerous, but on the other hand, he knew that not knowing if she was all right was going to plague him.
Dan had not been happy about the task of finding her, but the younger detective was solid enough to not bring up the task during their shift.
At least not until the end of the day.
“Are you going to see her?” Dan murmured as he headed out of the office.
Rhett eyed him warily. “It’s nine o’clock. Go home,” he instructed without answering the question for which he didn’t have a response.
“I was up all night last night, worried that you’d gone.”
“How do you know I didn’t?”
“Because I’ve seen you staring at that scrap of paper where I wrote the address.”
Rhett smirked. “You are quite the detective,” he snickered but Dan didn’t smile.
“I can’t stress how much I advise against this,” Dan told him.
“Yes, LaCroix, I know.”
“All right. I guess you know what you’re doing.”
There was absolutely no conviction in the younger man’s voice but to Rhett’s relief, he only sauntered away to leave Rhett alone to his own thoughts for the first time all day.
On a whim, he tried Charlotte’s phone one last time but he knew she wasn’t answering it, not unless the UC operation had been called off already.
Sighing, Rhett knew he couldn’t procrastinate any more.
I’ll go there, see her face and leave, he vowed. That’s all I need to do.
But as he slipped into his car and drove toward the apartment downtown, he knew that it probably wouldn’t be as easy as that to let her go once Charlotte was in his sights.
~ ~ ~
The apartment was above a small convenience store in a nondescript building off West Cermak and Rhett sat in his car for several minutes, pondering his next move.
For the first time, it occurred to him that Charlotte might not be alone.
What if she came here with a partner?
The thought filled him with a pang of jealousy which he instantly dismissed with disgust.
You have another partner. Why can’t she?
It was the idea that Charlotte might be in the company of another male, working alongside another man as closely as she had worked with him that was causing his breaths to shorten and it took him several minutes to regain control of his unruly emotions.
What has gotten into me? She’s on the job and I can’t get her out of my head.
But he knew what it was—it was the same thing it had always been. He had feelings for Charlotte that he’d stifled for as long as they could both remember and now that she was gone in the very same fashion that his wife had left, they were overwhelming him in a torrent.
Here goes, he thought, jumping out of the car before he could change his mind. Rhett had no idea what he was walking into but he was there and he was seeing it through.
He half expected Dan to call down his phone but as he made his way to the back entrance, nothing but silence guided his way.
The apartment was a walk-up, one of only three units, but it was eerily calm when Rhett stood before the safehouse door and rapped gently.
What if there’s surveillance inside the apartment?
It was just another thought to add to his apprehension. He’d have a lot of explaining to do if he was caught.
I might even get Dan dragged into this…
Abruptly, he whirled away, hurrying back down the stairs before he was detected.
Such a stupid thing to do. Thank God you caught yourself before someone saw you.
He burst out into the parking lot and froze as a set of headlights accented his burly form against the brick of the back wall.
Shit.
Rhett dropped his head down and beelined for his car but Charlotte’s voice rang out in the night to stop him dead in his tracks.
“Rhett?”
Double shit.
He turned slowly, disbelieving his terrible timing, but as he did, his eyes narrowed.
Charlotte emerged from a sleek Dodge Charger in a clinging black dress which showed off her curvy figure perfectly. His eyes raked over the swell of her cleavage down the lines of her hourglass figure to take in the strappy heels which laced up her calves.
“You know this guy?”
Rhett’s attention drifted toward the driver of the car and he paled, realizing that he had compromised Charlotte’s cover.
“Yeah,” Charlotte said, her eyes slits. “This is my partner, Rhett Lewis.”
The dark-eyed driver seemed annoyed while a combination of relief and envy sparked through Rhett.
He’s a cop, too. He’s her partner.
“Did you know he was coming?”
“No. Give us a minute, Rand,” Charlotte told him, covering the short distance between her and Rhett.
“I really don’t think—” Rand started to say but Charlotte shot him one of her infamous looks and he rolled his eyes.
“All right,” he muttered, stalking back toward the apartment.
He seems to know her well already.
“Rhett, what the hell are you doing here?” Charlotte demanded, her face twisted with alarm. “Did something happen?”
“Happen? Yes! You disappeared on me without a word. I had to see for myself that you were okay.”
Charlotte’s face softened and she sighed, nodding.
“I’m sorry, Rhett. I had to leave… abruptly.”
He could tell she was lying but he also knew why.
“I’m just glad you’re okay,” he told her earnestly but he couldn’t stop himself from eyeing her outfit with too much interest.
“Who told you I was here?” she asked, looking around nervously. “Have you seen Mia?”
He blinked at the question, his neck stiffening.
“Mia?” he echoed. “Why would I have seen…”
He trailed off, the implication of her question hitting him almost full-force in the face.
“You’re on the same assignment as Mia?”
Charlotte’s complexion waned. “I can’t talk about it,” she muttered quickly, darting her eyes away. “I-I just don’t understand how you found me if she didn’t tell you.”
“Have you seen her? Is she okay?” Rhett demanded and instantly he regretted asking the questions. A look of hurt and anger crossed Charlotte’s face.
“Yep. She’s great. Still under.”
Her words were clipped but Rhett could see he wasn’t going to get any more out of her.
“How much longer are you going to be out here?”
“We’re done. This is our last night,” she replied. “I should go. Rand will be worried.”
“Does Rand worry about you?” Rhett asked gruffly.
“Do you?” Charlotte snapped back. She moved toward the back doors and left him standing there.
“Char!”
“What?”
“I-we’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”
“Sure.”
She disappeared inside the building and Rhett remained, frozen in place and plagued with confusion and consternation.
<
br /> Is she here for Mia or with Mia? And what’s her relationship with this Rand?
Rhett was beginning to feel like he was losing his mind but he knew he couldn’t stand there like a fool.
He hopped back into his car and pulled out his cell phone.
“I had a feeling you’d be calling me,” LaCroix said dully. “What did you do?”
“Nothing…” Rhett inhaled sharply. “I need another favor.”
“No. No more. I told you—”
“I think my partner might be in trouble,” Rhett insisted, loathing that he was lying to the kid but he needed to know what he’d stumbled upon.
“I don’t want to discuss this on the phone,” Dan groaned and Rhett exhaled happily.
He’s going to do it, he realized.
“Sharkey’s?” Rhett suggested.
“Do I have a choice?” came the response.
~ ~ ~
“NO!” Dan was more vehement this time. “No, I already told you I wasn’t accessing the CPD files again.”
“Please, Dan,” Rhett begged him. “If this was your partner, back in New York, the one who died, wouldn’t you do it?”
Dan’s face was etched in dubiousness. “Are you actually suggesting that this is life or death?”
“It is,” Rhett pleaded, hating every word that came out of his mouth.
If I wasn’t immortal, I’d be going to hell for this.
Dan finally relented and Rhett vowed to do something nice for the kid.
I’ll let him take the next collar without any credit to me, he thought happily when they made their way back to the precinct. With Rhett keeping watch for nosy officers milling around, Dan pulled up the undercover file again.
“It doesn’t say anything about who she’s working with,” Dan sighed in a low voice. The nervousness on his face was almost tangible.
“I need you to find a man named ‘Rand.’”
“Is that his first or last name?”
“No idea.”
Dan gave him a baleful look but returned to the keyboard to dig up what he could.
“Rand Simon. It says he’s on active duty in intelligence right now,” Dan breathed. “Nothing about undercover work.”
Rhett peered closely at the screen and leaned in to study the picture.
That’s the same guy. What’s he doing with Charlotte if he’s not registered as undercover?
