by DL Gallie
“Bet you’ll be glad to see the backend of that case. It was a never-ending shitshow.”
“Tell me about it. Thankfully, the ducks were finally in a row and the case closed itself. Now we can hand Underdown over to the prosecution and we can move on to the next case.”
“Any idea on what that is?”
“Nah, not yet but I’m sure the next person needing protection will be just as lovely as him.”
Charli and I went through the academy together. If ever I were to work with a partner, it would be her. She’s a ball-buster but she gets the job done. She’s the best WitSec handler there is. She’s never lost a witness under her watch.
“Got time for a coffee?” I ask her.
“Sure, Dean is catching up with a detective buddy of his, so I’ve got a few.”
“Sweet.” We walk toward to break room and I fill her in on the Vlahos case, leaving out my feelings, or whatever they are, for Baylor Evans. Just as we’ve sat down, her partner, Dean Chikatilo, walks up to us. “Let’s roll,” he rudely says, ignoring me. I’m not a fan of his and the feeling is mutual. Dean is a cowboy, how Charli puts up with him is beyond me but they seem to work well together.
She looks up. “Sure, give me a sec,” she says to him. Looking back to me, she smiles. It’s a megawatt Charli smile. “Good luck with the Vlahos takedown today. Seems your risky plan using Evans was a good move.”
“I’m hurt you ever doubted me.” I fake offense and she laughs.
“Everyone doubted you, Cox,” Dean snarls, his gaze locked on me. “Using a junkie as your way in was stupid and fucked up, if you ask me.”
“Not me,” Charli interrupts, breaking the tension. “I was rooting for you and knew you could do it.”
“Of course you were,” Dean says, rolling his eyes. “Let’s go.” He turns and walks out without a goodbye.
“Bye, Dean,” I quietly quip at his retreating form.
Charli laughs, “Thanks for the coffee. We should do drinks soon.”
“A proper catch-up sounds good,” I tell her.
“Awesome, let me know when and where. Later, Corey.” She stands and walks out but pops her head back in. “For what it’s worth, I would have done the same thing as you. You’ve got this, but good luck.”
Before I can reply, she’s gone again. Sitting here, I stare into my mug and shake my head. The end is here and rather than focusing on the game plan for today, I keep thinking about her. If I lose focus, everything I’ve worked toward is going to come crashing down and it will all be for nothing. I need to put Baylor Evans out of my mind and focus. My goal is to bring down Kye Vlahos and see him behind the bars for the rest of his life, not get the girl…but is there a way to do both?
17
Baylor
My mind is all over the place today. I’m so nervous I want to vomit. Kye keeps staring at me and it’s making my skin crawl. I wish I could hug Ave one last time because I have a feeling that after today, I’m never going to see her again. We said our goodbyes this morning after our wine and movie night. Not only did we watch The Little Rascals, we also watched Ten Things I Hate About You and Empire Records. We stayed up later than called for mid-week, but it was what Ave and I, especially me, needed. When she left for work this morning, we hugged each other tighter than usual. I was glad when she said she’d be with Flynn for the next few days. With everything that’s about to go down, I don’t want her anywhere near the apartment…or me.
Kye growling my name snaps me back to the present. I shake my head, trying to clear the fog. “Sorry, what?”
“Where’s your head at? You’ve been aloof for the last few days.”
“Just tired,” I offer with a smile that’s one-million-percent fake than fake smile. “Didn’t sleep much last night.”
“You worried, Sugar?”
Nodding my head, I decide to go with honesty. “Yes, I am. I don’t want to be there today—” he goes to interrupt but I stand up, walk over to him, and press my finger to his lips, “but I promised I would and as your queen, I’ll be there. Not sure what my presence will accomplish but a promise is a promise.”
“And that’s why you’re my queen.” The anger from the other day is gone and replaced is the arrogant egotistical Kye Vlahos that we all know and hate. “You know, you can have a more active role if you wish. I’d give you anything, Baylor.” He cups my cheek in a loving way. “One day, I hope we can get back to where we were before I set all of this in motion. Sugar, I know my death affected you and I’m sorry I did that but at the same time, I’m not because now…now I can give you the world. After today, the city will be ours. I want to share and bask in this glory with you.”
Staring at him, my heart begins to race; this feels like a do-or-die moment. You know that moment in the movie when it’s all about to change, that’s what this feels like, but in reality, the decision is not so easy to make. With what’s being offered, the old me would have jumped at the chance to be Queen Bitch: ruler of the city with minions at my beck and call. Without blinking, I would have shoved anyone in my way to the side and stomped on them. The new me, however, she’s hesitant but Kye is literally offering me the world and that’s kind of hard to resist.
He grips my chin and lifts my gaze to his. He stares intently at me and something passes between us. My hatred toward him begins to thaw. Those feelings from before surface and slam into me like a tidal wave. My heart begins to beat faster. My skin heating at his touch. “Will you rule by my side? Be the queen you were born to be?”
Without any hesitation, I whisper, “Yes, I’ll be your queen and together we will rule this city.” As those words pass my mouth, a sinister smile appears on my face. With this decision made, I feel freer than I have in weeks. Bring. It. On.
When my words register, Kye, too, smiles. It sends shivers down my spine. He cups my cheek, “The city will be ours, My Queen.” But like everything that is in my life, it all comes crashing down.
18
Corey
To say today was a clusterfuck is the understatement of the fucking century. I should have trusted my gut but no, I went with my heart and it nearly cost me everything.
Leaning back in my chair, I replay everything that happened in the last five hours…
…It’s go time. My team and I are doing the final preparations before we leave to take down Kye Vlahos. Baylor has been silent for the last few days, and I have a sneaking suspicion that she’s going to screw me over…and it’s all because of me and my actions. After our last meeting, when things happened that should never have happened, it blurred the lines between us. I think it pushed things too far. There’s a feeling deep in the pit of my stomach, yelling to me that something is amiss. And then there’s my head, thinking about Baylor and her gorgeous fucking lips wrapped around my dick. And finally, we have my heart. It’s beating with little love hearts for the blonde bombshell, who can never be anything more than my informant…and someone who gave me the best blow job of my life.
Shaking my head, I slip on my vest and look to my team. Charli and Dean are joining us since they are between cases. I’m happy to have them along with us because we need all the manpower we can.
Everyone’s eyes are on me. “Let’s do this,” I declare to the team. “Our main objective is to bring Kye Vlahos to justice. If we can nab his cronies or those whom he’s meeting with too, then great, but Vlahos is our main target. Baylor Evans needs to be kept safe if possible, she’s been a great help in gathering this intel and I’d hate to see her hurt or killed.”
“You sure we can trust the bitch?” Dean asks.
My hackles rise when he refers to her as a bitch. “Yes, we can. She hasn’t indicated otherwise.”
“That’s not what Creed Dawson says.”
“Why were you talking with him?”
“It doesn’t concern you.” His response doesn’t sit well with me but I don’t have time to dwell on him, or Dawson.
“Let’s get in and out and hope that
it’s smooth.”
“You just jinxed that,” Charli adds, shaking her head as she fastens her vest.
“Wanna bet on it?”
“You bet. Less than five casualties, it’s my shout. Anything above five, and it’s your shout.”
“You’re on, Davis,” I tell her, outstretching my hand to shake on it.
“You’re going down, Cox.”
After we seal our bet—with the others making bets of their own—we all file out and climb into the van. Looking around, I trust eight of the nine agents and officers in here. My eyes are locked on Dean, I hate that fucker but he’s Charli’s partner. She wouldn’t work with someone she doesn’t trust, and I trust her with my life so I have to trust he has our backs too.
We pull up across the road from the meeting, it’s being held at a restaurant in Little Italy just off Sheridan Park. We watch as multiple crime bosses along the East Coast enter the restaurant one by one. If we can take them all down, it will be a great win for us, and a huge hit to the drug and trafficking trade on the East Coast.
A car with tinted windows pulls up and I know she’s here. The door opens and a long slender leg appears and then she climbs out. She’s a fucking knockout at the best of times but today, fuck me sideways, she looks like a queen. She’s wearing sky-high black heels and a figure-hugging purple dress that accentuates each and every delectable curve. The neckline plunges and showcases her tits spectacularly. She walks around the back of the sedan and joins Vlahos on the sidewalk. He says something to her and she smiles at him. The look she gives him lights up her face and it hits me straight in the balls. A groan emits in the back of my throat. Charli looks at me questioningly and Dean, the fucking dick, smirks and not so subtly readjusts his cock.
Vlahos slips his arm around her waist and the two of them walk inside, along with his henchmen.
Grabbing my laptop, I log into the app for the recorder installed on Baylor’s phone, and wait for it to connect. It’s staticky at first and then I hear his voice and what he says has me clenching my fist and grinding my molars, that is until Baylor replies. “Kye, we are here to discuss business not how fucking fabulous I look. Everyone in this room knows I’m hot and in a few moments, they will feel my wrath if they don’t stop eye fucking me, you included. Now, everyone take their fucking seats and let’s get started.”
“She’s a firecracker,” Charli says, and I find myself nodding.
“You have no clue, Davis.”
Chuckles erupt from my team, most of them were there the day Baylor was brought in and I floated this plan with the captain. They all thought I was crazy, hell, most of them still think I’m crazy, but if this all goes down how I hope today, my crazy plan will have paid off.
“When are we going in, boss?” Coombs asks.
“Let’s wait and see what this meeting is all about. Plus, backup is still not here.”
“Cox will know when,” Charli says. “His instinct is always on point.”
Looking to Charli, I nod. I’m glad she’s here today; she will ground me and keep me in line. Her faith in me restores my confidence this will work out. Heat sensors show they are all congregated in the back of the restaurant in the large private dining room, making our entrance that much easier and more of a surprise.
Kye introduces everyone to his queen, and now that the introductions have been made, they start discussing business. Kye really is a piece of shit, someone in that room might take him out before we get in there.
All eyes are on me, awaiting the go signal. Backup still isn’t here but I don’t want to miss my chance. I have a good team, minus Dean, so I make the decision to move. “Remember, Vlahos is the main target. Anyone else we detain is a bonus and don’t forget, Baylor Evans is technically one of ours.”
Everyone nods in agreement and with that, it’s time for me and my team to make our presence known. “Let’s move.”
The ten of us file out of the van. Two head left, two head right. The restaurant has no back access so that makes things easier for us. The remaining five and I head toward the front entrance. Dean is the first to shoot when two men exit the restaurant. He pops them both off, one after the other. He looks at me in that smarmy ‘you’re welcome’ way.
“That’s two,” Charli says with a wink, as she and Dean fall into sync and enter the restaurant before me. Following each other’s lead, I notice they work well together. Stepping over the bodies Dean dropped, I enter the behind them.
We fan out and approach the rooms at the back. My heart is racing. I’ve been involved in many sting operations but this one is the first time where I’m nervous and on edge. Our plan is rock-solid; the only variable is Baylor-fucking-Evans.
The teams outside radio in and tell us they are in place, they are our backup in case Vlahos escapes. There are two entrances into the room, which is perfect for us. Looking at everyone, I raise my hand and indicate on three. I flick up one finger and when all three are up, I indicate it’s go time.
Raising my leg, I kick open the door and step into the room.
“What the fuck?” Vlahos snarls, just as the back door to the room is also kicked in. The six of us have our guns pointed toward him. There are eight men sitting down, plus Baylor. Kye is standing at the head of the table; his face is laced with shock right now. He draws his weapon as he steps over to Baylor and places his hand on her shoulder. He squeezes it, she looks up at him lovingly, and that one look guts me. He leans down and presses a kiss to her temple. It seems the prick really does care about her, or it’s a ploy and he’ll use her to protect himself. But from the look she’s giving him in return, it seems like she cares for him too. I’m really hoping that it’s all an act. That she’s a really good actress and playing the doting girlfriend role.
Snapping my attention back to him, I clear my throat. “Kye Vlahos, you are under arrest for drug trafficking, human trafficking, and murder.”
“Like you have shit on me, pig,” he spits at me. “I suggest you turn around and walk out of here. That way we can pretend you didn’t just interrupt this reunion, and everyone can go on their merry way.”
All eyes in the room are flicking between the two of us. My gaze keeps dropping to Baylor but I try and maintain eye contact with Vlahos. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen. Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Choice is yours.”
“I’m going to have so much fun,” Kye says, his voice a sinister tone and I know that this is all about to turn to shit, and shit is an understatement. Kye pulls the trigger and that sets off a chain reaction of gunfire. Even through all the gunfire, I hear Baylor’s screams.
Without thinking, I rush forward but I’m stopped when Vlahos raises his arm and presses the barrel of his gun to my head. On instinct, I raise my arm and point my pistol at him. Each of us staring the other down. The room falls silent; all eyes are on us. Baylor crawls out from under the table. She stands up and when she turns around, she gasps in shock. Her eyes dart back and forth between us.
A lone gunshot cracks through the air. My eyes widen and the next moments are played out in an ultraslow motion. Baylor screams as Vlahos falls to the floor, clutching his shoulder. Baylor drops to her knees and presses her hand to his shoulder. “Kye, no-no-no,” she cries, tears cascading down her cheeks. She isn’t faking her concern for him. She looks over the table and stares at someone. Turning my head, I see Dean standing there, arms still outstretched. He has a smirk on his face and then he pulls the trigger again. I feel the bullet fly past my head with millimeters to spare and a grunt emanates from behind me.
Turning my head, I see one of Vlahos’ henchmen fall to the ground at my feet. A knife slipping out of his hand as his lifeless eyes stare up at me. A bullet hole in the center of his forehead.
“You shot him,” Baylor cries over and over. Her hands are covered in blood when they come back up, an agent pulls her away kicking and screaming. They cuff her and that’s when she really lets loose. “Get the fuck off me,” she screams, “you fuc
king dicks.”
I growl as I walk over to her, she’s using excessive language right now but I guess it plays into her cover.
“Fuck you,” she spits at me “Fuck you all.”
Kye groans and her eyes snap to his. “Help him, you fuckers. He’s been shot.”
Her concern for him pisses me off. “Get her out of here,” I tell the officer who cuffed her. He nods at me and without a word, escorts a still screaming Baylor out of here.
Walking over to Kye, I drop to my knees. “Seems your day didn’t quite go as planned.”
“You are a fucking dead man. You hear me? You’re fucking dead.”
“We’ll see about that.” A paramedic arrives and Kye is placed on the stretcher and cuffed to the bed rail. He’s escorted out of here with two officers. I look around at the carnage. We lost two agents today. With the two outside and the one in here, a total of five people lost their lives, but we arrested Vlahos and all eight of his guests.
Kye is wheeled past and I taunt him, “Don’t drop the soap.”
He flips me the bird and is escorted out of the restaurant.
“Great job,” Charli says to me as she leans against the table. “You got him.”
Nodding my head in agreement, I remind, “We got him.”
“Then why do you look like your kitten just died?”
My head snaps up at her choice of words because it does feel like my kitten died. She was absolutely distraught over Kye and that cuts me to the core, more than I would like to admit. Not wanting to discuss this, I go with the obvious answer. “Paperwork.”
“Ugh, paperwork,” she says, nodding her head. “So it seems after all the paperwork,” she whispers the word paperwork, “you owe me a night out.”
“It seems I do but you totally cheated.”
“How so?”
“Your partner killed three of them, you had inside help.”
“Yes, because Dean and I colluded together for me to win a night out at your expense.”
