"I'm serious. You can't say another word to me about this."
"I-I…"
"For fuck's sake, do you have any idea what you just did?" His voice boomed, echoing in my small space.
"Yes. But why are you shouting at me? Why are you acting like I did something to you?"
"Because you did." He paused and lowered his voice. "You've put me in an impossible situation."
"I-I don't understand."
"I'm a cop, Carly. On the narcotics squad."
"You…you're a police officer?" I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to hold it together, struggling to process that piece of information. "But…you never said. You didn't tell me."
"That's really not the issue right now."
"Right. Okay." I crossed to the window, staring out into the city. Little things about Sam started to make sense to me. His watchfulness, how perceptive he was. And seeing him at the police station closest to my work.
"Wait," I said, gears turning in my mind. "Was it really a coincidence running into you yesterday? Have you been investigating my boss?"
"Are you insane? You think I'm dating you to get information?"
"No." My head was pounding. "I don't know. Are you?"
"Shit. Of course not." The anger drained from his face. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. But you really caught me off-guard."
"Well, you did the same to me! I can't believe this."
"Look, calm down. Let's sit down and talk this through."
"No," I said, shaking. "You need to leave. This is too much. Way too much for me right now."
"Carly, don't be like that. We need to talk." He reached out to touch my arm but I shrank away.
"I said no. Please, get out of here."
"Just-"
"Now."
Sam looked at me with a combination of anger and sadness, shrugged, and left.
I climbed into bed fully clothed and cried for a long time. For me, for Sam, for the night of passion we should have been sharing, for everything.
Chapter Seven
How I managed to get through the night and the next morning was a miracle. I walked into the office like a zombie, barely aware of anything except the emotions coursing through me. I went through the motions all morning, but everything seemed suspicious.
Any one of my coworkers could be criminals. Any of them could be watching to see if I'd caught on. And all of the customers I worked so hard to please might be in on it too. Or someone could be an undercover cop. What if we were under surveillance? There was a car with tinted windows I saw down the block almost every day. Who knew what that was about. I couldn't trust anyone or anything to be what I thought I knew. My boring but taxing job had turned into a nightmare and the only person I could talk to about it was the last person I could talk to about it.
Mitchell was out for one of his very long lunches, so I took my break in the quiet privacy of his office. I couldn't have eaten anything, so I spent the time surfing the internet, trying to forget. I checked the local paper's website and read a few articles that I forgot as soon as I finished them, just needing something to occupy my mind. But as I clicked on a breaking news story, all the color drained from my face and bad turned to worse.
The headline read "Body Found in Burned-Out Car, Foul Play Suspected."
There was a brief story about the people who discovered the body, something about the family planning a service, the police asking for any information from the public. But underneath, there was a small grainy photo of the victim. It was Darius. Sweet, dumb Darius, who hadn't shown up for work in days. And now I knew why.
I fumbled for my phone and it took a few tries to press on the contact I wanted. It rang on the other end for a while before anyone picked up.
"Hello?" There was a ton of noise in the background, but his voice sounded out clear through the line.
"Sam? He's dead. Oh god, he's dead."
"Carly? Is that you? What did you say?"
"Help me," I choked out.
"Are you at work? I'll be right there."
"No," I said too loudly. "You can't come here."
"Shit. Okay. There's a coffee shop on Walnut Street. At third. Do you know the place?"
"Yes."
"Good. I can be there in five minutes."
"Okay."
"Don't hang up the phone. Just get up and walk over there right now with me on the line so I know you're okay."
"All right." My mind was blown; all I could do was follow his instructions. I went out to my desk, picked up my bag and walked through the front door, ignoring the questioning voices around me.
By the time I got to the coffee shop, my cell phone still held tight in my hand, Sam was already there. He was talking to the girl behind the counter and motioned me over.
"It's mostly for meetings or study groups, but nothing's scheduled today," the girl said.
I stared at Sam blankly. He put his arm around me and took the phone from my hand tenderly.
"Thank you," he told the barista.
"No problem. Let me know if you need anything."
"We will," he replied politely before leading me away. We went around the corner and through a door to a small room with a few tables and chairs dotted around.
"Are you okay?"
I shook my head. "I don't think so."
"What happened?"
"I-I saw a news story. The guy who was supposed to make that delivery I told you about? The one I took? He's dead, and not from natural causes."
"Holy shit.
"Yeah. It's not just a weird coincidence, is it?"
"Not a chance," he said grimly.
Sam hugged me and I sobbed against his chest, finding the comfort and warmth I so desperately needed in his arms. A tiny part of me was still mad at him, but it didn't seem to really matter anymore.
"I'm sorry about your friend."
"Thank you." I wiped my eyes and stared him over. "Why are you dressed like that?"
Sam looked down at the basketball shorts and tank top he wore. "Oh. I was in the gym."
"Oh."
"Carly, look. I'm sorry about last night. It was the last thing I expected to happen, but I handled it badly."
"I'm sorry too," I said miserably.
"I should have told you what I do. But it didn't come up the first night and I just…most of the time when I meet a woman and tell her what I do, she's either afraid of it and runs away or excited by it and gets kind of gross. I just wanted to get to know you and let you get to know me without all that bullshit. Can you understand that?"
"I guess. So…what happens now? Are you going to arrest me?"
"Of course not. But this is a real problem."
"I know."
"You don't."
"Of course, I do." I looked glumly at him. "You can't risk your career by dating me, right? You can comfort me since I'm hysterical but that's it."
He nearly exploded. "What? Fuck that. I know you're not a criminal. And we have a union and lawyers to help if I did get into some shit. My job isn't the issue at all."
"What is?"
"I just came off a six-month undercover operation. It's a huge case with some seriously bad people. When it goes to trial, it will be massive. This, whatever," he shook his head, "situation could overturn everything I did, all the evidence I provided if someone spins it the wrong way."
"Oh." No wonder he'd been so mad. My big mouth could cost him everything and put really evil people back on the street. "God," I sobbed. "I'm sorry."
"It isn't your fault." He held me tight again. "Please don't cry."
"I can't seem to stop."
"Try, for me?"
I sniffled for a while and nodded. "Okay,"
"Here's the thing. I told you about my case because that's what I was thinking about last night. And I wanted to be honest. But now? This is bigger than I thought."
"I get it, Sam. You're sweet to meet me here, but I understand you can't help me. I'll go to the station, tell them wh
at I know. I'll keep your name out of it."
"Carly, no." He held me by the upper arms, looking intently into my eyes. "You don't understand what I'm telling you. From what you've said and some things I can't explain right now, I think this could be related to my other case."
"What?"
"I know it's weird, but I was…" He paused and looked a little sheepish. "I looked into your boss last night. I couldn't get much information from his file but there were a few things in the summary that I remember hearing about before. The details don't matter, but I think you've stumbled into something here."
"What does that mean?"
"It means you can't report this. You can't tell anyone else what you saw, what you did."
"But I have to!"
"You can't."
"Why?"
"The people involved. This isn't some half-assed operation with your boss at the helm. He's at the bottom rung of a very tall ladder. And the people at the top would be perfectly fine killing him, and you, and anyone else they need to."
My fears from the first day I'd seen the pills came flooding back. "This is a mob thing."
"Yes. Look, I shouldn't be telling you any of this but you need to know."
I trembled. "So what do I do? Nothing?"
"No. We're going to do something."
"We?"
"We. I need your help but after that, you're out of this."
"I don't understand."
"Remember how I told you to keep your phone on while you walked over here?"
"Yes."
"Well I want you to take this one back to work with you and leave it in your boss's office. It's a burner, unregistered."
"Why do you have that?"
"Just an old habit from my assignment. But it's coming in handy right now. We don't have time for an elaborate plan, we have to make do." He handed me the phone, holding my hand for a moment. "Is there somewhere you can put it without him finding it?"
"I think so."
"Okay. You do that and I'll handle the rest."
"Sam, come on. You have to give me a little more than that."
He sighed and looked around the empty room. "I need a recording of his voice on my phone. I can take it in as part of my investigation and get the team to look into him. He'll never know you were involved and everything will be fine. For you, at least. You'll be safe." His voice broke a little at the last word and I grabbed his head and kissed him.
Sam's lips parted against mine and he returned the kiss hungrily. Our teeth scraped together and our arms tightened around each other. As if the air was poison and the only safe oxygen was inside us, we desperately shared our breath, not stopping until I was dizzy and he was panting.
"Sorry," I said, not meaning it at all.
"Don't ever apologize for doing that. But right now, we have to focus. My number is programmed in the phone. Just press send right before you place it and the phone will do the rest."
"Okay."
"Leave the phone and get out of there. I'll be close by. When I see you outside, I'll pick you up and we'll get out of here. You can stay at my place until all of this is resolved."
"Wait, what about Anna? I haven't talk to her in days. She'll be worried."
"It's safer if you wait. Once this is all over, you can tell her anything you want. But until then, only we know about this. Okay?"
"Yes."
"Good. Now, remember the plan. If anything goes wrong, just leave."
"Got it."
"All right. Do you wanna freshen up before you go back?"
"Now?" My voice was a shrill shriek. "I have to do this now?"
"The sooner you do it, the sooner it's all over."
"Right. Of course."
I dropped my head into my hands and sighed. Sam grabbed my chin and lifted it until I looked at him.
"You can do this."
I laughed humorlessly.
"What?"
With a shrug I closed my eyes. "I must be the worst one-night stand you ever had."
"Baby, no." He caressed my jaw, soothing the tensed muscles there. "You might just be the best thing that ever happened to me. You'll get through this. We'll get through this. We just have to stand together on this. Trust each other."
His deep voice was so calm, so sure, it made me believe. Next to Sam, I felt so safe. Not protected so much as supported. Like we really could stand up to anything. Together.
I stood up, trying to make my trembling limbs obey me. Sam escorted me to the rest room and stood outside until I returned. He left the coffee shop and told me to wait two minutes before following. I did and every second felt like an hour. The plan seemed so simple when he was walking me through it, but as I stalked stiff-legged back to the office, I thought of a million things that could go wrong.
Shaking those doubts off, I concentrated on figuring out where to leave the phone so Mitchell wouldn't see it but it would pick up his voice. Nothing obvious came to mind, but it was enough to distract me until I got to the door.
The front was empty, but I could hear some of the guys in the back. I glanced at the clock. They must be heading out. I palmed the phone Sam had given me and walked at a normal pace around the office, checking for Mitchell. As expected, he was still gone. And while I was looking, I heard the messengers leave through the back door, off shift for some and out to make their next deliveries for the others. I wanted a few minutes to ensure I was alone, flipped the lock on the front door and took a deep breath before going into Mitchell's office.
The room was deathly quiet, and seemed strangely stuffy, but it might have just been me. I pressed the call button and watched it connect to Sam's cell. Once I was sure it worked I circled the small space, searching for a hiding place.
There was a box of tissues on the shelf behind his desk. A quick look at the thick dust that covered the fake wood and the box told me he never used it. Perfect.
I placed the phone in carefully, making sure the microphone was pointed straight up and rearranging the tissues to hide it from a casual glance. It was then I realized I'd been holding my breath and I let it out loudly, sagging against the back of Mitchell's chair with relief. I'd done it. The end of this nightmare was in sight. It was time to go.
Wondering briefly if I should call Sam to check that everything was working, I paused with my hand on the doorknob as it started to turn from the other side. I froze for a split second and then jumped back to sit on the edge of Mitchell's desk.
He opened the door and peered at me, surprised, but not very concerned. "What the hell are you doing in here, Carly?"
"Uh, I…I wanted to talk to you again. In private. Apologize again for the other day."
"Christ, girl. Quit sniveling. I'm not going to fire you, okay?"
"Yes, sir. Thank you."
He looked me over, beady eyes scanning me from head to toe. Ugh, he really earned his nickname sometimes. I felt covered in slime just from his gaze. "Hey, how come your hands are shaking?"
"What? Oh, it's nothing. Too much caffeine today, I guess."
He sidled over to me and I could smell raw onions and smoke on his breath. "I don't believe you."
"Really, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about. I better get back to work."
I stood up straight, ready to walk out.
"Hang on a second," he said, placing his clammy hand on my arm. "I think I know what's going on here."
I froze. "You do?"
"Yeah. I'm not stupid, you know."
"Of course not."
The Slug chuckled. "I thought something like this might happen."
I cast a helpless glance over my shoulder, as if Sam could see me or sense my fear.
"Yeah," Mitchell continued, his fingers tightening on my skin. "You're not the first to try something like this."
My legs nearly gave out. "Try? Try what? I'm not trying anything."
"It's okay, really. I can't blame you. You see a single guy running his own business and you think I'm vulnerable. And yeah, okay, I get
lonely sometimes. But let's be honest, you're not winning any beauty contests, sweetheart. The face isn't bad, but I like a petite girl, you know? Someone who makes me feel like a man." He had a faraway look in his eyes that made me want to retch. "But hey, all cats look alike in the dark, right? As long as I get to be on top, I'll throw you one."
A wave of nausea and relief rolled through me. He didn't know what I had done, he thought I was there to – I could barely stand to think it – seduce him. I'm sure there were more disgusting things in the world, but I couldn't think of a single one.
"I-I am flattered, Mitchell. Really. But I should probably get back to work now."
"Stupid bitch," he said, sneering. "First you fuck up at your job and now you're refusing my charity? You're even dumber than I thought. If you don't want a piece, what the hell are you doing lurking in my office?"
Shit. That's the last thing I wanted him wondering about. There was only one thing to do. One really, really revolting thing to do.
I batted my eyelashes dramatically. "Mitchell, please. You were right, but I'm embarrassed."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes." I sat back against the desk and arched my back, pushing out my breasts. "I never thought a man like you would ever look at me like that." That much was true, just not the way he thought.
"Well, like I said, you're not my type. But it's been a slow couple of months. So…why not."
"Gosh," I said vapidly. "So, do you want to go out some time? Get a drink or two?" To myself I thought there wasn't enough booze in the world.
"Hold up there. I'm not trying to be your boyfriend, sweetheart. But you know, if you wanna fool around a little bit, that'd be fine I guess."
Happy my stomach was empty, I smiled broadly. "Ha, you're such a kidder."
"I'm not kidding at all. In fact, things are pretty quiet right now. Why don't we do some business?"
Mitchell stepped closer to me, crowding me against the desk. His crotch hit my knee and I could tell he was hard. A long string of curses went through my mind.
"Well?"
I let out a fake giggle and stood up, pushing him away. "Not here, silly. Anyone could come in. In fact, I think I hear someone outside right now."
"Don't worry. No one will interrupt us. Now, come here and show me what you got. The only blessing of chubby girls like you is the tits. I hope they don't sag to the floor."
The Alpha's Touch Boxed Set (14 Book Bundle) Page 27