by C. J. Miller
Boots snorted. “How many legitimate private collectors do you know?”
Not many, but that wasn’t part of Cash’s world anymore. The distance between him and his father was deliberate and clear. Lucia, Audrey and their friends probably had several priceless, legally obtained works of art in their homes. “I assume you didn’t want to meet to discuss an art theft. Because there’s zero chance I’m lifting anything from this gallery. Too risky,” Cash said.
“I wouldn’t be so bold.” Boot grinned. He was that bold. “I heard you’re looking to make some cash and get back in the game.”
That was the word Cash had put out on the street. Associates who knew about his trouble with Adrian would know he needed the cash to make a life for him and his son. Those who didn’t probably weren’t overly concerned about why Cash was looking for work. Most hustlers on the street were always looking to make a buck. “You heard right.”
“How much cash you need?” he asked.
“I’ve got some debt and some dreams and not enough cash to finance either. I want to parlay what I do have into a livable sum.”
“You didn’t set up a nest egg before you went in?” Boots asked.
Boots was asking if Cash had an illegal account or a location where he stashed cash or other high-value items to fence. “No time to save much. I used almost everything I had.” He’d used every penny for Adrian, but he’d need Boots to believe he had something to gamble with.
Boots didn’t bat an eye. “You know your father-in-law is running some games at night.”
“I heard,” Cash said.
“You want in?” Boots asked.
“Sure do,” Cash said.
“Working for him?” Boots asked.
While that could put him closer to Anderson, he needed to bring Lucia inside, as well. “I’d rather take my chances at the table,” Cash said. “That’s where the real money is.”
“Depends on what you’re willing to do. Your old buddy has some big dogs on his payroll,” Boots said.
Cash shook his head. “You know me. I’m not in the big time. I’ve got limits.”
“If you didn’t have limits, as you call them, you could get your payday faster.”
His limits, including being unwilling to kill or harm anyone, were set in stone. Even before he’d promised Britney he’d turn his back on their fathers’ cons, he had never been okay with violence. “I’ll wait for my payday.” And so Boots wouldn’t become suspicious, he added, “I can’t risk going back to prison.”
“Why don’t you call him yourself?” Boots asked.
“I don’t know where he is,” Cash said.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Boots said. “I always thought how you went down was screwed up.”
Boots had known about the surgery and treatments that Adrian had needed and how desperate Cash had been to help his son.
When Adrian was sick, Cash had asked Anderson for the money directly, but at the time Anderson had had cash-flow issues. He’d helped Cash by setting up the con instead. Though Anderson hadn’t met Adrian, Anderson told Cash he’d hoped to mend fences with his daughter and meet his grandson. After Cash was caught and his lies exposed, it had made everything worse: worse between Britney and her father and worse for Cash’s marriage.
Cash’s skills had gotten him the job and his desperation had gotten him caught. That he’d taken the fall alone had maintained his credibility and could be a way back to Anderson.
“I’ll be in touch,” Boots said and walked away.
* * *
“How will I explain this exactly?” Cash asked, lifting his pants leg to highlight his ankle monitor. He would be patted down and scrutinized inside Anderson’s casino.
Benjamin’s rubbed his jaw. “We’re sticking to the modified truth. Tell him you’re working for us. He’ll expect tracking devices.”
The tracking device might make Anderson nervous. “Do you think he will take me anywhere or tell me anything with an electronic device around my ankle?” Cash asked.
Lucia tapped her pen against her notebook. “Anderson is careful and he’ll be especially careful if he’s close to cashing out and getting away with his money.”
Benjamin sighed. “Anderson will have questions about how Cash got out of jail. We don’t know if Anderson has people on his payroll at the prison. We’re sticking with the cover story that Cash is working for the FBI, but willing to be bought.”
“Boots said he’d text me the location tonight,” Cash said, giving up the argument for removing the ankle monitor. He wouldn’t win. He was stuck with it, even if he thought it would impede the operation.
At least Benjamin had given Cash an untraceable cell phone. Untraceable for criminal enterprises. The FBI had access to every phone call and every message sent and received from the phone.
“Where are you planning to be before then?” Benjamin asked.
“We’ll get ready and meet at Lucia’s,” Cash said. At Lucia’s raised eyebrows, Cash deferred to her. “Fine, then come hang out at the Hideaway. I figured you’d prefer a place that isn’t filthy and overrun with rats.”
“I can meet you at the location.”
Since the incident in her condo where they’d almost slept together, she’d been standoffish. She’d need to shake that before they went undercover. “You’re supposed to be my girlfriend. We go together. Otherwise, Anderson will sense it’s a setup. He’ll err on the side of caution and cut me out,” Cash said.
Cash knew the man was meticulous and careful. With so much money on the line, he’d be paranoid.
“Stay together. Get into character,” Benjamin said. “And work out whatever is going on between you two before you go. I don’t want this getting blown because of some bull in your personal lives.”
Benjamin left them alone. Lucia sat in silence.
“Tell me what’s on your mind,” Cash said.
Lucia looked out the window behind him and then she met his stare. “This case is important. It’s a big one. High visibility, yes, but also people are counting on us to find their money. They are counting on us to give them back their retirement, their savings and their financial security. There’s a lot on the line.”
“You perform well under stress,” he said.
“You know when I don’t perform well?” she asked. “When I have a distraction. When I’m so busy thinking about you that I’m not thinking about the case. I’m wondering what you’ll do next and why you’re saying this or that.”
She was making excuses. Something else was going on, something she wasn’t ready to admit.
“Are you blaming me for your nerves?” he asked, feeling annoyed. He’d tried to be friends with her. He’d tried being a good partner. He’d been careful with her feelings.
“Before you, I didn’t have this problem.”
“What problem is that? Being attracted to someone? Having chemistry with someone who is interesting and complex and not an exact replica of your father?”
She stood and set her fisted hands on the table. “You think a lot of yourself!”
He stood. “I don’t think much of myself at all, Lucia. Most days I wake up in a stinking hellhole, knowing I’m a bad father, knowing I’ll never be free of what I’ve done and knowing I have to work with you, a woman who is hell-bent on following some rulebook she’s created. It’s a wonder you permit yourself to do anything except sleep, eat and work. The worst part is, you don’t tell me the rules. You just get mad when I break one of them.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “For example?”
“For example flirting with Audrey’s friend. Why do you care who I talk to? You’ve been pissed off at me since then.”
“That is not why I am pissed off at you.”
“At least you admit you’re pissed. Now
if only you’d tell me why instead of having me guess, we’d be on the same page.”
“I’m pissed off because you were flirting with Lexie and it would have gone somewhere if I hadn’t walked in, and then when I tried to come on to you, you rejected me. And, by the way, if I’m so hell-bent on following the rules, why would I have lied to Benjamin about where you were? I lied because I care about you, you jerk.”
Tears sprang to her eyes and she blinked them back.
Cash absorbed the impact of her words. She cared about him. She had broken one of her rules for him. She was hurt that he’d pulled away when she’d made an advance. He thought he’d been protecting her, but she’d taken it as a rejection.
He circled the table and pulled her tightly into his arms. On top of it all, he had made her cry. He felt terrible.
“Lucia, I’m sorry. I didn’t reject you. It wasn’t about not wanting you, it was about not wanting to make a mess of the relationship I’m trying to build with you. You deserve better than me. I’m not good for you.”
Lucia rested her head on his shoulder. “I need for us to stay focused on the case. I need to not have this drama.”
He didn’t want drama either. He felt at odds with his loneliness and the boundaries that required him to keep people at arm’s length. “Thank you for covering for me when I missed curfew. You’re a good partner. I won’t put you in that position again.”
Cash hugged her before releasing her. He liked that she cared about him. It had been a long time since someone had.
* * *
“Wow. You look amazing,” Cash said.
The bright blue dress was short and tight at the bottom while the top was loose with sheer sleeves. It draped low in the front, hinting that if she moved in a certain direction she’d flash deep cleavage, but covering enough to maintain class.
Lucia looked down and set her hand on her hip, popping it to the side and looking up. “Does this fit the part?”
“You found that in the FBI’s costume closet?” he asked.
Lucia shook her head. “Since I’m not playing the part of a hooker, I needed something more upscale. I borrowed this from Audrey.”
“You look great.” Heart-stopping. Delicious.
“You look good, too,” she said.
He was wearing one of the FBI’s suits. “You know earlier when we talked about keeping our relationship purely professional?”
She nodded.
“We’re supposed to be together. You should look natural in my arms. We shouldn’t feel strange and tense around each other.”
Lucia straightened. “I know how to be undercover. Do you think I can’t handle this?”
“I think I make you nervous. You tense when I’m near you. Come here,” he said.
She walked to him and Cash set his hands on her upper arms. “See? You froze.”
She forced her shoulders down and set her hand on his hips. “Better? I needed a moment to get in character.”
“Lean into me,” he whispered.
Lucia slipped her arm around him, tucking herself next to him. His heart raced and the scent of her drove him wild.
He slid his hands to the shoulder of her dress and let his fingers brush over the fabric. Lower, he touched her sides and then her hips. He turned her around and ran his hand down her bare back where her dress dipped low, bringing her backside against him.
Was she allowing this to prove a point? He wanted to test her, to be sure she wouldn’t snap under the pressure. “Do you know how sexy you are?”
Her breathing increased, but she said nothing.
“Let’s forget about the casino. I’d rather peel this dress off you and do things I know you’ll love.”
She looked over her shoulder at him and for a brief moment, he could imagine what it would feel like to sink his body into hers from behind. To melt with her, panting, breathless with pleasure.
“How will you know what I love?”
“Your body is so responsive to my touch. I can feel how you lean into me. You’re moving your hips side to side, tempting me. I know you like to be in charge, and I’ll let you be in control. But sometimes, I like to have my way, too. My way is very good.”
Her eyes were wide. She spun and braced her legs apart, the dress hitching up her thighs. “You are good. I’ll play along with whatever you dish out.”
He had met his match in Lucia Huntington.
“The chemistry is an unexpected bonus,” he said. “I don’t have to pretend to want you. I don’t have to pretend that I’ll be thinking about getting you home, alone, stripping you naked and making sure you know exactly who you belong with.”
Her chest rose and fell. “I know how women talk to you and I’ll make it my personal mission tonight that you don’t forget that I don’t share. My character is possessive and protective and provocative. It said so in the profile.”
Cash gathered his control and stepped back from Lucia. He jammed a hand through his hair. “Is everything you do this intense?”
She winked at him. “I don’t believe in doing things halfway.”
She may have meant her job, but his mind had its own interpretation and she had succeeded in planting the idea of making frantic love to her all night.
Selling it that she was his girlfriend might be the easiest part of this job. Convincing Anderson to let him inside his circle of trust would be the difficult part.
* * *
Cash and Lucia took a taxi to the location Boots had texted. Lucia’s skirt was short and when she crossed her legs, it was even shorter. Cash pretended not to notice. If he fixated on her bare legs, he would lose his mind.
The cab dropped them at the address on a quiet street. Cash knew what to look for to locate the casino. They waited until another couple entered an alley along the side of the brick townhouses. Cash and Lucia followed at a stroll.
Cash wrapped his arm around Lucia. “This is an interesting neighborhood.”
Lucia fluffed her hair. “You mean, interesting as in too quiet and much too suspicious?”
“Yes, that.”
“Do you think it’s a trap?”
“Could be. But what kind of trap? Why would Boots tell me to come here?”
“I’ve studied the lifestyle, but I can’t say I understand it. I don’t think anyone who commits crimes for a living is especially trustworthy,” Lucia said.
“You expect something bad to happen,” he said.
“I prepare for the worst. If this goes well, then color me surprised.”
“If I sense anything is off, we’re leaving. Immediately.”
Lucia looked at him sideways. “We’re partners. We’ll decide together.”
Cash took her wrist and pulled her against him. He brought his mouth close to her ear, to a sensitive spot on her neck. He flicked his tongue over the area, eliciting a moan from her. “I know Anderson better than anyone. I’ve lived my life following my instincts. If this goes wrong, we leave.”
He angled his head away so she could meet his gaze.
“Don’t be overprotective. I can take care of myself,” Lucia said.
He kissed her firmly on the mouth and swatted her bottom. Anderson had eyes and ears everywhere. They were being watched and Cash wanted it to be clear to everyone watching that he was smitten with Lucia.
Cash and Lucia walked around to the side of the building. An orange dot over the door, almost looking like a misguided drop of paint, indicated he’d found the right place.
He waited for the door to open. No knocking. His identity was being confirmed.
The door opened slowly and he took Lucia’s hand. They stepped inside together. He said nothing, but followed a man in a suit down a hallway that was in desperate need of a paint job. The floor was made of rusty metal grates
and echoed with every footstep.
But the decor was flipped on its head when the man opened a door into an opulent game room, complete with lush cream-colored carpets, attractively dressed dealers and comfortable chairs around the game tables.
Lucia slipped her arms around his, as if he were her life preserver. She wasn’t a clingy woman. She was into her part.
Cash looked around the room, both deciding his next move and checking for anyone he recognized. No sign of Anderson. He sauntered to the craps table and withdrew his wallet. He set down ten crisp hundred dollar bills, a gift from the FBI for this mission.
Three hours later, he was up four thousand dollars. Four thousand dollars would change his life. He hadn’t had such a lucky streak before. It killed him that none of this money was his. Whatever he lost or won was property of the FBI.
From the corner of his eye, he saw a man approaching. Cash had drawn attention. He was running hot and money was flowing fast.
“Excuse me, sir, a moment of your time?”
The gathered crowd watching the game groaned, but Cash held up his hands. “I’ll be back.”
“You’re new here,” the man said.
“Yes,” Cash said. The man would know who Cash was. He wouldn’t have been allowed inside the casino otherwise.
Lucia was at his side, staring up at him. He knew she was listening to every word and absorbing every detail.
“How about you come with me to the VIP room? I have someone who wants to speak with you.”
Anderson? Cash nodded and took Lucia’s hand. The man shook his head. “She stays out here.”
Lucia pouted. “This is supposed to be a date. What am I supposed to do alone?”
The man waved over their heads and a scantily clad waitress approached. “Come on, ma’am, I’ll get you a drink.”
Cash didn’t like splitting from Lucia. The FBI didn’t have eyes or ears inside yet. They’d agreed that any surveillance would be uncovered. He had his GPS tracker, but it had been too risky to modify it and add an audio recorder. “Go ahead, Lucy. I’ll catch up with you in a few minutes.”