by Debra Kayn
“Call the rest of the guys in. We’ve got trouble.” He stepped back to his desk and picked up the phone. He punched in the number for the direct line to Gino Marcelli’s desk at the county office, located in the police academy’s building.
“Marcelli,” the voice on the phone said.
“Weston of Beaumont Body Shop and Agency here. You’ve got a problem.” He sat and scrolled through the information Lance pulled up. “I need to know if Detective Bangli is working undercover.”
“That’s confidential information. I’m under no obligation to tell you what any of my detectives are doing at any given time,” Gino said. “What’s the problem?”
“Dammit. I know she is…” He rubbed his hand across his forehead. “She’s working for Darrell Archer. I recognized her last night, not letting her know I already knew her identity and her relationship to the department. She slipped away early this morning. I normally wouldn’t be concerned if a woman wanted to keep her private information to herself, but we had a run-in with Darrell a couple of months ago, and Rocki was working for him at the time.”
“Sounds like you have girl problems. I suggest you drop the matter. If she wants to contact you, she will.” Gino cleared his throat. “I’m walking into a meeting. If this involves police business…”
“Gino, you know me. Of course it’s business. I wouldn’t have called unless I believed her position was in danger. I’m going with my gut right now, and something tells me she’s in trouble.” He glanced at Lance, waved his hand in the air, and nodded when Lance pushed the record button. “Can you contact her?”
A lengthy pause came over the phone. “I’ll talk with her, but I advise you to drop your interest in Detective Bangli, Weston. Now, I’m already late. I’m hanging up.”
The phone went dead. He slapped the top of the desk. “Fuck.”
“He’s telling the truth. GPS shows him pulling into the academy now.” Lance clicked the mouse. “Printing out all papers.”
Procedures for someone undercover went beyond insider information. If Rocki went in, trying to bring Darrell down, Gino would cover her ass. Tony respected that. But something wasn’t right. There had to be a way to get a message to her or convince Gino to get her the hell out of the underground.
Because she worked for Darrell, whether from the inside or outside, his attempt at getting information sent a red flag to their operation. Everyone knew his relationship with Kage. He’d take a bullet for him. Including doing whatever he had to do to protect Kage from his uncle.
The door swung open. Kage, Garrett, and Sabrina walked in. He stared at Garrett. Garrett knew better than to bring Sabrina in when business was going down.
Garrett shook his head, not saying a word. Kage lazily leaned against the counter, grinning.
Tony pointed at Sabrina. “What are you doing here?”
Sabrina Wilcox, Janie Beaumont’s best friend and current pain in the ass to Garrett, strode to Garrett’s desk, and jumped onto the top to sit. “Something exciting is happening and since I was visiting with Garrett at the house, I wanted to come too.”
Garrett scowled. “We weren’t visiting. You barged in and made yourself at home.”
“Whatever.” Sabrina shrugged and the slim gold necklace swung against her chest and disappeared under the scoop of her shirt. “You answered my question, twice—that’s called visiting. I told you that you’d get better at talking with me if you loosen up. Someday, you’ll be able to hold a whole conversation.”
“Fucking seriously?” Tony glared at Garrett.
Sabrina’s obsession over Garrett invaded on and off time. Hell, she was beginning to be a regular fixture around the body shop. Her antics often got her in trouble because she was too smart for her own good. She watched everything they did, and she was a powerful mediator when her heart was in it.
“You deal with her.” Garrett crossed his arms. “Please.”
Sabrina only smiled. “I’ll be quiet. Besides, I’m waiting for Janie to come to the garage. We’re going shopping. The Los Lobos are playing at Corner Pocket on Saturday. That calls for new chicker boots, and I’ve got my eye on a pair that’s cray cool with a four-inch heel.” She turned to Garrett. “Just wait until you see them.”
“I already told you, I’m not going. I have to work Saturday.” Garrett walked clear around his desk to his chair, keeping a wide path around from Sabrina. “Why don’t you wait for Janie over at the house?”
Sabrina slid off the desk. “Real original, Garrett. If you want me to get lost, say it.”
“Get lost,” Garrett said.
She glared. “Just for that, I will leave, but I’m stealing your black Beaumont Body Shop T-shirt. The one with the silver writing.”
“Why?” Garrett asked.
She shrugged. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Sab…never mind.” Garrett handed her his keys. “Only the T-shirt. Stay away from the rest of my clothes”
She grabbed the key ring and hurried out of the room. Tony stared after her, not sure what just happened.
“This is going to be fun,” Lance said, grinning.
“Shut the hell up.” Garrett threw an empty holster across the room, at which Lance ducked and came up laughing.
Kage remained quiet, his lips twitching. Tony tossed the top paper out of the printer onto the counter to get their attention.
“Rocki, from last night. She’s a shield working for Darrell. I took her home after a game of pool. She slipped out of my bed this morning. I want backup to go underground and retrieve her.” He looked at Kage. “You can stay out of it. I don’t want you near your uncle.”
Garrett strolled over and fingered through the rest of the papers. “Have you talked to her superior?”
“It’s Gino Marcelli. He’s not giving anything to me, as I expected, but said he’ll make contact. But we all know if she’s camouflaging as Darrell’s assistant, he won’t be able to without putting her life at risk and pulling her from the job,” he said.
“What’s she mean to you?” Kage pulled out his cell.
“It’s not about what happened between us last night. Something wasn’t right when I found her at our pool table at Corner Pocket, and I decided…hell, I took her home. You can’t convince me someone connected with Darrell strolls into the bar wanting to play a game of pool at our table, at our time, lies about her connections, and goes home with me without hardly any argument, isn’t under someone else’s control.” He unlocked his desk drawer and removed his gun and holster. “Then my night turned into holding her after she asked to use the house line while she bawled her eyes out. Nothing I said would get her to talk. Then she was gone.”
“House line?” Lance ran his thumb and forefinger down the sides of his goatee. “Was she concerned about her calls being tapped?”
“That’s the only conclusion I came up with, because I offered her my cell and she turned it down flat. The way she acted doesn’t point to the behavior of a detective.” He secured the strap along his ribs when his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. “She’s scared to death and it shows.”
He pulled out the cell and frowned. “What the hell? Someone’s calling from my house.” He clicked connect. “Yeah?”
“Tony, it’s Rocki. I need your help.” Her breath, heavy and fast, came over the phone and Brute barked in the background. “You’re the only one I can trust.”
“Sweetheart…slow down. Are you okay?” He pointed at Lance, flicked his finger, and nodded when the red light on the recorder came on.
“Yeah. No. I don’t have much time. I need you to do me a favor,” she said.
“What?”
“I need you to go to seven-two-six-four Appleton Way. It’s out near Cannon. It’s my mom’s house. Her name’s Mary Bangli. Tell her…tell her I said, ‘teeter-totter, bread and water.’ Then convince her to go with you. You’ll need to take her to a hotel or somewhere safe. Make sure no one follows you. I’ll pay you back as soon as I can. Please. This
is important.”
“Okay.” He watched Lance, who nodded. “Got it.”
“God. Thank you.” She paused. “I broke your kitchen window to get in. I don’t think Brute will get out. He’s too big and he’d have to go over the sink. I swear I’ll pay you back soon.”
“Rocki, stay put.” He slipped his pistol into his holster. “I’m on my way home now.”
“I can’t. It’s not safe. He knows where you live,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. I-I’ll explain later when I can find somewhere else to call you. Please, make sure my mom’s safe…and be careful. Watch yourself. I’ll be in contact.”
“Rocki, wait—”
She hung up.
“Dammit.” He turned to Lance. “Did you get every word?”
“Yeah,” Lance said, writing in his notebook.
“Pick up her mom, bring her to my house,” he said. “Right now, I need to get both of them somewhere safe, and I can watch them better together.”
“Got it.” Lance grabbed his pistol, shoved it into the back of his jeans as he hurried toward the door. “I’ll call when I’ve got Mrs. Bangli in the car.”
Tony grabbed the papers off the counter, folded them twice, and shoved them into his pocket. His chest tightened. The fear in Rocki’s voice, apparent over the phone, concerned him.
Garrett swept his keys off the desk. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going after Rocki. I need to find her before she moves too far away from my house. I don’t know whether she drove or she’s on foot.” He kicked the edge of the desk and sent it skittering three feet. “What if she’s hurt or this is a fucking setup?”
“What’s your gut say?” Kage opened the door for him.
“She needs help.” He paused beside Kage. “Get Janie, watch her. If Darrell’s behind this…”
“Already called while you were on the phone,” Kage said. “She’s en route. I’ll meet her at her car and escort her and Sabrina back into the agency. We’ll wait to hear from you.”
He met Kage’s eyes. “Cover your back.”
“Always,” Kage muttered. “Go get the girl.”
Whatever game Rocki played was officially over. Tony ran out to the back parking lot and slid into his Camaro. He pulled out and hit third gear by the time he straightened the car around and headed through town. He’d arrive home in five minutes tops if he hit both stoplights on the green.
After he received the right answers from Rocki, he’d make sure she and her mom stayed safe. Then he’d dig deeper to find out her involvement with Darrell. He clenched the steering wheel. As he turned the corner, his tires laid rubber on the asphalt. His gaze went to the side of the road. Rocki was a trained officer. She’d know how to stay out of sight. He only hoped in her panic, she slowed down so he could catch her.
He entered his street and locked the brakes. His car fishtailed and he pulled out of the turn and came to a stop. Shit.
Brute barreled down the sidewalk toward him, his head to the concrete and his tail down in concentration. He opened the door, but Brute lumbered right past him without lifting his nose. Not letting the dog go without him, he left his car at the curb and took off jogging after Brute. If he lucked out, his dog would have better tracking skills than he did and would find Rocki. Or he was screwed and Brute was chasing one of the damn cats in the neighborhood.
At the end of the block, Brute cut across the Lipskis’ front yard. Tony jumped over the four-foot fence into the side yard in an attempt to gain some distance. Unable to see Brute, Tony vaulted the chain-link gate and hit the ground running through Doctor Jamison’s backyard. Brute led him to the street behind his house, heading north.
Concerned that Brute decided to head back to the house and gave up on tracking Rocki, he slowed to a jog and scanned the area. Late mornings meant everyone in the neighborhood was gone to work. Garage doors were down, kids were absent, and no one loitered outside that he could question about seeing an unfamiliar woman in the area.
Brute barked and ran through the Carmichaels’ side yard. Bob and Carla Carmichael shared a backyard with him. He rounded their house and spotted a pair of feminine legs, legs he’d noticed on more than one occasion, disappear through his kitchen window.
He slowed to a walk, checking himself. Going in there ready to wring her neck for hooking up with Darrell and putting Kage in the position to deal with his uncle would not get him any answers. Now that he was confident about what she did for a living and that she was safe, he was pissed. No woman should ever put herself in a position to answer to Darrell Archer. Cop or not.
Chapter Six
That big, lovable, stupid dog.
Rocki glanced at the window above the sink in Tony’s house, the one she’d squeezed through to get inside, and couldn’t imagine how Brute managed to get his massive body through the opening to follow her when she ran. Once she’d spotted Brute three blocks from Tony’s, she’d backtracked her steps, dodging houses and cars, hoping the dog would follow her home.
Tony was going to kill her. She’d lost his dog. A dog the size of her fricking car.
“Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.” Rocki paced the kitchen, brushing broken glass off her hands and forearms.
Dots of blood pushed to the surface and trickled along the lines of her palms. She grimaced. Her hands stung, but she had to find Brute before a car hit him or, more likely, he hit a car and got hurt.
She rushed to the faucet and turned the water on. Holding her cuts under the stream, she scanned the backyard for Brute. She hoped the dog would return to the house on his own, but time was running out. She’d have to go back out and find him.
Nothing was going right. She barely escaped Darrell’s men after she found the keys to the Porsche and broke all kinds of traffic laws to escape his house. Luckily, she lost the men chasing her when she entered the strip mall. Her knowledge that the ladies at Land’s End kept the back door propped open to accept deliveries, thanks to investigating a burglary two years ago, allowed her to slip inside and hide until the coast was clear. Then she hailed a cab with the ten dollars she had stuffed in her pocket, and instead of having the driver drop her off at Tony’s place, she’d walked two blocks making sure the area wasn’t staked.
Now she was back at Tony’s for the third time in twenty-four hours because she’d spotted his dog running away. Before she headed out to find Brute, she’d leave a note for Tony in case she failed. Maybe he’d know where Brute liked to run.
It killed her to rely on Tony for help. Until she knew more about Darrell’s accusations of Gino working the other side of the fence, possibly working for the underground, she had to keep her mom safe. The only one on her side, or so she hoped, was Tony Weston.
“Dammit, Brute, where are you?” she muttered.
“Woof.”
She spun around, relief flooding her. Standing inside the house, in the kitchen’s archway, was Brute…and Brute’s owner.
A scowl marked his handsome face as he took her all in. She reached behind her and fumbled with the handle on the faucet to turn off the water, then curled her fingers to hide her injuries.
Tony pressed his lips firmly together until they all but disappeared. The usual softness in his gaze ceased to exist and instead he narrowed his eyes and pinned her where she stood. She gulped, pressing back against the counter. Even more frightening was the way his nostrils flared like those of a bull seeing red, getting ready to charge.
Her respite over Brute’s return home fled and a new concern took shape. Not only had Tony caught up with her, but he was mad.
“Thank God, you found Brute.” She shuffled sideways toward the sliding door. “He followed me, and I was trying to lead him back but he kept running. I thought if I came here again, he’d return. I-I’m sorry about the window.”
He motioned toward the kitchen table. “Sit and start talking.”
She glanced down at her hands, uncurled her fingers, and made to rub them against her shirt when he grasped her wr
ists. The gentleness in his touch put her at ease. He might be mad about the broken window and the temporary loss of Brute, but his anger didn’t seem to be directed at her.
“You’re hurt,” he said.
“I’m okay.”
“You’re cut and bleeding. That’s not okay.” He stretched around her and yanked a handful of paper towels off the hanger. “Here. Put pressure on it.”
“My mom.” She stared up into his face. “You said—”
“Lance, one of the guys you met last night, who I work with, is on his way to your mom’s house right now.” He led her over to the table and kicked out a chair, sitting her down. “He’ll bring your mom to my house, and you can see for yourself that she’s okay.”
She stiffened, shaking her head. “No, you can’t do that. Darrell knows I was here and will come looking for me. You have to take my mom somewhere else. I’ll pay you.”
“I’ll protect her.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and kept her in the chair. “It’s time you tell me what the fuck is going on, Detective Bangli.”
She froze, knocked dumb by the use of her occupational title. She lowered her chin to her chest and stared at the table. Last night, she’d given him nothing to go on except the use of her first name.
Where had she screwed up? Darrell called her out, and now Tony knew who she was.
Maybe he was guessing, or he’d worked with Gino before and everyone knew about her going undercover. She couldn’t trust him if that was the case. Darrell claimed Gino worked in the underground, and Tony worked with Kage Archer. Bay City was one big family with connections, and no one informed her how they were related beforehand. Frick.
She’d panicked in her hurry to make sure her mom remained safe and lost her focus. Last night Tony grilled her about her dealings with Darrell. His suspicions came the moment he spotted her at the pool table. But, exactly how close of a working situation did he have with Gino?
“I don’t know why you’re calling me by that name,” she whispered. “I’m Rocki.”