If you’re going to do something right, you do it. I’m going to hold you to cooking for me. Maybe this time I’ll have the beer while you work up a sweat making something for me. LOL. ~ RW
Taggart bit back a chuckle. Any time. Now I’ve got to get to work so I can make our plans. Later. ~ TM
When he got Rhodes’s goodbye, Taggart put his cell in his jacket pocket, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned his shoulder against the side of the car. He could sense someone was watching him. Taggart turned his head and spotted a man who looked like a surfer who was watching him. He glanced at the tall African American man beside him. The doors opened and the elevator emptied, leaving the three of them. The men came closer.
“Longorias,” he greeted both men.
“Hey, Taggart.” Gerry Longoria rubbed his hand through his blond hair, making it look even more unkempt. He rolled his shoulders under the jean jacket that hung on his lanky frame. Under the jacket, the T-shirt he wore was ripped and his jeans had holes all over them. “We were on our way to see you.” He crossed his legs and his boots were as scarred and battered looking as the rest of his clothing.
“And we have no idea why we were told to report to you.” Hill Longoria’s pale-gray suit was impeccable and fit his muscular frame well. His long, wavy hair was tied back with a string, leaving his dark-gray eyes in prominent display.
Taggart recalled what he knew of the men. Gerry seemed to be the easy-going one, but that was deceptive. Gerry might dress like a surfer dude and talk like one, but he was very astute. Hill was also very perceptive, and his articulate speech and the way he dressed, so perfectly pressed, would make someone think he wouldn’t get his hands dirty. Taggart knew better. Hill was a hell of a detective, and so was Gerry.
The elevator opened on his floor and Taggart walked off. He didn’t wait to see if the men would too. They had already said they were coming to him. Taggart nodded briefly at some of the people they passed. He opened the door to his unit, and in a glance, he took in the controlled chaos inside. There were people on the phone, working on computers and many other tasks. He entered, striding past the men who worked in his division, returning their greetings. At the far end of the room, he stopped by the partially open door and rapped his knuckles on the frame.
“The Longorias are here,” he said, directing the information to the man behind the desk before he continued on to his office.
Once inside, he sat behind his desk. Taggart smiled slightly when a broad-shouldered man walked in and leaned by the doorway.
“As you expected, they’re out there greeting everyone. Taking their sweet time to come to your office.” Walker Derby, his lieutenant, chuckled.
“I know everything,” Taggart said drily.
Walker lifted his hand, flashing him his middle finger.
“Aw, two seconds before you got dirty. That must be a record.” Taggart shook his head. “Be professional. We don’t want them to know we’re nuts so soon.”
“Speak for yourself. I am quite sane,” Walker said in a snotty tone.
Taggart snorted as he started up his computer.
“So do I get to tell them?” Walker clasped his hands as if begging.
“Rock, paper, scissors. Go on three.” Taggart put out his hand.
Walker came closer and put out his hand too. They shook their fists, counting off, then showed their choice. Taggart scowled when he lost.
“Fine. You take away all my fun.” Taggart typed in his password and the system came up.
He heard the sound of the men’s voices approaching. Taggart leaned back in his chair and waited. Hill came in first, followed soon after by Gerry. Neither man sat. They stood side by side and waited to see what Taggart wanted.
“What, no greeting for me?” Walker sat on the edge of the desk, his profile visible to Taggart.
“Walker.” Gerry smiled, nodding his head.
“Walker.” Hill nodded abruptly before saying, “Can we get to what you all want? I’d like to get back to my desk duty.” His lip curled at the words.
“I’ve read the reports on your last case. It was a justified shooting. You’ll be off desk duty soon,” Taggart said.
“It’s part of procedure.” Hill glanced at him, his face expressionless.
Taggart recognized the look. In their jobs, they sometimes had to take a life to protect another. Even if it was justified, it was never easy taking someone else’s life.
“You’ve both been reassigned to our unit, effective immediately.” Walker sounded cheerful.
Taggart didn’t look at him. He kept his attention on the men in front of him. Gerry’s face lost its open “I’m harmless” look, and his face went cold. Hill went rigid. They looked at each other, then back at him and Walker. Taggart waited for Hill to speak, since he was usually the spokesman of the group.
“This is why you’ve been checking our files.” Gerry’s tone was soft.
Taggart was surprised he’d been the one to talk and that he knew that they’d checked their files. He looked at Walker.
“I didn’t leave any trail for them to find.” Walker shrugged.
“You might seem to know everything, Captain.” Gerry emphasized Taggart’s title. “But information is power. Isn’t that what you like to say?” Gerry crossed his arms over his chest. “I like knowing and have my ways of finding out. Why are you requesting an undercover detective from drugs and gangs”—Gerry pointed to himself before he jerked his thumb toward Hill—”and a detective from Special Victims Unit to be part of your squad?”
“Because we have a need for men like yourselves for some of the cases we’re getting. Gerry, we need someone who can blend as well as you do in any situation. Hill, we need that sharp mind. Our division handles many major cases, and we need men like you two who think outside the box.” Taggart gestured to Gerry. “As you did when you brought down the Julianne cartel. That case took over a year to build and when it was falling apart, you stepped in and closed it.” He motioned to Hill. “The case you just closed that you’re on desk duty for. It was you who realized something was off with the parents, then refused to believe the DNA tests that said the little boy was their biological son. You weeded out that they’d paid off someone in the lab to falsify the tests. When the parents came after you, you did what you needed to do to save your own life and that of your partner. The only reason you’re on desk duty is because someone in Internal Afraid… whoops, I meant Affairs.” He paused and waited as the men’s chuckles died down. “Internal Affairs has their head up their ass.” Taggart put his fingers together and rested his chin on them. “I’ll be taking care of that when I’m done with my meetings.”
“It wasn’t me alone on the Julianne cartel bust. I work with a team,” Gerry said.
“I know. Tobias Carrington is your tech guy and your partner, Eva Graves. They’re my next meeting and should be outside.” Taggart glanced at Hill. “Along with Klein Freeman, your partner, who is also outside.” He included Gerry in his look. “I don’t plan on breaking up a good team. I want to use it for my division and add to it.”
“Are you bringing us on board because of our brother?” Gerry asked.
“That is such an asinine question, I’m going to consider you asked it because you’ve been working undercover too long.”
Hill snorted, then sighed. He pulled out his wallet and took out some money. He held it out to Gerry. Gerry smirked and took it, tucking it into his jacket pocket.
“Do I even want to know what the bet was about?”
“That I would get you to call me delusional before this meeting was done.” Gerry tapped his pocket.
“I didn’t call you that.”
“You did in a roundabout way.” Hill shook his head, then rolled his eyes. “He’s annoying at how right he can judge shit. Like we already knew what this meeting might be about.”
“If you knew, then what was all the posturing about?” Taggart leaned back.
“Testing to see what you’re
about. We know you from personal interactions. Also, we’ve heard about you through the station but never worked with you directly.” Hill cocked his head to the side. “So what should we call you and Walker?”
“Cap and Lieu is fine at work. And what you usually do when we’re off the clock.”
“Even if I’m not playing a part for undercover and in the office, I’m not wearing a suit,” Gerry said.
“I didn’t ask you to,” Taggart retorted.
Gerry smiled and bounced on his feet. “Good. And, ummm… have you ever met Eva or Tobias before?”
“No.” Taggart wondered why Gerry’s grin widened.
“How about Klein?” Hill looked as if he was trying not to laugh.
“No.” Taggart stared at the men. “Is there something I should know about them?”
“Nope.” Gerry coughed and added, “Just remember what you read in their files.”
“Yeah. Is it okay if I go back to my desk and clear up some stuff?” Hill coughed too.
“Sure. You both can. Report back here in the morning. The unit secretary will arrange to have your things moved into your new desks. Send in the rest of the people waiting.”
“Thanks, Cap.” Gerry put out his hand.
Taggart rose and shook it. Gerry shook Walker’s. Hill did the same, and both men left the office. When they departed, Taggart looked at Walker.
“What was that—?” The door opened and Taggart’s words stalled as he got his first look at the trio.
They didn’t look anything like their photos. Eva was all in black down to her lipstick, and if he wasn’t mistaken, her nails. Her pale-white skin was stark against the color. Although Taggart knew from her file she was in her thirties, she looked like a teenager. Strangely, the Goth look seemed to work for her. He didn’t know which of the men was Tobias or Klein. The one to the right of Eva had tattoos on both sides of his neck and along the right side of his face, as well as many piercings in his face. His hair was dark green, matching his eyes. Taggart decided that had to be Tobias. It would work for him being undercover in gangs. The man on the left had earrings of various colors that went from the top of both ears to the bottom. His black hair was spiked and the tips were silver. The suit he wore was perfectly tailored to fit his muscular frame.
“Klein, Eva, and Tobias.” He met their gaze as he called their names. “It—”
“I’m Klein,” the man on the right said.
“Tobias.” The one on left lifted his hand, a small grin on his face.
Eva didn’t say a word.
Taggart met Walker’s gaze briefly, then focused on the trio. He went through what he needed to tell them, and they spoke briefly before leaving.
“And we thought Ramirez always talking about his best feature would be the weirdest thing we had in this unit.” Walker laughed.
“I—”
A loud voice cut him off. “Pay up, you fucker. He didn’t even say a word. He was all professional and shit.”
The feminine tone could only be Eva. Taggart went to his office door and made space for Walker. They looked out and spotted Eva gesturing rudely to Gerry.
“Ramirez, I’m working here now.” Eva made a kissing noise. “If you wave your best feature in my face, I’m going to take a bite.”
“Anytime, Evie baby,” Ramirez retorted, turned and pushed his ass out.
Eva walked over to him, then smacked him on his butt. The rest of the people in the unit laughed.
“Touch my spikes and you die,” Tobias warned another detective.
They chuckled and started to talk. The men and women in the division started interacting and it got loud. Taggart leaned in his doorway and watched his team. They were from different areas of the precinct, but he knew they had the talent he wanted for his division.
“This will be interesting,” Walker said and added sharply, “Chief.”
The detectives stopped speaking and nodded at the man entering the room with his protective entourage. The chief returned the gesture and stopped to talk with them one-on-one.
“Tell him I’m not here,” Taggart said.
“Christ, Taggart, you really think he didn’t see you standing here?”
Taggart didn’t reply; he retreated to his office and closed the door. He sat at his desk and got to work until he heard the voices outside his door and recognized the deeper tone. The door opened and the chief of police walked in alone. He walked over to Taggart’s desk and sat on the edge. Taggart ignored him, reading his computer screen.
The chief sighed, then grumbled, “No respect.”
“Oh, I didn’t hear you there.” Taggart turned his chair to face him.
“A load of crap.” Chief Chuck Sanders snorted. “I’m going to tell your sister.”
“Oh. I thought you were here as the chief of police and not my brother-in-law.” Taggart leaned back in his chair.
“I’m here as both.” Chuck ran his hand through his hair. “Since someone is ignoring my calls as chief as well as those as your brother-in-law. You’re a pain in my ass, like your sister is.”
“Humph. I’m going to let her know you said that.”
“And I know you would. You evil bastard.” Chuck glared at him. “I could have made it an order for you come see me in my office. But I came to you instead.”
“You only came because you knew I would hate it,” Taggart retorted.
Chuck grinned. “Yeah, that was a good side benefit.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “You know, someday you’ll be sitting in my office doing what I do. When that happens, you’ll have to put up with the politics I have to.”
“If I wanted to, I’d already be sitting in your office. I’ve been on the force longer than you and was offered the position many times. I like working on the streets. Don’t have patience for politics. I’m fine here.” Taggart shrugged.
“That tone. The snotty one always makes me want to give you a wedgie,” Chuck said.
“A wedgie? Why?”
“Because your sister has the same tone and I can’t give her one. I sleep with her, after all, and she’d scalp me in my sleep.” Chuck laughed, then sighed. “God, I love that woman.”
“She loves you too. Go figure.” Taggart rolled his eyes.
“And she does that too.” Chuck shook his head. “It must be a Monroe thing.”
“Technically she’s a Sanders since she’s married to you. I think you’re a bad influence on her.” Taggart crossed his arms over his chest.
“If you want to be technical, her last name is Monroe-Sanders,” Chuck said, shifting on the desk. “Seven years around you Monroes and she is so corrupted.”
Taggart laughed. Chuck’s wife was actually his half-sister, and they’d never known about her until seven years ago. His dad hadn’t known he’d fathered a child from a one-night stand during his senior year in high school when he and his high school sweetheart—Taggart’s mom—were on the outs. They’d made up when Taggart’s mother discovered she was pregnant with Taggart and married during their senior year of school. Charlene—she preferred Charlie—his half-sister, was only two months younger than he was.
“She wants to meet this man you’re dating.”
“What? How did you know about that?”
“The kids were at the boxing match. They said you were quite distracted because you didn’t see them. They didn’t want to interrupt what was obviously Uncle Taggart getting his freak on.” Chuck put up his hands. “Their words, not mine.”
“Those are your words. They wouldn’t have said that.”
“Fine. It was me, but I’m not repeating what they said.” Chuck ran his hand over his face. “God, when did I become the dad of walking raging hormones?”
“Don’t worry. They talk about sex, but it’ll be at least a few more years before we have to shoot someone for getting fresh.” Taggart patted his leg.
“You would think so. But Keli is already going on her first date.”
“Excuse me. Who is this boy? She’s only fifte
en.” Taggart glared. “How could you allow this?”
“Take it up with Charlie. She says she trusts her.” Chuck made a gurgling noise before he said, “I trust my girl, but not the boy who wants to go out with her.”
“Hmmm… I better make sure she carries her knife with her.” Taggart made a mental note to talk with his niece.
“Most uncles don’t give their nieces and nephews a knife for their fifteenth birthday.”
“I’m not most uncles. And I teach them to use it.” Taggart shrugged. “It’s better they know how to protect themselves. Although we wish we could be there twenty-four hours a day, we can’t.”
“Protection is what family does. What do you believe in?” Chuck’s tone was mild.
“Yes. It is an—” Taggart stopped glaring at him. “I walked into that one.”
“Yes. And usually you wouldn’t. This man must have you off your game. Charlie will call about meeting him, but I’ll try to hold her off for a bit. Then I’m letting her loose, and it will be all your fault.” Chuck tapped his finger on the desk, then crossed his arms over his chest. “Now, as to why I’m here as the chief. Don’t think I don’t know that it was you who leaked the information about Billy Lowry. Why didn’t you listen to me and let me handle it? And for fuck’s sake, why did you mess with the paperwork and have him lost in the system for a week? You should have left it to me, Taggart.”
Taggart wasn’t about to admit he hadn’t lost Billy’s paperwork. That would lead to a conversation about Rhodes he didn’t want to have.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You’re going to sit there and lie to me. Taggart, I—”
“I’m talking to the chief of police, and to him I’m saying, I don’t know what he’s talking about. It’s best he not know anything that’ll be coming. That way, when the press asks, he can truthfully say his office has no knowledge of the underhanded dealings of Billy Lowry and will look into the matter,” Taggart emphasized the words before he said, “To my brother-in-law, I’m saying—I protect my family. And making sure your position isn’t affected by what the fallout will be from Billy Lowry. I will not let you handle it.” Taggart grimaced. “God, if you got swept up in this mess, I’d have to deal with a new chief. What fun would that be?”
Something in Common (Dreamspinner Press Bundles) Page 90