by Margaret Kay
“That was nice, sweet-thing. You know what you’re doing.”
She forced a small smile. “So, you feel relaxed? That’s good.”
He stood, the sheet falling from him and he drew her in close. He pressed a kiss to her lips.
“Whoa,” she said, taking a step back, her hands pressing against his shoulders. “I don’t do that in here. Redress. I’ll be back.” She forced her voice to be small as she made a flirty smile curve her lips.
She stepped nervously away, purposefully knocking into the chair his clothing sat on, just enough to displace the clothes from how they had been laid. She rearranged them, changing the location in case they had not been put back exactly as he had laid them there.
Within room number two, Cooper shot to his feet when Diaz made his move on her. He watched the monitor for a minute and listened to her through the earphones. He was proud of how she diffused the situation. Seconds later she entered their room as they watched Diaz pull his clothes back on.
Madison would not let Cooper, or the team see her hands shake as she quietly closed the door behind herself. Her eyes met Cooper’s. She could see the anger burning in his honey-browns. She wouldn’t want to see another woman kiss him either.
“I’m okay,” she told the team quietly. “I want Mother at the counter when I walk him out though.”
Cooper nodded. He had thought the same thing. He didn’t want her alone with that asshole for any longer than needed. “Leave the door open when you go back with his water and get him out of there ASAP.” Then he handed her the paper cup with water for her to bring to Diaz.
She opened the door and handed the cup to Diaz with that flirty smile. “Make sure you hydrate very well the rest of the day, with water.”
“Oh, now that’s no fun,” he said, wrapping his hand around hers as he took the cup.
“Come on,” she said nodding towards the waiting room. “I’ll walk you out.”
He took hold of her and pressed her to the wall, his body against hers. “Let me take you to dinner, maybe a club. We can do a little dancing and have a few drinks, get to know each other.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said noncommittally. “I have your number. Maybe I’ll call.” She forced herself to press a quick kiss to his stubbled cheek. “Thank you again for helping me the other day. You may have saved my life.”
He angled his head in for a kiss, but Mother entered the hallway from the waiting room, breaking their private moment. “Oh, hey, sorry,” Mother said awkwardly. “My client didn’t show.” He stepped closer, which made Diaz move a step away from Madison.
“That sucks. I hate when they don’t even call to cancel,” she replied, thankful Mother had been told to step into the hallway, at least she assumed he had been told to.
“Your next client is waiting,” Mother said, much to Madison’s surprise. She figured it had to be either Lambchop or the Undertaker. They were both in the parking lot.
“He’s early,” she said as she stepped towards the lobby. She smiled at Diaz. “I’ll walk you out.”
He followed her, angry they had been interrupted. The Undertaker sat in one of the chairs, waiting. He smiled and greeted her by the name Maddie as she and Diaz entered the room.
“Thanks,” Diaz said near the door. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear. “I hope to hear from you, sweet-thing, a real date. You won’t be disappointed, I promise.”
She smiled and nodded. “Remember, lots of water.”
She watched him go out the door, turning to pretend to talk with the Undertaker as he stood.
“And we’re clear,” Lambchop’s voice came into the comms of those who wore them.
“Roger that,” the Undertaker said. His eyes flickered to Mother and Madison. “He’s gone.”
Cooper, Jackson, and Garcia joined them in the lobby. Madison and Mother replaced their comms.
Yvette’s voice came through. “The vehicle Lambchop gave me looks like it was also stolen from O’Hare Airport.”
“That’s actually pretty smart. The owner won’t notice it missing and report it until they get back from their trip,” Madison said. “If they watch the size suitcase the person has, they could pick out a person who would be gone for a week or more.”
“That’s what I’d do, if I were going to steal a car,” Cooper agreed.
“That crazy tat on his chest of the witchdoctor mask with marijuana leaves and rifle barrels on each side,” Garcia said. “That’s the symbol for the Juarez Cartel.”
“Yes, the words Cartel de Juarez were lettered below it,” Madison added. “I recognized it.”
“Those fuckers have graduated to military grade weapons and assault gear,” Garcia informed them. He still kept tabs on DEA threats. “I need to reach back out to my DEA contacts and find out when the Juarez Cartel got into bed with the Columbians. I can’t figure out how Diaz is tight with Juan Carlos. Something about this isn’t right.”
They went back to the office and filed into Shepherd’s office for the debrief. First, Garcia reported the strong signal from the equipment planted on Diaz. Then, Madison pled her case to call him for that date, to try again to get at his phone.
“No fucking way,” Cooper exploded.
“Not so fast,” Shepherd interrupted, shooting a look of warning at Cooper. “Garcia, you know these guys. What kind of danger would she be in?”
“Well, none of these guys are choirboys. Besides the obvious danger, there will be an expectation to do drugs and have sex with him on this date. If he brings her back to the bar his cartel buddies hang out in, that danger multiplies exponentially. But if they think for even a second that she’s a cop, she’s dead in a very unpleasant way. I’m with Coop on this one. She doesn’t risk it.”
“So, I don’t go with him to where any of his gang buddies are,” Madison argued.
“No fucking way,” Cooper repeated. “No one from this agency goes in under those circumstances.”
Shepherd doubted Cooper’s motives, but he had to agree with him. It was far too risky.
“Shit, I think Diaz just dumped the car back at O’Hare,” Garcia announced. He’d been monitoring the equipment on his lap top during the meeting. “The car is stationary in the long-term parking, but Garcia’s tracker is moving away at fifty-five.”
“So, we lost one set of trackers. We’ve still got the others,” Cooper said.
“How about a lunch? I’d make it in a very public place that I meet him. Anthony, you said if you got close enough you could clone his phone. What if you were in the next booth?”
“Yeah, given enough time as long as his back was to me, I could do it.”
“A lunch date and you don’t leave the restaurant with him,” Shepherd ordered.
She nodded her agreement.
“You’ll place the call tomorrow afternoon,” Garcia said. “Don’t want to appear too anxious. That could tip him off.”
Shepherd glanced at the team. “I want to see the script for that call by oh-nine-hundred tomorrow. Cooper find me a diner we can use for the meet. I want one of ours as the waiter. I’ll be a customer at a nearby table.” His lips formed a smile. He’d take any opportunity to be in the field again.
The meeting ended, and everyone filed out. Madison raced ahead of Cooper, infuriated that he tried to deny her this second chance at getting at Diaz’s phone. Cooper caught up to her at the door to the kitchen. He pulled her within, holding her tightly to himself. “Don’t be mad at me,” he whispered.
She kept her eyes on the door. “I can handle this.”
“I know you can. You can’t fault me that I don’t want you anywhere near this guy.”
“I wouldn’t want to see you kissing anyone else, either.”
Cooper chuckled a sarcastic laugh. “Jesus, it’s not just that, Madison. Knowing he’s Juarez Cartel, that brings this to an entirely different level.”
“So, the massage and the kisses didn’t bother you?”
“Of course, that bot
hered me. I didn’t like watching your hands on him. And my lips are the only ones I ever want on yours.” They heard voices in the hallway, Jackson’s and Angel’s. They were getting ready to leave for the night. Cooper took a step away in case either or both entered the kitchen. “Stay at my place again tonight.” His voice was softer than a whisper.
“I’ve stayed there the last three nights,” she replied just as quietly. The voices moved farther away.
“Then I’ll come to your place.” Cooper’s eyes invaded hers, holding her gaze.
She nodded. “I can stay at your place one more night before I have to go home and get clean underwear.”
A grin curved Cooper’s face. “I’d like to help pick those out.”
“I thought you just liked taking them off.” She beamed a flirty smile at him.
“Blondie, I like everything about your underwear, especially what’s in them.”
She couldn’t help but laugh out loud. She bumped into him as she stepped towards the door. “I’ll meet you there.”
“You know my codes. Go on in if you make it there before me.”
She nodded and then left the room.
Later that night, they snuggled beneath the covers on Cooper’s bed, limbs tangled, intimate parts pressed against intimate parts, floating in the bliss of another incredible coupling. Cooper gently trailed kisses from her shoulder along her collarbone, and up her neck to the tip of her chin. She watched him with fascination. He was a beautiful contradiction, so gentle and loving in how he kissed her after he made love to her, passionate and intense during.
“You keep that up and I’m going to demand a round two,” she spoke softly.
“I’ll give you as many rounds as you want,” he said, his eyes gazing into hers, that cocky smile of his on his lips. And she knew he could.
“We need to talk, though,” she said softly.
“I don’t think I like the sound of that.”
“I like this, really like this,” she said with a small motion between the two of them. “I even like that you were bothered by watching me with Diaz today because honestly, if I had to watch another woman’s lips on yours, I think I’d want to kick the shit out of her.”
He chuckled. “So, what’s the problem then?”
“This can’t interfere with what I have to do to get the job done. Meeting Diaz for lunch is perfectly safe.”
“It’s not just that I don’t want his hands on you again. Damn it, Madison, the Juarez Cartel.”
She interrupted him. “I know. They’re bad. But we need to find out how and why they’re in with Juan Carlos and the Columbians.”
He sighed out loud and nodded. He’d give her that. They did need to figure it out. This alliance between the two cartels was not normal business, and it was not known by any other agency. “We’ve got another problem,” he said, much to her surprise. “I don’t want us apart. The way you pointed out that you’d been here the last three nights made me realize that I don’t want you sleeping anywhere but beside me. I don’t want to have to discuss it every day, if we are sleeping together or not, don’t want to negotiate it or keep track of it.”
“That’s a problem? I’d call it a good realization to come to.” A beautiful smile curved her lips. “I don’t need a label for what this is between us, Cooper, but I do need to know where I stand. I need to know what you want. Not knowing, I’d planned to go home alone today. I didn’t want to assume anything.”
“Yeah, I know, me either. Unless we talk about it at a later date, this is the plan, every night, together, alternating between our places. Are we on the same page?”
A smile graced her lips that Cooper knew he would never tire of. Especially when it accompanied her naked body pressed to his. “We’re on the same page.”
Then he kissed her, and they enjoyed a lengthy round two, three and four.
The next afternoon she placed the scripted call to Diaz, setting the lunch date for the following day. He was openly disappointed that it was only lunch. He pressed for dinner.
“I’m sorry, Pedro, I have a lot going on right now, some family stuff. I have two hours tomorrow in between clients and I’d like to spend those two hours with you at my favorite diner.”
“I’d like to spend those two hours with you in a much different setting,” he said, the sexual nature of his suggestion clear.
She laughed a flirty reply. “Lunch, please.”
After she disconnected the call her eyes swept over Shepherd, Cooper and Garcia. They sat at the conference room in Shepherd’s office and listened in on the call with headphones which enabled them to hear the entire call.
“Let me just say I do not like flirting with this slimy scumbag.” She sighed in disgust. “Prefer a much different setting. He might as well have said, with you naked beneath me. Seriously, who is this guy that he thinks that is going to work?”
The men laughed, even Shepherd.
“He does have confidence, I’ll give him that,” Cooper said.
“All these cartel fuckers think they can do whatever, or in this case, whoever they want,” Garcia said. “Back in Mexico, no girl would turn him down, knowing who he is.”
“We’ll be set up in the diner before he arrives,” Shepherd said. “I don’t want anyone who has been anywhere near this guy at that diner. Call in Charlie Team if you have to. You can rotate in anyone he’s seen to cover Charlie’s assignment tomorrow night,” he told Cooper.
Cooper nodded.
Cooper and Madison left within a few minutes of each other, around sixteen-hundred. He pulled into her driveway after she had parked in the garage. She led him in through the mudroom, disabling the alarm a few steps in at the kitchen panel. She had a frozen pizza she threw in the oven.
“Doc would not like this choice for our meal after the Thai we ordered in for lunch today,” Madison said with a laugh.
“He wouldn’t like this choice period,” Cooper agreed. “He means well, wants to keep us all healthy but he can be a pain in the ass. You can believe he will insist on fish for those at the office tomorrow at lunch.”
Madison laughed. “Glad I’ll be at the diner. I’m thinking gyros and fries.”
“Madison,” he said, turning more serious. He pressed her against the counter, his body fully against hers. “Really, watch yourself with him tomorrow.”
She kissed him, her fingers running through his short locks, concentrating her strokes on his temples, over his jaw, and then down his neck. “I promise. I will.”
“I’ll be in the van. As soon as Garcia confirms the pairing is complete, I’ll send you a text. Say you have a family emergency and get out of there. Leave him with the bill to pay so he can’t follow. Get in your car and drive to the rendezvous point. I have a bad feeling about this.”
“You’re all going to be there. He can’t do anything to me. And why would he want to anyway? Unless he suspects something. We’ve been careful. I don’t think he does.”
Cooper drew her in close, breathing in the floral scent of her shampoo. He loved how she smelled. “Yeah, we’ve been careful. I’m sure it’s nothing.” Though his feelings usually weren’t nothing.
After they ate the pizza, Cooper did indeed help her pick out several pairs of underwear from her drawer of matching bra and panty sets. She replenished the clothing and personal items in her go-bag. She’d spend the next several nights at his place. It was closer to the office. Then they took a hot bath together in her large soak tub. Soft caresses and passionate kisses in the candlelight made it anything but relaxing. Barely dried off, they took it to her bed and enjoyed each other for several hours.
Madison woke the next morning as she had drifted off, her head on his chest, his arms holding her snuggly. Raising her head just slightly, she studied his sleeping face, her eyes focused on his perfectly shaped, masculine lips. She knew she had fallen for him, hard. The thought crossed her mind that if this were to end it would hurt, bad.
“Are you going to kiss me good morning,
or just stare at me?”
“I didn’t want to wake you,” she replied softly.
“I woke the second you lifted your head from my chest. I like this, falling asleep holding you and waking the same way.” He took hold of the back of her head and brought her lips to his. After a lengthy kiss he pulled his lips a whisper away from hers. “Good morning.”
“Mm, good morning.” The smile on her face was telling. She liked waking with him too.
She kissed him again, which caused their bodies to knot together. A hot morning desire ignited, which led to multiple releases and breathless ecstasy. They only had time for a quick shower and no time for breakfast.