How could this possibly go wrong?
Oh, he didn’t want to know.
Chapter Sixteen
Dimitri’s Condo
I n his condo, he was making the last minute adjustments to the plans and checking out all the tech they would need to get in, get the items, and get out. In his head, Dimitri was running it over and over again to make sure they were safe.
That was part of his process.
Step.
By.
Step.
If something happened, it was on him—and him alone—since this was his business. This was his team.
Not only was his sister going in, but so was his girl. That was problematic if she was caught—or worse, shot.
When she came out of the bedroom, from changing into the cop’s uniform that Ilan had gone and picked up, she looked like another cop.
His ex-cop.
“Do you have your gear on beneath that?” he asked, not even looking at her.
His tone said it all.
“I do. Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
She didn’t question it. He looked stressed, and Poppy didn’t doubt that it was because he was going to send her in to do the job.
“I need a gun. Have a spare?” she asked.
He pulled his from the hidden holster at the back of his pants and handed it to her.
Again, without looking.
“Did I piss you off?”
He shook his head.
Poppy placed his gun into her holster and headed toward the mirror to check herself out. It had been a while since she’d worn that uniform. The silver badge was adhered to her shirt, and it reminded her of the one she lost.
This was her past.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked, getting her attention.
“Yes. I have the plan worked out, and I am more than ready to handle it, boss.”
He looked over at her.
“I’m scared.”
She turned.
“Talk to me.”
“If you get hurt…”
She crossed toward him and hugged him.
“I’m going to be fine. I’ll do what I have to do to get in, get the file, and get out.”
“Do you really feel secure doing this?” he asked. “I’m asking as your boss, not your significant other.”
“My boyfriend?” she asked, smiling.
“I don’t like that title. It’s silly.”
“Boyfriend. Boyfriend. Boy…friend.”
It broke the ice.
He started laughing.
“I kinda dig it. My boyfriend is the sexy Dimitri Gideon. Aren’t I a lucky girl? That would make me your GIRLFRIEND.”
He smiled.
She made him feel better.
“I like woman better.”
“I don’t like the sound of woman-friend.”
“I meant woman. Period.”
She touched his cheek and was well aware, but he needed to lighten up. Poppy didn’t want him stressed to the max over this. She was good. She knew how to do this.
“I have this. If I thought I couldn't do it, I’d tell you. It’s easy once I get past security. If they stop me, I’m screwed. Everyone past that likely doesn’t know that I’m off the force. If they do recognize me, word may not have traveled to every single person working there.”
She had a point.
“I can blend in dressed like this.”
He was aware.
“I’ll be waiting for you to get back.”
She went up on her toes and into his body. He saw them in the mirror and laughed.
“Uh, what’s so funny.”
“I’m about to kiss a woman in a cop uniform. This is proof that the universe has a sense of humor. Had younger Dimitri been told this, he wouldn’t have believed it. He would have laughed his ass off.”
She jumped up and kissed him. Her legs were around his hips, and her hands were in his hair. He leaned against the wall and let her do her worst.
When she pulled her mouth from his, Dimitri’s lower lip was between her teeth.
“When I get back, my sexy criminal, I’ll keep the uniform on and we can play cops and very bad guys.”
He lifted a brow.
“Seriously?”
“Uh huh. Sex should be fun. I like to have fun. Want me to cuff you and interrogate you after the kids go to bed?”
He laughed.
“I suddenly have never wanted to be tackled and cuffed by a cop so much in my life.”
She whispered something racy in his ear.
“Jesus! OR that. I definitely wouldn’t mind that at all after the kids are asleep.”
She hugged him, gently nuzzling his cheek with hers. It was tender, sweet, and he really needed it. It was hard enough sending your sisters in to do a job, but the woman you loved?
Christ!
It was brutal.
“It looks like this girlfriend thing is pretty sweet,” he said, still holding her.
“Your hand is on my ass.”
“It’s a perk.”
She laughed.
Yeah, they would be perfectly fine.
Dimitri had this under control.
Of course.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
LVPD
It was time to call it a day. He was beyond exhausted. Keeping the LVPD under control was a monumental task, and keeping the Crofts off his ass was even more work.
At that moment, he was wary of just about everything.
Jeffrey Raye expected something to jump up and bite him in the ass.
Word on the street was that they were asking a shit ton of questions regarding his wife’s disappearance.
That wasn’t good.
He had his own secrets that he didn’t need coming out. They would make his life…difficult.
So, he had to keep his fingers crossed and focus on his job. Right now, he was going to head out to happy hour, get a drink, and talk to a few potential candidates for the new captain position.
It pissed him off that Poppy Wayne turned it down.
She would have been perfect. She was a woman, malleable, and able to be controlled.
Jeffrey had put all of his eggs in one basket, and that had been a big mistake.
Now he was back at the beginning, trying to find the perfect person.
So far, it wasn’t going well.
As he put the file away, hidden where it would be safe, he locked up his office and shut down for the night.
He would swing back later, get some work done, and hopefully have some names for the captaincy position.
If not, he had a whole bunch of issues.
He didn’t plan on losing control of the Homicide division. They were his favorite group of sheep.
He had control.
And he liked it that way.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Wednesday Night
Seven P.M.
Chris drove them to the police precinct as Curtis sat in the back with his wife. He was setting up two laptops on the floor that he would need to help them keep everything under control while the women were inside.
In the front seat, Poppy sat beside Chris.
“I never thought I’d be working with you again,” she stated. “I have this overwhelming need to salute you and give you my report.”
He laughed.
“Finally, someone shows me some respect.”
Poppy laughed.
This whole thing was surreal. Poppy couldn’t believe that in a matter of days she’d gone from a decorated homicide cop to someone about to be felonious.
Love was a crazy thing.
“Are you ready?” Chris asked her. “They will shoot you. This is no joking matter. If you get caught in his office, you can’t say what you were doing there.”
“Oh, I’m aware. In my uniform, it’s going to look really bad.”
“You have this,” Kat said. “If you get caught, call for me. I can get to you.”
&n
bsp; “Thanks.”
“I’m sure the big, fat bonus afterward that my brother will pay you will be nice.”
Poppy looked horrified.
“What? What the fuck is that? No! I don’t want money and a bonus! He never mentioned that! I would have pitched one hell of a fit over it!”
Kat smiled sweetly.
“Just kidding. There’s no bonus. I was checking to make sure you’re not some gold digging whore. I’d hate to kill you in your sleep.”
Poppy stared at her.
Then Chris.
“She’s kidding, right?”
Curtis laughed.
“Oh, she wouldn’t kill you if she found out you were after Dimitri only for his money.”
She relaxed.
“Emma would,” he stated.
“Jesus. I don’t want his money. Again, it freaks me the hell out.”
Kat was satisfied.
“So you’re with him for…?”
“The sex. It’s hot.”
Katerina made gagging noises from her spot beside her husband.
Chris laughed.
“Well, you managed to freak Kat out. She looks ill. That’s all kinds of skill right there,” he teased.
“Mmmmm...Dimitri dick,” Poppy stated, trying to bust her ass. It was only fair. If she was going to test her, Poppy was going to give as good as she got.
“Okay, stop. I saw it once walking in on him taking a leak, I’ve never been the same.”
His voice came over the com, reminding them all that he was listening.
As was Emma.
Greyson.
Oh, and Sam.
“You four realize you’re live, right? You realize that you have an audience, no?”
Poppy blushed.
Chris, Curtis, and Kat did not. They laughed. In their family, if you couldn’t bust ass, you were in some serious trouble. It was their favorite thing to do in their downtime.
“We knew. The newbie needed hazing, and you won’t let us waterboard,” Kat stated.
She stared at them.
“You’re all sick.”
“It’s okay, babochka. You can kick Chris’s ass tomorrow, and for hazing, Katerina will be there too. Since she likes to discuss my dick, it’s only fair I let her enjoy the hand-to-hand combat training.”
The all groaned.
She grinned triumphantly.
“Emma said to knock it off. She’s pacing like a tiger. Your banter is making her ill.”
“Calm down, Mom. We got this,” Curtis said. “What’s the worst that can happen? Chris might get a speeding ticket. He is going twenty in a fifty-five.”
“Shut it, pee-wee. I’ll haze your ass later. I don’t care if you’re the Croft heir. When I’m done with you, they’ll need a new one.”
He laughed.
Curtis wasn’t worried. He wasn’t Dimitri’s employee. He didn’t have to participate in the daily workout.
Thank.
Freaking.
God.
“There’s the building,” Kat said, pulling on her black gloves to ensure she didn’t leave prints.
“I’m going to go in through a window,” she said. “I can’t stroll right in. I’ll meet you at the elevator, Detective.”
“Uh, Poppy is fine.”
“You have to prove you’ve earned it. You’re still a cop to me. Show me how good you are. Prove that you deserve to be with my brother.”
This time, there was no humor.
Poppy got it.
The true test was going to be all about being part of the team. That meant breaking in, doing the job, and earning all of their respect.
“I will.”
Kat hoped so.
As the vehicle rolled to a stop, she kissed her husband, grabbed her gear, and then Kat was gone, running from the van to the shrubbery.
“Tough audience,” Poppy said.
“She’s right. We’ve all been there,” Curtis said. “You have cop skills. This is private security skills. Make it count, or you have no validity on the team.”
It was clear that NO ONE was cutting her any slack, and while it was irritating, she had told Dimitri she didn’t want any special treatment.
Clearly, they got the memo.
Chris moved the vehicle to the most inconspicuous spot and let her out. She pulled on her hat and headed in.
Chris got into position in the parking lot.
And they waited.
This was riding on Kat and Poppy.
It was time to see what they could do.
Kat had the easier way in. She popped a lock on an empty office window and slid through the opening without making a sound.
“Curtis, are you tracking me?” she whispered as her com picked up her voice.
“I have you both. I’m taking down the security right now to clear the way for you. The cameras will loop. They won’t see you coming or going. Your tracker will show me which cameras to keep taking down.”
“Thank you, handsome.”
“Focus,” Dimitri stated over the com, trying to keep this as professional as possible. That was the bottom line. The whole family was woven together—Croft to Gideon, Gideon to Croft—and it made it a million times more difficult to be objective.
Still…
They had to pull it off.
Kat got into the office and peeked out the door. “I have the elevator in sight. I’m waiting for my partner.”
They all were.
It was on Poppy now.
Heading into the building, she kept her eyes down, her hat pulled low, and she found the biggest group of cops who were about to go through security.
“I need a couple of calls,” she muttered, hoping that Emma would keep her word and offer her cover as she got past the desk.
Dimitri heard her.
“Emma, make some calls.”
The two people he trusted more than anyone did as he asked. It took seconds for the switchboard to light up. They began asking insane questions to tie up the desk sergeant.
“I’m clear,” Poppy finally said, after a few minutes.
And she was.
The cops headed to their bullpens, and she headed toward the elevator to meet up with her partner in this.
“I see her,” Kat said. “She’s in the clear. We’re about to implement the next part of the plan.”
Dimitri was glad.
“Be careful, Katerina.”
Oh, she would. Kat wasn’t worried about herself. She knew how to do this job in her sleep. She was worried about the woman fucking her brother.
She was the wild card.
Kat didn’t trust her. There was a part of her that was worried for Dimitri, and a part that disliked her moving in with her brother after days.
It screamed sketchy to her.
If she wanted her blessing, Poppy Wayne had to earn her stripes on their team. She wouldn't make it easy for her.
That was not how the Gideon’s rolled.
Poppy kept focused on the next part of her job as she headed for the one elevator. It was in front of her, and she was almost there.
First stop, the basement and then on to commissioner’s office.
Inside the elevator, she pushed the button, and it arrived. Poppy headed inside, holding the door. Kat was right behind her, and she hit the button.
It closed slowly.
“I’ll take you down and then I’ll go up,” Poppy stated, pushing the button down. She’d drop Kat on the floor above the file rooms.
Suddenly, the light went on between her floor and that floor.
“Someone called the elevator,” she stated.
“Help me up!” Kat stated.
Poppy didn’t know where she was going to go, but she boosted her up and Kat got in position. She braced herself on the walls at the top of the elevator. As long as whoever it was didn’t look up, they were good to go.
The door opened, and a cop got in.
Poppy kept her badge obscured as she pretended to talk on th
e phone.
“Yeah, they think I picked it up from some suspect. It’s this itchy rash. Plus, I feel like puking all over the place. No, we’re talking projectile vomit. I feel sick now.”
That’s all it took.
The cop looked at her and then hit the next floor button to escape. As soon as he did, Poppy closed the door.
When the door closed, Kat dropped to her feet.
“Good one.”
“Thanks.”
The elevator descended. When it stopped, Poppy touched Kat’s shoulder.
“Good luck.”
She smiled.
“I don’t need luck. I’m a Gideon. We have the skills to pay the bills.”
Then she was gone.
“Well, it seems the Gideons all have incredibly healthy egos,” she muttered.
Dimitri laughed despite himself. He’d been holding his breath the entire time, praying they found a way around the surprise twist in the plan.
They did.
“Going up,” she said. “Curtis, now’s the time to kill any more cameras,” she added.
“The elevator one is looping, and I’ve killed the one in front of the commissioner’s office, and the one right inside the stairwell. You are clear.”
He typed.
“Kat, you’re clear too,” he added. “Be safe.”
“Copy.”
Poppy took the elevator to the floor below the commissioner’s office.
“Am I clear?” she asked, entering the stairwell to head up. “Is anyone around?”
Curtis and Chris stared at the computers on the floor to keep monitoring the inside of the building.
“His office is empty. You have random people walking around. I see badges. I’m going to bet HR and administration, but they are few and far between.”
She could elude them.
At the top floor, she peeked out. Getting to the door, it was locked.
“I have a standard lock. He locked the outer office when he left.”
“Can you get in?” Curtis asked.
“Make sure no one is coming. I can pick the lock if I have enough time.”
Yeah, but did they have time?
That was the big question.
Mob Justice Page 48