Badge of Honor [The Town of Pearl 9] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever)

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  “Where is Frankie? He could have come with you,” she said about her partner. Frankie was a character, and came from a family of law enforcement officers. But there was something about him that always made May ask how he was doing. She didn’t know what it was. Perhaps the way she would catch him watching Lauren. Not like a partner would, but like an admirer. A man interested in the physical.

  “He had his own lunch engagement to go to. I have to pick him up in about an hour.”

  “Well in that case, we should start lunch. Come on, your sisters made dessert and it looks to die for,” May told Lauren and they all headed into the dining room.

  “So, how are the classes coming along? Were you able to kick butt on that soufflé thing?” Lauren asked Daisy.

  Carly chuckled then pushed the long strands of her blonde hair behind her ear. “That’s kind of a sore subject right now, sis,” Carly said and then Daisy gave her a mean look.

  “Oh quit it. I didn’t tease you this much when you kept making lopsided angel food cakes,” Daisy countered, her blue eyes sparkling with annoyance.

  May laughed. “It takes time and lots of practice to make those perfectly. Cut each other some slack,” May told them. They smiled.

  “Well, if you ever decide to come to Pearl and open up shop there, you can both make the things you know how to make perfectly. You know there isn’t a sweet shop in Pearl. That would go over really well. There are so many functions and events. Plus the town is so perfect,” Mary told them.

  “It sounds perfect every time you describe it when you visit. But it’s also so far from New York. We’re just not sure about moving,” Carly told her.

  “Besides, unless Aunt May is planning on selling this house and moving with us, we’re not leaving her,” Daisy added.

  “Don’t forget the money needed to start up the sweet shop. I’m working on it, but we still have some time to go. We’ll get there and know where to establish the business when the time is right,” Lauren said and they all agreed.

  May felt her chest tighten. She worried about all three of them, and especially Lauren. She lived on the edge, always risking her life. May often wondered if it stemmed from the fact that she’d killed three men that night their home was invaded. It was like she felt guilty for it. A twelve-year-old shouldn’t have had to live with such a burden. In her career as a police officer and detective, she’d killed only one other time and because it was her life or his. She took a bullet to her shoulder but survived. Then of course there was the lunatic on LSD that came after her and Frankie with a butcher knife. Cost Frankie thirty-five stitches to his back and cost Lauren twenty to her side over her ribs. She still had the scar to show for it. But Lauren was tough. Tougher than she needed to be. May worried about her, but police work was her vocation, her calling in life, and the danger was part of the job.

  She listened in as the women all talked about what they were up to until after they finished lunch and Lauren’s cell phone went off. May watched as Lauren pulled the cell off the belt on her black dress pants as she stood up. The sight of the badge on her waist, the large black gun on her hip in the holster, and her conservative attire made her appear like a typical homicide detective.

  “No problem, I’m on my way,” Lauren said. “Sorry, but I need to go. There’s this case we’re working on and our informant just got a lead. I’ll see you guys tonight. It was good seeing you, Mary.” Lauren hugged Mary and then her sisters before making it around the table to May. May took her hand.

  “Be safe.”

  “Always,” Lauren replied like she always did.

  They said good-bye and May watched her go. Her heart felt heavy, her concern grew a notch more, and she prayed that Lauren would be okay. She was worried about her.

  May glanced at Mary, who gave her a soft, knowing smile. Before the girls had arrived she shared her concerns about Lauren and about the needs of Carly and Daisy. Mary understood. She knew all too well about handling loss and being alone. Mary knew about a lot of things. Including things about the girls’ father neither of them ever shared with them. May closed her eyes and prayed to God to protect Lauren. There wasn’t anything more she could do. Fate was in control of all of their lives.

  * * * *

  “So what’s this meeting all about?” Lauren whispered to Frankie as they stood outside their commander’s office. Two Federal agents were there and a couple of the State Trooper investigators who were working the Tenth Street gang case. As Hercules came into view, along with his crew of big shots from the gang unit, she knew something big was up. Hercules eyed her over and then licked his lower lip. He was a hard ass, but good at his job. He and his team did a lot of crazy shit.

  “Something is up and we’re part of the in crowd apparently.”

  Lauren didn’t reply as Hercules and four of his team approached.

  “Detective Michaels. Nice to see you.” He reached his hand out for her to shake. She did, and she gave a firm squeeze. He winked.

  “You remember the guys.” He waved a hand toward his crew, and the four men looked her over and didn’t even look at Frankie. She felt on display. Like a piece of meat which was so unlike these guys. They respected her, or so she thought.

  She crossed her arms in front of her chest and eyed them back. Felix, Roach, Mangle, Turk. All four nodded their heads.

  “What’s going on? Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked them.

  “Let’s go into the meeting room. Everyone, follow Agent Burk,” her commander said.

  Lauren looked at Frankie, who was giving the agents the evil eyes. They’d gotten two men from the department killed. What were they looking to do now?

  They all took positions around the room, and Lauren stood by Hercules and Frankie even though the men offered her a seat.

  There was a projector set up on the table and an area cleared so the film could be projected onto the wall.

  “Okay, so we’ve gathered all of you here today to give an update on the Tenth Street gang case. We have reason to believe a new shipment of product is coming in this week. There’s some buzz about a meeting tonight at Club Phaze,” Agent Burk told them.

  “Our sources on the inside, which is down to one agent, cannot get close enough to Aces, Rafael, or Orlando to confirm a date, time, and location. Aces has been distancing himself from most people except his brothers Miklos, Rafael, and Orlando. Detective Sargento, could you get the lights please?” Agent Burk asked Frankie.

  The lights went out the room fell into darkness and the slide show began. Agent Burk showed pictures of Aces, talked about their hangout locations, the factory they were trying to pinpoint where they believed a drug manufacturing operation was, and Burk showed where the two undercover agents had slipped up. When the pictures of the dead agents came up one at a time as Agent Burk described what was done to them and how they were left for dead, then she felt angry and sick. These bastards had to be stopped. There had to be a way to stop these monsters from doing more harm and to put them behind bars.

  As the agents talked more about the main men, who they were and what they were into, he described possible ways of infiltrating the small group of men in order to find out information to capture them.

  Another detective turned the lights back on.

  Lauren looked around the room and could see how uneasy, upset, and angry all the investigators were. They wanted to seek justice for those agents. So did she.

  “So where are we at? I mean do you have any ideas as to how we can get someone in there and close enough to Aces and his crew to get information?” Frankie asked.

  “We’re running some ideas. I’ve got a few female undercover officers willing to go in undercover and try to flirt their way into the private balcony area where Aces and his crew meet and discuss things. Our inside guy says Aces always has a woman at his side, and never the same one,” Burk told them.

  “Don’t tell me those women have disappeared,” Hercules said.

  “No, he’s j
ust real careful and particular about who he has by his side repeatedly. He has a certain type he likes,” Burk added and looked at Lauren.

  “What type is that? Do any of the female undercover officers have the look?” Frankie asked.

  Agent Burk continued looking at Lauren. He then looked down at a file on the table, opened it, and looked at her again.

  “Detective Michaels does. You’ve got an outstanding record in the department, detective. Seven years and you’re already a top ranking homicide detective.”

  “You’re not thinking about sending Lauren in there. She doesn’t have the training for that,” Frankie spoke up.

  “Detective Sargento, you saw the slides. You know the case and the capabilities of the Tenth Street gang. We need to stop them. We need to know when that large shipment is coming in so we can arrest these men and stop more drugs from coming into the city.”

  “What’s his type? How is it that I fit what Aces likes in a woman?” she asked.

  Frankie raised his voice. “No, Lauren, you’re not doing this. This fucking guy showed these slides because he knew you would want to seek justice for the agents killed. He knows that we knew those men.”

  “What is his type?” she repeated.

  “As far as we could tell from surveillance, he likes a woman who is well endowed, easy on the eyes, and somewhat petite.”

  “That’s every guy’s fantasy woman,” Hercules stated with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

  “Blonde, brunette, redhead, what does he seem to prefer?” she asked.

  “It’s more their body types that he prefers.”

  “Easy? Bimbos? What type does he allow close enough to stick around for a whole night?” she asked.

  “Not sure. We’ve never seen him with one that long,” one of the state police investigators told her.

  “Then you don’t even know if this will work,” Frankie stated.

  Agent Burk looked around the room and then at Lauren. “We don’t have any other options but to send in an undercover female officer to try and get close enough to hear the date, time, and location of this shipment. Otherwise we’ve lost another opportunity and the two undercover officers who died, died for nothing,” Agent Burk said.

  “I’ll do it. But my way,” Lauren said and looked at her commander.

  “Lauren, you don’t have to,” he said.

  “Commander, someone has to,” she said and then looked at Agent Burk.

  “Agent Burk, can you get me some inside footage of the club from other nights when he had women in the booth? Also the layout of the club will be helpful. I’m assuming you have funds for clothing and any necessary items I may need?” she asked.

  “We have a crew set up to help you with wardrobe, makeup, or whatever you need.”

  “I’ll take care of that. Just get me a safe location to leave from and to get to if I need out of there in a hurry. Also, get two or three other female undercover cops to come along.”

  “What exactly are you thinking detective?” Agent Burk asked.

  She looked around the room at the unhappy faces, realizing that the majority of these men she worked with on a regular basis were concerned for her.

  “I’m going to do everything in my power to ensure I get out of there alive and the same way I went in. I don’t care if you and your team are offended by it. Two of our men were killed. Someone screwed up somewhere, and we may never know who, but justice will be served.” She turned around and headed out of the room with Frankie, and then Hercules, her commander, and the others following her in support.

  As she came down the hallway, her heart racing, her mind ran in a thousand directions as she wondered why she said yes and how she was going to pull this off. Frankie grabbed her upper arm and turned her around. Hercules and the others were right behind him.

  “What the fuck are you thinking? Those agents got our two men killed and now they’re looking to throw you in there to the wolves. They put those slides up on purpose,” Frankie said, his voice raised..

  She looked at him and the others.

  “We get that information about the delivery and we take down these scumbags. Vick and Roy don’t die for nothing and we put the bad guys behind bars. It’s not like I’ve never been asked to go undercover before.”

  “Yeah, when you were a rookie and they needed a teenager to infiltrate the group of college guys with the drug dealer from Manhattan College. Shit, I read the file. You were badass, Lauren,” Hercules said as his eyes roamed over her body.

  “We all read your file, honey, but these guys are sick fucks. They did a number on Vick and Roy,” Roach told her. She knew they were all friends with Vick and Roy. This was a family here.

  “I know. I’ll be as careful as I can without tipping them off that I’m a cop. Now, since you know just as much about these guys as Agent Burk, why don’t you fill me in as I get things ready for tonight?”

  “We’ll be close by just in case. We’ll get you everything we can. Everything,” Mangle told her as he squeezed her shoulder.

  “Come on. Let’s head upstairs to our offices. We’ve got everything set up,” Turk told her and Frankie and the others headed toward the elevator. Her heart was heavy, yet there was this spark of excitement, determination she hadn’t had in years. It instantly turned that bland, tired emotion she had been having lately into a bit of enthusiasm and optimism. She would pull this off and show them all how capable she was. She had to do this. It was her job. The badge of honor had a way of overpowering any fear or evil. Her actions would help justice be served. They had to.

  * * * *

  Club Phaze

  Aces looked in the mirror as he headed out of the backroom. He adjusted the collar on his burgundy dress shirt then fixed the belt on his pants. He looked good. The thick, gold chain around his neck stood out, along with the crucifix he wore. He ran the palm of his hand along the hair on the side of his head and moved his head side to side to make sure he looked good from every profile.

  He licked his lower lip, wondering how tonight would go. The guys he wanted to secure some business with were coming into the club tonight. He wanted to keep them happy, and of course lucky. He hoped his brother Orlando had gotten some hot women to show up.

  As he walked out of the room, he was pleasantly surprised to see how crowded the place was. Music was playing, the bass of the beat echoing around the room and making him feel like moving his hips to the Latin music.

  “It’s crowded tonight. I hope Orlando isn’t giving the shit away for free,” Aces said to Miklos as they came out of the back room of the club. Aces was planning on grabbing a few drinks then heading upstairs to the private balcony.

  Miklos chuckled. “It’s ladies hour. You know, when the chicks drink for free for the hour.” Miklos looked around smiling. “It’s good for business. They get wrecked and the guys get lucky for the night. A win-win situation,” Miklos added.

  Aces gave his brother a nod as he scanned the room. He was looking for something. Someone different. Something to alleviate the monotony of the night. He had big plans to arrange, and once he set everything up with the okay then he could focus on his own needs. His brother gave his side a tap.

  “Check out the prospects, jefe. Looking like some hot mammas tonight.”

  Aces scanned the bar, his eyes not landing on the usual women but instead a group of four women and one dressed in off-white. She looked different, sexy, kind of high class to be hanging in Phaze, yet not unusual to see. Her shoulders were bare, the dress strapless and low in the back showing off her muscular physique and what appeared to be part of a tattoo that disappeared down her dress along her hip. He licked his lips and wondered if it led to her inner groin. He suddenly thought he would find out. If her face were as lovely as her ass and back, he definitely would make a move.

  “What’s got your eye?” Miklos asked, then he must have followed Aces’s line of sight because his brother whistled low.

  “Damn, that’s one fine wom
an, and her friends aren’t bad either.”

  “If she would just turn around, so I could see her face.” As Aces whispered to Miklos, the blonde turned around, seemed to look right at him, give him the once-over, and then turn away.

  “She fucking turned away from us,” Miklos said and started heading over. Aces grabbed his brother’s arm. Miklos was a hothead, had a short fuse and a temper on him. The psycho had caused him so much trouble over the years, but Miklos was his brother and he loved him.

  “What the fuck, Aces? She should know who we are and show respect.”

  “She’s not from around here. Her friends aren’t either. But with offering free drinks for an hour there are sure to be a lot of strange faces in here tonight. Be cool and we’ll see what happens,” Aces said and then licked his lower lip. He glanced toward one of his guards and nodded toward the women. He nodded back and then moved a little closer. Two of the women started laughing and then toasting something. The one in the white dress, looking almost virginal, smiled wide and clinked her martini glass against her friends’. The other girl spilled her drink and they all laughed.

  It was time to make a move.

  * * * *

  Lauren spotted Aces and Miklos as they came from the back room. She hoped to grab their attention and was almost worried her plan had failed when he stared at her. She gave her fellow female cops the sign and they played up their roles as young women out to party and celebrate.

  She glanced back toward Aces and felt the deep penetrating stare. She had an instant eerie and spooky feeling come over her. But she focused on her part. The one she was making up and developing the further along she hoped this situation went. Her focus was to make him interested and to get upstairs to that meeting area so she could listen in on the big gathering.

  Just as she expected, she snagged their attention immediately with the off-white mermaid-style dress. It hit just above her knees, adding a classy look, yet was full-throttle sexy with no straps and a low back. The guys at the department and the agents weren’t too sure about leaving the wardrobe decisions up to her but once she stepped from the room at the warehouse where they all got dressed, she could tell they were impressed. Her fellow undercover cops she was mingling with were dressed by the wardrobe people the agents had on payroll. They looked like a bunch of bimbos in the clothing, and they weren’t too happy about it at all. Especially Monica from the gang unit, who was very well endowed.