I shook my head in response. “Okay. You got me there, but what about Miss Prissy at the car rental counter? You don’t think I noticed her being overly helpful.”
Jordan held up his drink. “Touché. Now go and refresh yourself; my team Triple S will be here shortly.”
Chapter 18
Jordan’s crew of three joined us in the room a few short hours later. When that bitch walked in behind the white guy from the airport and another guy, I liked to have died on the spot. I tried to make the best of the situation and remembered that I was there to do a job, but once it was done, Jordan had some serious explaining to do.
• • •
Garza stopped the tape. I was surprised that he hadn’t interrupted me way before now. “Ms. Brooks, did you get the names of any of his people, specifically the woman?”
My attorney shifted nervously in her seat. “The names I got were all code names. The man from the airport went by Snake—I assume because of a nervous condition of constantly darting his tongue out like one. The other guy was identified as Sledge, and what stood out about him besides his doe-like eyes, was the mole on the left side of his face resting on his cheek. Oh, and now that I think of it, they called the bitch, Seven.” Aliyah cleared her throat unnecessarily loud.
“But I know that couldn’t have been her real name,” I interjected. Jordan informed me of who they were while I was getting dressed.
Dismissing the lie from earlier about not knowing the bitch’s name, Garza immediately began flipping through his files as did the others in the room.
“Triple S is a name associated with our guy, Ramon Benavidez,” one of the agents shouted.
Garza stopped looking and rubbed his chin. “Ramon Benavidez. Ramon Benavidez . . .” He pondered. “Our ninety-eight-million-dollar embezzler who only got a year after spilling his guts?”
“The one and only, and get this,” the agent said excitedly, as he scanned the file with his index finger, “when Benavidez gave names and relationships in order to strike a deal, he revealed that he and Jordan Lei went to NYU together.”
Garza walked over to where the agent was sitting and picked up the file. “Benavidez has a tattoo on his back of a sledgehammer . . . interesting. Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Agent Carter?”
Agent Carter and the others all agreed that the man that went by the name Sledge in Paris was none other than Ramon Benavidez.
Garza came over to me with a page filled with mug shots. “Even though I should hang your ass out to dry for lying about the woman, I’m willing to look over it since you slipped up and gave us way more than you meant to.” He slammed the paper down in front of me and whispered in my ear. “Don’t try to bullshit me again, Ms. Brooks. You’re not as cunning as you think you are.” He then straightened up and fixed his tie. “Can you tell me which of these men is Sledge?”
I looked at Aliyah with shock and worry, but she discreetly nodded her head signaling that it was OK. I thought back to how Jordan constantly berated me because I led with my emotions. Hmm . . . I knew he should’ve let Sledge’s shifty ass go for a swim with the sharks instead of just firing him. Now he’s cut a deal to serve Jordan’s ass up on a platter in exchange for his freedom. Punk-ass motherfucker, I thought as I scanned the images until I came upon his traitorous face that seemed to mockingly leap off the pages at me.
Without hesitation, I stated, “That’s him.” I pointed to a man with dark, low-cut, curly hair, doe-like eyes and a mole on the left side of his face resting on his cheek.
Garza’s smile couldn’t be contained when I accurately identified Benavidez. “Agent Carter.”
When I saw the agent who put the clues together stand, the moment I caught a glimpse of those alluring gray eyes, my throat instantly went dry causing me to choke. I grabbed my glass of water and gulped down the contents, refilled it and took another sip. Our eyes connected instantly. Quickly, I lowered my eyelids as if there were a sudden need to inspect my fingernails.
His gray eyes went back to Agent Garza. “That’s my name.”
“I’m going to need you to take a little trip downtown and pay Mr. Benavidez a visit at the Lew.”
Agent Carter gathered his files and was headed out the door when Garza gave him another set of instructions. “Make sure you’re very persuasive.”
“That’s who I am . . . Mr. Persuasive.” His deep baritone voice mesmerized and tantalized my senses making me wish that we’d met under different circumstances. He had the right handle; he could’ve persuaded me to do anything.
Garza then turned his attention back to me. “Continue on, Ms. Brooks.”
• • •
Within minutes of their arrival, sketch pads and equipment were strewn everywhere. Since I was the technically challenged newbie, I sat back and watched them work. My role, as I was told, would be the distracting eye candy . . . again.
“Look to your right . . . pause, then back to me . . . pause, and then to your left . . . pause,” Jordan instructed Snake. “Okay, your coordinates are looking good and lining up perfectly. There’s a camera built right into the bridge of your glasses that spans to both lenses. Whatever you see, it sees and transmits it back to this computer. As a result, Seven will see footage of everything on the right side of her screen. Make sure you get a good look at his place and pay special attention to the area where the safe is located. Are you with me?” Jordan asked while taking down the coordinates.
Snake stopped fidgeting with the glasses long enough to answer Jordan. “Yeah, I’m with you all the way, baby.”
“Good. Easter won’t think twice about you wearing glasses since you always have. Plus, according to my Trojans on the blueprint configurations, he has a biometric Beaverton 1000 burn safe. Normally, his fingerprint along with a code is needed, but just to cover all bases, I want you to get a good look into his eyes and keep them in focus for at least thirty seconds. But the longer, the better. I want to get a shot locked in to duplicate his eye coordinates in case we need a retina scan,” Jordan explained to Snake.
Snake took the glasses off and became serious. “If we’re going to do this, we only have one chance to get it right. The moment that Easter gets wind that he’s being robbed, he won’t show any mercy. I’m going to ask you for the last time: are you sure about this?”
Jordan looked at his team with certainty. “As sure as I am about my next breath. If any of you want to bow out, now is the time to do it. Easter didn’t honor the code when he snubbed us all on the Bangkok job. Why should we? If he’s foolish enough not to think that I wouldn’t strike, then he’s a bigger idiot than I thought him to be.”
The bitch stopped typing and challenged Jordan. “Who’s the fool if you believe that there’s honor among thieves?” She stood and eyed everyone in the room. “I didn’t come to Paris to go home empty-handed. So, if one of these pussies wants to back out, then that’s a bigger slice of the pie for me.”
Jordan looked over at Sledge who hadn’t said a word until he noticed that all eyes were on him.
“I’m in,” he answered casually.
“If this is too much for you, Sledge, now is the time to speak.” Snake gave him a chance to take an out, but after being called a pussy, he had a point to prove. “I said I was in, damn it. Now, let’s get this shit handled!” he said with more enthusiasm.
“Good. I’ll send The Collector a little tip on our dear friend Easter before we leave. Postage from Paris just makes it seem . . . more . . . official.”
The expression on Jordan’s face was one of extreme pleasure due to whatever calculated evil he had in store for his enemies.
Chapter 19
The Setup
Behind closed doors in our bedroom, Jordan walked around me one last time before I was to leave on the arm of Snake. I wore a sexy, electric-blue, just-above-the knee Alexander McQueen draped dress that flowed over my curves like water and a pair of provocative heels. With a beach wave, honey-blonde wig with auburn lowlights, green contacts,
and facial prosthetics used to change my look around the eyes and forehead area, I hardly even recognized myself. The lady that stood in the mirror with Jordan was simply gorgeous. Any man, unless he was blind, would be crazy not to take notice of this buxom bombshell.
Standing behind me with his hands caressing my arms for reassurance, Jordan talked me through what to expect. “Don’t think too much about it; just go with the flow and everything will be fine,” he said before lifting my hair and kissing the nape of my neck. “Snake will not let anything happen to you and neither will I. I’ll see everything that’s going on through his eyes and so will Sledge and Seven,” he assured me once again before releasing my hair as it fell around me like a cloud. “Are you ready?”
I nodded my head. I was actually feeling quite adventurous and looking forward to the impending meeting. “Don’t worry, babe; I know what to do.”
Jordan leaned in and kissed the side of my neck. His eyes were locked in on mine through our reflections in the mirror. “I can’t wait to get you all to myself.” He squeezed my arms again before letting his hands travel down the front of my torso and underneath my dress. His fingers found their way inside my panties and played tag with my clit.
“Ooooh. Umm . . .” I moaned seductively as my knees nearly buckled.
No sooner than I was about to come, he removed his hand and stuck his drenched fingers inside of his mouth to suck my essence off of them. “Now, you have something to look forward to.” He popped me on my rear. “Go get ’em with your sexy ass.”
• • •
Snake and I used the service elevators, and then walked down a long corridor and out the back of the building where a parked black Mercedes-Benz rested. Snake ran a detector around and under it. I don’t know what he was looking for, but I waited until he was satisfied.
“We’re clear,” he said to me, signaling that it was OK to get inside of the car.
We both stepped in. I put on my seat belt and waited on him to start the car. “Aren’t we the meticulous one?”
Snake’s tongue darted in and out a few times before responding. “In this line of business, you’re dead if you’re not.” He pulled off without another word.
Snake drove the long way around passing the Eiffel Tower. At nighttime, the lights made it more stunning. The city was even more alive with people dressed for a night on the town. I people-watched wondering what their plans were for the evening. I often did this type of thing when I was a child. So here I was using my imagination to plan people’s evenings based on what they were wearing. Before I knew it, we were pulling up in front of the building we’d just left. We were met by the same valet that had helped me out of the car earlier. As we were about to exit the car, Snake squeezed my hand and mouthed for me not to worry. I retrieved my clutch as the valet opened my door. This was all done in case our target had someone up front to alert him of our arrival.
We cruised through the lobby with me draped all over him like a cheap suit, since I was supposed to be his horny companion for the night. I could tell that Snake was enjoying me being all up on him. To my dismay, he got into character even more by caressing my ass when we got on the lift with two other couples. We arrived on the eighth floor, and were greeted by two other men. Snake slapped skins with them before going in for a one-arm hug.
A mountain of a man embraced Snake last. “It’s good to see you back on the radar again. You had me worried for a minute there.”
Snake gave him dap. “I was never off the radar, just cooling my heels. After being in this business for over twenty years, don’t you think I had a little down time coming to me?”
A man with the face of a bulldog joined in on the conversation. “I thought I was going to have to call the Calvary to come rescue your old ass.” They all laughed.
Snake ended the mini roasting session. “I’m sorry that I have to break this reunion up, but Easter is expecting me and I don’t want to keep the little guy waiting.” The retort evoked a laugh from the group. “Plus, I got X-rated things I want to do to this hot bitch on my arm. I’m sure you understand my haste, gentlemen.” He brazenly grabbed a handful of my ass.
I let out a naughty giggle and let my hand grope his crotch in response. To my surprise, he wasn’t wearing any underwear and was working with an average, but still nice package.
He adjusted himself so he wouldn’t salute everyone. “See, she can’t wait, either.”
Both men looked me over with gluttonous lust dancing in their eyes wishing they could take me somewhere and bend me over. Not even on my worst day would I have them.
The one with the bulldog face rubbed his goatee while undressing me with his beady, red-rimmed eyes. “Hell yeah, I understand perfectly.”
Snake smoothly switched the subject from me back to the business he had with Easter. “I sure hope you’re in on this big job Easter’s planning. It’ll be like old times, my friends.” They slapped hands again with Snake.
“That’s why we were here, but he didn’t give us a definite answer as of yet, but I’m sure we will be,” the one who was eye-fucking me said to Snake.
Bulldog face spoke up next. “Well, we haven’t eaten in about two hours and this French food doesn’t hold us for long, so we’re on our way to see if we can find a buffet of snails or something to terrorize.” He laughed. “Talk to you later, Snake. Pretty lady.” He winked at me before walking off.
We watched until they got on the lift and the doors were closed with the numbers going down. Snake then walked the rest of the short distance and knocked on the door of our target.
The door opened, and a little pipsqueak of a white man was revealed. I was expecting a John Travolta or a Tony Soprano type to be the other side of the door. Instead, Danny DeVito’s twin, with an awful tan that made him look like he could pass for Hispanic or African American, was standing there. The little maggot wore round-rimmed glasses, a horrible brown toupee and was overdressed in a tux, of all things.
“Going somewhere special?” Snake asked, taking in his attire after he let us in.
He spread his arms out. “Every day that I wake up with the ability to take a deep breath is special. So, I dress for the occasion to celebrate God’s blessing,” he guffawed, really feeling himself when he shouldn’t have been. “But in all honesty, I happen to have dinner reservations with a beautiful woman within the next hour.” He stepped back and allowed us entry.
Once inside, he showed us to the bar, where he poured ready-mixed martinis.
Snake declined his offer. “You know I never touch anything that’s going to cloud my judgment when I’m discussing business, Easter. It hasn’t been that long, has it?”
Easter responded by making a tsk sound before putting the drinks down and walking us over to the sofa to have a seat. “I didn’t think you’d mind drinking with an old friend.” Then as just realizing that they weren’t alone, he responded, “Where are my manners? Who is this lovely, tall being that I behold before my eyes?”
Snake eased his arm around me. “Heather, and she’s my date for this evening, but you don’t need to worry about her. She’s just the chosen accessory that I decided to wear on my arm tonight. She won’t be a problem for us. Isn’t that right, babe?”
I was about to kiss him until that damn tongue darted out repulsing me. So instead, I opted to go for the crotch again to avoid tossing my cookies all over Easter’s pretty white sofa. “Umm . . . not at all, papi,” I responded as seductively as I could using my perfected-over-the-years Latina accent.
Snake squeezed my hand because I was making his soldier rise for battle again. “Cut it out, babe.” He tweaked my nipple and gleamed at me. “Now is not the time.”
Easter had to catch drool from oozing out of his mouth when he caught sight of my plump nipple peeking through my dress. “Wha . . . wha . . .”
Snake snapped his fingers to bring him out of the trance that I had him under. “What’s the plan?” He glanced at his watch and got straight to the point. “As you
can see . . .” He felt me up some more causing Easter’s eyes to grow as big as saucers as they watched Snake’s hand disappear under my dress. To drive him mad with lust, I moaned like he was doing the damned thing when he was only touching my thigh, but Easter didn’t know that. “I don’t have a lot of time; as you can see, she’s purring for me,” Snake said as he removed his hand from under my dress and placed his fingers in his mouth. “Damn, you taste good.”
Easter bit his bottom lip to suppress an escaping moan. After failing, he eased back in his chair to hide his diminutive erection. “Having the beautiful supermodel Giovanna, I can certainly understand your urgency.”
Ugh, here we go with this Giovanna bitch again. Is there no escaping her? I wondered as I groaned inwardly.
Snake choked back a cough. “The Giovanna?”
Humph! How typical, I thought as seeing how men—no matter if they were gay or straight—worshipped her.
Feeling the power shift, Easter puffed his chest out and smiled broadly. “Of course it’s the Giovanna and she’s my date for the night.” He smiled broadly.
Snake scratched his head. “You’re one lucky bastard. I’ll tell you that, but let’s get back to the point of this meeting.”
Finally! I breathed a sigh of relief. Cover or no cover, there was no way in hell I was going to sit there and listen at them go on and on about Giovanna. For as beautiful as she was, there was something unnerving about her.
Easter was filled with joviality. His shoulders shook from laughing so hard. He went into a hacking fit before he was able to settle down and get back to business. “As you can see, no hired guns are around, and I’m usually guarded like the president. See, I trust you, Snake, and I hope you feel the same way about me.” He sniggered at the thought of trusting a snake. “Ahem . . . Bangkok was bad business for us all. I don’t have to tell you that.” He cleared his throat some more and immediately started coughing again.
Snake was about to get up to keep him from choking when Easter’s hand shot up.
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