Career Decision--A Sexy Interracial BWWM Erotic Romance Novelette from Steam Books

by Annette Archer

  “I appreciate that, because all of this lovey-dovey handholding crap is not for me, and if you can't take a little ribbing, then I suggest you get out of his profession. Those sexual harassment seminars are a joke. I think we both know things happen in the field that go beyond two partners working together.”

  He didn't know that I could see him looking at me out of the corner of his eyes, obviously inspecting my entire package. This wasn't the first time and it won't be the last that somebody was looking at me like a sexual object, but when it came from him, I just couldn't stop myself from being flattered.

  “How about you just keep your hands off of me for now and we'll be okay. Minor ogling is permissible.” I winked at him.

  He either ignored my comment or just put it the back of his mind for use later. Which it was, I would probably never know. “I've been working on something big for the past six months, and I would imagine that you know about the flawless $20 bills going around the country.”

  “Yes, I've heard something about that, but the Secret Service has been having difficulty trying to track down the person responsible.”

  “They have, but I haven't.”

  Boy was he cocky. He seems to know his stuff, but why on Earth would he keep something like that private? “Are you saying that you know who is doing this, and if so why doesn't the Secret Service know anything about it.”

  “Because I don't want them to know anything about it until I have something more concrete. All I have is hearsay at the moment, but if this person really is the one behind this, it looks like he has a lot of firepower looking after him. Every time that one of my CI’s gets close, they end up disappearing and their bodies wash up on shore in the next few days.”

  “Do you know who is the man working the bills, at least?”

  “Willie Baxter. He has been known to counterfeit in the past, and it looks like he has found a way to make $20 bills look almost like the real thing. If you didn't know what to look for, you wouldn't see the small, insignificant discrepancies in his designs.

  “Yeah, I saw one of these bills during training, and hardly any of us really could see anything different from a real bill.”

  “Well, since then, he has perfected his craft, and now they are virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. Whoever is bankrolling him has very deep pockets, and knows a good investment when he sees it. I know where Willie is, but without proof, there is really no way for me to get in there and put his operation to rest. So, I have gone undercover as a low level informant, making them believe that I was a disgruntled employee of the Postal Service. I had direct contact with several of the ingredients that he needs to make his $20 masterpiece.”

  Looking at the photograph of Willie, I knew just looking at him that he wasn't the type of man to get his hands dirty, and would probably run the other way if he even saw a gun. “So, what do you want me to do, and how can I help?”

  “It's not that I don't trust you, but I just met you, and I really don't know what to make of you yet. You think fast on your feet and are very smart.” He stopped for a moment looking me over with his keen eyes, trying to decide if I was worthy of his assignment.

  “I have heard that one of his bodyguards is going to be taken into custody by the end of the day. Spending hours watching his hideout, I was able to take pictures and discreetly get their bank accounts and information without involving the Secret Service.”

  Was this one of the things that they wanted me to investigate Lucas on, or was this something entirely different, and something that I could use at a later date? Now that I knew that he found me attractive, I was going to do what I could to fan that flame.

  “They have several women in their employ, and if I vouch for you, I think that they would take you as a replacement in a second. Reading your file, I see that you are proficient with a firearm and have extensive training in hand-to-hand combat. You're going to find that they are going to put you through some serious testing, just so they can find out if you can handle yourself. The way that you look, they will think that you are a pushover, and I want to see the look on their faces when you turn the tables on them. If you do it right, you'll not only earn your place, but also take a few of them down a peg.”

  This was what they call a crash course in life. I was sure that in the next day or two I would learn more than in all my time at the academy. If I came out alive, nothing could touch me.

  CHAPTER 3 - Undercover

  We stopped at a nondescript building, and he went inside and came out with what looked like a very fat envelope. He put it into the trunk as I waited in the front seat until he came back and told me what he wanted me to do.

  “You are a disgraced military officer in the Army, and I only know you because we met while I was in the reserves. All of this will be easily checked, and they will find exactly what we want them to find. Unfortunately, I had to go through back channels, and not through my superiors, because they would need a whole lot more than just my word that Willie was the one making the bills.”

  What he was doing was an illegal operation, and if things went sideways, then both of us would find ourselves without a job—at the very least. The worst case scenario was that we would be not only unemployed, but also spending some quality time behind bars. No other agency had any idea what was going on, and then there was also the fact that we were out here all alone.

  We stopped at a Salvation Army store so I could find some appropriate apparel for this job. I went inside and found various merchandise that would help me pull off this ruse. There was no way that I was going to be able to pay with a credit card, or risk having it tracked back to me. This was the type of purchase that could only be made by cold, hard cash.

  When I paid at the register, I had on a pair of sunglasses and a ball cap, which Lucas was more than happy to lend me for this occasion. This way nobody would see my face, not that they would be looking for me anyway, but this was just a precaution just in case.

  Slipping back into the car, I changed in the backseat, stripping off my work clothes and putting on the fatigues while Lucas casually watched me, unaware that I could see exactly what he was looking at. Or maybe he knew I was watching him and that made it all the better for him.

  Either way, I was going to have some fun. I slowly dressed, giving him every opportunity to see my body and the smoothness of my chocolate skin. The look that he gave me when I exposed my breasts was priceless. He couldn't take his eyes off my nipples—hard, dark, and lovely—before I put on the green pullover shirt over them. Even then, my nipples were poking out against the shirt. I think at this point he had to have been aware of his piercing stare.

  Just the idea of him finding me alluring was making me a little excited, and I wanted nothing more than to let my fingers do the walking. I had already surmised what he was packing underneath his pants, and I could seriously see a meal fit for a queen. But I had to stay focused. I was not a slut on the job and wandering thoughts about handsome, blue-eyed agents were not something on my docket.

  That envelope was in the back of my mind. I would have to find some way of finding out what was in it, and make sure that everything was above board. If I were a betting woman, I would say that it was more likely that that envelope held a large amount of cash. I would have to find some time and go back to the place where he got it from and try to figure out what was going on.

  “You look perfect, but there is something missing that you are going to need to give the illusion of somebody that doesn't like authority.”

  Before I had a chance to react, he punched me in the eye with his fist, making my head snap back against the headrest of the chair.

  “What the fuck was that…? That fucking hurt, you know.”

  “It should've; I really put some muscle behind that. This will cement the story that you are going to tell about being manhandled by a superior and giving as good as you got.”

  Looking in the mirror, I saw that my eye was puffing up and was going to have a rea
l shiner. “Did you have to hit me so hard?”

  “It was either that or I pay one of my lowlifes to do it for me, but I just couldn't afford anyone finding out about this, so I thought it best that I do it myself.”

  He had struck an agent, and I could have easily brought him up on charges of battery. I wasn't going to do that because what he had in mind was smart and clever, and this certainly would make them believe that I had gotten into it with a superior. At this point, I really didn't know what to make of him, only that he seemed to have some street wisdom, which was something that I wanted for myself.

  “Man, this is not going to go away anytime soon. What am I supposed to tell people? That I walked into a door? You know how stupid that is going to make me sound?”

  “You could tell them the truth...You got blindsided by your partner! But maybe you could say that you got hit by a Frisbee or ball in the park, something that will seem believable.” He really was able to come up with a story on the spot, and that alone was more than enough to keep him alive all these years. “It’s fortuitous that you came along when you did, because I was this close to getting another agency involved, and using them as the disgruntled army officer. If I did that, there's no telling what kind of eyes Willie's boss has, and I could have been signing my death warrant without even knowing it.”

  “Glad I could help.” Sarcasm laced my comments, letting him know that this wasn't what I was expecting to walk into.

  “Maybe you would rather go back to headquarters and work at a desk from 9 to 5, or you could just bite the bullet and learn the real ins and outs of undercover work. If you are anything like I think you are, you will be able to surpass any of my expectations and go above and beyond the call of duty. I see myself in you a few years ago, when I thought that everything was black-and-white, but I have long gone past that sentiment. There are a lot of grays in this world and sometimes you have to straddle the line between what is right and wrong. You will learn that soon enough, because when you are undercover, you have to play the part and throw your real persona out the window.”

  “If that is true, how do you stop yourself from going over the line?”

  Stevens took a second to respond, as if wanting to choose his words carefully.

  “I guess in my case, it's having a good support system, and knowing where I came from. I've had many opportunities to do the wrong thing, and for the most part I don't stray too far from my own morality.”

  The way he said ‘for the most part’ was giving me food for thought, and I had to wonder just how many times he had crossed the line without looking back.

  “Just so you know,” I told him. “I have no intention of crossing that line, and I hope that I don't have to stop you from doing so, either.”

  “In the field anything is possible, and I really hope that you can live with your decisions, no matter what they are and the consequences of those actions. There is no doubt in my mind that Willie is not an innocent bystander in all this, and is just using the muscle as a way to keep hidden from the outside world. By now, he should have boxes and boxes of flawless $20 bills going out the door, and I hope that we can stop this before too many of them go into circulation.”

  The place was almost a fortress, with an electrified fence, guards everywhere, and even cameras that were recording all the time. If we didn't play this right, we would be right in the lion’s den with no escape.

  Rolling down his window, he talked to the guard and said, “Hey Pal, I’m here to see Terrence, and I think that he's going to want to talk to me in person.”

  The guard called forward, and then opened the gate and allowed us to enter. The first thing that I noticed when getting out of the car was that this place looked remarkably like the warehouse that we had just come from, which could only mean that Lucas was using the other one to make sure that he knew the lay of the land. That was a very smart thing to do, and I don't think other agents would have considered that course of action.

  “Try and play the part of somebody that is angry all the time and has a real smart mouth about them.”

  That wasn't who I was, I wasn’t ‘smart-ass black chick’, but it looked like I was going to have to become a very consummate actress in a very short amount of time.

  “Terry baby, how’s it hanging man?"

  Terence was a huge bald black man with tattoos all up and down his arms and across his back. There were even some on his knuckles, which likely meant that he had spent some time behind bars and would see through any kind of façade that I was trying to put up.

  Terrance asked, “Manny, why are you here?”

  “I came with a gift. Just heard about Raul and his run-in with the law. Before you ask how I know that, we both know that I have eyes everywhere, and that I usually know what's going on before anybody else does.”

  “That’s true, but why have you brought this woman to me?”

  “She was with the Army, but she just recently went AWOL, because of an altercation between herself and a superior. As you can see, she can take care of herself, but why take my word for it.”

  I spoke up, “I don’t like people talking about me, especially when I'm standing right here in front of you. If you can't use me, then just say so and I will walk out of here and not look back. It's not like I can't get other work because everybody is looking for security. I don't think I will have any trouble finding employment. The only thing is, is the fact that I'm AWOL, and really need something that is going to keep me out of the public eye and give me money under the table.”

  Terence replied, “I think we can handle that, but we are going to have to see if you can really be a part of this team.”

  He motioned to a couple of real bruisers, and they both walked up to me with menacing looks. One guy didn't even wait before swinging his fists at my face, probably thinking that if I already had a black eye that I didn't know how to duck. Moving away from him, I turned my head at just the right moment so his hairy knuckle just barely grazed by my face before I put my leg around his and knocked him onto his back with his arm twisted and my foot on his neck. Pushing down, he struggled and then fell back out cold.

  Feeling two hands around my waist, I brought my head back and smashed it repeatedly against the face behind me, until those arms let go and I was able to turn around.

  My attacker was bleeding from the mouth and nose and holding his face, leaving his most private of areas unattended. One swift kick between the legs, and he went down on his knees out of commission.

  Terence raised his eyebrows in admiration, “Man, she does have some skills, and a real mean streak at that. I like it. She'll make a perfect fit in this organization. If you know how to handle a gun, then you have the job.”

  Terence threw me a weapon, and I snatched it out of the air and started firing before it even had a chance to get comfortable in my hand. There were pictures on the wall, and I was able to put a bullet between the eyes of each photograph, leaving a smoking trail in its wake.

  “Whoa, we’ve got ourselves a real Annie Oakley here. That was some fine shooting, and any friend of Manny is a friend of mine. Welcome aboard.”

  I guessed this might be kind of fun. I turned to Lucas and winked, and he returned it with a sly smile.

  CHAPTER 4 - Unlikely Allies

  “Willie, this lady will be taking care of you. I want you to do everything that she says.”

  I was now standing within earshot of the person that would take this country into the toilet. If he was able to circulate enough bills, he would make the economy unstable, and it would have a shattering Domino effect around the world. I didn't know how smart he was, or if he really knew what kind of damage it could do to the world, but I was about to find out.

  “I don’t need a babysitter. What I need is more ink for the paper, and a little privacy to get my work done.”

  He was a little guy with glasses, and if I didn't know better, I would say that he was in his teens, although I already knew that he was past the age of 30. H
e seemed to have that same young gene Ralph Macchio had that probably was a real bastard when he was going to school. I could see many years of torment in his past which was undoubtedly the cause for some of his decisions in his life. It sort of made me feel sorry for him, but not enough to stop the plan. I also knew, just looking at him, that he was not the kingpin of this operation.

  “She won't be helping you and will only be here if you need protection. I don't have time for one of your many arguments. The ink that you want will be here later today. Manny is taking care of that as we speak, and this last shipment should be exactly what you need to finish up.”

  I could tell that Terence was fed up with his attitude, and I got the feeling that by the time this was finished, poor Willie would not be getting out of this intact. They probably had a spot in mind already to get rid of his body, but he was so wrapped up in his own genius that he didn't even realize just how expendable he really was.

  “Don’t worry about anything,” I told Terence. “I will take good care of him and make sure that he continues his work.”

  “Please do. He don’t listen to anybody else, so maybe a pretty face will turn the tide,” Terrence said as he turned on his heels and left the room.

  Now I was able to take a look around and see what kind of security was in place. There were bars over the windows, a camera on every corner of the room, and what looked like motion detectors on the floor. They were seriously outfitted, and whoever was behind the curtain was taking no chances that anything would go wrong.

  Willie just glanced at me with a blank expression and said, “Just stay out of my way, and we won't have any problems.”

  It didn't look like this guy had ever smiled in his life. He was always fidgeting with his glasses and muttering to himself about something that I didn't understand. Getting closer, I was able to look at his work and be totally awed by the quality and expertise that he possessed.