Partners

by D B Steward

  Sonny nudged her with her shoulder. “Let’s get you dressed, Miss King.” She stood and held her hand out for Kelly. The other woman took it and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. She held the towel to her chest with her other hand and shook her head at Sonny.

  “Man, Sonny! You’re getting me dressed?” She followed the other woman out of the bathroom. “You do not know how this works, do you?”

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  “So…” Ken McCullough, FBI Special Agent in Washington, drew out the word as he leaned casually with his arms crossed on the doorframe of Reggie’s office. Ken wore a buzzcut and had served in the Marines before joining the bureau, blond and blue-eyed, every bit the poster boy for Hoover’s organization. Reggie considered him a nice enough guy, but Ken was boring as hell. While it was not fair to say that Ken did not have a sense of humor, it was more accurate to say that Ken did not understand humor. Most jokes went over his head and the few he did get, he responded to with a slight smile showing that he was sincerely trying to find the punchline funny. “You think he’s gone?” Ken finished his question.

  Reggie leaned back in his chair after tossing his pen down on the desk, sending it bouncing over the edge and rolling away, lost behind a cabinet. He rubbed his face roughly with his hands, as if trying to wake himself from a nap. “Oh, I know he’s gone. I think he’s dead!” Reggie snapped back and immediately regretted it. Ken did not deserve to be the whipping boy for his bad mood. “Sorry, man, I’m just frustrated.”

  Ken held up his hand in understanding as he shoved himself away from the door frame to a standing position. “It’s okay, man, I know how this kind of thing can get under your skin. The guy may have been a methhead, but he was still a human being.”

  Reggie nodded and sighed. “Yeah, Ziggy was also my best CI on the inside of Pierpont’s group. Without him, I lose my eyes on the bastard.” Noah T. Pierpont was the head of Washington’s largest and most dangerous white nationalist group. He had an immense compound near West Ford Cedar Creek, a few miles south of the Canadian border. Pierpont was rabidly anti-government on top of being a white supremacist, but he was also charismatic and had a huge following. There were a couple hundred people living on the compound property and an unknown amount of supporters living in the woods and unincorporated towns around it. Ziggy had been caught selling meth to an undercover cop and was facing twenty-five years thanks to his previous convictions. Ziggy was also a Neo-Nazi and a follower of Pierpont. Ziggy was not exactly a true believer—he was a racist but his primary concern was his own skin first and then the skin color of someone else. He had flipped easily and fed Reggie information on the group in exchange for three to five years instead of twenty-five. He was not exactly a smart man but he did know it was better to get out of prison at fifty than it would be at seventy. Just last week, Ziggy had promised to get Reggie verification on some rumors that were floating around about a possible shipment of military-grade explosives and weapons out of Mexico through a terrorist organization from Iran. But Ziggy’s call never came, nor was he seen in any of his usual hangout spots or his rundown trailer.

  “Well, keep digging,” Ken tried to assure him. “I’m sure he’ll turn up.” Reggie snorted humorlessly.

  “Yeah, if I dig, I’m sure he will turn up alright. Wrapped in plastic with his throat cut.” Reggie’s private cell phone rang. “I gotta take this, Ken. Can you close the door?”

  “You got it, Reg.” Ken closed the door behind him as Reggie swiveled his chair facing away from the door and lowered his voice to a whisper.

  “Kelly!” he whisper-screamed into the phone. “Where the hell have you been?”

  “Good to hear from you too, fucker.” Reggie was not in the mood for her snarky quips.

  “I’m serious, Kelly! Did you get my message? Did you hear about Lori?” He heard Kelly exhale into the receiver. When she spoke again, her voice had dropped an octave.

  “Yeah. I know.”

  “Well? What the fuck is going on? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

  “No, you’re not fine, Kelly! People are dying! I’m getting a lot of reports of organized crime violence skyrocketing around you and I know it’s not a coincidence. You’re dealing with some serious killers here, Kelly!”

  Her voice was bristly now; Kelly did not like to be parented, even by her friend. “Believe me, Reggie, I know exactly what kind of people I’m dealing with. These are some sick fuckers and I’m going to take them all down, hard.” She sounded like she meant it too. Reggie knew that when Kelly spoke that way that it was about to go down. “You’re going to get some reports about what they have been doing, but believe me when I tell you that seeing it up close is a hundred times worse.”

  There was something different about her. Something had changed inside her now and Reggie was concerned if she would still be the same woman he had known when all of this was over. “Homeland wants to talk to you.” He felt like he needed to get on a different topic, because when Kelly felt backed into a corner, she fought back like a rabid wolverine.

  “Yeah, what the fuck is that all about?”

  “They want Moretti to work for them.”

  “What?” Kelly could’ve been knocked over with a feather because out of all the scenarios she had imagined, the one where Homeland Security wanted to contract Sonja had never crossed her mind. “Really? Why?”

  “Black ops type stuff.” Kelly did not reply so Reggie pressed on. “Do you know where she is?”

  “Yeah, she’s about two feet away from me.”

  Now it was Reggie’s turn to be surprised. “Are you working with her?”

  “Yep.” The way she said it made it sound like it was the most natural thing in the world. “I guess you could say we’re partners in this.” He could hear the smile in her voice and his head was spinning.

  “Girl, what is going on over there?” She chuckled at his incredulity.

  “It’s complicated. But we are going to see this thing through together.” There was a confidence there in Kelly’s voice that Reggie had not heard since they were in Quantico together, before her life had fallen apart.

  “Well, at least you have backup then. I think you should contact this Timmerman woman from Homeland right away.”

  “Give me the deets, blood.” Reggie chuckled, thankful that some things about Kelly never change. He relayed the contact information from the business card. “Thanks, m’man.”

  “Kelly, be safe.”

  “I always am, home skillet.”

  “Okay, settle down, white girl.” He laughed. “I mean it, though. And don’t scare me like this again. Stay in contact.”

  She sighed dramatically but inwardly she knew that Reggie cared for her and it made her feel good. “I will, Dad.” Her tone changed again. “I appreciate it, Reg. Thanks.”

  “Talk to you later, Kels.”

  “See ya, Reg.”

  The call ended and Reggie watched his cell screen go dark. He wondered what kind of woman this Sonja Moretti was to get Kelly King of all people to trust her.

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  Sonny had been covertly watching Kelly on the phone while she cleaned the weapons they had used, and the other woman’s mood change during the conversation helped to relieve the worry she had been feeling over the woman’s state of mind. Curiously, it had become important to Sonny that Kelly return to her snarky and playful self. She had grown fond of it in such a short time and would definitely miss it if it never returned.

  She could not fight it anymore; she enjoyed having Kelly around. Not only that, she wanted to know more about Kelly. She wanted to be closer to her and although the new feelings should have scared her, she found the desire to know more had smothered any of her anxiety.

  “Was that a friend of yours?”
Sonny asked her, trying to get a peek into Kelly King’s life.

  Kelly turned her head toward Sonny and the light that had been momentarily gone from her eyes was now back, and Sonny smiled reflexively. “Yeah, that was Reggie. We trained together back in Quantico and became best friends after he tried hitting on me.” Kelly chuckled at the memory. “Once he found out that I was as gay as six pride parades, we were inseparable. After I fucked up and got kicked out of the bureau and then thrown in prison, he was the only person who didn’t turn their back on me.” There was a melancholy in Kelly’s smile then that gave Sonny a pang of sympathy for her. Without a second thought, she placed a hand on Kelly’s bicep and guided her toward the bed.

  “It’s late. We should get some sleep.” She had said it with purely platonic intentions but knew that Kelly would not let the opportunity pass to make a suggestive remark.

  “Just sleep? You take me to bed and just want to sleep?” Kelly scrunched her face in confusion. “Am I not as attractive as I think I am?” Sonny smiled and tried to fight back the flushing she felt growing in her cheeks.

  “I’m just worried about your stamina, Miss King.” She winked at Kelly seductively. “After all the exertion tonight, I’m afraid you couldn’t handle me right now.” She pulled the bedding down and crawled under the sheets, pleased with herself that she had stopped Kelly in her tracks, her mouth hanging agape.

  “Well, well, well.” Kelly grinned at Sonny as she too climbed under the sheets. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll make sure to hydrate before tomorrow night then.” Sonny rolled on her side to face Kelly.

  “That’s pretty presumptuous, Miss King,” Sonny purred playfully. “What makes you think you’ll get the chance tomorrow?” Kelly laughed fully while she lay on her back with her eyes on the ceiling.

  “Please. No woman could resist my feminine wiles for that long.” She turned her head until she made eye contact with Sonny and then smirked. “Not even you, Ice Queen.”

  Sonny’s eyes blazed with anger. “I am not an Ice Queen.” Her tone was prickly and Kelly knew right away that she had pissed her off. She reached over to Sonny and touched her shoulder.

  “Hey.” Her voice was soft and apologetic. “I’m sorry, Sonny. I didn’t mean anything by it. Sometimes my mouth gets me in trouble.” Sonny exhaled hard through her nose and let go of her offense.

  “I’m aware, Miss King.” She smiled slowly. “Apology accepted.” Kelly’s hand remained on her shoulder and Sonny found that she did not mind it remaining there at all. Not even when Kelly began to lightly trace circles on her skin with her thumb. They looked into each other’s eyes in silence for a long time. Sonny noticed that Kelly’s blue eyes were darker at a distance but as close as they were now, she could see flecks of gold around the perimeter of her pupils. They were mesmerizing and Sonny found that her breathing had accelerated. I could get lost in those eyes, she thought. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Why did you go to prison?”

  Kelly whistled and rolled her eyes. “You have got to work on your pillow talk, Sonny.” Sonny playfully shoved Kelly’s hand off her shoulder but she was pleased when the other woman placed it back on its previous location. “It is a long, boring story.”

  Sonny grinned at her. “Good. I like long boring stories before bed. It helps me sleep.” Kelly chuckled at her.

  “I’m an addictive gambler.” Kelly turned serious and looked over at Sonny, breaking eye contact as she spoke. “I have bad impulse control. I mean really bad. I lost everything I had and got in debt with a few goodfellas. They had me feed them info on bureau investigations on their business. I got caught. I pled out and got six months in protective custody and a year probation. A pretty good deal when you consider what I did.” After she was done talking, she met Sonny’s eyes again.

  Sonny felt empathy for the woman; Kelly was a damaged soul. “Is that where you met Lori?” Sonny’s voice was a little shaky and she felt a twinge of jealousy asking about the dead woman and their relationship.

  Kelly did not break their eye contact this time as she spoke. “Nah, I met Lori when I hit rock bottom. I was drinking a lot and my father had died while I was in jail. Not seeing him before he went was really hard. I was so numb that I put just about anything in my body to try and feel something again.” She smirked. “That included Lori.”

  Sonny twisted her mouth, not appreciating Kelly’s joke at herself. She did not like to see the woman making light of her self-destructive behavior. “But you’re better now?” Sonny asked with a hopeful tone.

  “You’d think so, but no.” Kelly huffed. “The night I found you, I had just gambled away all my savings online.” Sonny’s eyes went wide.

  “You didn’t!” she whisper-shouted.

  “I did indeed.” Kelly smiled ruefully.

  “Why did you do that?”

  “Why do you think? I’m an addict, Sonny. Hello? Poor impulse control? I fuck up, it’s what I do best.” Kelly shrugged and Sonny shoved her again, more forcefully this time. “Hey! What was that for?”

  “Stop doing that!”

  “Doing what?” Kelly was genuinely perplexed.

  “Putting yourself down like that! You’re not a fuck up!”

  “How do you know? We just met, Sonny.”

  Sonny frowned. She was right after all—they had just met not more than two days ago. She grew firm then and looked deep into Kelly’s eyes. “I know you, Miss King. You may have been a fuck up before, but you aren’t one now.” She noticed that water began to pool in Kelly’s eyes. “After all, there’s no way a fuck up could have tracked me down.” She winked again and Kelly smiled. “Good night, Miss King.” She turned on her side away from Sonny.

  “No kiss?” Kelly’s voice brought a smile to her face as she closed her eyes.

  “Ghostbusters,” Sonny whispered.

  Chapter Seventeen

  It was bound to happen, Tony thought ruefully. It was just a matter of time. If there were that many men on the streets with guns looking for one woman, someone was going to get their toes stepped on, and with what happened that night at the Russian’s place, the spark had been lit to blow up the whole shitshow.

  The police had gone apeshit when they found the Russian whorehouse and the bloodbath inside it. Tony had figured the Russians were degenerates, but the sick stuff that they had been up to in that house turned his stomach. Then once the media got wind of it, Tony knew it was all over. They broke the news in the early morning hours and it was being picked up nationally now. Popov’s name was mentioned a few dozen times and Tony had a sick feeling that before the day was over, the Don’s name would get tossed around too. This whole thing had gotten out of hand, and Tony honestly did not know if it could be controlled anymore. Nobody was making money. This whole thing they were a part of revolved around making money; if that was not happening, then the whole thing fell apart.

  Now the worst-case scenario had played out, the one thing that Tony feared the most had come to pass. It happened about an hour after the police had discovered the Russian’s whorehouse when some of Popov’s men had run into some of his. Of course, words were exchanged. Whenever you got young guys together with more testosterone than brains, there was bound to be a contest between them on who had the biggest dick. The Russians were already on edge and when one had perceived that he had been insulted by one of his guys, the whole thing exploded. Now there were three men dead on the street, two Russians and one of his. Word had gotten out among both groups and it was now open season on either side. The Don wanted Tony to reign his men in and Tony had tried, but he knew that his guys would not shelve their pride when it came down to it. Then Popov had told his men that they could fire at will on the Don’s men. There was chaos on the streets and it all hinged on a single woman.

  If Kelly King could not bring in Sonny Moretti, then there would be blood, and lots of it.

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  Rays of sunlight poked at her eyelids from behind the thick blinds and she squinted at them sleepily. Kelly wondered how long she had been sleeping. It could not have been for very long because her body was crying out for more. She stirred for a moment and then froze. There was another person pressed against her back with their arm lazily draped around her stomach. She relaxed into the embrace once the last remnants of sleep had been blown free from her waking mind. She smiled softly to herself: Sonny Moretti was spooning her, and of course the taller woman was the big spoon, thought Kelly.

  She wanted to purr in contentment but resisted, afraid that any noise would wake Sonny and shatter the moment. She wanted to stay like this with Sonny for as long as she could. Their feet and legs lay comfortably entwined, their hips dangerously close together but not nearly as close as Kelly would have liked. Sonny’s strong arm was holding her close and Kelly had been resting her fingers on top of the hard muscles and soft skin of the forearm around her waist. Sonny’s body was like steel wrapped in velvet; on the outside, the woman was soft and sexy, but underneath she was so toned and in shape that Kelly’s mind quickly went to how much fun it would be to get naked and sweaty with an absolute goddess like her. Sonny’s breasts were pressed against her back and the feeling was driving her crazy. She wished that she was able to just flip around on the bed and take one of those spectacular breasts in her mouth while her fingers played with the nipple of the other. But it was not her right to do that. Yet, she thought with a smirk. It was not her right to do that yet.

  Because she wanted the dangerous assassin, wanted her body, her mind, her soul. In Sonny’s arms, Kelly felt a safety that she could not recall ever feeling before. It was not just a physical feeling of safety either, although feeling Sonny’s incredible physique and having seen the woman in action, she knew that she did not have anything to worry about while she was wrapped tightly in her arms. There was also an emotional feeling of safety too that came from being held by Sonny. Before when she woke in the arms of another woman, all Kelly could think about was getting the hell out of there. Even with Lori, or especially with Lori, there was always a feeling of panic that she was not supposed to be there and needed to escape before someone realized it. But now, here with Sonny, she did not want to leave. If she could, had it been possible, she would stay in bed with her forever.