ACER final

by Hargrove, A.

  “I’ll do whatever you two decide.”

  They chose the dance club and when we showed up, Isla bought the round of drinks, plain soda for Thomas. We found a table next to the dance floor so he could keep an eye on us. After we were halfway through the drink, she grabbed my hand and off we went.

  A fast tune was playing and all I could do was watch her sexy curves shimmy to the beat. She elbowed me a couple of times to get moving, but it wasn’t easy watching this goddess showing off in front of me.

  “You’re doing this on purpose. You’re trying to entice me. But I have news for you. You can stop. My cock is hard for you already, dancing queen.”

  A bubble of laughter rippled out of her as she squiggled out of my reach. The music changed to a slow song, and my siren waltzed up to me, locked her hands behind my neck, and pressed her hips into mine.

  “Fuck, Isla. I might have to haul your sweet ass into the bathroom and take you right there.”

  “Lucky me. It’s why I wore a dress.”

  “You’re tempting me.”

  “Good. That’s my goal.”

  Thoughts of spanking those perfectly round globes of hers worked me up even more.

  “Let’s tell Thomas we’re going to the bathroom and not to worry.”

  I watched her swing her hips as she walked off the floor to relay the message. They must’ve gotten into a small argument because both of them were frowning, but the loud music drowned out their words. Soon, her hand was on mine, tugging me to the bathroom.

  Thank God, the bathrooms were the single kind. I would’ve hated taking her into a stall and fucking her silly there. I pushed her inside the small space and locked the door behind me. Then I hiked up her dress and to my utter glee, she wasn’t wearing any panties.

  “Oh, God, you’re a dream.” I spread her wide, and my mouth found her clit. Sucking hard until she was close and pulling my hair, I stood straight up, unzipped my jeans, and my rock-hard cock sprang out.

  Her hand fisted me but I shoved it away. I was so ready for her, I didn’t want to wait. I spun her around, rubbed my tip along her slit, then slammed home as she moaned. My hands found the cheeks of her ass and I lifted her, as I thrust inside, finding the rhythm to bring us both off. She was hot, slick and tight around me as I fucked her.

  “Jesus, Isla, you’re perfect.” The words came out as a long groan.

  She took her hand and rubbed herself until her muscles clenched me tightly. That set me off on my own climax. I pulled out and shot off into the toilet. Our breath was heavy with excitement still as I grabbed some tissue to clean her off.

  “Feel better?” she asked.

  “Yeah, do you?”

  “Much.”

  “I’m still not satisfied. I owe you a spanking for teasing me like you did. Naughty Isla is going to get her due.”

  Someone knocked on the door, so we straightened up and walked out. Thomas stood there with a smirk on his face.

  “The bathroom, huh? We’re leaving. Now.” He turned and we followed him to the car.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  ISLA

  We argued all the way home. Thomas was pissed at us for running off to the bathroom. Realistically, I didn’t blame him. It was a stupid thing to do.

  “You two act like high schoolers, trying to get away from their parents. Why don’t you just come out of the closet and admit you’re together?”

  “Because, we’re not.”

  “Isla, I’m not blind or stupid.”

  Acer kept quiet. I wasn’t sure if he was upset because I wasn’t admitting to our relationship, or if he didn’t know what to say. Honestly, I didn’t know how to handle it.

  “You put yourself and Acer in a compromising situation. What if the person who had knocked on that door had been the one following you?”

  Thomas raised a good point.

  “You’re right. I wasn’t thinking properly. I apologize.”

  When we got to my street, one thing was noticeable. “Thomas, my porch light.”

  “What about it?”

  “It’s off and I never leave it off. It’s on all night. I know it was on when we left.”

  The three of us shared a glance. Thomas stopped a couple of houses away from mine. “You two stay in here and I mean it. You’ve had drinks and I don’t trust your judgment.”

  “Wait a second! I didn’t even finish the one I had.”

  “For once, Isla, don’t argue with me.”

  As soon as he walked away, I reached for the door handle.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Acer’s voice was harsh.

  “I’m just going to have a look.”

  “Isla, you heard him. It’s wise to stay inside. And better yet, maybe we should call for backup.”

  “Are you crazy? If Art gets wind of this, that we went out, he’ll have my ass.”

  “I’d rather he have your ass than you or Thomas end up with a bullet. Getting shot is no fun.”

  Acer was right. One hundred percent right. But my hard head didn’t want to accept it. “Hey, we only had one drink. And didn’t finish those. That’s not enough—”

  “It’s enough to impair your judgment a bit.”

  He had me again. Wiseass. I was helpless in here, and hated myself for it.

  “Just sit tight. Thomas won’t do anything stupid.”

  “You’re saying I will?”

  “No! I’m saying alcohol diminishes clarity. That’s all.”

  I chewed on my thumbnail while we waited. It didn’t help. Then I thumped my knee up and down.

  “Fidget much?” Acer was laughing at me.

  “This isn’t funny,” I said, turning around to give him the stink eye. When I did, I saw Thomas running back to the car. He yanked open the door and the words rushed out of him.

  “They broke in. A team is on the way. Come on.”

  “Ruffles,” I said, panicking.

  “She’s fine. She was on your bed when I found her.”

  Running as fast as I could, I wasn’t going to be satisfied until I saw my dog. When I got to the bedroom, she was on the bed all right, tail wagging. She whined when I got there and I almost, almost put my arms around her. But something stopped me, and I couldn’t say what it was. Thomas didn’t notice that strapped to her back was a bomb.

  “Oh, shit. Oh, fuck. Don’t move, baby dog. Don’t move. Please just stay there.” Tears streamed down my cheeks and I tried to calmly call for Thomas, but Acer ran to me.

  “What is it?”

  “Get Thomas to call the bomb squad.”

  “Why?” Clearly, he didn’t see it either.

  Panic overtook me. I screamed, “Just do it!”

  “Yeah, okay, okay.” He backed away and I heard him follow my orders. Thomas showed up after, with Acer on his heels.

  “What’s going on?”

  “It’s Ruffles. She has a bomb strapped to her back.”

  “We have to get out of here,” he said.

  “I’m not leaving her. You go.”

  “Isla, we don’t know what kind of detonator that thing has. It can go off at any time.”

  “I know. But she’s my dog and you don’t understand.”

  He motioned to Acer. I knew what was coming.

  “Babe, we should do as he says. Let the bomb squad deal with it.”

  “I can’t. If anything happened to her—”

  “If anything happens to you, I won’t deal. Please, for me. We’ll let the experts take care of it.”

  “What if they can’t?”

  “I don’t know, but what use is it for all of us to die too, because if you stay, so will I.”

  “You can’t, but I can.” My argument was weak.

  “If you think for one minute that I’d let you stay here alone, you’re crazy.”

  Thomas yelled from the front door, “Bomb squad is on the way and Art said for the two of you to get your asses out of there. Pronto.”

  “Even your boss agrees with me
.”

  “Acer, she’s my baby.”

  “I know, but right now, we can’t do a thing for her. The experts will do their best.”

  “No, they’ll send in a robot and try to determine what kind of bomb it is and go from there.”

  “Isla, I’m begging you. They’ll figure it out. It’s you. They know you. They’ll do it for you. Now come on.”

  He took my hand and led me away from my sweet dog. I broke down in his arms when I got outside. The bomb squad arrived about then, and they went to work. They couldn’t determine what type of detonator was on it, and I begged them to save her.

  After an hour, they had enough to go on. They went in and dismantled it. They told me what it was but I didn’t listen. I ran into the house where Ruffles was. When I went to hug her, she whined. Something wasn’t right. Acer was with me and we carried her to one of the cars and went to an emergency animal clinic.

  While they ran tests and X-rays, I paced in the waiting room. The veterinarian came out and explained that she’d been shot, her leg was broken, but they’d also sedated her so she wouldn’t move. Ruffles would recover but she would have to stay the night. They were taking her to surgery to remove the bullet. I was furious. First, those asses had fucked with Acer, and now my dog. I’d see to it they paid with a long prison term. It was one thing to fuck with me, but don’t fuck with my family or dog. From this point forward, my gloves were off and I wouldn’t stop for anything.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  ACER

  Ruffles had recovered but Isla hadn’t. With bitter determination, she worked late every day and when she was home, her work didn’t end. After the bomb incident, Art wanted us to go back to the safe house, but we both declined. School was starting and Isla wanted to dig her heels in and find these people.

  That’s what she did. One night, long after we’d gone to bed, I woke up to find her in the other room on her computer. It wasn’t the first time either.

  “Hey, what are you doing?”

  “I couldn’t sleep, so I figured I’d follow up on some things.”

  Placing my hands on her shoulders, I said, “Isla, you have to slow down. Working at a pace like this will kill you. Sleep is your friend, not your enemy.”

  “You don’t understand, Acer. I have to find these people before they kill any of us.”

  I spun her chair around and knelt down in front of her. “I do understand, but being tired and foggy-minded won’t help you find them. Shut it down and come back to bed, please.”

  “I will. Give me about twenty more minutes.”

  “That’s what you said last night and the night before that. Pretty soon, this will catch up to you and then what?”

  “What do you mean?”

  I took both of her hands in mine. “What if you’re out on a call and something serious happens. Your thoughts, reflexes, everything are fucked up because you’re exhausted. You need sleep, babe, to get yourself together. I know how this thing with Ruffles affected you. It nearly killed you to see her like that. But she’s fine now.”

  “But she could’ve died and those fuckers have to pay. And you—they shot you!”

  “They’ll pay, but you won’t ever find them unless you’re rested. Isla, this has to stop.”

  She shut down her computer, pushed to her feet, and rubbed the creases between her eyes. “There’s something that doesn’t add up.”

  “Can you explain?”

  We walked back to bed and she frowned. “I’m not sure if I can. It’s not unusual for other agencies to keep things close to the vest. They don’t want to share and all that. But this feels different. Every lead I follow up on turns into a stone wall.”

  “Didn’t you say you suspected it was an undercover operation?”

  “I did. We all think one of the agencies have someone in deep. But that still doesn’t answer all the dead ends. Maybe one or two. But not every single one.” She turned to me and sat crossed legged. Her hands gestured wildly as she explained. “You see, when I go in to run a search on something, I get to a certain point, and it’s as if all the records have been wiped clean.”

  “As in the files have been erased?”

  “Completely.”

  A very bad feeling washed over me. “Isla, do you think there is someone inside? And I’m not talking undercover.”

  “Yes! But I don’t want to say anything yet because I have no idea who it could be. That’s what I’ve been searching for.”

  “Fuck. Now it all makes sense.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why they’re after you. You must’ve been onto something, or maybe you were getting too close.”

  She raised her knees and wrapped her arms around them. “This is about to get pretty fucking nasty.”

  “You have to play it like you don’t know.”

  “Right. But who should I trust?” She knotted her fingers together. It was strange seeing her this disturbed.

  “You can’t ask me that. I don’t know anything.”

  She grabbed my hands. “Put yourself in my shoes. What would you do?”

  “Keep my fucking mouth shut until I had solid proof.”

  “Not even say a word to Art?”

  “Isla, how do you know it’s not him? Or Thomas, or Greg, or any of the guys who have been keeping an eye on us? They seem to be the obvious ones to report back to whoever they’re involved with.”

  “Believe me, those same thoughts have been running through my head over and over.”

  This situation had leveled up my concern for her a hundredfold. If someone from her field office was involved, then we were in grave danger.

  “Please promise me something.”

  “Okay, what?”

  “If at any time, you think your life is in danger, trust your gut.”

  She chuckled. “I’m pretty damn positive I’m in danger right now. Everything I know points to that.”

  “Right, but I’m talking about if and when you’re out alone. Don’t trust anyone but me.”

  A gurgle of laughter slipped out of her. “Acer, you’re the one I’m worried about. I’ve been trained to protect myself and others. You haven’t. That’s what scares me the most.”

  “Don’t let it. It’s you they’re after. I have an idea. Is there any way to do your searching on a different computer so they can’t track what you’re doing?”

  A long sigh rushed out of her as she squiggled her body under the covers. “I wish. Everything is high security and there’s no way I could get in.”

  “Can you do it under someone else’s login?”

  Her brows creased again. “Okay, let’s say I did. What if that individual is innocent in this? I would be putting him or her at risk.”

  “True, and that wouldn’t be good.”

  She was in a precarious position. I settled into bed next to her and pulled her close. “Let’s get some sleep. We can talk this out in the morning. Maybe we can come up with something better. I’m even wondering if we should be staying here.”

  “I thought of that too. However, if we go anywhere, Art will put the guys with us, wherever we go, so it won’t matter.”

  “Then you think it’s Art.”

  “I didn’t say that. Of all the people in the office, he’s the one I suspect the least.”

  I blew out a breath full of frustration. This was a whole new life for me. I’d always played around but now there was fire involved and getting burned had never been a part of my plan. Then I thought of something else.

  “Hey, can you get your hands on one of those electronic bug detectors?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “It might be a good idea to check this room every day. If it is someone you know, then they’ll know you’re on to them. Not only that, they may already have a key. If you make sure your room is safe, they—”

  “They’d figure it out. It’s best to let them keep guessing. But we need to keep our conversation at a minimum. Everything we discuss on this needs to
be done by texts and then deleted.”

  Grabbing my phone, I texted a message to her.

  What about what we just discussed? Won’t they have heard us?

  Her phone vibrated and she answered the text.

  Too late to worry about that now. From this point forward, everything by text.

  I nodded my agreement and then we both deleted the messages. I laid in bed for quite a while after that, staring at the ceiling. This whole thing was crazy. It all started by taking what I’d thought was a small job and now her life, and maybe mine, was in danger. If anything happened to her, I’d never be able to live with myself.

  * * *

  The following week I found myself in class, still puzzled by what Isla had mentioned. We’d managed to text and she still hadn’t found anything else to help the case. The only thing she came up with was there seemed to be increased mob activity in specific areas. New York and Miami were two key places she was focusing her searches on. Nothing about Paulie had come up either. By now, I was certain he was dead.

  I finished class and exited the building. It was late afternoon, close to five, and one of the guys was supposed to meet me here. I checked out the area and didn’t see anyone so I pulled out my phone to make sure I didn’t miss any texts. The last one came in around one and it was from a new guy I hadn’t met before. His name was George and he said he’d be waiting for me at five. Since I was the only one here, I took a chance and called Isla.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” she asked.

  “My ride isn’t here. I finished class and a new guy named George was supposed to pick me up.”

  “That’s weird. Hang tight a sec.”

  I heard the background noise as she asked around and no one had heard from George all afternoon.

  When she came back on she told me what she’d discovered, which wasn’t much.

  “I’ll come and get you.”

  “Nah, it’ll be faster if I just take an Uber.”

  “You have your gun with you?”

  “Yep. I’m good. I’ll see you at the house later.”

  “Acer, call me when you get there.”