Make Me Sweat (5 page)

“Hopefully it’s nothing major.” Wes swigged his beer. “You know
he uses his boat to move around, maybe something happened.”

“Then he should’ve called or send up a freaking flare or
something.” She shifted in her seat. “He knows better than to not show.” Damn
it, a bunch of scenarios for Cruz’s absence played out in her head, none of
them good.

“Okay. You’ll ream him a new one at a later date.” Wes leaned
over the table and covered her hand with his. “We came to get me laid,
remember?” His wiggled his eyebrows.

“Fine.” She smiled reluctantly and waved a hand at the room. “See
anything you like?” Wes was right, she’d deal with Cruz another day.

“Well…” Wes pursed his lips as his eyes roamed the crowd.
“There’s a hot piece of Italian ass staring at me over your shoulder.”

Ever grinned. “So, what’s the hold-up?”

“Not a damn thing.” Wes drained his beer and slid out of the
booth.

“Are you safe?” she asked. “And I’m not talking just rubbers.”

On his feet, he smoothed a hand over his chest and nodded. “I
am.”

“Go get him then. I’ll be here when you get back.”

Wes smiled and disappeared into the crowd. Ever watched him leave
as she sipped her second margarita. Wes deserved a few minutes of reprieve, a
quiet moment or two of pleasure. They’d refused themselves the chance for a
long time, too caught up in the life they now led. A life neither of them had
chosen. Until they found a way to get out from under
his
thumb, they had
no choice but to continue.

Didn’t mean she had to like it, and she sure as hell wasn’t going
to stop until she found a way out. Wes deserved it. She deserved it.

Fuck, as things stood now, they had no kind of life whatsoever
outside of the business. She needed out. How else could she explain her
behavior with Ian Dakota? Her heart lurched at the thought of Dakota. Man, if
only. If only she wasn’t who she was, and he wasn’t the criminal he was.

“Are you drinking all alone, pretty lady?”

She jerked her gaze to the greased-up, smooth-faced idiot sliding
into her booth. “Yes and I prefer it that way, so fuck off.”

Light reflected off the heavy gold chain around his neck. He
ignored her words. “Come now, no need for that.” His eyes glinted. “Tommy can
make you feel so good.”

“Yeah?” She leaned toward him as she dropped one of her hands
under the table.

Tommy’s features perked up. “Yeah. Why don’t I—”

“I’ve got a .38 on little Tommy. Why don’t you leave before I
shoot him off, hmm?” She cocked the gun.

Tommy’s eyes widened, but he didn’t budge. “I don’t believe you.”

“I never bluff about my guns, Tommy.” She gestured. “Now fuck off
before I make you bleed.” She didn’t spare him another glance as he beat a
hasty retreat. Her lap vibrated. She opened her purse and fished out her phone.

Unknown number. Those were never a good sign.
 “Hello?”

“Ever.”

“Cruz?” She exited the booth and walked to the club’s rear door.
“Cruz, is that you?”

“Yes.” The deep voice hesitated. “Sorry I stood you up tonight,
but I’m in a bit of a bind.”

Ever pushed open the heavy door and stepped out into the cool
night. A couple was making out at one end of the dark alley, so she turned in
the other direction. “What kind of bind are you in, and how does it involve
me?”

His chuckle sounded dry. “Everything I do involves you, darling.”

“Sweet talker. Where are you?”

He rattled off an address. Her heart rate sped up.

Shit. “What the fuck is this about?” She headed back into the
club.

“I’m afraid I’m in need of my lawyer.”

Her stomach bottomed out.

****

Dak sat in his office, staring at the monitors, hoping for a
sight of that familiar face. All through the night, he’d searched, but she
never turned up. He still couldn’t wrap his mind around what happened. When he
woke up that morning, he had Ever in his bed, her luscious body spread so
perfectly for him, and the next his arms were empty and he was watching her run
away.

The fucked up thing was he had no idea what he did wrong. Make
her breakfast?

He shook his head to clear it. For the time being, he had to
relegate Ever to the back burner, he needed to concentrate on finding Ghost.
Still no word yet on if he’d be getting his weapons from the dealer, or even if
he’d take Ian Dakota on as a client. They did get a tip from a CI about someone
moving weapons tonight. Dak doubted it was Ghost, but right now, anyone
carrying a gun without a permit was fair game, if it had a possibility of
leading them to
Ghost
.

Dak grew more and more impatient with the person who gave them
the slip so easily. Every time he thought they finally had their man, he
managed to slink away into the shadows.

Not this time. If it’s the last thing he did, he’d bring the
fucker down.

His door opened and Jayce walked in without knocking. “We’ve got
word from the local PD. That tip paid off. They have someone in custody.”

“Who?” Dak jumped to his feet, grabbing his jacket from the back
of his chair.

“I don’t have anymore info.” Jayce wrinkled his brow. “Where are
you going? You know we can’t risk blowing our cover.”

“I have to at least be in the building. I don’t want anything
falling through the cracks if we’re to have a chance of finding this fucking Ghost.”

“I think it’s stupid. We’ve worked too hard to have this case be
compromised because you’re not thinking clearly.”

Dak stilled in the process of shrugging on his jacket. “What are
you saying, Jayce?”

“I’m saying this chick has your nose wide open, you’re not acting
like Ian Dakota.” Jayce moved closer. “And if you’re not acing like Ian Dakota,
people starts questioning it. Ian Dakota doesn’t pine away for women. Neither
does he fuck the same woman twice. Or have you forgotten?” 

Dak sank onto his desk and ran a hand over his face. “Damn it. I
haven’t forgotten, Jayce, but—”

“But you want her.”

“Yes.” So bad, so much. And she didn’t even know his real name.
How messed up was that?

“Ian Dakota can’t have her, but what about when this case is
over?” Jayce laid a hand on his arm. “You can be yourself again.”

He grunted. “Yeah, until I go back under cover again. Assume
another identity.” He signed. “You’re right. My head hasn’t been in the game
lately, but all that changes now.” He stood. “We’re going down to the precinct
to find out what we can, discreetly, about the person they brought in. Then
we’ll move from there. Deal?” He held out his hand.

“Deal.” Jayce smiled and grabbed his hand. Dak pulled him into a
quick hug.

“Come on, let’s go,” he said. “The sooner we get there, the
closer we are to nailing that bastard Ghost.”

Chapter
Six

Ever strutted into the police precinct downtown, ignoring the
stares. Her stilettos pinched the back of her heel as she headed to the front
desk. She hid a wince. Fucking shoes were made for looking cute, not walking
in.

“Excuse me.”

The uniformed officer behind the desk ignored her, choosing,
instead, to continue scribbling in some kind of log.

“Excuse me, and I won’t say it a third time.”

“Can I help you, ma’am?” He still didn’t look at her.

“Yes. You can look at me and never call me ma’am again.”

That caught his attention. He met her gaze with a raised eyebrow.

Ever slid her card over to him. “I’m Ever Marcille and I want to
see my client.”

“Who’s your client?” He glanced at the card and back at her.

“Cruz Doriaye. He was brought in earlier from the weapons sting.”

The officer nodded and waved a colleague over. “Stine, escort Ms.
Marcille here to interrogation room five.”

Ever followed Officer Stine as he led her to Cruz, and once she
stepped into the interrogation room, she locked and bolted the door. Cruz sat
shackled to a metal table, head lowered. His dark hair hung loose, but she made
out the purple bruise covering half of his face.

“Oh, my God! They beat you up?” She rushed over to him and tilted
his head back. His forest-green eyes smiled up at her.

“You know I never go down without a fight.” He winked the lesser
swollen eye.

“Yeah, but I also know how much you love that pretty face of
yours.” She pulled up a chair and sat close to him. “Why in the hell would you
resist arrest?”

Cruz shrugged. “Let’s talk about why I’m here.” He leaned toward
her, pressing his forehead to hers. “Did you know the Feds are on your ass?”

“What?” Stomach churning, Ever resisted the urge to jerk away.
“Where’d you hear that?”

“From them.” He pulled away, staring her dead in the face.
“They’re hunting Ghost, and they got a tip I may know something.”

“Jesus.” Ever shot to her feet. She paced the length of the small
room as Cruz looked on. “Who knows about Ghost besides you, me, and Wes?”

“Aren’t you forgetting someone else?”

She waved his words away. “No, he still needs us. He wouldn’t
sabotage his own operation just to—”

“To bring his wife to heel?”

“No!” She swung around. “I’m no longer that man’s wife.” She
swallowed, fighting to bring her breathing back to normal. “I’m not his wife.”

Pity flashed in Cruz’s eyes for a second. “I hear you. But, Ever,
he’s not backing down.”

“Why?” She rubbed her eyes. “Why would he send the Feds sniffing
around? They could find out, they could ruin everything.”

“And nothing ties him to any of it. All you’ll have is your
flapping gums. He’s made himself untouchable, do you see that?” Cruz straightened
in his chair. “What have you done to protect you and Wes, Ever?”  

She stared at him. Always an immaculate dresser, his white shirt
and dark slacks were torn and painted with dirt. His bruises matched the long,
dark hair caressing wide shoulders he held high. She could’ve had the chance to
be with him when her life fell apart and she confided in him. He offered his
help, but she turned him down, intent on doing it all herself. She’d been so
sure she could handle Angus and his threats.

“Ever?”

She blinked. “What?”

Cruz’s swollen face didn’t hide his concerned eyes. “How are you
protecting yourself and Wes? You do have a plan, right?”

She shook herself and sat back down. “Let’s get you out of here,
hmm?” She pulled a notepad and pen from her purse.

Cruz chuckled. “You always walk around with that in your purse?”

“Yep, you never know.” She smiled up at him. “Now, tell me what
happened from the top. Leave nothing out.”

****

Dak stood next to Jayce behind a one-way mirror, both of their
arms folded as they stared at the empty room, waiting for the detectives and
the man they’d arrested to enter. He and Jayce entered the precinct through the
back entrance and came straight to this room. They planned to observe the
interview to see if they could glean anything from the suspect’s body-language,
or from what he didn’t say.

More often than not, those two things spoke loudest.

The door opened and he perked up, shifting closer to the glass. A
man with muddied clothes and a wicked bruise on his face entered first, his
wrist cuffed in front of him. He took a seat as a woman stepped in behind the
two detectives.

Fuck! Ever sashayed into the interrogation room wearing a tight,
short, yellow jumper, exposing her cleavage and her legs. Her purple heels click-clacked
on the floor as she walked over and sat next to—

“Dude, what’s she doing here?” 

“Shut up, Jayce.” Dak stared at her through the mirror. Her hair
was swept away from her face and piled high on her head. Gold earrings twinkled
in her ears. Confidence and determination shone on her face. Dak knew then any
hope he had of learning anything about Ghost was gone.

“So, guys,” Ever addressed the detectives. “You have my client
under arrest, care to tell me why?”

Detective Wayne, a short, balding man, spoke up. “We got a tip
your client was transporting weapons.”

Ever pursed her lips and nodded. “Uh-huh. And did this tip name
my client specifically?”

“We had a general description,” Wayne hedged.

“No! Really?” Ever burst out laughing. “And after you found my
client and roughed him up, did you find those weapons? You know, other than his
registered handgun.”

Jayce grunted. “She’s killing them.”

And Dak couldn’t tear his eyes away from her mouth. His cock
stirred and he licked his lips.

The second detective—Peterson, Peterford—spoke up then. “We have
reason to believe Mr. Doriaye here knows who the Ghost is. At the very least,
we think he’s had some business dealings with the man.”

“And I have reason to believe I’m getting laid tonight,” Ever
scoffed. “Doesn’t make it so. Who is this Ghost?”

“He’s an arms dealer we’ve been after for a while and we think—”

“And you think my client is somehow linked to him?” Ever pushed
back her chair and got to her feet. “I happen to have the Mayor and Governor on
speed dial. I can’t wait to hear what they have to say about this.” She picked
up her cell phone and punched in some numbers. “Charge him or let him go. Now!”
she barked.

The two detectives exited the room with slumped shoulders.

Jayce spun around. “What the fuck just happened?”

“She’s good.” Dak shook his head. “She worked them like a pro.”

“What do we really know about her?” Jayce asked.

Dak shrugged. “You did the background check, remember?”

“We know her name and what she does for a living.” Jayce paced.
“We know she has no record, but we need deeper.” 

Dak pulled out his phone and dialed as the two detectives walked
into the room.

Det. Wayne pulled a business card from his jacket pocket and
handed it over to Jayce. “You know her?”