Rock Chick 08 Revolution (56 page)

That was to say, it was clear Rosie brought some of his primo pot from
New Mexico for personal use.

He was lit. Which meant he’d fired up very recently.

“And bad shit goes down, you’re high, you think you can handle it?” I
asked. Then went on, “And seriously, smoking a doobie at Tex’s? What’s the
matter with you?”

“We smoked it in the car before we came in,” Kevin offered.

“Brilliant,” I snapped.

“Ally—” Rosie cut in, but I moved and did it quick.

Getting in his space and face, I stated, “You are not helping. All
you’re doing is wasting time and pissing me off. Go home. Now.”

“But—”

“
Now,
” I bit out.

“I feel bad,” he said.

Seriously?

“You should,” I shot back. “I lost everything because you’re an idiot. But
pissing me off isn’t the way to make it up to me. Now, we’re done. Go.” Since I
was done too, I turned from him to look at Tex and asked, “You got a list of
houses?”

He was smiling big at me and he answered, “Yup.”

“How many?” I asked.

“Seven,” he answered.

Jeez.

Tex and Nancy needed to consider moving.

“Right, we split up. Hector and Tex on one team, Mace, Ren and me on
another,” I decided. “Mace, did Hector brief you?” I asked. On his jerk of the
chin (meaning
affirmative,
by the
way), I nodded and looked to Tex. “Tex, you take three houses, give the
addresses for the other four to Ren.”

Tex moved.

Mace asked, “You got walkies?”

No. But I was going to tell Daisy the next day to fit that line item in
our budget.

“Negative,” I answered Mace.

“Then how we gonna talk to each other?” he returned.

“Uh… cells?” I asked sarcastically because it was not lost on me I was
in test phase for Mace and that pissed me off (more). “Just to say, the squawk
of walkies won’t help us be stealthy so put your phone on vibrate and we’ll be
fine.”

That must have been acceptable because Mace moved on.

“You got a plan for approach?”

“My plan is, Hector and Tex can do whatever they want. You two,” I
pointed between Ren and Mace, “are gonna stay out of sight while I approach the
door. I’m less of a threat, but I can assess one. I give you the sign, you move
in.”

“What’s the sign?’ Mace pushed.

“I was thinking a rain dance on the front lawn. That work for you?” I
replied snottily.

“Woman, we gotta know what we’re lookin’ for,” Mace growled.

“And you got enough experience, you pay enough attention, you’ll know
it when you see it. I have to be free to operate without fitting in some
bullshit move that isn’t gonna look right and might alert them I have backup.
So just pay attention, yeah?”

Mace stared at me a beat then he looked to Hector.

Hector was grinning.

Whatever.

“We ready to roll?” I asked, looking through the crew and noting that
Ren was also grinning, but his eyes were again burning so I didn’t look too
long because I needed to think about what I was doing, not my happy place
getting happy.

“You armed?” Mace asked.

I pulled out the stun gun but said, “No. You are. Don’t let me get
dead.”

“You’re goin’ in unarmed?” Mace pressed.

Jeez!

“The objective is to call the cops in,” I informed him. “We reach our
objective, cops show, I’m a trainee investigator gathering hours. I’ve got a
gun and a permit but I’m not licensed to carry concealed, and seeing as I know
a few of them, I know cops frown on gung ho idiots who carry weapons. That’s
why I have Hector and, since you’re here,
you.
”

Then I turned toward the door, but saw that Rosie and The Kevster were
still there and both of them were looking at me.

“You haven’t left,” I noted.

“You totally
are
badass,”
Rosie breathed.

“It’s nearly four in the morning, I’ve spent the last eight hours in a
strip club and I want to have sex with my boyfriend before I pass out. So the
longer this takes, the more I’ll want to
kick
someone’s ass. You stay five more seconds, that someone will be you,” I
returned.

They must have taken me seriously because I got two wide-eyed stoner
looks and they moved.

“Rosie?” I called when he was almost through the door. He turned back
to me. “You drop my name again, I’ll hunt you down and cut off everything that
protrudes from your body.
 
You get me?”

Wider eyes and he nodded.

He got me.

“Advice,” I continued. “Find another job as a barista and spread your
joy that way. You keep growing, you being you, you’ll be dead in five years.
I’m seriously pissed at you, but I don’t want you dead. Stop being a moron and
make that happen.”

He nodded again though this was less sure.

God.

Rosie.

“Now go,” I ordered.

He went.

My man got close to my back and his mouth came to my ear where he said
quietly, “Hurry this shit up, baby, ‘cause what you got last night after I
watched you slide down a pole upside down while straddling it is gonna be
nothin’ to what I give you tonight watchin’ you be badass.”

I turned and glared up at him. “Don’t turn me on while I’m working,
Zano.”

His lips quirked.

“Jesus,” Mace muttered.

“Enough out of you,” I demanded, pointing at Mace. I swung my eyes
through the crew and finished, “Now let’s go.”

And with that, we went.

* * * * *

We pulled up to the last house on our list, Mace driving one of Lee’s
black company Explorers, me in the passenger seat, Ren behind me.

I stared at the house, sheets covering the windows, weak light coming
from nearly every window in the house. There were people moving behind the
sheets, and not a few.

Den o’ Tweakers having a late night party.

Shit.

“This is it,” I whispered.

“Fuck yeah, it is,” Mace agreed.

I turned to him, leaning forward and pulling out my phone. “I’m calling
Hector. We don’t go in until they’re here. You’re lead. You go to the front,
Ren the back. I’m on you. You got an extra gun for Ren?”

“Glove compartment,” Mace grunted.

I hit go on Hector, put my phone to my ear and opened the glove
compartment to get the gun for Ren. I undid my seatbelt and leaned around the
seat to hand it to him. I heard gun noises as Ren got familiar with it, and it
didn’t surprise me he was familiar with guns.

I didn’t let my mind go there, and couldn’t as I engaged with Hector. I
told him where we were and to get to us. I also told him their positions. He
confirmed and I disconnected, shoving the phone back in my jeans pocket.

“Hector and Tex will take the sides.” I looked around the seat to Ren.
“Shit goes down, baby, you disappear,” I ordered gently.

I saw his mouth get tight and the muscle jump in his jaw. This was
silent badass for
Want you to disappear
instead of me,
and I belatedly rethought Ren’s ride along.

It should be noted, though, that I loved him like crazy, but I loved
him more when he kept his mouth shut and just jerked up his chin.

“The feel of that house, this operation just became mine,” Mace
declared, and I looked at him. “You steer clear unless you get
my
signal, yeah?”

“Gotcha,” I replied immediately, and he did a slow blink.

He thought I’d argue.

He’d learn.

And what he’d learn was that I was a badass. But not a stupid one.

“Stun gun at the ready, Ally,” Mace kept ordering.

I nodded.

We saw the headlights of a Yukon coming our way, the lights going out
before it parked.

Hector’s ride.

“Move out,” Mace muttered and we moved.

Ren disappeared quickly. I saw Hector waste no time crossing the yard
and vanishing around the side of the house. Tex was lumbering, but his position
was closer. He also wasted no time and took it.

I turned on my stun gun as Mace walked right up to the front door.

I stood, back to the house at the side of the door.

He looked at me and gave me a head jerk which I had to interpret on the
fly.

I made an educated guess, turned my head the other way, leaned forward
and looked into the window at my side.

Mace knocked loud.

All the shadows behind the sheets dropped.

I looked back at Mace and shook my head.

Without delay, he lifted a long leg and put a boot to the door,
shouting, “Bond enforcement!”

Interesting.

We had no warrants for anyone inside, but that didn’t mean someone
inside didn’t have a warrant on them. So that was a good call. And smart.

I stopped noting that for future reference because the rest happened
fast.

Mace went in.

There were noises, thuds, shouts, running feet.

Someone came out the front. I put my foot out, tripped them and they
went flying, landing on their front on the cement walk. I moved in quickly,
stunned them and they went lax. I grabbed a wrist and started to haul them off
the walk so they wouldn’t be trampled if anyone else tried to escape out front.
As I did this, I saw Hector running in the front door.

That was when I heard Mace’s whistle.

I took that as his sign.

I got in, Tex coming in behind me, and it appeared Mace had had all the
fun, what with the bodies littering the floor and some tweakers cowering in a
corner.

But Ren was having fun, too. Across the room, he had hands on a guy—arm
and back of the neck. He slammed him face first into the wall, let him go and
the guy dropped straight to his back, o-u-t,
out
.

My man.

Totally hot.

After allowing myself a quiver in my happy place, I took in the space.
There was a lot of mess, some not so great furniture, and three car stereos
sitting on a filthy, battered coffee table.

That night’s take.

And last, little baggies of meth crystals and drug paraphernalia
everywhere.

No weapons.

I looked at Mace. “You hogged all the fun.”

Mace got close and talked low. “We need a reason to be here. You and
Tex talk to each one. Get names. Call Brody and have him run them for warrants.
Warrant or not, after you talk to Brody, call the cops. They get here, I’ll
deal.”

I nodded and turned to Tex to see he’d gone back out and was now
dragging in the one I dropped outside. He was doing it by the dude’s hand so
the head and the rest of the tweaker bumped and cracked against everything even
as he was coming out of the stun. He was probably also tweaking, so that didn’t
help.

“Tex, a little care,” I told him.

“Got shit for brains already, don’t matter I stir it up,” Tex replied.

Since I didn’t need a lawsuit on any of my cases, I scratched a chat
with Tex about his sidekick do’s and don’ts to happen at a later date and got
busy, taking Tex with me.

When I was done, I gave a nod to Mace who was standing sentry at the
entrance, while Hector stood sentry at the door that led to the back of the
house.

Mace was studying me, looking broody.

Even after Stella gave him good loving and his family back, Mace could
be broody. Usually it was hot. Unfortunately, now it served to hide whether he
felt I passed or failed.

Whatever. He didn’t sit on the Licensing Board. I failed the Mace Test,
I’d live.

I turned to Ren who was providing badass presence at Tex and my backs.

“You good?” I asked.

He was looking beyond me at the wired, strung out, unkempt tweakers,
and I didn’t have to know him as well as I did to know he didn’t like what he
was seeing.

He then looked at me.

“You sure this is the company you wanna keep?” he asked.

“No. What I’m sure of is that tomorrow and the next day and the next,
some person in this ‘hood is not gonna walk out to their car, see their stereo
stolen and feel violated,” I replied.

He studied me several beats, grinned and murmured, “Good answer.”

“So you’re feeling me,” I noted.

“Not yet,” he replied.

I rolled my eyes.

When I rolled them back I noted his grin got bigger.

It was then, I heard sirens.

* * * * *

Oh God.

I was close.

I threw my head back and breathed, “
Ren
.”

My man, on his knees behind me, pulled out.

On my hands and knees in the bed, I looked at him over my shoulder and
whispered, “No, baby.”

“On your back. Knees up. Spread,” he ordered, his voice thick.

Okay, I could do that.

So I did it.

He covered me and not a second later slammed into me.

My back arched and I wound my arms around him.

“Every guy watchin’ you move onstage at Smithie’s wants his dick right
here,” he growled, thrusting fast, hard, deep and I focused on him (barely).

He got off on that.