Under Fire (11 page)

“Tell me you want me,” he demanded. “Tell me you need me.”

“No.”

Rico was doing everything in his power to get her to cave and she was damn close. Her nipples were so hard she wanted to scream each time he rubbed her. Why Olivia allowed him to have this much control over her was a mystery. Sex with other men satisfied her. Sex with him left her wanting more. Try as she may, she simply had no control over her body. His scent was an aphrodisiac. His voice melted her bones. His touch caused her to go wet. She had the crazy feeling she belonged wrapped in his arms.

The music was fast, yet Rico moved them slowly, seductively. His lips brushed her temple and down her cheek to the edge of her jaw, her neck, to a breast. She hissed in a breath and arched to him when he sucked the nipple through her shirt. He straightened and gave her a bruising kiss.

“Tell me you need me,” he demanded in a deep, throaty voice for the tenth time.

“I
don’t
need you,” she answered, for the tenth time, through clenched teeth. “Tell me again about—” she sucked in a quick breath, “—this Vancouver organization I’m supposed to be a part of.” She had to focus on something other than having sex.

He brought his leg up between hers and moved it from side to side.

“The heat coming from there tells me you need me.”

Olivia ground against his thigh. “Until
that
can talk, I’m telling you I don’t need you.” She could enjoy playing the game too.

A husky laugh escaped him. He held her tight, gazing into her eyes. Mesmerizing her. She couldn’t shift her eyes from him. Her lids felt heavy. Was he hypnotizing her? Was that the reason she had no control?

What the hell. It was no use. This would end the way he wanted. The way she wanted. But first she had every intention of driving him crazy. Olivia draped her arms over his shoulders and moved her body to the music the most sensual way she knew how. Taking full advantage of his leg between hers she ground down, showing him how wet she was. A guttural sound escaped him. They danced until the heat between them became unbearable.

“Tell me,” his liquid voice demanded.

“I need you,” she said, no longer able to deny herself. Her throat felt raw and she sounded hoarse.

“As much as I need you?” he rasped in her ear.

Her body quaked under his caresses.

“More,” she gasped. She put her hand to the back of his head and pulled his face to hers. His lips to hers, kissing deeply, her tongue dancing in his mouth.

“I want you.” She sighed as he lowered her to the bed and stripped off her shorts. He entered her, causing her to remember why he controlled her.

They lay together in a tangle of arms and legs, her head resting on Rico’s shoulder. His hand glided over her body in long gentle strokes.

“Do I need to practice dancing anymore?” Olivia asked coyly.

“No.”

“I’m that good?”

He held her tighter and nuzzled her head. “You’re that good.”

She trailed a finger over his chest muscles and he flexed to give them definition.

“What are you thinking about?” Her finger traveled to his waist.

“I’m thinking we need to go over details again. And if this is what it’s like to work with a partner, I’m putting in for one.” She smiled against the hollow of his neck.

“Your turn. What are
you
thinking about?” He captured her hand, preventing it from drifting lower.

“I’m thinking how nice it would be if you handled all my mission briefings.” She twitched.

He sensed her mood change and stroked her hair comfortingly. “Thinking about the job?”

“Yeah.”

“Will it be rough when you go back?”

“I doubt I’ll be going back.”

“Why not?”

“I’m pretty sure they won’t let me. And…I’m not sure I want to go back. Maybe it’s time to move on to something else.”

He wanted to ask what. From what she’d told him her whole life had been geared to flying and the Coast Guard.

Cupping her chin in his hand, he tilted her head back. “We both can suffer serious consequences. I’m off the reservation here. They could say I’m a rogue agent—order me arrested. Even if we’re successful, I could lose everything. The best chance we have to come out on the plus side is to make this work.”

“I know.”

“Olivia, I may know what the informer looks like.” She wriggled from his grasp and sat up.

“Did he kill Danny?”

“We’ll never know who actually killed him and the other officers. But Silva and this guy are as guilty as if they pulled the trigger.”

“Who is he? Will I meet him?”

“Slow down. I don’t know who he is, only that I may have seen him. I’m not sure of anything. It’s a hunch.” Rico sat and swung his feet to the floor. “You’ve got to quit doing that.”

“Doing what?” She crawled to the edge of the bed and watched him pull on his shorts.

“Going ballistic every time Danny is mentioned.”

“I don’t.”

“You do. You are right now. What if Silva or one of his men mentions killing officers? You react like that and you are done.” He flung her his shirt and she yanked it on. “Get it under control.”

She nodded thoughtfully, gnawed on her lower lip and took a deep breath. “Tell me about this man.”

“I’ve seen him around a few times, always at a distance. He wore shades and I couldn’t get a good look at his face. Silva’s men say he comes once a month and is an asshole. They don’t know why he’s there, what he does. Says his name is Baker.”

Rico went to the fridge, pulled out water bottles. Deliberately silent, he watched to see how she would handle his break in the story. He handed her a bottle. She wasn’t gnawing her lip or hyperventilating, but looked ready to explode.

“Two days before I left for Jax, Baker shows up at the warehouse Silva uses for an office. He walks right up to me and starts a conversation. The men are right, he is an asshole. An ego the size of Pittsburg. Five minutes of conversation he says he has to go. Gives me a used car salesman smile and goes into Silva’s office.”

“You think he was IDing you?”

“The more I think about it, yes.”

Olivia took a swig from the water bottle and a couple breaths. “What does he look like?”

“Five-ten, five-eleven. Thirty. Muscular—works out or is on ’roids. Blue eyes, tan, sun bleached hair.”

“What do I do when I see him?”

“Do
not
try anything. Burn him in your memory. An unshakable ID that will stand up in any court. Do not try to get any information.”

“But—”

“But nothing, Olivia.”

“Okay.”

He didn’t think for a minute she meant it.

“Let’s go over details again.”

Rico quizzed Olivia for hours while they exercised, fixed dinner and ate. He was pleased with how well she did. Her memory was good. She asked good questions, and the best part was she knew her laws. Drug organizations were well-versed on laws in order to get around them. After dinner she asked the questions he’d been waiting for.

“Rico, what was your job in the cartel? Did you work with Silva?”

He placed his palms on the edge of the counter, lowered his head and took in a deep breath.

“I have to be very careful what I tell you. If you slip or appear to have inside information it won’t be good. Understand?” He turned his head to look at her. She nodded. “I was what you could call middle management. Had anywhere from five to fifteen men working for me, depending on the job. I brokered deals. I met with Silva a few times. Mostly I dealt with one man who was close to Silva. I’ve done things. My crew took care of
problems.
”

“What kind of—”

“No. I won’t answer any questions. What I say will have to be enough.” She looked startled and clamped her lips together.

“I have a condo overlooking the Bay, a fast car and a couple of boats. Between what the agency provides and what I get from the cartel, I live life…” He paused. “I
lived
life in a big way.”

He opened the cabinet where he kept the liquor, stared at the bottles a moment then closed the door. If she thought badly of him there was no use compounding it by getting drunk. She came close and her fingers laced between his. He turned and found her smiling.

“It’s your job, Rico. It’s not who you are. I think about my brother and how far removed from that world he was. How Danny—and you—gave up so much to take these people down. I didn’t know or understand a lot of what Danny did. Here, with you, I’m learning how dedicated and special a man has to be.”

Rico hissed in a whistling breath between his teeth. He wasn’t special. He was a low life using her to do his job. A low life who had crossed the line, stretching the limits and boundaries.

“Let’s dance.”

“But…”

“It will do us both good.”

After the
dancing,
they showered and went down to what Olivia had named the James Bond room. Rico accessed the sites he’d visited the day before and found nothing out of the ordinary. They both breathed a sigh of relief. They were okay for the moment.

“What now?” Olivia asked, dragging a stool close.

“We start making your documents.”

“Documents?”

“Driver’s license, passport, anything you need to work out a background history.”

“You can do all of that?”

“You better hope I can. Your life is going to depend on it. Where do you want to be from originally?”

“Seattle, it’s close to Vancouver.”

“Private or public school?”

“Private.”

“College?”

“Cal Berkley.”

So it went for the next few hours. A false identity down to dentist, doctors, and a dry cleaners stub was created.

“Rico, I thought of something. Yesterday you mentioned Silva refused to use condoms.”

“Yeah.”

“I could use some disease to keep him off me. You could print up a health card. A sticker to put on a medication bottle.”

“Might work. What are you thinking about?”

“Genital herpes.”

He choked, spraying coffee on the monitor. Olivia tugged on her shirt to remove it to clean the screen.

“No,” Rico yelled, stripping off his own.

“Think it will work?”

“It would work with me. Should be a show stopper for him. How the hell did you think of that?” he asked as he wiped the screen.

“Upstairs, I turned on the TV for the news. Nothing but commercials. One of them was for a pill that controls genital herpes outbreaks.”

“I’d pay to see the look on his face when you say you have herpes. But it isn’t strong enough to protect you. He could make an exception and go for the condom. Then what?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Play it like you would yourself. You’ll come off genuine.”

“You mean like stab him in the heart?”

“Only if you have to. Let’s get to work.”

Olivia laminated a few documents, soaked others with water, crumpled, smoothed and dripped coffee on them to give an aged look. She watched Rico hack into Washington state DMV records, adding her information. He also gave her six parking tickets and a speeding violation. The credit card and passport were the most difficult to make. Rico pointed out the flaws in his work. “Anyone who knows what they’re doing will find them right away. Most people could never find them.”

“What about these?” She examined one of the credit cards. “Who pays for the things I buy with this?”

“It’s an agency account. Uncle Sam pays.”

“Do they track your usage daily?”

“No. They look at the bill when I check in every three months. If anything questionable comes up we talk.”

“Have they ever questioned anything?”

He hitched his chin toward the Ducati.

“Will they question what I buy?”

“Depends. If the whole thing works they won’t care. If we blow it, we’ll have to pay every dime back. What’re you thinking about?”

“Just asking.” She draped her arms over his shoulders and nibbled on an ear. “But maybe,” she whispered, “a couple grand in lingerie.”

Rico shuddered.

“If there’s a problem I’ll pay for it myself,” she teased.

“If there’s a problem
I’ll
pay for it.”

Olivia would be ready in a couple of days—several days sooner than he had anticipated. They spent hours going over details, big and small. Anything and everything Rico could think of. Never knowing what might help. Fortunately, she was a quick study and he was confidant she would do well. He was feeling better about this crazy plan. He watched her move around the room, wiggling to the pounding Cuban music. Wiggling. He smiled. He liked that word. More to the point, he liked
how
she wiggled.

“What are you smiling about?” she asked.

“I was thinking it’s time for you to get clothes to play the part.”

“What kind of clothes?” She gave him a suspicious look. “And, so you know, I don’t much like shopping.”

“Well,” he folded his arms across his chest, appraising her with an up and down look.

“I’d say you need some drug kingpin’s rich hooker bitch meets Dolce and Gabbana in South Beach clothes.”

She broke into a full out loud laugh. She clapped a hand over her mouth, making him think she wanted to keep from doing it again. His lips twitched as he watched her try. They both burst out laughing.

“Where do I go to get these clothes?” Olivia finally managed to ask.

“There are plenty of shops in this neighborhood.”

Her eyes went wide, causing him to laugh again.

“We don’t have the kind of money it takes to buy the real stuff. You, pretty lady, will be buying knock offs.”

“How do I find these places?”

“There’s a neighborhood kid, Mouse. Some of these paintings are his.” Rico glanced at the wall. “He gets around. I trust him to get you to the right people and places.”

“You want some street thug to follow me around?” She put her hands on her hips and gave him an
I don’t think so
look.

“He isn’t a thug.”

“Okay, smelly street kid. No. I can find my way around. Thank you very much.”

“You need someone to watch your back. I’ve known Mouse…”

“Mouse?”

“Yeah. His voice cracks a lot. The other kids call him that.”