In the Still of the Night:Sexy Romantic Suspense (Book 2 The Blonde Barracuda's Sizzling Suspense Series) (21 page)

“I guess it is a matter of how you define fun. Perhaps for you two, it’s how you get your kicks. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll step out from between you and let you enjoy one another. You seem to have a lot in common. Congratulations, again, Lexie. You were magnificent.” Seeing that Peter had been corralled by a reporter, he added, “Please say good-bye to Peter for me. Tell him I look forward to tomorrow evening.”

Flicking Dalila’s hand off of his arm, Jake turned and strode out of the room.

Lexie watched him go and fought the urge to run after him. She needed him. She needed him to hold her. She’d seen the regret on Jake’s face, the pain in his eyes. She knew he felt like he had let her down. That he hadn’t supported her. That he’d let his fear for her safety prevent him from participating in her triumph, her victorious presentation before the Council.

She wished she could tell him about the text message they sent to her yesterday.
And
about the note she’d received today. It was signed the same way the text was yesterday. The same insignia. Like the text message, this was also a picture—in full color. Of her. Only in the picture on the note, she was dead, a bullet hole in the middle of her forehead. She’d found the note tucked in the corner of the podium just before she began her presentation to the City Council.

~~~

The voice on the other end of the line was rough with sleep, sharpened by annoyance.

“I trust you know that is 3:30 in the morning in Seoul? And while I enjoy a night on the town, I don’t enjoy talking on the telephone after midnight. What do you want?”

“What I have been telling you for some time. Half-measures will not work. We need to take her out permanently. We have warned her. We have attacked her. If she is frightened, she doesn’t show it. We have a small window of opportunity that we need to take advantage of. It will close soon. We can only keep Gardner at bay for so long.”

The man’s voice was suddenly less sleepy.

“You were the one who insisted that she be allowed to testify. Now you are saying that she what? Needs to be killed? Isn’t it a little late? It would appear to me that the damage has been done.”

“There was no way to stop her from testifying. She would have done it with our help or without. At least this way we controlled it.”

The now fully awake, the man gave a derisive laugh.

“If that is how you define control, my friend, I do not wish to see you when you are out of control. But how do you people say it? Now that the ‘cat has flown the bag,’ what good does it do to take her now, except to cause more scrutiny.”

“Would you change your mind if I tell you that she is one document away from identifying Young-soo?”

“That is bad news indeed. And I do not have to tell you, that should that name become public, it will not reflect well on you.”

“Do you think I don’t know that? That is why I will not let that happen. And why she needs to be removed permanently.”

“What about Gardner? He is more dangerous than she is. You told us that you had him neutralized as well. From what my contacts are telling me, he is anything but taken care of. Perhaps there is dissention between them, but he does not seem to have let up. You do know that he has tentacles that are as far-reaching as yours.”

“That is why my plan is foolproof. And masterful. I plan to take them both down. Or to be more precise—to have them take each other down.”

“I hope for your sake, that you are correct. You received the largest up-front payment the syndicate has ever paid. Against my advice. But somehow you managed to worm into Young-soo trust in a way no none else has. I should give you credit for this. But do remember, no matter how much Young-soo admires you, failure is not an option.”

“Especially when I will receive double my up-front payment when this episode is closed.”

“Indeed.”

Chapter 20

Lexie walked from her quarters heading for the dojo, grateful that she had a full day of classes ahead of her. She wanted to bury herself in her rigorous practice, and then in her demanding role as the superstar teacher. Seeing Ming in the anteroom, surrounded by reporters, Lexie gave an aggrieved sigh. She’d barely slept last night, and the dark circles under eyes when she’d dared to look in the mirror proved it. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to more reporters. Alas.

“There she is! Lexie, my name is Cassandra Phillips, I’m with—”

Before the eager young women could finish introducing herself, she and at least ten other news people had surged forward, surrounding Lexie on all sides.

Lexie smiled gamely and conceded that at least for the moment, she was trapped. She nodded to Ming, signaling that it was all right for her to leave. Ming threw her a grateful glance and quickly retreated to the dojo. Lexie noted ironically that it hadn’t taken Ming long to figure out that notoriety was tiring. Lexie could have warned her. But even she was stunned by the remarkable response to the Council meeting. The 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts last evening on every television station in the Bay area led with the story. By the time she’d finally stumbled into bed, she’s had about as much as she could take of the blond in the red dress answering one question after another. But she had to admit, she looked good, beautiful even, and Peter had been wonderful. He was polished, compelling and determined to make her the star. Not that he had to try very hard. Lexie sniffed. Guess when it came down to it, big boobs, blonde hair, and sexy shoes were a bigger draw than a studiously handsome man content to playing a back-up role.

For a brief moment, Lexie allowed herself to think about how it might have played out, if Jake had been standing beside her. She tossed her head thinking about it. For sure, every female reporter would have found some reason to ask the six foot, four inch ‘to-die-for’ hunk at least a question or two. But he wasn’t there and Lexie reminded herself why. She had asked him to leave.

Looking at the sea of faces in front of her, all demanding her attention, Lexie sucked in a deep breath. If only Jake were here, he would organize this rabid group. He’d make sure that she had time to eat and rest, and do it without ruffling a single feather. His commanding presence alone would be sufficient. But he wasn’t here and wouldn’t be coming. Rather than give in to her personal distress, she reminded herself of the golden opportunity she had to make her case. She’d tried to focus attention on the plight of terrified exploited women and now she had the platform. She’d fought for three years to get this kind of attention from the press. They were critical to carrying her mission forward. Without their help she couldn’t get to the root of the problem. Exposing the evil organizations that owned the brothels… and the men who hid behind them.

Squaring her shoulders, she determined to make the most of the chance to press her case—and the case of the women she championed. Exhaustion could wait. And so could agonizing over the threatening messages she received. There was another text this morning. This time the photograph showed her being raped by a group of men with hoods over their heads. She tried for humor, reminding herself that she was making progress. After all, in the picture yesterday, she was dead. Even she knew there was nothing funny about the situation. She wished she had someone she dared to show the pictures to.

As she prepared to answer a question, she saw a uniformed policeman enter. He looked familiar. She thought she’d seen him with Dan and Mark. Excusing herself from the reporters, she motioned for him to come into her office. Master Wan appeared out of nowhere and followed them in, closing the door behind himself.

Lexie felt a sense of relief when she saw that the tall man was smiling at her. She gratefully returned his smile. Noting his name on his uniform, she introduced herself.

“Good morning, Officer Stevens. I’m Lexie Beloi and this is Master Wan. This is our studio. How can I help you?”

The young officer’s smile broadened.

“Yes, Ma’am. I know who you are. You are famous.”

Lexie and Master Wan both laughed.

“I think a more accurate description might be ‘infamous,’ but whichever I am, it has brought you here. How can I help you?”

“Captain Rourke and the Colonel wanted to be sure that you knew we were here, and to offer our help.”

Lexie couldn’t hide her surprise, or the twinge of fear that streaked over her sensitive nerves. “I don’t understand. I wasn’t aware that you
were
here, Officer. Is something wrong?”

“No, Ma’am. But the Colonel in particular thought you might need some help with the newspeople who are beating down your door. We’ve been trying to keep the street clear in front of your studio so that your students can come and go. But you know how pushy the press can be.”

Lexie gave a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, Officer Stevens. And yes, if this keeps up, we’re going to need help making sure that our students aren’t stopped by the press or in any way hassled. The problem is that it is important that I talk to the press. This is our chance to focus attention on the awful situation in the massage parlors.”

“I understand, Ma’am. That’s what the Colonel told us. We can’t interfere but we wanted you to know if you need help, we’re here.”

Lexie had to ask.

“Um. How long have you been here?”

The young officer smiled.

“Me personally, Ma’am? My shift started at four o’clock this morning. But just so you know, we have men here around the clock. At least four for each shift.”

Lexie glanced over at Master Wan, and saw that unlike her he wasn’t surprised. Why she was, she didn’t know. Of course, Jake would place guards around their center. And of course, Master Wan would be aware of it. She wanted to be angry. Wanted to tell this young officer to go back and tell the ‘Colonel’ that she could take care of herself. But her anger wouldn’t come. She was too relieved. Now maybe she could stop worrying, and get back to the reporters who were waiting for her. And maybe, just maybe, at some point today she could sneak back to her room and take a quick nap. She needed to do something to prepare for this evening. Peter,
Dalila
, and
Jake. Dear God. What was she letting herself in for?

~~~

“The news isn’t good, Sir. As you would expect, there is significantly increased chatter in reaction to the hearing yesterday. Given the sites we monitor, much of it is negative.”

Jake drilled the chubby, sallow-cheeked man with a hard glare. He knew better than to let the badly cut hair, ill-fitting chinos, Lady Ga-Ga t–shirt, and empty bags of barbecued pork rinds littering his desk undercut the guy’s information. Even in the military, where Lloyd wouldn’t have made it through the first two hours of basic training, there was something different about the techies. The guys who you literally had to drag out of their cubicles to take a piss. Five minutes away from their screens and they were convinced they’d missed the start of Armageddon.

“What are they saying about Lexie?” No need to say her full name. The screensavers in every cubicle he’d poked his head in had some tribute to her. There were the ‘ass-men’, the tit-men’ and the guys who got off on blonde hair. Occasionally you ran into one who lusted after the total package. On many of those screens was a running montage in the corner. It was like watching a high tech version of the primitive animated flip books. Eventually all of Lexie’s discrete body parts became the beautiful woman he was in love with.

The sallow-faced guy who probably hadn’t seen natural light in a fortnight shrugged.

“What do you expect from pimps and brothel bosses? They hate her. The big game in that part of the ether is to see who can come up with the most disgusting way to ‘off’ her. Wanna tell you, there are some sick fucks out there, Jake.”

Jake dragged his fingers through his hair and muttered, “Like that’s news. But you know what I’m looking for, Lloyd. Anything smell like the syndicates?”

Jerking his t-shirt over a hairy belly that hadn’t seen the inside of a gym since Jr. High required P.E., Lloyd scrubbed at his chin.

“Wish I could say no, cuz these guys are as bad fucks as you ever want to run into, on the screen, and sure as hell not in person. Ever heard of the
Kkangpae
, Colonel?”

“The gangs that front for the
Jopok
? Yeah, Lloyd, I’ve heard of them. Ask my friend Brady about the one and only time he and I almost didn’t make it out of a fight the victors. Hell, we were lucky to get out alive. Those sons of bitches have serious skills, if your only intent is to beat a man—or woman—to death as quickly as possible. Their motto is no finesse, just kill the bastards. I guess I’ll ask. What are you hearing?”

“Let’s just say, Colonel, more than gentlemen prefer blonds. So do ruthless
Kkangpae
killers. They’re makin’ threats, Jake. And takin’ numbers as to who will get her first. Them or the pimps. Everyone in our sick pool is betting on the
Kkangpae
”

Chapter 21

Twirling the keys to her 1958 Camaro over her index finger, Lexie tossed the valet an impudent grin. The slender strawberry-blond-haired man stared at her for a moment, and did a double-take. A shock of recognition lit his face. He stumbled three steps back and his hand crept to his mouth. His eyes dancing with excitement, he glanced quickly from side to side then leaned in over the top of the car door. He whispered as if he were telling her a secret he didn’t want anyone else to hear.

“You… you’re her!” His voice rose in an excited squeak. “You are, aren’t you? Aren’t you her?”

Lexie laughed in delight at his astonished gaze, as if somehow she would deny who she was. She almost giggled and then said as seriously as she could, given the silliness of it, “Yes, I confess. I am me.” Then, not able to hold back her grin, she said in a conspiratorial undertone, “But let’s not tell anyone. We’ll make it our little secret, okay? But first, just to be sure, who do you think I am?”

The fair-skinned youth flushed a bright dusky pink. The color clashed with his red-gold hair, and even worse with the dark maroon of his uniform cap.

“Everyone knows you. You’re the Blonde Barracuda, right?”