Retribution Boxed Set (Books One and Two) (32 page)

He’d really like to give her that freedom. He
really would.

When they arrived back at the station, Sam and Noah
sequestered themselves in their office for several hours researching leads and
past histories on Lou Elliott and James Angel Hardy, and scoured through some
files Clark had produced. There certainly wasn’t a lack of information. Both
men had been arrested and convicted on several counts of drug trafficking and
racketeering, though Hardy seemed to be the more serious of the two, having
spent time in federal prison where he’d also been accused of murder. The murder
charges didn’t stick, but apparently, they’d been enough to make most in the
federal prison create a wide wake when Angel was in the area.

Sam had also managed to procure a copy of a lease
in the name of Paul Castell for a building in the industrial area along River
Street.

“So, we’ve got a dangerous convict connected to
organized crime, another dealer who’s found a little more trouble than Castell,
and then Castell who we thought was a nuisance, but may play a much more
important part.” Sam dropped his pen on the yellow notepad in front of him and
eyed Noah. His partner had lost his tie and sat with the top two buttons on his
shirt undone and his sleeves rolled up. “The more I look at this, the more I’m
thinking this isn’t a small operation.”

“I’m getting the same vibe.” Noah took another
long hit off his coffee that had to be so far past cold it should be illegal.

“How can you drink it like that?”

He shrugged. “It’s caffeine. What difference does
it make how I get it into my body?”

Sam laughed and realized he’d been holding in a
fair amount of stress. This bust needed to go down, but he hadn’t realized
until now how badly he wanted it. He rolled his shoulders, reminding himself
that balance made him a better detective. “Man, we’ve got to get you civilized.
No more drinking the sludge. That stuff will do in a pinch, but why suffer when
you can have good coffee?”

“Hey. You drink it your way. I’ll drink it mine.”
To prove his point, he slugged down the rest of it, and then met Sam’s gaze
with an obnoxious grin.

Sam groaned. “I’m going to go get me a cup of the
fresh stuff. Call Mark in Drug and Vice. Ask if he has a minute. When he gets
here, we’ll go over what we’ve discovered and what we’re planning.” He stood. “I’ll
be right back.”

When he returned, Mark sat in their visitor chair.
He nodded when Sam entered the room.

“Hey,” Sam responded. Mark and Sam went way back,
with both of them joining the organization fresh out of college. Sam had a
knack for figuring things out, and Mark fit in well with the rough crowd of
drug dealers and high-rolling criminals. His bald head, steely gray eyes and
numerous tattoos made him seem anything but an undercover cop. Many underworld
doors opened for him, and the people who welcomed him in usually regretted it.

“Noah’s telling me you got a lead on something?”

“Angel Hardy mean anything to you? Sam cocked a
brow and watched for Mark’s reaction. He wasn’t disappointed.

Mark’s gaze grew greedy. “Yeah, I know him. What
do you have?”

“A potential drug shipment. Something’s going
down this Saturday at a warehouse on River Street, and we figured you might
want in on it.”

“Hell, yeah. Hardy’s been on my radar for a long
time.” He eyed them both. “Why don’t you turn it over to us? It’s not exactly
up your alley.”

“We’ve got a vested interest,” Sam replied,
earning him a questioning look from Noah. “We’ve been working a domestic
violence case against a guy named Paul Castell.”

Mark nodded. “He’s small time, though.”

“That’s what we’d though,” Sam continued. “His
ex-girlfriend seemed to think it was a little more—”

“She did?” Noah asked, interrupting.

Sam shot him an annoyed gaze as an arrow of panic
sliced through him. “Yeah, she did.” Had Janie said anything to the group when
she’d been questioned at the precinct or just to him later on? “Maybe it was
when I escorted her to her apartment to get her things.” He
had
to keep
his shit straight, or Noah would catch on to him for sure. “Anyway, we started
digging this morning, talked to one of Castell’s associates, and he coughed up
the name.” With a little persuasion.

“Hey, Holden.” A voice came from the doorway.

Sam looked up to find Clark standing there.

“Did you come up with something else for me?”

“I’ve got some photos of his tattoos, and yeah,
it looks like he does have a star near his collarbone. I’ve emailed them to
you, but I could print out copies if you need them to show to a witness.”

“That would be great.” He could take them home to
Janie and see if she could identify him.

“I thought Ms. Singleton was missing in action.” Noah
eyed him with a more curious look this time.

“She is. Unless her attorney has managed to
locate her. Which I’m sure she will. And when she does, I’d like to be prepared.
Is that all right with you? What the hell was up with his partner today?

Noah backed off in look and attitude. “Sure. Always
good to be prepared.”

“Listen,” Mark said. “A couple of my guys are
still here. Let me grab them, and we’ll form our plan. If this thing is going
down Saturday, we’d better get started.” He turned to Clark. “See if you can
track down blueprints for the building so we can get a better handle on the
situation.”

After Clark had left the office, Mark turned his
sniper-sharp gaze to Sam. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but like it or not,
it’s better if you let us handle this. You can be on-site if you’d like, but
you know the chief isn’t going to want investigation handling a drug raid.”

Sam grudgingly agreed.

Hours later, they’d exhausted all avenues of a
possible drug bust. Mark stood and stretched. “I think that’s the best we can
do for now. You’re confident in your informant?”

“As confident as I can be with a meth addict.”

Mark nodded. “Okay. Saturday, it is. We’ll meet
here at ten.”

Sam, Noah and Mark’s guys also stood, the group
confirming with each other their agreement before everyone left except Sam and
his partner. “Probably time to head out.” He glanced at his watch.
Six-thirty
?
“Shit. I’ve got to get going.” He should have been home by six so that
Christian could get to his bar.

“You got a date or something?”

“Yeah. With
your
wife,” he tossed back at
him, evading the question. He was starting to feel like he was the one under
interrogation.

His partner laughed. “Pretty sure she wouldn’t
look twice at your ugly mug.”

“You keep thinking that.” He grabbed his keys and
phone. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

*        *        *

Sam rushed through the door to find Christian
watching him with a none-to-thrilled look on his face. The scent of something
mouthwatering hit his nostrils, and he was certain he’d missed another of
Janie’s creations. “Sorry. There were some breakthroughs in Castell’s case, and
time got away from me.”

“Maybe you ought to think about sending Janie out
to Hunter’s place. Then if we have to leave her alone, we don’t have to worry
about anyone finding her.”

“No.” He didn’t like the thought of not being
able to see her every day. “I know I’m putting you out, having you stay here
constantly, but I’ll be more aware of the time from now on.”

“What happens when you get called out on one of
your all-nighters?”

Sam had considered that as well. It was hard with
Xander and Hunter both out of town. “I’ll figure out something. I’ll take her
to my parents if I need to. My dad’s shot is as deadly as it’s ever been.”

“I’m not a child.” Janie joined them in the foyer.
“I don’t need twenty-four seven babysitting. I’m sure I can stay by myself for
a while. No one knows I’m here.”

“I’m not taking any chances.” Sam sent her a
don’t-argue-with-me look.

“It’s my life.” She put her hands on her hips,
sending a mixture of frustration and attraction shooting through him.

“And you’re in my care.”

Christian interrupted them with a huge sigh. “I’m
late. I’ve gotta go. You kids can figure this out on your own.”

Sam’s gaze warred with Janie’s until the door
shut behind Christian.

“This isn’t up for discussion.” He broke eye
contact and headed for the kitchen. The scent of whatever she’d cooked stirred
up his hunger, and he realized it had been nearly seven hours since he’d
stuffed in a turkey sandwich in between researching Castell, Elliott and Hardy.

He opened the fridge, surprised to find a plate
of delicious-looking pork and some kind of rice covered in plastic. “Is this
for me?” he yelled.

“Maybe,” she answered, and he was surprised to
find her standing so close. “You can have it if you’ll quit being so
obstinate.”

He lifted the plastic and smelled. “What is it?”

“It’s pork and rice.”

“I figured that.” He grinned, a warm sense of
coming home filling him. “I meant what’s the official title. You chefs never
cook just pork chops. There’s always some fancy name.”

Her eyes brightened, and he could tell he’d scored
a few points. “It’s a grilled porterhouse pork chop with chipotle cilantro
butter.”

“See? I was right. It looks amazing. Should I
microwave it?”

“Of course.”

“It’s too fancy. I wouldn’t want to ruin its
perfection.”

“Too late for that. It’s best served straight
from the grill. If you would have been home on time, Christian wouldn’t have
been annoyed, and your dinner would have been perfect.”

Compelled, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
He wasn’t sure if it was a show of appreciation or because he wanted to taste
her, or maybe both. He lingered when he shouldn’t have. “I’m sorry. Thank you
for thinking of me.”

Her eyes were wide as he pulled away.

The feel of her skin beneath his lips shocked
him, too, and he turned away, using the excuse of grabbing a fork from the
drawer to give him a moment to recover. He shouldn’t have done that. Shouldn’t
have put either one of them in that position. Sure, he could claim it was
innocent, but from the look on her face, he knew they both knew otherwise.

“I don’t know if it helps, but I was late because
we were busy running down some leads in the case I’m building against Castell.”

She poured two glasses of white wine and brought
them to the table, sitting across from him. “What did you find out?”

He forked a bite of pork and let the flavors
simmer on his tongue. “Wow.” He chased it with a swallow of wine. “This is
amazing.”

She reached out and stilled his fork. “Don’t sit
there and eat the food I prepared for you and make me wait for details. What
happened?”

The feel of her hand on his made his skin sizzle.
He looked into her eyes, wondering if she felt the same. She blinked and
removed her hand. He swallowed, hard, and it wasn’t because he had food in his
mouth. “My partner and I went by your old place today. Found Brent loitering. I
think he was looking to score.”

She nodded quickly. “Paul sold stuff to him
really cheap. He’d even give it to him for free sometimes. I think he felt
sorry for the kid. He’s probably hurting for a fix with Paul in the hospital.”

“I think you’re right. He looked pretty bad.” He
wished he could take the pathetic kid and help him, but until Brent was ready
to get clean, there wasn’t much anyone could do for him. “Noah and I talked to
him, and he gave us some information on Castell. Also on a guy named Lou
Elliott.”

“That has to be the guy I talked about. He’d come
by pretty often.”

“If I showed you his mug shot, could you identify
him?”

“I’m sure of it.”

He’d have to print one off at work and bring it
home. “I think we also got a name on the guy with the star tattoo. Angel. Angel
Hardy.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of
paper. It was an upper body shot of the convict without his shirt, and it
showcased the numerous tattoos over his chest, neck and face.

“That’s him,” Janie said immediately. Her face
paled, and she folded her arms across her chest. “He’s the one who really
scares me.”

A sudden urge to pull her to him, to tell her he
would protect her overwhelmed him. It took a great deal of will not to spout
his feelings. “I’m not thrilled to know you were hanging around these guys, but
at least we know who we’re dealing with.”

“And now you understand why I couldn’t walk away
so easily.”

The thought of her running from any one of these
guys left him cold. Unless she left town, she wouldn’t have had a chance. “I
don’t like it, but I get it.”

“When I first met Paul, he seemed like a really
great guy. He had money, and he treated me well. It wasn’t like I moved in with
a known drug dealer.”

Sam didn’t need the reminder.

She took a sip of wine and then continued, her
gaze slipping to a far-away place. “Maybe I’m a bad judge of character, but he
seemed like a good guy. We’d dated about two months. I’d spent plenty of time
at his apartment. Things seemed good. I hadn’t met his parents—still haven’t,
but I didn’t want to introduce him to my family, either. I hadn’t met his
friends, but it didn’t seem like a big deal. He was focused on me, and it was
nice for a change.” She blinked. “When he asked me to move in with him, I didn’t
hesitate.”

Sam was about to inform her she didn’t need to
explain her choices to him, but she kept talking. Maybe she needed to get it
out of her system. He wanted to tell her about the drug bust, too, but it
wasn’t only his life on the line when it went down.

“Then by slow degrees, things started to change.”
She took another sip, her expression growing distressed, but she didn’t stop. “He’d
be rude or demanding, but then always apologize. I know it sounds lame, but at
that moment, it made sense. Then it was a slap, followed by flowers. Then a
punch that left a bruise.” Tears formed in her eyes. “I was really stupid,
wasn’t I?”