Tipsy (19 page)

I wanted this case over.

I wanted to be Blue again. I wanted to
spend time with Julie. I wanted to drive my sweet-ass Challenger
around town and sleep in a bed that didn’t have dust mites living
in the mattress.

I knew what I was doing was important.
I knew what I was doing was absolutely necessary. I couldn’t give
up, but this case needed to be resolved. People’s lives were at
risk and on hold.

Dom was pleased when I showed up with
the tow truck. He seemed surprised that I thought of such a vehicle
for delivery, but he agreed that it made a great cover for what we
were really transporting.

In the end, I got the job. I was going
to deliver the haul of drugs to Myrtle Beach. He put me on standby.
I was to wait for the call, then come running. My job was now to be
available. Whenever Dom said drive, I said how far.

I tried to get the address of where the
supply was kept, but he clammed up. I didn’t want to press the
issue because he already didn’t like me much. So it was back to
waiting. Waiting for the call, for the delivery.

I wasn’t too worried about Slater’s
warning until Dom announced that he would ride with me to Myrtle
Beach. That threw a huge wrench in my plans. I was going to have to
work something out with Watson in advance for the sting because I
wouldn’t have as much freedom on the road.

But it wasn’t really arresting them
that had me worried. We would get the crew. What worried me was the
fact Dom wanted to come. My instincts were screaming that the only
reason he wanted to ride along was because he had no intention of
ever letting me come home.

He would use me for the job, then get
rid of me when we were still alone. Then he’d tell the rest of the
crew I decided to skip town and not come back. The only one who
wouldn’t believe him would be Slater, but by then it would be too
late.

The more I thought about it, the more I
thought about Julie. Odds were I wasn’t going to die. My eyes were
wide open. We’d take Dom in before he could act, and I would come
home. But… But even the best laid plans sometimes got messed up. I
didn’t want to go into this without seeing Julie at least one more
time.

The problem was every time I saw her,
things between us got better and better. It took everything I had
to walk out her door tonight.

I sipped at the coffee, the rich
sweetness settling some of my thoughts, and then I reached under
the driver’s seat to grab the cell phone Watson gave me to keep in
contact when I could. I only talked to them twice since going back
undercover.

It rang several times before I heard
the line pick up. I had a ping of regret that it was the middle of
the night, but Watson knew I would only call when I
could.

“
Gray,” Watson said, his
voice thick with sleep. “Is everything okay?”

“
Sorry to call at such a
late hour, sir.” I apologized.

I heard the ruffling of what I assumed
were covers and then his voice came on the line, more alert than
before.

“
Nonsense. Anytime. You have
information for me?”

“
Not much. I’ve successfully
infiltrated the crew here. I’ve been asked to deliver a load of
drugs into South Carolina within the next few days. I’m hoping I’ll
be able to see where the drugs are coming from when I make the
pick-up.”

“
That’s excellent. Keep me
informed. We can set up a sting operation for you to be intercepted
on your delivery. We can confiscate the drugs, arrest you, and then
you can “roll over” on the others in the crew in exchange for a
lighter sentence.”

I knew he was speaking hypothetically.
I wouldn’t actually be charged with anything, but the department
would make it look like I was so my secret identity stayed that
way. They could make a big deal out of sending me to a facility not
in this area so people wouldn’t wonder why I wasn’t behind bars
with the others that I helped put there. Once the ring was busted
and dismantled here in town, I could go back to my life, and
hopefully no one would be the wiser.

It seemed like a pretty open-and-shut
case. Clean. I could do this. I could end this any day now. All I
had to do was wait for the call with my delivery
schedule.

“
There’s another reason I
called,” I said before Watson could hang up the phone. I cleared my
throat. “It’s—uh—personal.”

“
Whatever you need,” he
said. I hoped he would still feel that way after I told him what I
needed.

“
There’s this woman,” I
began.

“
Mother of God, Gray, don’t
tell me you fell for someone on the crew.”

“
No. No, nothing like
that.”

“
Thank God. Do you know what
kind of compromise that would be to your cover?”

I didn’t say anything because even
though Julie wasn’t on the crew, she was still technically a
compromise to my cover.

Watson swore. “What is it, Gray?” he
demanded.

“
The night I went
undercover, I stood up a woman for a date,” I began.

“
Yeah, I
remember.”

“
Well, I dated her before,
months before. Before I went undercover. She showed up at the club
my first night under. She… uh… fell in with Dom. I intercepted as
he was dragging her off the dance floor. I sent her
home.”

“
So she’s connected to your
undercover alias. And she knows your real name.”

“
Yes.” I paused. “I told her
I was undercover.”

I yanked the phone away from my ear
just in time to be spared the barrage of expletives that came
through the line. When Watson was done cussing at me, I rested the
cell back against my ear.

“
I know it’s against
protocol. It couldn’t be helped. She assured me she wouldn’t
breathe a word. She promised if she ever saw me out in town, she
would pretend she had no idea who I was.”

“
You trust this
woman?”

“
I do, sir.
Absolutely.”

“
That’s good enough for
me.”

“
There’s something
else.”

“
Jesus, Gray.
What!”

“
The last guy to deliver for
Dom never came back. Dom wants to ride with me. I don’t think it’s
a good sign,” I said, letting that sink in. “I want your word, sir,
that if something happens to me, she will be notified privately. I
don’t want her hearing about me on the news. She’s important to me.
She means something.”

Watson was silent on the line for a
long time. “You saying you think you’re gonna die, Gray?” he asked
gruffly.

“
I have no intention of
dying, sir. But I just… I want to be sure she gets the respect she
deserves. She isn’t my wife, but…”

“
You don’t have to explain,
son. I understand. You have my word.”

The tightness between my shoulder
blades seemed to ease a little with his promise. I gave him Julie’s
name and address and then cut the connection.

After putting the secret cell back
where I was hiding it, I put the car in drive and went back to the
ghetto.

19

Julie

Twelve. That’s how many haircuts I did
today. That doesn’t count the couple of eyebrow waxes and two
highlights I did as well. My fingers were numb from holding the
scissors. My feet were growing blisters the size of my head, and my
shoulders ached from holding my arms up to work.

I swear every walk-in that came in
today was pointed in my direction. But I made a lot of tips and I
sold quite a few products, which would mean some extra commission.
I couldn’t wait to go home to peel the boots off my tired feet,
take a long hot bath, and sip a glass of wine.

But first, I had to finish
work.

Of course my busiest day on the floor
styling hair was also my day to stay late and go through inventory
and call the supplier. I thought about putting it off until
tomorrow. But tomorrow was Saturday. I wasn’t entirely sure if my
suppliers were open on Saturdays. I’d always placed my order on a
weekday.

Not to mention tomorrow was my day off.
After today, I sincerely wanted to sleep half the day away. I’d
rather yank my toenails out with a pair of tweezers than get up
early and come in here again tomorrow.

Most of the girls were finishing up
their day (some had already left) when I peeked out the window at
the darkening sky. There was a lot of cloud coverage today; the sky
seemed lower than usual, like it was heavy and pressing in on the
town. I could see the trees outside swaying in the wind, and I
wondered if perhaps a rainstorm was heading our way. Living so
close to the coast sometimes made the weather here
unpredictable.

Enough stalling,
I told myself and headed into the back room where
I kept my clipboard and inventory sheets. I did pause to quickly
brew myself a mug of coffee with the Kuerig that Susan bought for
all the girls last Christmas.

I definitely needed a pick-me-up after
today. I felt the beginnings of a monster headache behind my eyes
and hoped the caffeine would kick it out of my head. After my
coffee was done, I added a splash of creamer from the fridge and
carried it over to where I kept my notes.

I glanced at the list and sipped my
coffee as I went through the cabinets, double-checking to make sure
I had everything listed that the salon would need. I liked to order
in bulk. It seemed easier to place one larger order every couple
weeks than to constantly be ordering stock.

After making all the notations and
double-checking the order, I pulled out my cell to place the call
to the distributor. Just before I hit send, I realized I didn’t
check the display out front. After the busy day we had, I knew we
were running low on several products. With a sigh, I set the phone
down and took another gulp of coffee. Clipboard and pen in hand, I
started out to the front.

The sound of the front doors opening
and closing heavily had my footsteps slowing. I wasn’t sure why,
but the sound… It just seemed different than usual. More
forced.

I heard the clicking of Susan’s heels
on the tile and then her muffled gasp. “What are you doing
here?”

I kept just inside the back room,
instinctively knowing I shouldn’t go out there.

“
You haven’t been answering
your phone,” said a voice that seemed vaguely familiar. I tilted my
head, trying to decide where I’d heard it before.

“
I’ve been busy,” Susan said
tightly.

“
Busy doing
what?”

“
I have a business to run,”
she said, and I swear I heard the hint of fear in her tone. My
stomach began to knot, wondering what the hell was going
on.

“
So do I, and when you don’t
answer the phone, I start to wonder,” the male replied. I heard his
footsteps shuffle farther into the room. “Wonder if maybe you’re
going to turn on me.”

“
I’m not.”

“
I’m gonna need to see the
product.”

“
It’s safe.”

“
I want to see.”

“
What if someone saw you
come in here?”

“
So?” he challenged.
“Everyone needs a haircut from time to time.”

The tension coming from out there was
thick; I felt it oozing through the doorway, trying to tangle me up
in its nasty web.

“
It’s in the back,” Susan
finally said. I guess she was going to show him whatever it was he
wanted to see.

But wait… I was in the back.

The minute they stepped into this room,
they would know that I was eavesdropping. Something told me that
wasn’t good.

I looked around for a place to hide, my
eyes landing on the door to what Susan said was where the water
heater and stuff was. I turned to flee, to hide, when the man’s
voice caught my attention once more.

“
Let me remind you,” he
said, low and menacing. “
You
work for
me
. Those who try to turn on me, who
try to venture out on their own… It doesn’t end well for
them.”

A charged silence permeated the air,
and I imagined Susan and whoever it was out there locked in a
stare-down. It was a good time to get to hiding.

“
You killed him, didn’t
you?” Susan said, accusation thick in her tone.

Wait a minute.
I stopped, turned back to the doorway.
Who killed who, now?

“
That’s a pretty serious
accusation,” the man said mildly. Like being accused of murder
wasn’t that big of a deal.

Who is this guy?

“
You told me he was out on a
job. No job would last this long. You kept me on a string. You knew
when I realized what you did that I wouldn’t do this anymore.” I
could hear the emotion welling up in Susan, like she had some sort
of closed valve in her throat and the pressure from what she was
feeling was bottling up behind it, ready to explode. “I should have
realized sooner.” Her voice cracked.

“
Listen, bitch.” The man
breathed. “I don’t have time for your moaning. Like I said.
You
work for
me
. Now show me the
stuff.”