Cade
“So, Jolie, why do you want to work for an MMA gym?”
We’d already finished two of the interviews, and so far they were all just okay. Jolie Phillips was the last one and wasn’t anything like what I expected. She was pixie-like, small in stature, but with medium-length hair in rainbow colors. Her huge blue eyes and fairy-like features made her seem much younger than she was at twenty-four, but she was no pushover.
For fifteen minutes, we’d asked her all about her life, her past, her dreams and aspirations, and the woman had gladly spilled her every thought. There wasn’t a single disingenuous thing about her, but when Ryder had prodded deeper about her education, Jolie’s back had gone ramrod straight, her chin had jerked higher in the air, and the steel in her voice brokered no argument.
“Not everyone needs to finish college. I spent three and a half years trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I finally decided not to waste any more money giving it to a large university until I settled on something. So excuse me if I’m not coming to you with an Ivy League education. Last I checked this was a gym, not the boardroom of a Fortune 500 company.”
We all sat there with our mouths hanging open. First off, we were guys and never said that much at one time—ever! And second, she was trying to get a job here, right? It appeared she’d just insulted us. It was crystal clear that education was a touchy subject for her.
Ryder’s eyes were still wide as he stared at the girl in complete and total awe. Ah, dammit! He was smitten.
I cleared my throat. “Any other brilliant questions, Blake?”
“Uh, no. That’s it. I’m uh, sorry Ms. Phillips. I didn’t mean to insult you.”
Jolie clapped her hands over her mouth. “Oh, gosh. I’m sorry. I just totally blew that out of proportion, didn’t I? It’s a touchy subject with my dad. He seems to think I’m wasting my life. I just projected all that on you guys. I’m sorry. Please, I’d make a great admin for you. I’m a quick learner. I’m passionate.”
“Obviously,” Levi muttered under his breath.
Jolie’s face went red, but she continued. “I can work all hours, and I rarely complain.”
I glanced at Levi and then at Ryder. We were communicating with our eyes and had all pretty much agreed (nonverbally, that is) that Jolie would make a great fit for the place. She’d enchant our gym members and had the backbone and gumption to deal with five surly men. I just hoped she wouldn’t freak out when we told her what we really did.
“Ms. Phillips—” I started.
“Jolie, please. And please, Mr. Montgomery, I really need this job. I moved out of my parents’ house, and I have nowhere else to go, and I don’t want to go crawling back. So, please, please.” Her eyes implored me to give her the job, and we would. If she was okay with what we did and could keep her mouth shut, she’d be a great fit.
“As I was saying, Jolie, we’d love to have you join Shadow Force—” Before the words were out of my mouth, Jolie jumped out of her chair and wrapped her skinny arms around my neck. It was like being hugged by a teenager, she was so tiny and petite. I fidgeted, uncomfortable with her display of affection. Ryder was giving me the death stare, and Levi was trying not to laugh. Jolie must have felt the tension because she stepped back, hands going to her mouth again.
“Oh, goodness. I’m sorry. I’m kind of a hugger.”
“Right.” I cleared my throat, trying to regain my composure. “So, Ms. Phil—I mean, Jolie. We need to fill you in on a few things about our organization. I’m going to leave that to Ryder. If you have any questions after that, let us know.”
“Okay.” She seemed wary and glanced to Ryder for help. Then, as if warring within herself, she physically pulled herself together and straightened her shoulders back. “Mr. Montgomery—”
“Cade.”
“Yes, okay.” She nodded. “Cade, um, is there perhaps a place I could stay? You know, just until I get on my feet. I didn’t know if there was a cot or something here in the gym. I know there are locker rooms, and I could keep those clean, if I can use them, but I was just hoping—”
I lifted my hand to stop the barrage of words flowing from her mouth. “We have dorm rooms set up across the hall. Right now, we don’t have an extra room, but I’m sure something can be arranged.”
Piper walked in at that moment and took in the scene. Jolie standing at arm’s reach from me, only coming up to my shoulder. Ryder with his dumbstruck look on his face as if he’d never seen a more amazing woman in his life. He was a goner. Levi holding in his laughter, his face beet red. She grinned.
“You can share with me. I’m Piper.” Piper reached out her hand, and Jolie sidestepped it, wrapping her in a big hug.
“I’m Jolie.”
Piper hissed between her teeth, and Jolie jumped back.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“No worries. Bruised ribs.”
“Oh! Are you a fighter?” Jolie looked at her in wide-eyed amazement.
“Um, no. Not really.”
“Oh.” Piper looked at me as if to say, you haven’t told her?
I shook my head.
“Anyway, I don’t need much space, so you’re welcome to bunk with me. There’s a queen-sized bed in there now, so we’d have to share. But I don’t mind, if you don’t.”
“Of course not. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.”
Piper smiled. “It will be nice to have another girl around here.” She gave Jolie a warm smile and then turned serious eyes to me. “Cade, can I talk to you?”
“Sure. You got this, Ryder?”
He just nodded his head up and down, his mouth still partially open. I didn’t see the attraction. Sure, Jolie was cute, but she was like little-sister cute.
I followed Piper out to the lobby area where one of our hourly workers was manning the front desk. We had three or four front-desk staff, as well as a few trainers for the gym. None of them had any idea what we did behind the scenes, and none of them had access to either of the secure areas. I waved at Julie who worked Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
When we scanned ourselves into the dorm area, Piper sat on the large couch, and I sat next to her.
“I met with Will today.”
I knew she’d met with him, but now I wondered if I should have gone with her, as her eyebrows pushed together in concern.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” She smiled, and I was grateful there seemed to be some resolution to their feud. Will wasn’t my biggest fan, but Piper loved him.
“Good.”
The concern returned her features, and I sat up a little straighter. There was more to the story than just an end to their arguing. “Yeah… um… he asked if I knew about a secret government organization in the area.”
“Oh.” Well, damn. That wasn’t good.
“Apparently, Washington called him to clean up the mess we made. I denied it, but I could tell he didn’t believe me. He didn’t press for more details, though. He just let it go.”
“I’ll let Levi know. If Washington trusts him, though, there probably isn’t any reason to be concerned.”
She relaxed, her shoulders dropping as she sagged against the couch. “Anyway, I just wanted the team to know it appears you have an ally in the FBI should you ever need one.”
“I don’t think Will would look at me as an ally.”
“Maybe not before all this happened. But he does now. He apologized about what happened all those years ago. He said he’d been wrong to keep me from you. That he hadn’t realized what we meant to each other. He sees that now. “
I wasn’t sure what to do with the information. It almost seemed like Piper was confessing that she still had feelings for me, but it was all wrapped up in the Will situation, and I couldn’t afford to presume anything.
“So, what does that mean?”
“Nothing really. I just wanted you to know.”
“No, Piper. What does that mean for us? What are you saying?”
She fidgeted with her hands in her lap, her teeth chewing on her bottom lip. I wanted to take that plump lip between my teeth and savor her. Even with the bruises marring her features, she was beautiful. Breathtaking.
“I don’t know. Everything is happening so fast.”
“It hasn’t been fast. It’s been twelve damn years, Piper! Twelve years! And I for one don’t want to spend another day without you.”
I didn’t wait for her to answer; I closed the distance between us and scooped her gently into my arms, kissing those lips she’d been nibbling just moments before. She stiffened at first, then relaxed into my embrace, opening her mouth so I could gain better access. I traced her tongue with mine, tasting the Coke she’d no doubt purchased while she was out. Her lips were soft, and I was careful to be gentle with her injuries. I’d waited so long to have her in my life, and I knew I couldn’t rush her, but it was a difficult task to hold myself back.
Piper pulled away, her smile lighting up her eyes. “You don’t give up easily, do you?”
I grinned. “Nope.”
She sighed then and rested her head against my chest. “I don’t know, Cade. About us. About anything really. Can you be patient with me? Take things slow?”
I held her tighter in my arms, loving the way she fitted perfectly. “I’ve waited twelve years. I’m not going anywhere.”
***
That evening I had a final meeting with Angel Rubio, the buyer I’d set up for the deal with Chavez the following night. I always liked to meet the night before and feel them out for any changes or nerves they might be experiencing. So far, we’d only met once before, and his background was a mystery. Ryder had run all the prerequisite background checks on the guy, and so far he was like a ghost. Born in Venezuela. Owned property in Venezuela, Miami, and Atlanta. No arrests. No rumors. It was as if his life was squeaky-clean.
Since he was interested in buying a crap ton of drugs and weapons from Chavez, though, we knew that wasn’t the case.
I met him at my usual spot, Tino’s bar, and threw a hand up to Tino as I walked towards my regular place at the back booth.
“Beer?” The portly man grinned, already pouring a pint.
“Yeah. Thanks, Tino.”
“No problem, amigo. You meeting someone?”
“Aren’t I always?”
Tino laughed heartily. He never asked why I was meeting the scum of the earth at his bar. He knew nothing of Shadow Force’s clandestine activities, only that I owned a gym and fought there several times a year making him a lot of money on the gambling circuit. I sat in the booth, my back to the wall, all exits in full sight, waiting on Angel to arrive. Tino set the beer in front of me and left just as my buyer walked in the door.
Angel Rubio stood about six feet tall, his thick dark hair combed straight back from his face. He had a full beard that conjured up images of a Mayans character from the TV motorcycle club series, rather than the man before me dressed in tailored slacks and a button-down shirt.
He sat down, nodding his hello, and I lifted a finger to flag Tino down, who rushed over to take Angel’s order.
“El Patrón. Make it a double.”
Tino nodded his head in acknowledgement and disappeared to get his drink.
“Everything set for tomorrow night?” Rubio folded his hands on the table in front of him, leaning in so his voice was low and didn’t carry to other patrons. He needn’t have worried; Tino’s wasn’t busy on a Tuesday night, and the people who were present were already three sheets to the wind.
“Meet is still at midnight at the warehouse on Jones Avenue.”
“You’re sure they’ve got the full order?”
“Enough heroin to intoxicate a small city, and a few tons of AKs.”
Angel smiled, revealing crooked teeth, although perfectly white as if he’d bothered to have them professionally whitened but not straightened.
“Good.”
“You have plans for those AKs, or simply selling them elsewhere?”
“Last I checked, we didn’t swap secrets, amigo. You stick to what you do, and I’ll stick to what I do. Comprehendé?”
Sure, I comprehended, but that wouldn’t keep me from trying to dig a little more. I lifted my hands in defense. “Just trying to ferret out more business. I meant no harm.”
“Sure. I’d be happy to set you up with some of my connections, if all goes as planned.”
“Of course it will go as planned. I’ve worked my ass off to make sure it all goes as planned.”
“We’ll see.” Angel grinned again, and the sight was a little disturbing, as if the man had a screw loose.
“You expecting problems?”
“Let’s just say rumors I’m hearing are a bit concerning. With El Sangre off the streets, people are understandably jittery. The way that went down—well, it was rather interesting.”
I wasn’t surprised that word on the streets had gotten around about El Sangre’s demise. As far as I knew, though, no one had any idea that Piper had been held captive by them. There shouldn’t be any connection to Shadow Force, but I was uneasy with the implications.
“You got something to say, Rubio?”
It was Angel’s turn to lift his hands. “Not at all, amigo. We’re good.”
I stood, ready for the meeting to be over with. I held my hand out, and Angel shook it, standing at the same time. Neither of us had touched our drinks. I laid down enough cash to cover both. “These are on me.”
Angel inclined his head, that creepy smile back in place.
“See you tomorrow night.”
The sounds of the bar came into focus, as if everything had faded into the distance while we’d been talking. The hair on the back of my neck stood at attention. Something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
When I returned to Shadow Force headquarters, I found Levi in his office. Rapping my knuckles against the doorframe, I stepped inside as he looked up from his computer and motioned me in. I sank down onto the couch across from him and sighed heavily.
“That bad, huh?”
“Maybe. Just met with Rubio, and he made some insinuations about El Sangre’s fall that make me a little uneasy.”
“Is he backing out of the buy tomorrow night?”
“No. He’s still going through with it. But I don’t know. Something felt off.”
“Should we reschedule? Pull out?”
I shook my head, leaning forward to rest my elbows on my knees. “Nah. It’s been too long putting this together. If we pull out now, we not only risk spooking Rubio but also Chavez.”
Levi pushed back in his chair. “So, we stay the course?”
“Yeah. It will be you and me at the buy, but I think everyone else needs to be on standby. Might not be a bad idea to have Kennedy pulled in on this too.”
“What about the mole?”
“Just keep it to Kennedy for now. He can pull a few guys together at the last minute. Keep it small.”
“I’ll give him a call. Anything else?”
“Nope. We just need to watch our backs. I have a feeling this could all go to hell in a handbasket real quick.”