“Agent Locke, so glad you’ve decided to join us this morning.”
Caleb’s already busting my chops. It’s a good thing I know he’s joking. I call him my friend, but sometimes Caleb’s just a giant pain in my ass. Captain Caleb Thorne is my best friend, since kindergarten. Our mothers met at the hospital; we were born four hours apart. Caleb is older. His birth date is September tenth, while I made it into the world September eleventh at two in the morning.
“You’re going to go there?” I ask, quirking my brow. Caleb knows I was up late going through the case files for the latest case we’re embarking on. We finally figured a way to infiltrate one of the leading narcotic trafficking rings in Denver. I was inducted into this team in its final stages, when Detective Sullivan was rushed to hospital with acute appendicitis. I was supposed to be on a month of light duty after the big case I was on in organized crime. Usually in between huge undercover cases, we get a break to regroup and get some normalcy back into our lives. But when Caleb called, I wasn’t going to let him down, which means I’ve been reading every piece of paper in the dozen files about the players in this drug ring to catch myself up on what these guys have been working on for months.
Caleb gives me his “just joking” smile and pulls out a chair for me next to him. There’re four of us on the team. Alex is our inside man and is hopefully getting an invite to meet the big boss of Los Asesinos as we speak. Alex’s full name is Alejandro Perez. Los Asesinos has been expanding into our territory over the course of the last couple of years, and Alex has been wheedling his way into the crew. He’s not in the meeting this morning, and from this moment on, we connect only through secure lines and at the safe zones we’ve set up.
So far, we’ve been able to constrain their drug distribution to a small area, but things have shifted. More and more young teens are finding their way into Los Asesinos, and the ones who aren’t making the cut are found dead of an overdose. Three in the last month, to be exact, that we can find who have a direct connection to this gang. What we don’t have is enough hard evidence. The fuckers are smart, and their leader is well protected. Luis Hernandez comes across straight as an arrow. His mechanic and auto body businesses are adjacent to the apartment building where we’ve currently secured a place for me to move into where I can provide backup for Alex. Luis is always nearby when shit goes down, but we’ve found nothing definitive to connect him to the seven deaths that include the three overdoses. The rest are related to territory disputes.
Alex has a theory that he’s using these teens as lab rats and is giving them new drugs laced with other shit, including fentanyl. But a theory is just words until we can prove it.
While Alex is doing his thing on the inside, I’ll be his connection to the force. Zeke is setting that up as we speak. He’s the tech behind the scenes. Zeke is going to make sure that our covers are solid and Alex’s cover doesn’t get blown. He’s created our backstories, keeping us from being made and making sure Alex is as safe as he can be.
Caleb is in charge. He makes the plays for this sting operation. He’s on the fast track to becoming chief. He’s always wanted to be a cop, and he’s a natural leader. I joined the military at eighteen, and it took me a while to find my place on the force, but now that I’m here, I know it’s where I belong. The last seven years haven’t been easy, but still, I wake up each morning knowing I’m making a difference.
We’re in the middle of our briefing when Zeke comes in, and his expression tells me it’s not good news.
“The apartment we need was rented right out from under our noses. Some bureaucrats in finance didn’t send the deposit, and it’s gone. I can’t fucking believe it,” Zeke exclaims, pounding his fist on the desk.
“Check the perimeter and see what else is available,” Caleb tells him.
“What do you think I’ve been doing for the last half hour? That’s the only apartment that has a full view of the alley, the perfect drop-off point to get messages to Alex, and the best line of sight of the operation. That window”—he points to the schematic floor plan of the building and the apartment in question on the screen—“has a visual of the main office. That’s where shit goes down.”
“Maybe we can talk to the new tenant and put them up someplace for a while until we’re done,” I suggest.
“Yeah.” Caleb blows out a breath. This is our first hiccup in the case. He turns to Zeke and asks, “What do we know about them?”
“Chloe Dayton, single, living alone, twenty-eight, not so much as a parking ticket. Newly moved here from Arizona, leaving her parents and siblings. Says here she’s a massage therapist at the rehabilitation clinic at the hospital.” Zeke pulls up her picture on his laptop and whistles. “Fuck me, she’s hot!”
I take in the photo on the screen. Chloe’s more than hot, she’s beautiful, with defined high cheekbones, a wide mouth and kissable smile, and her blue eyes are shining brightly. As her ash-blonde hair is blowing in the wind, it tells me this photo was taken outside. The more I look at the picture, the more I see a fragile quality. Delicate, almost. I can’t pinpoint it, but I have this compelling need to protect her.
“Where can we find Miss Dayton?” Caleb asks. He’s already moved on from the photo to finding a way to rectify the situation and making sure Alex is covered for any situation that may arise with Los Asesinos.
“The lease on the apartment closes today. My bet is that she’s moving into our space,” Zeke says, snapping the laptop shut. “Want me to go pay her a visit?”
“I’ll go,” I volunteer. “I’m supposed to be living there anyway. Might as well see the place and convince Miss Dayton to give up her new accommodations.”
Normally when we’re dealing with drugs and gangs, we’re cruising the lower side of Denver. However, Luis Hernandez likes the good life and has set up his shop in a very elite part of town in a great neighborhood and in a solid business district. He’s doing all he can to make his business look legitimate to the rest of the public.
As I drive up to the building, I see the moving van parked out front. Not far from the van’s open doors, a man sits on a sofa planted on the sidewalk. Next to this burly older man is Miss Dayton, crouched on her haunches, talking with him. The man seems to be in pain. I make quick work of pulling into the empty spot behind the van, then step out of my Jeep and assess the situation. The guy who must be the moving buddy is unloading what he can on his own, but he too looks to be in his early sixties. He disappears into the apartment building with a box in hand.
Men from the mechanic shop are coming out of their bays and are staring at the scene in front of them. I catch a glimpse of Alex, who’s blending in with the mechanics, shouting catcalls at Chloe like the rest of them.
“Yo, chica, you can rub me up and down,” one asshole with a bandana says, throwing out a laugh, his hand moving to his crotch.
“He’s too old for you, babe. Let me show you what a real man can do,” says another.
Alex is whispering something to the guy next to him, but he refuses to openly egg them on. I’m just about to approach when Luis Hernandez himself struts his ass over to Chloe. Immediately, I know this is going to be trouble. He’s fucking suave. He walks like a king among peasants, with his jet-black hair slicked back and his deep-set eyes looking at Chloe like she’s just what he wants to order off the menu.
Luis goes off in a spate of rapid Spanish. I don’t catch it all, but in short, he is telling his men to get their asses inside and back to work. As his men file back into the shop, Alex hangs back, one of the last to leave, glancing my way. I nod in his direction to let him know I’ve got this.
“Mi dulce,” Luis says to Chloe in his heavy Spanish accent. “It’s not safe for a pretty girl like you to be out without a man to take your back.” He smiles her way, and she gets up and steps back. Even from where I am, I can sense her discomfort. Luis tries to placate her fears. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.” He holds up his hands in surrender.
Shit! Luis is making a move on her, and if it’s true what they say about him and women, this can mean a whole lot of trouble for Chloe. One of Luis’s ex-girlfriends has been an informant and told Alex that Luis is relentless when he wants a woman. But none of them last long, and they all tend to “leave town” shortly after the breakup, never to be heard from again.
I decide to make a bold move and pray to God, Chloe follows my lead. “Hey, baby,” I say, putting an arm around her waist and pulling her to my side. I kiss her temple while she looks up at me in utter disbelief. “Sorry I’m late. The meeting ran longer than I expected.”
Luis tenses, his entire demeanor changing. The lamb is turning into a lion right before my eyes. The great thing about it is that Chloe sees it too and is fisting her fingers in my shirt.
“That’s okay, sweetie. But Frank here strained his back. His sons are going to come and help, but we need to move him upstairs,” Chloe says. She’s got the voice of an angel, soft and sultry and smooth as honey. I move my gaze from an angry Luis to Chloe. Her pleading eyes tell me that I need to get her inside and away from Luis.
As luck would have it, Frank’s partner is coming back out, and that’s when I turn to the older man, Frank, who is on high alert. It’s obvious that he knows Luis’s reputation and position with Los Asesinos. “Can you walk up the steps with Chloe?” I ask, then tell his buddy to assist her.
“I can’t leave the truck,” Frank insists. Taking a quick peek inside, I see that there’s still half the truck to unload. Mind you, they’re going to have to reload it as soon as I’ve had a chat with Chloe.
“I’ll wait for your sons to get here, then I’ll come up,” I tell Frank, who gives me a grateful smile.
“It seems your knight in shining armor has everything under control, dulce. I’ll leave you to your day. See you soon, Chloe,” Luis says as he steps back. I can see the shark circling his prey. He’s not done with her.
She drags my attention away from Luis by tugging on my arm, then pulling me close so she can whisper in my ear. “Thank you so much. I’m on the third floor, first apartment off the stairs, to the right.”
“Get inside, but we have to talk, Chloe,” I tell her. Clearly stunned that I know her name, she parts her lips slightly and is about to say something when I stop her. “Not now. We’re being watched.” Then I do what any good boyfriend would do and place a quick light kiss on his girlfriend’s kissable mouth. “Go, and take Frank inside.”