Caught in the Act (23 page)

Kari’s mouth dropped open. “You told him about me?”

“I didn’t use any names. Don’t worry.”

She thrust her hands into her hair, wanting to pull it out by the roots. “Are you crazy? How can I not worry?”

“Everything will be okay.”

“He could find out who I am, Maria.”

“That’s true, but he won’t tell.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he doesn’t want
me
to tell anyone who
he
is.”

Kari stood and paced the living room, filled with nervous energy.

“It’s better this way,” Maria insisted. “We can’t trust men like Chuy and Carlos Moreno. I know Agent Foster is good. Do you think Adam is good?”

Oh, he was
good
, she thought. “He’s not as bad as them,” she said.

“Maybe you can make a bargain.”

Kari stopped in her tracks, nodding. She couldn’t bargain with Adam sexually—he wasn’t that cheap. And since she’d been throwing herself at him, it was too late to play coy. But she did have something else he wanted: information.

Although it was painful for Kari to acknowledge, because she was developing feelings for him, Adam wasn’t over Penelope Mendes. She suspected that he’d do just about anything for details about her killer.

“That’s it,” she said, forming a new plan.

After Adam returned home, he had another late visitor.

He opened the door for Ian. “What’s up?”

“My assignment is fucked.”

Adam let him inside, gesturing for him to sit down. There were very few people he cared about outside his own family. Ian was one of them. In fact, Adam was closer to Ian than he was to Gabriel, his real brother. Gabe had been living like a recluse since he came home from Iraq, and no one could get through to him.

Adam didn’t want Ian to drift away, too. He would always have his best friend’s back. “What happened?”

Ian rubbed his eye sockets. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“At the beginning?”

“I told you about the fight with my target, right?”

“Right.”

“The next time I went for a buy, he accused me of being … deceptive. He said I didn’t fight like a junkie.”

Adam had sparred with Ian and could attest to that truth. “What else?”

“He put a gun to my head and forced me to snort heroin.”

“Fuck,” he muttered, shoving a hand through his hair. He couldn’t think of a worse situation for an undercover cop to be in. Damned if you do, dead if you don’t. “Did you test dirty?”

“Oh yeah. I went to HQ for a voluntary and explained the situation. But it looks bad. Especially after that bullshit story I told about being jumped last week.”

“Fuck,” Adam said again.

“They put the undercover portion on hold. Now I’m doing basic surveillance.”

Adam knew how much this assignment meant to Ian. Being relegated to surveillance was a huge demotion, and it must have killed his friend’s morale. Even so, Adam was relieved. It was a dangerous job and Ian had been risking his life, taking the role too far. By virtue of his dysfunctional upbringing, Ian fit in a little too well with the criminal underbelly. Adam hardly recognized him nowadays.

“There’s more,” Ian said.

“It gets worse?”

His friend swallowed. “I told my superiors that I went home and slept off the heroin. That was a lie. I couldn’t get back to base. Maria Santos found me stumbling around and … helped me. She took me to a hotel room until I sobered up.”

Adam jerked his head toward Ian, questioning.

“Nothing happened. Nothing much, anyway.”

“Jesus, Ian,” he said, stunned. Ian could lose his job along with the assignment if any of this came out.

“Here comes the really crazy part.”

“I don’t think I’m ready for it.”

“Well, you’d better be, because it involves you. And I promise that if you go off on some half-cocked revenge mission, I’ll take this to the chief of my department and tell him everything.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

Ian’s gaze was hard. “I’m trusting you with some very sensitive information. I want to work together on a solution, within the bounds of the law, if possible.”

Adam found that statement ironic, but he nodded his agreement.

“Maria called me tonight, asking for advice.”

“You gave her your number?”

“Hell no. She used my cell phone while I was out of it.”

“And?”

“The call came from Karina Strauss’s house.”

Adam rose to his feet. “You can’t be serious.”

“Maria works at the Hotel del Oro, three blocks from Zócalo. My target is—”

“Chuy Pena,” Adam finished, his mind reeling.

“I met her at a bar an hour ago. She said she has a friend who owes Moreno money.”

“Kari,” Adam supplied.

Ian nodded. “That’s what I figured. She can’t pay, so she’s smuggling for him. Allegedly, she’s afraid to go to the police because of a captive loved one.”

“Sasha.”

Ian shrugged. “You know anything about Moreno’s mistress?”

“She’s a drug addict who likes to shop.”

Adam swore under his breath, his stress level rising. Walking over to the fridge, he grabbed a soda for Ian and a beer for himself. He popped off the tops of both bottles and brought them to the couch.

“Thanks,” Ian said, taking a swig.

“What did you tell Maria to do?”

“Go to the police.”

“You think she will?”

“No. She’s undocumented—and that’s just between us. Your smuggler girlfriend brought her here.”

Adam drank his beer, unsurprised. She’d acted suspicious the afternoon they met, and that was before Chuy’s visit. What were the odds that she’d been carrying illegal cargo in the form of a slender, dark-haired young lady?

“No wonder she came on to me that first day,” Adam said. “She had Mario Santos in the back of her fucking van!”

“Have you seen her lately?”

“She was here earlier,” he admitted, tugging on his shirt collar. He tried not to conjure a vivid mental picture of what she’d been doing to him.

Ian arched a brow, making an educated guess. “Really.”

“She asked me for a wave-through. I said no.”

“You’re turning into a regular Boy Scout.”

Adam groaned, holding the cold bottle to his sweaty forehead. That was hardly true. “She wouldn’t tell me why she was asking.”

“Now that you know, what are you going to do?”

“I’ll talk to her again and report back to you. I’d rather move forward with her cooperation.”

Ian didn’t have to ask why. He knew Adam could face administrative action for launching an extracurricular investigation. Crossing the line with her sexually made the situation even more precarious.

His friend gave him a measured look. “I take it that the lesbian theory you were pondering has been disproved?”

“It was a soft theory,” Adam admitted.

Ian clinked their bottles together. “Cheers to that.”

16

Kari made plans to see Adam again the following night.

It was muggy, even after the sun went down. She showered and changed clothes, donning a pair of white shorts and a loose-fitting animal print blouse. Strappy black sandals completed the outfit.

She was selling information, not her body, but it didn’t hurt to look good. Kari applied shimmery lip gloss and a touch of eye makeup, trying not to overdo it. When riding the bus in downtown San Diego, a girl didn’t want to stand out too much.

She arrived at his house as the twilight faded from the sky. He answered the door in jeans and T-shirt, his hair damp and his feet bare. She inhaled a quick breath, her heart kicking. He smelled like spicy soap and clean heat.

“Sorry, I just got out of the shower.”

She blushed, remembering their last conversation.

His dark eyes traveled down her body, lingering on her bare legs. “Come on in,” he said. “Do you want something to drink?”

Bypassing the couch, she sank into a chair at the kitchen table. “What do you have?”

He looked in the fridge. “Beer, soda, water …”

“Water’s fine.”

“I might have some wine around here somewhere.”

“I don’t drink anymore. Sasha’s addiction kind of killed the urge.”

He nodded, grabbing two bottled waters and taking the seat across from her. Before handing her the water, he loosened the cap.

She took a sip, wishing he wasn’t so damned handsome and polite. It was difficult to meet his searing gaze, so she stared at the base of his throat. The tension swelled between them. “I have information about Penelope’s murder.”

His expression didn’t change, but she felt a sudden chill. Whatever he’d been expecting her to say, this wasn’t it. “Go on.”

“M—my sister knows who did it.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Everyone knows who did it.”

“I mean, she knows who pulled the trigger. She overheard an argument about it.”

A cold, dark interest sparked in his eyes. He waited for her to continue.

“I thought you might agree to help me in exchange for the details.”

He glanced away, drumming his fingertips on the surface of the table. “You’ll tell me now?”

She moistened her lips, nodding.

“What’s the incentive for me to keep my end of the bargain?”

“An arrest, hopefully.”

“Your information is hearsay. It doesn’t hold up in court.”

“If Sasha made a statement—”

“She won’t.”

Kari realized she was going to have to spill everything. There was no way he’d agree to her terms blindly. “Is this conversation off the record?”

“I can’t answer that.”

The blood drained from her face.

“I have ethical obligations—”

“Oh, fuck you,” she said, rising to her feet. “Where were your ethical obligations when I was on my knees?”

He cringed slightly, massaging his brow. “Kari, I’m a police officer. If you tell me about a crime in progress or a person in danger, I have to report it. I care about you and I want to help you, but I can’t promise anything until I hear the details.”

Kari crossed her arms over her chest, her thoughts spinning. What other choice did she have? She didn’t trust Moreno. She didn’t trust Adam, either, although she knew he was the better man. He might break her heart and use her body, but he wouldn’t disregard her safety or risk her sister’s life.

“Okay,” she said, sitting once again. “I’m sure you’re aware that my sister is Carlos Moreno’s girlfriend.” When he inclined his head, she continued. “Sasha pawned some of the jewelry he gave her to buy drugs. He must not have liked that. Chuy Pena came to my house, put a gun to my head, and demanded I pay her debt.”

His shoulders went taut. “Did he hurt you?”

“No, he just scared me. I told him I didn’t have the
money. He said that if I brought some packages across the border for them, Moreno would turn Sasha over to me.”

“Have you spoken to her?”

“Just once this week. She’s essentially being held hostage.” Kari explained that she’d seen her sister at the spa with Chuy. “I’m so scared for her, Adam. She told me that Chuy has no qualms about killing women. He opened fire at the Coyote Café, acting against orders. According to Sasha, Moreno was angry about it.”

Adam left the table abruptly, walking over to a set of sliding glass doors that led to an outdoor patio. His backyard was precisely landscaped, green and shady. The ideal setting for a family barbecue.

“I was supposed to do the job for them last week,” she continued, feeling numb. “I went to the pickup location and brought the cargo as planned.”

“What went wrong?”

“Nothing. They called it a dry run.”

He turned to look at her. “This Tuesday is the real deal?”

“I think so.”

“How will the exchange happen?”

She was encouraged by the questions. His voice was clipped and his manner cold, but he wasn’t showing her the door. “I was instructed to park the van behind Zócalo. As soon as they drop off Sasha, I hand over the keys.”

He scraped his hand along his jaw, considering.

“If you can arrange for me to get through the border, I’ll trade the keys for Sasha, and the police can follow the van to the next location.”

“It’s risky,” he said. “Odds are good that Chuy Pena is using Sasha to squeeze you, with no intention of delivering.”

“Then he can’t blame me for not keeping my end of the bargain.”

He laughed harshly. “That’s not the way it works,
bella
. My department wouldn’t allow you to be part of the sting, either. If something happened to you, we’d be liable.” A muscle in his jaw tightened. “And I’d never forgive myself.”

Kari was touched by his concern. Then it occurred to her that his fears had more to do with his tragic past than any tender feelings for her. The realization was like a tiny pinprick, bursting the bubble that shouldn’t have formed.

“I have to advise you not to cooperate with Pena,” he continued.

“Isn’t failing to cooperate just as risky? My sister could die. If we pull this off, I get Sasha back, and you get the bad guys. Everybody wins.”

“Unless everything goes wrong.”

“Don’t involve your department,” she said, thinking fast. “Follow me from the border and make sure the exchange happens safely. Then call for backup when the van leaves the area. Say you got an anonymous tip.”