Deep Cover (21 page)

Brandi nodded again, swallowing. “Have you seen how big he is? He’s like a mountain.”

Big enough to crush a girl’s windpipe. “Did he kill Capri?”

Brandi didn’t answer, but the way her eyes became glassy and wide, Shaine knew it was true. “Why? What happened?” he asked.

“Capri said Bear was a softie,” Poppy recalled, frowning with the memory. “I don’t understand. Why would Bear hurt Capri?”

“Because he follows orders,” Brandi answered fearfully. “Capri broke the rules. Just like Darcy.”

Bear killed both women? “What’s his real name?” Shaine asked.

“I don’t know. All we know him by is Bear.”

“Do you have a contact number for him?” Poppy asked.

“In my phone,” Brandi answered. “But you confiscated my phone, remember?”

“We know where to find it,” Poppy said. “So why did Bear beat you up?”

“I was supposed to pick up the shipment, but I wasn’t in the right place. The shipment ended up going back to the sender and the mishap cost time and production.”

“Did Angelo know you’d been beaten?”

“Yes, he knew, but he couldn’t do anything about it. He works for the same boss. He couldn’t do anything to change what had happened and he certainly didn’t want the same for himself.”

“What a gentleman,” Poppy said derisively. “Has anyone ever told you you have shitty taste in men?”

“Yeah, actually Darcy used to tell me that all the time.”

“Tell us about Darcy and Big Jane.”

“What’s to tell? Darcy was into Big Jane. It’s not that big of a deal. I don’t know why in this day and age anyone would even blink an eye at that, but Darcy was always afraid of what other people would think, so she told her sister she was crazy about Angelo instead. I didn’t mind covering for her.”

“Were they in love?”

“I think Darcy was. Hard to say about Big Jane. She wasn’t exactly open with her feelings.”

“How did Big Jane take Darcy’s death?”

“I don’t know, she was upset. We were all upset. We weren’t allowed to go to the cops and we couldn’t say or do anything about it. We just had to move on unless we wanted to join her.”

“And this whole time you have no idea who you’ve been working for?” Poppy asked, incredulous. “That seems far-fetched.”

“No. We take the cash and we don’t ask questions. It’s safer that way.”

Shaine remarked drily, “I don’t know why you’re so scared of jail. It sounds like you’ve already been in prison.”

“It’s not so bad when you’re following the rules. We are taken care of for the most part. Everyone has to work for someone else, right?”

“Yeah, but most bosses don’t kill their employees if they don’t follow the employee handbook,” Poppy said.

Brandi looked tired and a little defeated, as if saying out loud the life she’d been living had finally got to her. “I’ve told you everything I know. You have to protect me. If they find out I’ve talked, I’m as good as dead.”

“How’d Bear kill Capri?” Shaine asked.

“An overdose. He just kept pumping her full of the bad batch. The stupid kid didn’t even know what hit her until it was too late.”

That confirmed their suspicion.

“Are you willing to testify that Bear killed Capri and Darcy?”

Brandi nodded but she looked scared as hell.

“For what it’s worth, I never would’ve gotten Darcy involved if I’d known how badly it was going to end.”

“Hindsight is a bitch,” Shaine said.

“You have no idea,” Brandi admitted in a soft voice with a tear tracking down her cheek. “Darcy was a good person. She just wanted to be loved.”

Poppy said, “Everyone wants to be loved...that’s how people like El Escorpion gets in. They play on basic human need and exploit it.”

“What’s going to happen to Angelo?” Brandi asked. “He’s in danger, too.”

Shaine couldn’t make promises. The fact was...they were going to have to use Angelo as bait to flush out the real bad guy.

And sometimes bait didn’t make it.

CHAPTER 26

T
he vibe at Lit seemed off. An invisible tension wound itself around the neon lights and bounced off the oiled skin of the dancers as they writhed and moved in time to the music. It felt like a chemical intoxication without the benefit of the drug.

Tonight Shaine’s mission was to get Angelo panicked so that he ran to whoever was pulling his strings. Someone within Lit was watching, using the club as a conduit to the clientele, playing to the party atmosphere and blending seamlessly.

Shaine’s intuition said that El Escorpion sensed the heat and was going to disappear. That’s why his known associates were disappearing one by one. He was cleaning house to bail—possibly to set up shop in another city, another town where anonymity was easily found.

Of course he had no proof of this...just his gut instinct.

That meant if he was wrong, the whole case could collapse.

They were taking big risks without the security of a payoff.

Shaine found Angelo in the storeroom, leaning against the liquor boxes, looking green around the gills.

“Angelo,” he called out, sounding relieved. “I’m so glad I found you!”

Angelo startled, and when he saw it was Shaine, he relaxed. But he looked haggard, as if he hadn’t slept in days.

“I have to talk to you. It’s urgent,” he said, going straight to Angelo. “Brandi called me with some wild story and she told me to find you right away.”

“Brandi called you? Why?” he asked, confused. “Where is she? What did she say? Is she all right?”

“I don’t know, she sounded scared. What the hell is going on? The things she was saying...it sounds like something out of a movie.”

“What did she say?” he repeated impatiently. “Just say it already.”

“Sorry,” Shaine said, acting insulted that Angelo had snapped at him. Angelo immediately apologized, but he gestured for him to continue. Shaine lost his scowl and continued, “Okay, it was a really quick phone call and all she said was—and I hope this makes sense to you because it sure as hell doesn’t make sense to me—she said to meet her at your usual spot with the last shipment. El Escorpion wants you to deliver it personally. If you don’t...she’s dead.” He paused for a minute, watching Angelo’s reaction keenly. “Is she serious? What the hell is going on?”

“Ahh, shit,” Angelo moaned, bouncing against the box with agitation. “I told her we’d get caught. He’d know we were skimming. He always figures that shit out.”

“Who?”

“El Escorpion, you idiot!”

“Who the hell is that?”

“Only the most dangerous drug kingpin in all of Miami. He’s smarter than the cops and he’s got eyes all over this town. I don’t know what I was thinking. Shit.” He ran his hand through his thick, black hair, as wired as a drug addict in need of a fix. “Somehow he found out that we took some of his shipment. I don’t know how but he did and he’s gonna gut Brandi like a pig if I don’t deliver. But it’s a death sentence if I show up like he wants me to.”

“Is that what happened to Capri?” Shaine fished.

“What?” Angelo asked, distracted. Then he shook his head, saying, “Capri got caught messing around. She was the favorite.”

“So El Escorpion is a man?” Shaine asked, holding his breath.

“Of course,” he answered, irritated. “What’s with all the questions? What the hell am I going to do about Brandi? I can’t just let her die.”

“But you could let her get the shit kicked out of her?”

“What was I supposed to do?” Angelo shot back, his eyes flashing. “This ain’t no game. El Escorpion doesn’t mess around. Besides, I didn’t think she’d get it that bad. I thought she might get it easy because she was a female.”

“Why did you think you could steal from him?”

Angelo wiped at the sweat at his brow. “I don’t know. We got cocky I guess. The money was insane. Everyone wants Bliss.”

“Yeah, except the people who are dead,” Shaine muttered, earning a quick look from Angelo. “The drug kills. Capri’s heart exploded in her chest.”

“What do you know about how Capri died?” he asked with suspicion.

“Because I saw what was left of her heart when she was lying on the coroner’s slab.”

“What the...” Angelo’s confusion was a second behind Shaine’s actions as he pulled his gun. “What the hell? You’re a goddamn cop!”

“Actually, FBI agent, but let’s not split hairs. Here’s the deal, you’re going to call El Escorpion and schedule a meeting. Tell him you have his shipment and you need to unload it ASAP.”

“Where’s Brandi?” he asked, narrowing his gaze.

“Don’t worry about her. Make the call.”

Suddenly, Angelo slowly began to smirk.

“What’s so funny?” Shaine asked, beginning to feel the back of his neck prickle.

“I was just thinking...you might be worth a bonus.”

Pain exploded in the back of his head as something heavy connected with his skull, and Shaine went straight to the floor.

His last thought was...somehow the bait had become the predator.

And he was the main course.

* * *

Poppy stalked into the safe house and went straight for Brandi, jerking her to her feet as she yelped in pain.

“Where is he taking him?” she demanded. Thankfully, the entire conversation between Angelo and Shaine had been recorded, but the connection went dead after a loud thunk, which made Poppy want to climb through the line with panic.

She didn’t care about protocol, didn’t care that she was manhandling a witness. Poppy knew Shaine was in danger and she wasn’t going to just sit there and hope for the best.

“Who?” Brandi cried, frightened of the rage in Poppy’s eyes. “Who are you talking about?”

“Angelo is taking Shaine somewhere. Where would he take him?”

“I—I don’t know,” Brandi answered, her teeth clacking together when Poppy nearly shook her head off her shoulders. “Put me down! Help!”

“I will rip your head off and feed you to the fish if you don’t start talking.”

“You need me to testify,” Brandi said, her lower lip trembling.

“I couldn’t give a shit about the case if anything happened to my partner. Where is he taking him?” She bruised Brandi’s arms within her grasp. “Start talking.”

“I don’t know,” she said, tears jumping to her eyes.

“Think!”

“Maybe the warehouse,” she cried as Poppy thrust her back into the chair. Brandi winced as she tried to get into a better position. “That’s where we did the drop-off of the product. That’s all I know! Angelo was always the one who handled that stuff.”

Poppy leaned in to growl, “If anything happens to Shaine, I’m going to personally take great pleasure in breaking every bone in your body.”

She texted Victoria the location of the warehouse, knowing Victoria would handle the details of getting backup there, but Poppy couldn’t wait.

She knew that if Angelo was taking Shaine to the warehouse to meet with El Escorpion...he wasn’t coming out alive.

* * *

Shaine’s head throbbed as wet stickiness oozed from his injury. His hands were bound with duct tape. Someone had brained him from behind and trussed him up like a Christmas turkey.

How could he be so stupid?

He’d been played.

They’d all been played.

Angelo had gotten them to show their cards too soon. He didn’t give a rat’s ass about Brandi or what’d happened to her.

The whole point had been to flush out the embedded agents.

Shaine opened his eyes to darkness and realized he was in the trunk of a car.

Enclosed spaces were not his favorite. Panic threatened to squeeze the air from his lungs. He closed his eyes and focused on staying conscious.

The most important thing was to keep his head. If he stayed levelheaded, he would walk out of this alive.

If he panicked, he was already dead.

The car stopped and he heard footsteps approach the trunk. It opened and he squinted against the pain in his head.

Raquel stood next to Angelo, a cruel smile on her lips. “For a big guy, you went down easy.”

So Raquel had been the one to clock him. Guess that MMA fighter training was still good for something.

The tattoo, the scorpion... Sometimes the most obvious answer was the correct one.

“Bring him inside,” Raquel said, turning on her spindly stiletto heels to walk into the warehouse.

Angelo jerked Shaine to his feet and pushed him in front of him.

“I’m always amazed at how stupid cops must think we are,” he said conversationally. “You aren’t the first task force to try to take down our operation. Before it was Bliss, we moved Ecstasy, before that, it was heroin. We try to stay on top of the newest trends, the newest party flavor.”

“So what’s the real reason Brandi was beat up?” he asked, the throb in his head making him nauseous.

“Oh, that was true. The best lie has a bit of truth,” Angelo answered. “Brandi was a bad girl and needed to be punished.”

“You’re a sick freak. Did you watch?”

Raquel gave a sidewise glance at Shaine as she said, “There’s a certain finesse to the way Bear does his work. Messy, though.” She turned to Angelo. “Next time, you’re cleaning up the mess. She’s your bitch, anyway.”

Angelo laughed. “It was always you, baby. Always you.”

Everything had been an act for their benefit. They must’ve been on to them the moment—or close to the moment—they showed up on the scene.

“Your act was pretty convincing. How’d you know?” Shaine asked.

“You said that you worked at Grind. Miami is a small town. I know everyone who works at the best clubs. No one had heard of Rocco Pacheco. A little digging and, boom...all the references were fake. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together.”

Raquel laughed. “And there’s no way your friend was ever a stripper. Her moves were too refined, too classical to be anything but a good girl pretending to be a bad girl.”

Shaine wanted to send a roundhouse kick straight to Raquel’s smug mouth, but his head was still weeping blood and he was dangerously close to passing out. He may even have a skull fracture, which meant he could lose consciousness at any moment if his brain was swelling.

Was the pain because of the blow to his head or because he was in actual danger of dying?

It could go either way with blunt force trauma.

Angelo shoved Shaine and he nearly went flying, but he managed to regain his footing and avoided sprawling to the floor. “C’mon, someone wants to meet you.”

They walked onto the empty warehouse floor, not a trace of the party remaining except a few fluorescent lights overhead, and saw a man in a fine linen suit awaiting them.

He turned and smiled with calculating precision. “Ahh, finally, Agent Kelly...or should I call you Rocco Pacheco?”

Shaine stared at the man, swearing under his breath.

Ramirez hadn’t been far off the mark.

“Where’s his partner?” Mateo asked Angelo sharply. “You were supposed to bring me both.”

“He came alone. But we’ll get her tonight when she comes for her shift. She doesn’t know we’re on to her.”

“Are you sure about that?” Shaine asked, smiling through the pain. “How do you know you’re not being surrounded right now?”

“Good try,” Angelo said. “We already know you’re sucking air on this case. You aren’t the only one with someone on the inside.”

Shaine tried not to show his alarm as his mind raced. All of the people brought into this operation had been thoroughly vetted. Who could possibly be working on the inside? Immediate fear stole his breath as he realized Poppy was completely unaware of what kind of danger she was in.

“That’s enough, Angelo,” Mateo said, pulling a small baggie from his jacket pocket. “We shouldn’t keep our guest waiting. He’s come a long way and we don’t want to disappoint.”

Raquel smirked as Mateo came closer. Angelo gripped him by the arms and held him tight.

“What are you doing?” he tried to keep his voice strong, but there was an edge of fear he couldn’t quite avoid. Then he saw that the baggie was filled with pills.

“My sister is a brilliant woman but she doesn’t take risks. We were working on a drug that would elevate the serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain for depression, but something went wrong in the trials and instead of lowering the test subjects’ anxiety, it left them in a euphoric state. One of the test subjects said it was like ‘bliss.’ The product had been a total failure for the market intended, but it had huge potential on the black market. One thing led to another and now we have eager customers eating it up. We couldn’t keep up supply and demand.”

“Except people were dying,” Shaine said. “Dead users aren’t much for repeat business.”

“True. Which is why we were changing the formulary when you showed up on the scene. Unbeknownst to you and your partner, you were the first test subjects for the newest batch.”

Shaine felt ill. “And if we would’ve died? Don’t you think that would’ve ruined your little operation?”

“No one would’ve found your bodies.” Mateo’s smile was deadly. “You aren’t the first test subjects that had to be disposed of quietly. It’s amazing what you can stuff in a fifty-five-gallon drum of chemical waste.”

Shaine could only imagine how many dead bodies had been eaten by chemicals and disposed of, none the wiser.

“So what now?” Shaine asked. “How does this end, seeing as how you were on to us the whole time?”

“It ends with you OD’ing on Bliss. I’m sure you can imagine where I’m going with this.”

Raquel checked her phone. “It’s about that time.”

Mateo motioned to Angelo. Suddenly his mouth was wrenched open and pills were shoved inside. Angelo pinched Shaine’s nose and held his mouth shut until he had no choice but to swallow them.

Raquel rolled an empty drum over to them. “Look what we have here. A handy container for nosy FBI agents.”

Shaine tried not to show fear, but he was terrified of going into that drum. He kicked and fought as Angelo and Raquel dragged him to the drum and hoisted him up to dump him inside. He yelled as the top was slammed down, sealing him inside.

Panic fluttered in his chest as the darkness closed in around him. This was worse than being shot.

This was worse than anything he ever could’ve imagined.