Geek Mafia: Mile Zero (16 page)

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local politics and, most useful of all, the bad habits and kinky preferences of more than a few Key West Police Department officers and workers. Sandee and the other hosts knew how to get guests to talk about the most interesting stuff without ever suspecting that they were being pumped for information. When they wanted to impress a beautiful girl, they all thought telling salacious secrets made them seem important or cool.

Chloe spent a lot of time with the data that came from this covert monitoring. Too much time, in Paul's opinion. Every day she debriefed the hosts about possible choice encounters or intriguing sound bites, and she and Bee often watched the footage in fast forward, scanning for anything that caught their eye. Bee was supposedly working on finding some piece of software that they could use to search through the recorded dialogue for certain key words. She knew that government intelligence agencies used something similar for telephone intercepts, but so far she hadn't found anything that worked.

Paul didn't know what Chloe hoped to find in those tapes, but for the past few weeks she'd been listening to and watching them more and more. She would download them onto her MP3 player and listen while she exercised. She'd eat her morning Cocoa Puffs with the laptop in front of her, streaming images from the party.

Whenever Paul asked her how it was going she said, "fine." Whenever he asked her what she was looking for she said, "something good" and asked him if he wanted to help. At first he had tried it, but it was the most mind-numbing thing he could imagine. The difference between listening to tapes of lame pick-up lines and drunken boasting and actually being at the party was like the difference between reading a list of ingredients and eating a five-star gourmet meal.

He hadn't been to the party in over two days and had been looking forward to visiting the Crawford House venue tonight. But it was Chloe who was going to the party, and as Paul and Bee watched on the monitors, they saw Eddie come stumbling through the front door. Chloe was right behind him, and Paul felt a stab of jealousy as he watched Eddie give Chloe a playful slap on the ass. She scowled in surprise, her face turned away from Eddie but toward the camera. Paul knew that in other circumstances Eddie would have gotten a taser to the chest for that, but Chloe was playing a role, and she never broke character during a con. She turned and smiled at him, giving him a playful wink in return.

Behind them came Sandee, who now wore five-inch spiked heels and a form flattering skin tight mini-dress.

Sandee, ever the generous host, came up beside Eddie and put an arm around his waist and whispered something in his ear. Eddie nodded enthusiastically. Chloe made a gesture of apology, apparently excusing herself and turning Eddie over to the host's tender care. As he stared long and hard at Sandee's toned ass, Eddie didn't seem to mind much. Chloe broke away and headed for the bathroom while the other two headed for the bar.

Bee clicked with precision, bringing up cameras in the main room so they could watch Eddie and Sandee on one screen and Chloe in the bathroom on the other. Paul had liked the idea of bathroom cams least of all, but they had quickly learned that some of the most interesting things happened when people thought they were alone in the toilet, including a number of private, revealing phone calls that they'd managed to overhear on several occasions (including one of an off-duty cop calling his wife with excuses while he snorted cocaine - a priceless piece of blackmail material if they ever needed it).

Chloe, of course, knew exactly where the camera was and was looking right at it (hidden in a clock) as she dialed her phone. Paul's own cell started ringing, and he picked up immediately.

"I'm at the party," said Chloe over the phone.

"So I see," said Paul.

"Glad to know you guys are watching my back," she said.

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"We're not the only ones."

"Ugh. Tell me about it. That fuck's hands were all over my ass on the way over here. I really don't like him."

"Me neither," agreed Paul. "Did you learn anything?"

"Nothing too useful, no. But he's cocky, and you know how well Sandee handles cocky."

"So you're turning Eddie over to San?" asked Paul, relieved that his girlfriend wouldn't be using her feminine charms to seduce Eddie anymore.

"Definitely," said Chloe. "I'm going to stick around as backup, just in case something goes south or whatever.

But now the ball's in Sandee's court."

"We'll keep watching from here," said Paul. "Unless you want..."

"No, stay there and watch and record everything. If he drops anything. Any hint at all about Raquel, I want it on disc."

"We've got him covered."

"What's he doing now?" asked Chloe.

Paul glanced over at the other monitors. "He's with Sandee and Bernie, smoking out and getting a drink. He looks pretty happy."

"Let's keep him that way. But, as much as he's kind of a dick, he's not dumb, and I bet he can handle his drinks. I need you to call Jesse and let him know we need him extra loose."

"You wanna dose him?" asked Paul, surprised. "We don't know that he's done anything wrong. And there was all that stuff Winston said about ambassadors and guest rights."

"Fuck that. I can tell from the way he slapped my ass this guy is no stranger to dosing girls to get what he wants. Time for a taste of his own medicine I say. Nothing too drastic. Just a single to push him over the edge."

Paul felt his temper rise again at the thought of Eddie's hands on Chloe's ass. "Ok, I'll call Jesse. Next round he gets will be hot."

"Great," she said. "I'm going to go back out there and watch the fun."

She hung up the phone and waved at the camera. Bee waved back, while Paul dialed Jesse at the bar.

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Chapter 14

CHLOE stepped out of the bathroom and into the party proper, a wave of dance music rising to meet her as she made her way into the main room. It was a pretty busy night, and there were more than a few new faces scattered amongst all the usual suspects. Her eyes briefly locked with those of Jesse, the bartender/DJ. He had a headphone held to one ear, like he was preparing his next track, but Chloe knew that there was also a cell phone built into the device, and from the wink he gave her, she guessed that he'd just received his instructions from Paul. And then, apparently just to be sure, he nodded to her as well and she looked away, trying to spot Eddie and Sandee, hoping the mark hadn't been watching Jesse's less than subtle signaling. If Eddie was half as good as she was and he noticed the wink and the nod, he'd suspect that there was some connection between Chloe and the bartender. She'd have to remind Jesse to be more careful in the future.

But Eddie's eyes and mind and other body parts were all focused somewhere else. He and Sandee sat close together on one of the couches, passing a joint back and forth while Eddie sipped at a beer. Fuck. He is smart.

He was drinking beer from the bottle, which meant it was almost impossible to spike without him noticing.

She didn't imagine that was a coincidence. She never drank mixed drinks at strange parties, either.

Chloe went up to the bar and loudly asked Jesse for three shots. He mixed up a trio of kamikazes and handed her "one for her friend" and then the other two. Chloe, maintaining her cover, paid him $30 for the drinks and then headed over to the couch to join Sandee and Eddie.

He saw her approaching and said in a too loud voice, "Hey! Gillian! I thought I'd lost you!"

"I'm not that easy to lose," said Chloe, as she handed Eddie his shot and gave another to Sandee. "You don't seem too lonely though."

"This is Mystique," Eddie said, passing the joint back to Sandee.

"I know," said Chloe as she sat down beside him on the couch. "We just met outside, remember."

"Right, right. But I thought you might've forgotten her name."

"Honey," said Sandee/Mystique, her mouth close to Eddie's ear. "No one ever forgets my name." Sandee licked his ear slowly. "It's just not possible."

"I believe that..." he said with a shudder of pleasure as Sandee ran a hand across his chest and tweaked Eddie's nipple through his shirt.

"Let's have a shot," Sandee said, raising the glass to Eddie.

"Damn straight," affirmed Chloe.

All three of them downed their drinks. Eddie hesitated for just a beat, possibly weighing the risks. He made the wrong the decision and drank it down in one quick gulp.

"Aaaah!" he said. "Good stuff."

"Nothing but good stuff here, honey," said Sandee.

"I see that," said Eddie as he looked around, nodding in approval. His gaze lingered on the dance floor where two women had stripped down to their bras and were gyrating against one another to the approving cheers of everyone nearby.

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"So, you in town for business or pleasure?" asked Sandee, tracing the line of his chin with her index finger.

"Pleasure is my business!" he said, leaning back in his seat and letting Sandee's finger work its way down his neck to his shoulder.

"That's what they all say," said Sandee. Chloe detected just the slightest hint of disappointment in Sandee's voice - a challenge to Eddie to be more impressive and maybe reveal more about himself.

"Oh do they?" said Eddie, placing his own hand on Sandee's smooth thigh. "But there's a big difference."

"What's that?" asked Sandee.

"They're lying."

"And you're not?"

"I never lie," said Eddie and he leaned forward to kiss Sandee, his hand sliding up along the thigh toward the waist. Sandee's head turned at the last instant and Eddie's kiss touched cheek instead of lips.

"All men lie," said Sandee. "It's what makes them men."

Eddie laughed and leaned back again, his hand over his heart as if he'd been shot. "Ohh! That hurts!"

"The truth does that," said Sandee. "Or so I've heard."

"And what about you?" asked Eddie. "Are you here for business or pleasure?"

"Me?" said Sandee, ""I'm just an observer of the human condition."

"So pleasure isn't your business?"

"Pleasure is my pleasure. Anything else is just business, and none of yours."

Eddie didn't seem to quite follow that last sentence, Chloe thought. Maybe the drugs were starting to kick in.

She knew that Sandee was just leading him around by the nose for awhile until he became more pliable.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Look at these two over here," Sandee said, leaning close against his side and pointing across the room at a man and woman in their mid-50s who were swaying against one another off in a corner.

"What about them?" he asked, pressing back against Sandee, his hand creeping back up the host's leg.

"Oh, you'd never believe me if I told you," Sandee smiled.

"Try me."

"He's one of the biggest drug dealers in Southwest Florida. And she's his boss."

"Those two? You're shitting me," said Eddie as he rubbed Sandee's thigh.

"Never without being asked first," Sandee replied. "No, I'm telling you the absolute truth. Well, the truth as I've heard it, anyway. But I've not only heard it from them. Others have confirmed it."

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"And they're dealers?"

"I suppose suppliers' is the word. I'm not up on all the prim and proper drug business lingo."

"They import or something?" Eddie asked.

"Yes, importers. That sounds right."

"And why would they tell you something like that?"

"Oh, people say the most personal things during intimate moments," Sandee purred, running a hand across his chest and tweaking Eddie's left nipple.

"You and him?" said Eddie, looking back at the middle-aged couple. "Or was it you and her?"

"Why would it be one or the other?" Sandee's hand moved down to Eddie's stomach, rubbing him gently.

"Ooh, you kinky bitch!" he said, leaning back and spreading his legs. He obviously hoped the friendly hand would keep heading south, but no such luck. Sandee's touch worked its way back to his other nipple. "Are you sure he wasn't just trying to impress you. Talking big."

"Oh, he was quite big without having to talk about it."

Apparently not liking to talk about the size of other men, Eddie seemed to tense at this remark, but he played it off with a smile. "Viagra sure does work fucking wonders," he said.

"Maybe that was it. He is a drug dealer after all," Sandee said in soothing tones.

"Drug importer," Eddie corrected.

"If you say so."

"Do you think you could introduce us?" Eddie asked.

"Now who's being a kinky bitch?" Sandee teased. "Do you want both of them to join us or just the big'

man?"

"No, no, no..." said Eddie. His voice had been slowing down and slurring as Chloe watched from the far end of the couch. The drugs were definitely kicking in, she thought. "I don't want to fuck him or his ugly-ass old wife. I want..." He leaned forward and groped at Sandee. "I want to..."

"Oh, I know what you want, tiger," said Sandee, shifting position just deftly enough to move a breast out of Eddie's reach. "But if that's what you want, why do you want those two?"

Eddie shook his head for a few seconds, as if to clear his thoughts. "Well, if they're the big drug dealers you say they are..."

"Importers," Sandee corrected.

"Yeah. If they're the big importers you say they are, then maybe I can do some business with them..."

"If it's drugs you need, honey, just go see Bernie by the bar. He's got anything you want. Well, anything I Chapter 14

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don't have anyway. And trust me darling," Sandee said as she kissed him on the cheek. "I've got everything else you need."

"Damn straight," slurred Eddie, pulling Sandee close for a kiss.

His hands slipped around Sandee's waist, grabbing ass. Sandee broke the kiss and gently pushed Eddie back into his seat. "I thought you wanted to see the big man."

"Well maybe later..."

Sandee glanced over at the older couple. "I don't know if there'll be a later. They look like they're getting ready to leave. And I'd hate to disappoint you..."