Keri clung to the lone pine with aching arms. She was soaked and couldn"t see much, but she had to nd Alex. She wasn"t about to slide quietly down the slope. Using her left hand and foot, she made gouges in the hillside as she clung to the tree with her right arm. If she could make them deep enough to support her weight she could climb back out * 134 *
of this rain-drenched h.e.l.l. Her ngers ached as nails cracked and broke away, but she still clawed at the muddy incline. As soon as tiny ruts appeared they lled with water and sloughed off down the bank. "I"m no quitter," she kept repeating to herself, digging harder.
"Of cer, you down there?" A gruff male voice called from the top of the ridge.
It seemed to Keri she"d been hugging that pine tree for hours, calling for Alex. "Yeah, I"m here, but the car"s a goner. There was somebody in that vehicle and I have to nd her." Keri called back up the bank.
"Just hang on, lady. I"m the wrecker driver and you ain"t ndin"
n.o.body till I get you outta there. I"ll light up the place with my spots and drop you a line."
After what seemed an eternity the towrope appeared and Keri grabbed hold.
"Can you climb or do I gotta haul you up?" he hollered.
"You"ll probably have to winch me out of here. The hillside is completely washed away down to the clay." Her muscles ached with tension from the ordeal. Her feet slipped, sending her belly first into the red mud and sharp undergrowth as she tried to leverage herself upward.
Please let me get out of here soon so I can nd Alex. She has to be all right. When she nally saw lights at the top of the rise, she reached out her hand and was drawn swiftly over the edge onto solid ground by the wrecker driver"s ma.s.sive bulk.
Beth Price and several uniformed of cers and paramedics rushed to her side.
"Are you okay, Keri?" Beth"s face registered concern as she gave her a visual once-over. "Let the EMTs check you out. You"re bleeding."
"I"m ne, Sarge, really. It"s just a few scratches. Look, this is important. That"s Lieutenant Troy"s car down there."
"Yeah, we know."
"I"m not sure where she is, but I think she may be bleeding."
Beth"s comment nally registered. "What do you mean, you know? We have to nd her."
"Calm down, Keri. We already have. Or rather, she found us. She managed to crawl out of the car when it wedged against the trees before the rain got too heavy. She got to a house and the folks there called in * 135 *
just as she pa.s.sed out. I think her ankle"s badly bruised and she probably has a light concussion. She can"t walk too well, but she"s in my car."
Not waiting to hear the rest, not caring about anything except con rming Alex was all right, Keri sprinted to the sergeant"s car, her legs suddenly adrenaline-powered. As she neared the vehicle the pale dome light shone on rain-soaked auburn hair and Alex turned to greet her through the open pa.s.senger window. She had a cut lip, and blood from a raised knot on her forehead covered the left side of her face.
"Oh, my G.o.d," Keri gasped.
"Do I look that bad?" Alex winced from an attempt to smile.
"G.o.d, I"m glad to see you." Keri reached hesitantly through the window, hand outstretched, afraid of Alex"s response. Sensing no indication of withdrawal, Keri delicately outlined Alex"s jaw with her nger. As she stroked Alex"s face, their eyes met and held in an admission of mutual caring that left Keri drained of strength but charged with emotion. Her eyes clouded with tears, and she said hoa.r.s.ely, "I"ve never seen anyone more beautiful in my life."
The words lled Alex"s heart as her pulse pounded faster in her aching head. "Do you always say exactly what"s on your mind, Morgan?" Her smile a.s.sured Keri that she was teasing. Noticing Beth"s approach, she said more formally, "I"m really all right, Keri. But you look a little ragged. Do those scratches hurt?"
"Not really. I"ll be ne."
"Keri, about the last few days-"
"The only thing that matters now is that you"re here and you"re okay. I know you need s.p.a.ce when you"re confused."
Alex frowned in puzzlement. How could Keri possibly know what she needed? And yet... Catching Beth"s attention, Alex called, "Have the paramedics checked Morgan for injuries?"
"What about you, Lieutenant?" Keri tried to argue.
"Don"t worry about the lieutenant," Beth said. "I"m taking her home right now. That"s where she was headed when some idiot ran her off the road. She refuses to go to the hospital."
"Was this a hit-and-run?" Keri asked. "Did he make contact? Did you get a description of the car and driver?"
"It was a big, older model car," Alex replied. "I couldn"t tell anything about the driver in the heavy rain. But I don"t think it was intentional. The car just hydroplaned."
* 136 *
Beth patted Keri on the shoulder and directed her toward the ambulance. "Don"t worry about it. The uniform guys have already broadcast an alert. They"ll run it down. Now, go let the medics take a look at you."
Rain dripped off Keri"s hair and ran down her back as she turned reluctantly from Alex and walked toward the waiting ambulance.
"Sergeant, are you sure the lieutenant will be all right?"
"Absolutely, and so will you." As Keri climbed into the back of the ambulance, Beth muttered, "But I don"t think it"s the physical injuries either of you need to worry about."
Her comment was almost drowned out by another torrent of blowing rain, and Keri thought she"d probably misheard the faint humor in her tone.
* 137 *
* 138 *
CHAPTER TWELVE.
When Alex entered the lineup area late Sat.u.r.day afternoon the a.s.signments had already been made and the of cers were preparing to leave. Her walk showed little sign of her ankle sprain.
Even the cuts and bruises to her face and lip had almost vanished. She"d disguised the nal traces with careful makeup. As the troops led from the room, she handed Keri a razor-thin cell phone.
"Wear this."
Keri frowned. She"d expected to be wired. "It"s a cell phone."
"And a transmitter. When the time is right, we"ll be able to hear everything that"s going on. It won"t help us much in a noisy bar but we can send you text messages if we need to."
"You two get going and be careful." Beth patted Keri on the shoulder and handed her the Corvette keys.
Before Alex could speak, Keri said, "I know. Don"t wreck the "Vette. By the way, Chad called. He says Tiffany is running scared, but he can nd her. It may take a few days."
"Good work," Beth replied. "Keep this up and you"ll be my prize pupil."
Alex leaned toward Beth and whispered, "I"m going to need that weekend at the lake you keep talking about. And copious amounts of alcohol will be involved." She followed Keri toward the parking lot to get the "Vette.
On the way to the club, Alex lled every minute with nal instructions and reminders. She couldn"t afford to indulge the attraction she felt toward Keri. "Your main purpose tonight is to entice Davis, * 139 *
make him feel comfortable, and make him want more. We wait for him to bring up the subject of drugs. Anything else would raise suspicion."
Keri responded with nods and mumbled acknowledgments.
When she could no longer contain the need to be on a more personal level with Alex she asked, "You really liked Stacey Chambers, didn"t you?"
Alex looked at Keri"s pro le as she drove, wondering how this young woman sliced through her carefully constructed faade to the very heart of her. "Yes, I did."
"What was so special about her? I mean, she worked for you. How did you get so close?"
"It wasn"t really anything she did, exactly. It was more about who she was. Something about her att.i.tude was contagious. She believed in possibility and wanted everyone to have a fair chance. She was incredibly hopeful and honest." As Alex described Stacey she realized that the same words could easily be said of the woman next to her.
"She sounds a lot like my friend Josh," Keri said. "He was a great believer in the potential of the human spirit. Any cause that came along, he was on board. I used to tell him that he was burning his candle too brightly, that he needed to slow down or he"d spontaneously combust. I had no idea I"d lose him so soon." Her voice cracked and she clutched the steering wheel tighter.
Alex reached across the seat and placed her hand on Keri"s knee.
"I know how you feel. We never expect to lose those bright spots in our lives, ever." Keri"s pain and empathy struck an all-too-familiar chord, peeling away another layer of Alex"s resistance. She withdrew her hand to refocus on the job. "Do you have any questions about our purpose tonight?"
Keri had plenty of questions but none of them were work related.
In the ve days since the accident, Alex"s demeanor had been different.
The professional barrier was still in place, but Keri felt somehow more connected to her personally. Some of the emotional separation seemed to have been replaced by a cautious watchfulness. Keri didn"t really understand how or why the change had occurred, but it gave her hope for their future. She wanted to talk with Alex about what was happening between them but that conversation would have to be put on hold as they pulled into the lot at the Gentlemen"s Club.
* 140 *
Alex watched Keri walk toward the entrance, feeling against all reason like she was leading the lamb to the slaughter. Keri wore black skintight leather pants and a red stretch top. It didn"t take imagination to see the dips and curves of her body as she moved. Alex wanted to stop this whole process, start over, reconsider, and choose another primary of cer. But it was much too late to back out now, and besides, Keri was doing a good job.
A waiting line stretched out the front door of the upscale club.
Chad appeared from the crowd, whispered to the bouncer, and led them inside. "Sonny"s been waiting for you." He pulled Keri aside, telling her, "I tracked Tiffany down tonight, but she won"t talk to anybody but you. I told her she can trust you."
"Good, call me with the details tomorrow."
The dimly lit building vibrated with earsplitting music. High-beamed ceilings and painted concrete walls made it look like a warehouse that had been converted into a meat market for s.e.xual predators. Scantily clad women balanced trays of c.o.c.ktails and delivered them to eager patrons with a personal touch. Nude and seminude strippers gyrated on the raised performance platform vying for attention and tips. The atmosphere was heavy with smoke and the stench of stale s.e.x.
Sonny Davis and his cronies held court in front of the stage watching the strip show. He had a woman on each arm. His face lit up as Keri and Alex approached.
"Hey, the girls I"ve been waiting for. Vodka tonic and beer, right? Get these ladies a drink, Amber," he cooed to one of his arm decorations and motioned to Keri and Alex. "Have a seat." He patted sleek cushioned chairs on either side of him.
Fletch rose beside Davis to pat the women down, but Davis waved him off. "They"re ne."
The hairs on the back of Alex"s neck bristled. She didn"t like having Davis between her and Keri. The first rule of engagement was divide and conquer. Davis was a slick one, all right.
Davis gave Keri and Alex a quick up-and-down appraisal, then addressed Keri. "You"ve never been to a strip club before, have you?"
Keri looked away from the g-string-clad dancer humping a pole on stage. "What gave you that idea?" She blushed, embarra.s.sed for Davis or Alex to think her inexperienced. She"d been in plenty of places like * 141 *
this, but never with her mind so singularly focused on one woman. If she was going to make this work, she had to get her head out of her pants and play her part.
"But you"- Davis turned his attention to Alex-"I bet you"ve seen plenty of naked women."
The way Davis leered made Keri want to use his pretty face for a punching bag.
Alex answered in a seductive tone Keri had never heard. "As a matter of fact, I have. My ex-boyfriend loved t.i.tty bars. It"s the reason we nally broke up. He didn"t know the difference between looking and touching."
"Too much of a good thing, huh?" Davis waved the other two women away and scooted his chair closer to Alex.
When their drinks arrived, Keri gulped down part of her beer more quickly than she intended and immediately felt the results.
Watching Davis eyeballing Alex, she fought the urge once again to throttle him. Her head began to pound. She pressed against her temples and tried to focus on her surroundings. Tonight she"d detected a familiar bulge under Cappy and Hunk"s jackets and the outline of an ankle holster under Fletch"s pant leg. The men hadn"t been armed at Sh.e.l.ly"s. Her eyes burned in the smoky room and her vision blurred.
She nished her beer in two gulps and caught a subtle warning look from Alex. Her meaning was clear. She and Keri weren"t armed, a de nite disadvantage when the men around them were. They needed to stay sharp and focused.
Davis snaked his arm around Keri"s chair and leaned into her.
"Ever think about doing that for a living? With a body like yours, you"d rake in the cash." He nodded toward the stage and slid a nger down the length of her arm.
Keri cringed inwardly but forced herself not to let it show. Davis"s eyes held the glazed-over expectancy typical of drunk, h.o.r.n.y, and demanding men. "Not really. I don"t have the right moves."
"Maybe you just need a few lessons." He continued to stroke her arm as he watched Alex for a reaction.
Alex couldn"t hear what Davis was saying, but from the look on Keri"s face it wasn"t anything she wanted to hear. Anger boiled inside, and she reminded herself that this was part of the job, no matter * 142 *
how disgusting. Her grip tightened automatically on her gla.s.s as she pretended to laugh at one of Fletch"s off-color jokes.
When Alex returned her attention to Keri, she was being led to the dance oor by Davis. It took all her strength to remain seated and let the younger of cer handle the situation. To do anything else would"ve blown their cover.
Sonny Davis slid his arm around Keri"s waist and pulled her into his body. She felt the hard muscles along his chest and pelvis against her softer esh and cringed. The urge to resist was almost unbearable.
"So how long have you and the redhead been together?"
"Not long," she answered, stealing a quick glance in Alex"s direction to be sure she was okay.
"I bet she"s hot in bed. She"s the silent type that screams like a banshee when you f.u.c.k her. Am I right or what?" Davis rubbed his chest against Keri"s b.r.e.a.s.t.s and backed her into a darkened corner of the dance oor.
A wave of disgust and anger churned in Keri"s stomach. A knee to the nuts would probably get his mind off s.e.x, but if she stayed focused there would be a bigger payoff than watching him writhing on the oor holding his b.a.l.l.s. But her head was pounding like a jackhammer driving rivets behind her eyes.
"I get it, you don"t kiss and tell." Davis slid his hands down Keri"s back and pumped his hips forward. "My kind of woman, the kind that don"t tell."
"And you"re my kind of man, strong and s.e.xy as h.e.l.l. But don"t you have an old lady?" The words almost hung in her throat as she allowed Davis to grind his pelvis against hers.