Mercy: Second Chance Military Romance (80 page)

He stood there with his cock in his hand, still stroking it.

“You can’t leave me like this,” he said.

“Are you really trying to pressure me into sex right now? That’s not a good idea.”

“Look, I’m sorry. Let’s just finish, okay?”

I shook my head while frowning.

“I’m going now,” I said.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do?”

“Take care of it yourself,” I said as I walked away.

“Heidi!”

I made it out of the clearing and headed toward the maze entrance. Part of me wanted to rush back and have him fuck me hard any way he desired, but I could no longer deny my lack of professional ethics as a DEA agent.

Was it the fact he tried to stick it in my ass or had I finally broken the sexual spell he had on me? As I walked to my car and got behind the steering wheel, no answers came to me. Whatever the reason, I had to cut off all personal relations with him. No matter what.

NINETEEN

Brent

DEA Bad Boy

After Heidi ran off – again – I promised myself I wouldn’t ever mess with her again. I got dressed and went inside, wondering if I should call one of the dozens of women who would let me fuck their ass or any other hole I wanted.

What the hell is her problem?
I thought as I retired to the master bedroom. As I laid on the bed with my hands behind my head, I made an attempt to get her out of my mind. My phone rang. I dug it out of my front pants pocket, convinced it was her.

“Yeah?” I answered without looking at the name.

“Is this Mr. Stone?” a male voice asked.

I sat up and glanced at the phone – unknown number.

“Yes, this is me. Who is this?”

“You have my business card,” he said. “But you haven’t called me yet. I’m Ron Glass with the DEA.”

“What’s this about?” I asked, getting out of bed. “You should call my attorneys.”

“It’s nothing official, Mr. Stone. Can I call you Brent?”

I didn’t answer. He continued.

“You never called me, and we need to talk.”

“About what?” I asked as I paced back and forth at the foot of my bed.

“You like money, right?”

“Look, I don’t have time for games.”

“If you love money, you’re going to want to talk with me.”

“Fine,” I said. “Set something up with my office. I’ll have my attorneys present.”

“No, no. You don’t seem to understand. I need to talk with you privately. It’s important.”

What the hell is this all about?

“Fine,” I said. “Where do you want to meet?”

“Come to my house,” I said.

If he came over, I’d be able to get him on my many video surveillance cameras. Proof never hurt anyone.

“I’m on my way now.”

He ended the call. I put my phone into my front pants pocket then went into my study to wait for the DEA agent. What in the world did he want with me? And why wasn’t he going through official channels? Something was wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

* * *

An hour later, Keifer came into my study.

“There’s a man at the gate who says he’s here to see you.”

“Let him in,” I said.

“He looks like…”

“Just let him in, okay?” I interrupted.

He lifted his arms, palm out.

“Sorry, boss.”

“It’s fine. Just show him up. Thanks.”

As Keifer walked out of the room, I prepared myself mentally for whatever was about to happen. Over the years, I’d had many opportunities to work with the cartels or other organizations and make tons of money, but I’d always stayed on the right side of the law.

Why the hell would a DEA agent want to talk with me?

I pondered the question until a man wearing a dark suit walked in with a smile on his face.

Is this guy a salesman or a government agent?

He gave off a bad vibe.

“Thanks for meeting with me,” he said.

“No problem. Have a seat.”

I nodded my head at the two leather arm-chairs directly in front of my desk. He sat down, still smiling.

“Beautiful piece of property.”

“Enough small-talk,” I said. “Why are you here? I follow all Colorado state laws, and…”

“Don’t worry,” he said, cutting me off. “You’re not in any trouble. At least not yet.”

“What do you mean?”

I stared intently at his face, looking for any signs in his facial expressions.

“Well, this is off the record, but you’re in a position to make a shitton of money.”

“I already have more than enough money,” I said. “But go on.”

“You need a little extra protection. I heard one of the cartels came after you the other day.”

“Yeah, but I took care of it on my own.”

“That time, but what about next time?”

“What exactly are you trying to say?” I asked. “I don’t have much time.”

“If you work with me and my cartel connections, you’re going to make even more money. The best thing is you don’t have to worry about anything because I’ll be on your side.”

“This has to be the worst DEA stunt to entrap someone ever in the history of your corrupt organization.”

He shook his head.

“This isn’t a trick or a trap.”

“You’re telling me you’re a dirty DEA agent, and you came to me for help?”

“I wouldn’t use the word help, but yeah, basically. Don’t you want to make more money?”

“Money isn’t everything,” I said.

He glanced around the study.

“You want to give all this up?”

“What do you mean? Are you threatening me?”

I sat up and leaned on the top of my desk.

He gripped the arms of the chair.

“No, no, not at all.” He paused. “Well, in a way, I guess you could say I am.”

I stared into his eyes without saying a word.

“Look. Either you get in on this with the cartels and myself, or you’re going to be stopped another way. There’s not enough room for a huge legal operation like yours.”

He stood up. I did the same.

“You have a lot of nerve coming here to threaten me,” I said.

“Yeah, well, I guess I go. So what. Think about it. You don’t want to make the wrong decision.”

I watched as he headed to the door.

“Oh, one more thing,” he said, stopping and turning. “Be careful around Heidi. She works in my office too.”

“What?”

“You didn’t know? She’s a lying bitch. Be careful around her.”

“Yeah,” I said.

He turned and left.

As I sat back down, a thousand thoughts hit my mind all at once. The most important ones were connected to Heidi. After everything that had happened, I still had not been able to move on. The new complications of a dirty DEA agent were also a huge concern.

Should I go to the authorities? Would they take me seriously or side with one of their own?
Federal agents had always been just friendly enough with me and my legal business in Colorado. They were not in the business of handing out favors or free passes, especially not to someone like me.

I lit up a joint, wanting to deeply consider all my possibilities.

TWENTY

Brent

Family Business

The next day, Keifer drove me to Green Thumb, the mysterious grower who had provided me with award winning marijuana. After the dirty DEA agent had contacted me the night before, I had to make sure the grower would be able to deliver all the plants I needed in time.

I had no desire to suddenly go dirty, but I craved more money. No matter how much I accumulated, it never gave me true peace or security, but financial independence wasn’t something I was ready to give up easily, not after working so hard to achieve what I had in a few short years.

After Keifer parked in front of the house, I got out. The old man sat on the porch in a rocking chair. He lifted his hand and waved but didn’t move to get up. I walked over to the worn-down porch of the old farm house and walked up the steps.

“How’s it going?”

He shook his head with a frown etched on his wrinkled face.

“Not good.”

“What’s wrong? Is it the plants? Are you going to…”

“Cancer,” he said, cutting me off.

“They have cancer? I don’t understand.”

“No, I do.”

All emotion fell from my face.

“Shit. I’m sorry…”

What do you say in a situation like this?

“It’s fine,” he said.

“What kind?”

“Skin cancer. They noticed it early, but I’m still freaking out because I refused to get Obamacare, and I don’t have health insurance.”

“You refused?”

“Don’t get me started on it,” he said, rocking a bit more furiously.

I nodded. “Fine, but I can’t have you dying on me. Not when you’re so close to coming up with a super strain of marijuana. I’ll pay your medical costs. You said it’s in the early stages?”

“Yeah,” he said. “They told me I spent too much time in the sun. Like there’s somewhere else a farmer like me can be all day.”

I smiled.

“Doctors can be odd sometimes.”

“They said the safest way to take care of it is a laser, but it’s expensive.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “Heidi recommended you, and I take care of my employees.”

“She’s the best daughter a man could have,” he said, then added. “Oh, shit. Did I say that out loud?”

“What do you mean? Is she your daughter?”

“Yeah,” he said, nodding his head.

“Why didn’t she tell me?”

“Please don’t tell her I messed up. Or that I’m sick.”

“She should know about the cancer.”

He took a deep breath as if the weight of the world were on his chest.

I took a business card out of my pocket.

“Call me, and I’ll set you up with a doctor, okay?”

“I couldn’t…”

“You will,” I said. “Your daughter and you are both important.”

“Don’t hate her for what she does.”

“What do you mean? She’s a writer, a journalist.”

“Talk to her,” he said. “I need to go lay down.”

“Are you okay?”

He struggled to his feet.

“I’m just tired. I need to smoke one and sleep.”

“That weed you gave me…”

“What about it?” he asked, moving toward his front door.

“It was the best I’ve ever smoked. You don’t happen to have any more, do you?”

“I do for the man who’s going to help pay my medical bills.”

“We need to talk once you get better. With your skills, there’s no reason you should have money problems.”

He stopped and opened the screen door before turning to me.

“It’s my business partners. They’re rough people.”

“Don’t tell me you’re working with the cartels.”

“They threatened trouble with my daughter unless I sold to them. She doesn’t know that either. I’m such a terrible father.”

“It’s going to be fine,” I said, walking toward him. “Let’s go inside. I’ll smoke one with you and we can talk.”

“I’ve already said too much.”

“I’m not upset, but I can help you get out from under the cartels and start making legal money. My operation is the biggest in the state.”

“I’ve heard of you before.”

I grabbed the screen door while he opened the other one. Inside, I glanced around the sparsely decorated living room.

“Let’s go to the kitchen,” he said, wandering away.

As I followed him, I wondered if Heidi had grown up in the house.

“Have you lived here long?” I asked.

“Too long.”

In the kitchen, he sat down at a rectangular wooden table. A metal box sat on top in front of him. I took a seat across from him, watching as he pulled out a bag of marijuana.

“I don’t have a lot of that plant left, but the next one is almost ready.”

“So soon?”

“I’ve been working on fast-producing plants as well as ones with a higher THC content.”

“You’ve not told the cartels or anyone else about this, have you?”

“No. You sound like my daughter. She said the same damn thing.”