Taken by the Con (13 page)

Benjamin looked between Lucia and Cash. “Are you suggesting I remove it?”

They’d discussed it once. But if they wanted to close in on Anderson, they needed to be closer to him. “If Cash’s tracker is keeping Anderson from bringing him into the fold, it has to go.”

Cash said nothing and Lucia sensed he didn’t want to appear too eager. Of course he’d want the tracker off. It would give him freedom from being monitored every moment of the day.

“I could make nice with my father and win some points that way. Get him to take me back into the family business,” Cash said.

Lucia heard the reluctance in his voice. “Could you invite him out and bond over beers?” The suggestion was both for the case and for Cash.

“Something like that. Hang around him. He’s in Anderson’s circle and there’s a chance I’ll cross paths with him. If I do, I’ll alert you.”

“Tracker stays on,” Benjamin said. “I’m not taking you off it and sending you out with a con man. I’m not even sure I like the idea of you meeting up with your father alone.”

Lucia saw the fleeting look of hurt on Cash’s face. He’d been trying to change. Trust was easily lost and slowly won. All the doubts she’d harbored about Cash weren’t gone, but they were definitely in the margins. “I’ll stay on Cash,” she said. “I’ve already presented myself as his clingy girlfriend.” If she acted dim enough, she’d be dismissed as a threat.

“You’re offering to watch Cash around the clock?” Benjamin said.

Was she? They could close the case faster if Cash worked every angle he had. Lucia nodded and Cash appeared surprised.

Lucia felt she had to explain her position. “It won’t be for long. Anderson is planning to move with the stolen money as soon as he can. Cash will get closer to his dad and I’ll stay close to Cash. With enough luck, we’ll have a shot at capturing Anderson and finding the missing money.”

“I like it,” Benjamin said. “Get to work.”

As the team took their treats and coffee and returned to their desks, Cash remained.

“You didn’t have to volunteer to be my babysitter,” Cash said.

“I’m not babysitting you. I’m doing what’s needed for the case,” Lucia said.

“You look good this morning,” Cash said.

Lucia glanced around. Had anyone overheard him? “Thank you. But we’re at work.”

Cash let his gaze traverse her body. “What about yesterday? You were very in character at the casino. Almost too in character.”

“How can I be too in character?” Lucia asked. But she knew what he was referring to. Given the opportunity, she had kissed and touched Cash in ways she wouldn’t elsewhere.

“Just letting you know that turnabout is fair play,” he said.

She nodded. “Bring it, Cash. I can take whatever you dish out.” Despite her strong words, she knew she’d melt under his touch. Given the right set of circumstances, she would find herself willingly naked beneath him.

And she knew she would enjoy every moment.

* * *

“I’m surprised to hear from you,” Wyatt said, shaking Cash’s hand and smiling at Lucia.

“I thought it would be better for you to meet Lucy outside the casino,” Cash said, taking a seat across the table from his father. Cash knew his father was a regular at this restaurant. Did Anderson frequent this place as well? Old habits died hard. Would they run into Anderson?

Lucia hugged Wyatt and kissed his cheek. “When Cash told me you were at the casino, I figured fate was calling and we had to answer.” She giggled. “I’ve been dying to meet you. Cash is so secretive about his family.”

Wyatt took a sip of his drink. “How did you two meet?”

Lucia pushed her chair against Cash’s before she sat. She slipped her arms around his right arm and her breasts were pressed to him. Cash shifted, his pants growing tighter.

“It was love at first sight. I was volunteering at the prison teaching a class on writing and Cash was in one of my classes,” Lucia said. “I feel like I was meant to meet him, like destiny played a role in our relationship.” She smiled again at Cash.

Though it was over the top, Cash liked being on the receiving end of her attention and having her close to him was making this meeting with his father bearable. The distraction of her closeness was good for him. He would otherwise want to spit in the other man’s face and walk away.

He and his father had a long history of problems. His father had made his childhood difficult. He’d been against Cash’s marriage to Britney, saying she was trouble because she was estranged from her family and older than him. Wyatt hadn’t wanted to know Adrian.

The list of his father’s failures was long and Cash derailed the downward spiral of his thoughts by imagining what Adrian must think of him. Likely, his son had a long list of grievances.

Lucia was still dressing the part of his fun-loving, partying girlfriend. It was hard to forget she was in character when she was wearing a purple halter top and pair of floral shorts. The sandals on her feet had a thin, tall heel. He wasn’t sure how she managed to walk in them, but she made it work.

“How have you been?” Wyatt asked. “What’s it like to have your freedom after being inside?”

His father had a paralyzing fear of prison. It had been his excuse for why he hadn’t visited. But Cash wasn’t cutting him a break. If he was so worried about prison, he should have chosen a different career. “I’m working for the FBI. Consulting. The pay is terrible and the perks are lame. But it’s better than being in prison.”

“Working for the FBI must be bad, but don’t ignore the benefits,” his father said. “You have access to information it would take others much more effort to acquire.”

Cash nodded. His value to his father and to Anderson was his willingness to work his FBI contacts and exploit the access he had. “That’s true.”

“Do they keep you on a short leash?” Wyatt asked.

Was his father feeling him out for how useful he could be? “I have the tracker, which they’ve talked about removing for good behavior,” Cash said. “I’ve won over most of the team.”

“I’d expect nothing less from you. I haven’t talked to Anderson yet. After you went to prison, he was worried you would sell out everyone else for a shorter sentence.”

Cash shook his head. “I didn’t say a word about anyone else.”

His father beamed with pride. “That’s what I told him. My boy isn’t a snitch.”

The decisions he’d made to save Adrian’s life were his and no one else had to pay the penalty for that.

The sound of glass shattering erupted around them and Cash threw himself over Lucia. They hit the floor and rolled.

Gunfire peppered around them.

“Are you hit?” Cash asked Lucia from their spot on the ground.

She looked at her arms and legs. A smear of blood marred her clothes. Her eyes grew wide as she looked over his shoulder. “Your dad.”

Cash’s father had hit the ground, too, but he wasn’t moving. “Dad!” A hundred thoughts stampeded through him at once, most strong among them that his father could not be dead. They had unfinished business. Cash wasn’t ready to lose his father from his life, not with the anger that still lingered between them. The realization shocked him. His feelings for his father were buried somewhere underneath the resentment he’d been carrying.

Cash raced to his father and checked for injuries. There was no red swatch of blood across his body. He had a pulse. “Dad!” Cash slapped his father’s face, trying to wake him.

Lucia was on the phone and she crawled over to Cash and his father. “Door’s locked and help is on the way.”

She didn’t have her weapon on her. If she did, she would have pulled it. The FBI was monitoring them close by, but storming in could blow their cover. They’d need a reason why the FBI was responding to a 911 call.

Cash’s father opened his eyes and winced. “What did you bring to my favorite bar?”

Cash shook his head at his father. “Not me. I was thinking they were after you.” Except it was the second time he and Lucia had been targeted. No point in advertising that.

His father closed his eyes again, his chest rising and falling unevenly.

“We’ve got outside cover,” Lucia whispered. Benjamin and the team had been watching outside of the building in case Anderson had shown at the meeting, but likely being careful on the approach.

For the first time in his life, Cash was relieved to hear the sound of sirens.

* * *

“You could take the afternoon off,” Cash said, dropping into his desk chair.

Lucia took a sip of her coffee. Her nerves were still frayed from the shooting that morning and her energy was waning. She didn’t have time for rest and tonight they were planning to return to Anderson’s casino.

Ballistics weren’t back on the bullets and the CSI team was still working the scene. They didn’t know how the drive-by shooting would affect Cash’s relationship with Anderson. If Anderson believed the shooters were after Cash, he might not want him as part of his crew.

“Is your dad okay?” she asked. Cash’s father hadn’t been hit by a bullet, but the hospital reported he’d had a “minor heart event.” Lucia didn’t know if that meant a heart attack or just a terrible scare, but either one worried her.

Cash had gone with his father to the hospital. “He’s already been discharged. He’s fine. Go get some rest. We have a long night ahead of us.”

Lucia couldn’t slow her thoughts enough to rest. “I need to review the interviews we have from Holmes and White. Benjamin sent another team to talk to Leonard Young about Kinsley Adams. He’s still keeping his mouth shut although he did imply they were conducting a thorough internal investigation and would let us know if they found anything.” Lucia guessed they would bury anything they found. They wouldn’t want any more backlash than they were already getting from the public.

“Have you considered that whoever is trying to kill you, or us, is either lazy or incompetent?” Cash asked.

Lucia had considered it. Several failed attempts spoke to an amateur. “I’m also wondering why he keeps changing techniques. Most killers have a preferred method to dispose of their victims. A bomb, the direct approach at the hospital and a shooting don’t fit a pattern.”

“It supports the theory that it’s a group,” Cash said.

That was part of her fear. The assassins’ ring she’d broken up had men of many violent talents. They could be pooling their resources to take her out. But why hadn’t anyone else from the investigative team been targeted? She was certainly not the highest-profile member of the unit. “None of my theories are making sense.”

Cash looked around the office. “Can we take a walk? There’s something I need to talk to you about.” He spoke in a low voice.

Lucia stood and followed him to the elevators. He said nothing until they were on the ground floor, walking outside.

“Is everything okay?” Lucia asked. Would he tell her if it wasn’t?

“I heard from Boots today.”

“Okay.”

“Anderson wants me in,” Cash said.

“That’s great.” Why had he felt the need to leave the office to tell her this? It was the break they’d been waiting for.

“I won’t meet with him directly. Anderson will have someone else talk to me.”

“This is what we wanted,” Lucia said.

“I want to find Anderson. Not be jerked around by him.”

“Why would he jerk you around?” Lucia asked.

“He’ll test me. Of course he’ll test me. I’ve got a GPS tracker identifying me as the FBI’s errand boy and I’ve been in prison. He’ll want a show of my loyalty.”

Now the picture was becoming clearer as to why Cash was anxious about it. Getting into Anderson’s crew wasn’t a straightforward operation. “What are you afraid he’ll ask you to do?” Lucia asked.

“Could be anything. Steal. Lie. Cheat. Whatever it is, he’ll collect the evidence I did it and use it to control me,” Cash said.

“I am not a fan of you or anyone breaking the law, but depending what he asks, you’ll have to use your best judgment.”

“I don’t have immunity for anything I do for this case,” Cash said.

Lucia stopped and faced him. She took his hands. “I won’t let you be sucked into Anderson’s world. I won’t let you go back to prison.”

“Are those things you can control?” Cash asked.

Lucia would be watching Cash, helping him make the right decisions, the decisions that would keep him away from breaking the law and she would stand behind him if bad things resulted. “Yes. I can. You can count on me. We’re partners, right?”

Cash lifted her hands and kissed her knuckles. “I’ve said it from the beginning. But what if Anderson asks me to do something illegal? I can’t say yes, but if I say no I’ll be out.”

“We’ve come this far. I won’t let that happen to you.”

* * *

“Are you sure you want to go out tonight?” Benjamin asked for the tenth time that day. He’d called her at home to check on her. Though she had only a minor scratch on her arm from diving off her chair at the restaurant, her leg wasn’t fully healed. She’d been injured more on this job than in the violent-crime unit.

Lucia leaned closer to the mirror to apply her mascara. “Cash and I can do this. Cash’s father was released from the hospital and he said we should come to the casino.” She hadn’t told Benjamin about Cash’s concerns that Anderson would force Cash to do something illegal. She’d wait to see if his fears were justified.

She could hear Benjamin tapping a pen against his desk. “If you have the smallest inkling that this could go bad, I want you out of there.”

“I understand. I’ll text you the location if we go anywhere else tonight,” Lucia said. She disconnected the call and slid her phone into her clutch bag.

Cash was waiting in the living room for her. This wasn’t a date. And yet she was nervous. Not nervous about getting into the casino again or about the night she had ahead of her, but nervous about being alone with Cash.

Every hour they were together was a test of her control. Watching him with his father earlier that day had shown her the softer, caring side of him. It had been a raw and honest portrayal of the hurt Cash must feel.

Add to it that Cash had tried to save her life—again—and Lucia had completely let go of her initial dislike of him.

The casino hadn’t moved, but it would shortly. It was Friday night and more crowded than it had been previously. Word was spreading and the more people who knew about its existence, the higher the probability of law enforcement busting it.