Tipsy (7 page)

It had been the night I had my first
and only date with Julie.

And now it was happening all over
again.

I shook off the trip down memory lane
and told myself I could wallow later. “So you’re saying that
someone here, in our town, is the cause of all the drug and violent
activity down there?”

“
It appears that way,”
Cramer confirmed.

A trail of expletives let loose from my
mouth.

“
My thoughts exactly,
Markson,” Watson muttered. “This is absolutely unacceptable. These
punks are our on turf now. It’s a direct challenge. We need to take
them down.”

“
What do you want me to
do?”

“
We have it on good
authority that some of the thugs that are connected to LeBraun in
Myrtle Beach will be at a club tonight in Jacksonville. We want you
to assume your former identity and go there. Accidentally bump into
the crew and get in with them.”

Concern rose up at back of my neck.
“You’re putting me undercover in the same town that I work and live
in?”

Watson glanced at Cramer with a sour
expression on his face. “It’s not ideal. Under normal circumstances
this would be a no-go. But we’ve been on this case for two years.
This is the first break we’ve had at all.”

That I believed. The reason I was
pulled out after several months of work was because the case was
going nowhere fast, and it was a waste to have so many guys working
on it. “Can’t you pull in someone from Myrtle?”

He shook his head. “We don’t know who
we can trust there. Some of the cops on the force are on the take.
It’s the same reason JPD was brought down there in the first
place.”

“
Plus, some of the crew here
might have come from down there,” I murmured to myself.

“
Exactly. You’ve been out of
the loop here for months. You’ve just now been back to work and
mostly it’s been routine stuff. You’re not in the club scene around
here, are you?” he asked, a new apprising look coming into his
eyes.

I shook my head. “Absolutely not.”
Clubs were not my thing, never had been.

He nodded, looking relieved. “You
already know this case, details that new recruits wouldn’t
understand. We don’t have to brief you on this stuff. Not only will
your presence save us time, but frankly, you’re our best
option.”

Cramer picked up where Watson left off.
“Point blank, Markson, you’re one of the youngest on the PD here,
you fit the profile of a guy who might be in the drug business, and
you’ve already built an identity that will open doors for us. We
need you to do this.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be offended
by what he said. It wasn’t every day a guy was told that he looked
like a drug dealer.

“
I’ll do it.”

Watson clapped his hands with glee.
“Good. From here on out, you don’t come to the station. Don’t call.
Leave your personal possessions—your cell, your wallet, your car
keys—everything on my desk. You’ll get them back when the
assignment is over.”

Damn. I hated giving up my car. I loved
that thing. But I couldn’t run the risk of it being recognized.
This was a fairly big town, but it wasn’t so big that someone might
not know the Challenger with the black racing stripe down the hood
if they saw it.

“
Don’t go home. We’ve rented
a new place where you’ll be staying. It’s been outfitted with
clothes and food already. Here’s the address.” He handed me a slip
that I glanced at only long enough to realize that the location was
less than desirable.

“
You’re getting two cells.
One for regular use; you can give the number to contacts. One that
is only to be used to contact the station. Don’t let them find the
cell or you’re screwed.”

He droned on for what felt like hours,
telling me stuff I already knew and outlining the “crew” of
druggies that were in our area. I felt weary already. Dealing with
these kinds of thugs was exhausting. You had to be on watch at all
times. There was never a moment that I could let my guard down. One
slipup could literally kill me or someone else.

When I couldn’t sit another moment, I
stood and paced to the office door. “Markson,” Watson called, and I
turned.

“
I want these SOBs. They’ve
been hiding right under our noses for too long. This is our town.
If we let them get control of Jacksonville, they’re going to take
over the entire area from here all the way to Myrtle
Beach.”

“
I’m on it.”

He gave a brisk nod. “Their last victim
was a thirteen-year-old on vacation. Died of a drug overdose.
They’re preying on kids now.”

Fury radiated up from my bones. Punks
who pick on kids made me sick. I might not have gotten these
assholes last time, but this time… this time they were on my
playing field. This time I had the upper hand.

“
We have another officer
from Raleigh down here working the case. He showed up about the
same time we found out about the underground ring here. His name is
Slater. He’s been informed about you. He’ll be at the club tonight.
He’ll make some introductions.”

Cramer handed me another slip of paper
with the address and name of the club I was to go to tonight. It
was one of the rowdiest in Jacksonville. Figured.

I committed the address to memory and
then dropped it onto the desk. I couldn’t take it with me. Then I
committed my new address to memory and left that paper behind too.
After I unloaded my pocket and keys, I noticed Watson watching
me.

“
There’s some clothes in the
back. Change. You don’t look like a thug. Hell, you like you’re
going on a date.”

“
I was,” I said, annoyance
in my voice.

“
They’ll be plenty of time
for dating later,” Cramer said, clapping me on the back.

I wanted to laugh. This was the second
time I’d screwed up with Julie. Sure, I might have dates in the
future, but they sure as hell wouldn’t be with her.

I glanced at the clock. It was already
after eight.

Yep. All my chances with Julie went out
the window over an hour ago when I stood her up.

7

Julie

“
No way,” I said when Craig
turned into the parking lot of a club that I had only heard about
but never been inside.

Dee peered at me from the darkened
front seat of Craig’s black Hummer. “Come on,” she
begged.

“
Don’t you know the
reputation this place has?”

She shrugged. “I’ve heard it. But
sitting at the bar at Chili’s isn’t going to help you forget about
being stood up.”

“
Neither will you reminding
me every five seconds,” I snapped. Then I pressed my lips together.
That was bitchy. “Dee—”

She held up her hand. “Save it. I know
you’re sorry. You gotta take your anger out on someone.”

But not on my best friend.

“
Look, this place is known
for a good time. It’s loud; it’s busy. There’s dancing. You need a
couple shots and to shake it on the dance floor with some
hottie.”

There was something wrong with me. That
didn’t sound like fun at all. I thought longingly of my ice cream
and sweatpants while Craig parked the Hummer in the nosebleed
section where there weren’t even any street lights. I decided to
appeal to his manliness.

“
You’re going to let your
girlfriend go into this bar? It could be dangerous.”

He turned in the seat and looked at me.
“So am I.” Then he winked.

Clearly he wasn’t going to be any
help.

“
Come on,” Dee cajoled. “One
drink. It’ll be fun.”

“
Fine,” I groaned. We were
already here and I looked hot (if I do say so myself).

She squealed and we made our way across
the parking lot, my heels teetering unsteadily against the layer of
gravel coating the ground. The loud bass of the music thumped
through the night air, practically vibrating the ground. The club
was up ahead, a large, unassuming building. All the windows were
dark—probably being blocked by some sort of covering or a coat of
black paint. The entrance looked small compared to the vast empty
walls. It was just a single door with one of those push bars across
the front and a neon EXIT sign on the front.

As we approached, someone came out and
the music grew even louder. Inside there was a bouncer at the door,
taking money for the cover charge. Craig handed over some cash and
we were invited inside by the grunting bouncer.

Classy.

The music was so loud I could barely
hear myself think. The lighting was dim, most of it coming from
flashing neon bulbs and a disco ball over the dance floor. There
were booths lining the walls, all of them in the shadows, and a bar
shoved up against the right side of the room.

It kind of looked like a huge empty
gym. The walls were plain. The floor was wide-open for dancing in
the center, and the bar was wooden with stools
underneath.

There were people crowded
everywhere—around the bar, around the booths, on the edges of the
dance floor. The dance floor was seeing a lot of action as well.
Couples and groups were gyrating and dancing all over the place. A
DJ booth was set up on the far side of the room, and he was dancing
it up to the tunes as well.

The air was thick in here, the amount
of bodies making it overly warm. It smelled slightly of stale smoke
and beer.

“
Come on!” Dee yelled over
the music and pulled me over to the bar. Craig pushed his way
through the crowd and appeared several minutes later with a drink
for each of us. He was also carrying a shot of clear liquid, which
he extended to me.

I took it without question and
swallowed it in one gulp. It burned the whole way down my throat,
and I felt it coat my stomach with fiery warmth. I took a sip of
the rum and coke in my hand and scanned the crowd.

“
See anyone promising?” Dee
asked, leaning into my ear. I rolled my eyes. In this place? Yeah
right. I had a better chance of catching some weird airborne
disease in here than I had of actually meeting a guy worth
dating.

“
No,” I yelled. “I’m not
looking anyway.” The sting of being rejected by Blue again was
still fresh. It was like one of those nasty cuts that just a brush
of the air caused it to burn and sting fiercely. Unfortunately, I
couldn’t slap a Band-Aid over my entire body. I was going to have
to deal.

I took another sip of the drink,
feeling the effects of the shot already. I guess alcohol was sort
of like my Band-Aid tonight. I never drank so I knew it wouldn’t
take much to take away the sting—if only for a little
while.

A new song switched on,
something by
Pink,
and suddenly I didn’t mind it was so loud. I liked not having
to think.

“
Let’s dance!” Dee said and
pulled me out onto the dance floor.

The three of us found some space on the
side and started moving to the beat. Dee was a good dancer. She
ground herself against Craig, who used his hands to pull her a
little closer. Eventually, I began to feel like the third wheel I
was, and I shook my empty cup at her and pointed to the
bar.

She nodded and I stepped off the floor
and out of the crush of bodies. I tossed my cup in a nearby
trashcan, not really intending to get another. I was already
feeling it. I was a little fuzzy headed, my body was relaxed
(relaxed = uncoordinated), and I knew if I drank any more I would
be well on my way to drunk.

I wandered toward the bathroom,
debating the toxicity of the germs in there, but my bladder made
the decision for me. The alcohol was going right through
me.

Halfway to the bathroom, someone
stumbled into my path from a nearby booth. They bumped into me.
“Sorry,” they mumbled, righting themselves and disappearing into
the crowd.

I adjusted my top and turned my
head.

Familiar eyes collided with mine and my
heart stopped. It literally stopped beating. I felt like every
ounce of oxygen had been siphoned out of my lungs and they
collapsed right there beneath my ribs.

Eyes that blue could only belong to one
man.

My gaze raked over the rest of him,
confirming what I already knew.

Blue was here.

He was wearing clothes I never would
have guessed he owned. Scuffed-up jeans, a T-shirt, and a black
leather jacket. On his head was a gray knit skull cap. It covered
up the hair I ran my hands through just hours before. God, it felt
like years.

Even more, there was a piercing in his
lip, a tiny silver ring that the flashing lights above occasionally
reflected off of.

It made me yearn to know what that
metal felt like against my skin.

I shook my head. Standing here
practically ogling how hot he looked was ridiculous.

I got stood up so he could come here
and… and… Well, I don’t know what he was doing. Except there was a
blonde wearing a very tiny shirt cozied up to his side and looking
at him like he was a steak and she hadn’t eaten in
weeks.