Whiskey Sour (20 page)

We waited to start our conversation until we’d placed our order.

“I wanted to tell you that my things weren’t stolen from the house,” I said, pouring a healthy amount of cream into the most Godawful
coffee I’d ever had. “I found a new place up in Savannah. Nick helped me move everything yesterday.”

“And is Nicholas living in this new house with you?” my mother asked, narrowing her eyes at Nick.

“No, maam,” he said, smiling the charming smile that always got him out of trouble. “I was just helping.”

“Good, I’d hate for the gossips to get hold of that. They’re already talking enough because the two of you aren’t engaged yet. You’re getting to that age where it’s almost too late, dear.”

“I’m only thirty.”

“That’s like a hundred and twelve in Whiskey Bayou yea
rs. Not that you should rush into anything, especially since your young man seems to have commitment problems. No offense, Nick.”

“None taken,” Nick said, smiling tightly.

“Leave the kids alone, Phyllis,” Vince said. “They’ll do things in their own time.”

“Which is all fine and good, but I’d like grandchildren before I die.”

My eyes widened in alarm. My mom had never voiced the need for grandchildren before. I wasn’t even sure she liked kids. I mean, I knew she loved me and my sister, but my mom was kind of a flake. I was always terrified she’d lose one of us. Getting my driver’s license was the best day of my life.

“It’s a lovely house,” I said, breaking in before things could get weirder. Nick’s hand was gripping my thigh so hard it would leave bruises and I could tell he was mentally counting to ten. “It’s just exactly the right size and it’s close to the agency.”

“Which brings up another question,” my mom said, as our food was served.

Jolene Meador, the owner of the café, was taking her own sweet time putting our food in front of us, hoping she’d overhear something worthwhile. But we’d all been around the block enough to put on our company smiles and wait until Jolene had no choice but to head back to the kitchen.

“How are you going to afford this house?” she asked. “You don’t have a job. You’ve been doing just fine staying with me. There’s plenty of room.”

She had an odd look in her eye that I wanted to question, but I thought it might be prudent to keep the conversation on track just this once.

“You remember what happened to Lois Gluck?” she asked. “She got laid off from the distillery just after she’d scraped every penny she had together to buy that shanty down by the railroad tracks. She ended up having to sell one of her kidneys to make ends meet. And I heard she sold her ovaries on the black market to some woman who couldn’t get pregnant. Not that Lois’s ovaries were in that good of shape to begin with, so I don’t think she even got top dollar.”

Nick was shaking with laughter beside me, and I nudged him with my knee to get him to shut up.

“Don’t let that be you. I don’t want a daughter of mine walking around town without her organs. It’s just not natural.”

“
I promise I won’t sell my organs. I’ve still got another month before my teaching contract is up. I’ll get one more paycheck, and then I can start drawing unemployment. I’ve got enough to get by until I can get hired on at the agency full time.”

My mother pinched her lips together and we all ate, speaking in stilted tones
until I remembered she’d had an ulterior motive behind this whole breakfast.

“So what’s up?” I asked. “What did you want to tell me?”

I chose that unfortunate moment to take a drink of coffee.

“Vince and I got married while we were in the Bahamas,” she said, beaming like the blushing bride she was at Vince.

I choked on the coffee and some of it came out my nose. Nick pounded me on the back while he gave his congratulations to the happy couple.

“Say something, Addison,” my mom said. “Isn’t this exciting.”

“Pretty exciting,” I said, my eyes so wide I was surprised they didn’t pop right out of my head. “Congratulations, you crazy kids.”

“And look on the bright side,” Nick added. “Maybe you don’t need grandchildren. Maybe you can have another of your own. You’re still young enough.”

My mother beamed at Vince and I had the sudden urge to stick my fork into Nick’s hand. But he’d assured me that violence was never the answer, and I was going to go along with that theory for now. Mom was in her early fifties, so I was pretty sure I wouldn’t have to worry about welcoming a new sibling to the dysfunctional fold.

But pretty sure wasn’t the same as a hundred percent sure.

T
he rest of the morning was kind of a let down after breakfast. Nick and I left the restaurant pretty soon after that embarrassing moment, and we were just getting in his truck when my cell phone rang.

“What’s up?” I said to Savage.

“I need you to meet me at the agency. We’ve got something big. And we’ve got to move fast.”

“We’re on our way,” I said and disconnected.
I relayed the information to Nick and he headed back to Savannah, and the urge to do something drastic dissipated with every mile between us and Whiskey Bayou.

“I thought that went well,” Nick said, biting the inside of his cheek.

“Shut up. You did that on purpose to get back at me for making you go. That’s the last time I give you any surprises.”

“Act in haste, repent in leisure. My grandpa used to say that all the time.”

“I’m sure he meant it for an occasion such as this one.”

“If you knew my grandpa, then it probably was. He was a wily old bastard. Was married six times and had fourteen children. His youngest was born when he was almost seventy.”

“Genetics is a weird thing. It terrifies me.”

“I’ve met your family. It terrifies me too,” he said.

We got to the agency in no time, but had to park a block over because the traffic was so bad. It was high season in Savannah, though why anyone would want to come look at a bunch of cemeteries and old houses during the hottest month of the year was beyond me.

Lucy wasn’t behind her desk when we walked inside the agency. If fact, if was downright quiet inside. There was usually this constant buzz of activity and the murmur of voices, but that was all absent.

I saw why when we went into the conference room to meet with Savage. Most of Kate’s agents were inside, sitting around the twelve-seat table. Lucy was pouring coffee and delivering it around the room and Kate was talking to Savage quietly.

Everyone looked up when we came in, and Nick and I took two empty seats at the opposite end of the table from Savage. I was having trouble looking Savage in the eye. I hadn’t forgotten what he’d said the night before, and I wasn’t really sure how to handle the matter.
What I was sure about was that this case needed to end so Savage and I could part ways before he remembered he had a first date to claim.

“Thanks for getting here so fast,” Savage said. “It was lucky the two of you were together. Saved me an extra phone call.”

My head snapped up to meet his eyes, wondering if there was a hidden message in there somewhere, but his face was perfectly blank except for the eyebrow he had quirked.

“My mother invited me to breakfast,” I said. “I needed reinforcements.” I didn’t think it would help matters to mention the christening of my new house. “So you said you got a hit on Becca’s phone?”

“Yeah, at about eight o’clock this morning,” Savage said. “The call came in from the Sirin offices and informed Becca she had a new client who was interested in obtaining her services for business purposes. She’s to get a key from the front desk at the Marriott and go directly to the penthouse suite at 7:00. The transaction will be complete by 8:00 and then dinner will be served. The woman kept calling it a business meeting to cover her tracks and told Becca that attire was semi-formal. She said her services had been paid for in advance for an entire night. Becca didn’t say but two words the entire phone conversation.”

“Geez,” I said, suddenly uncomfortable.
I shot Savage an irritated look, not sure what I expected him to do about it, but just knowing something needed to be done. “Why the hell would she agree to meeting a complete stranger like that? In a hotel room? The whole thing is just skeezy.”

“Money,” Nick said. “Money is almost always the bottom line.
She’s pulling in five figures for a full-night’s work.”

Savage threw up his hands and smiled.
“I’m just repeating what was said during the phone call. Don’t look at me like I’m the guilty party. I hear you’re one of those who likes to shoot first and ask questions later.”

I looked at Nick, but he refused to meet my gaze.
“It was just a tranquilizer. There are some people in this room who have a tendency to overreact.” Everyone was staring at me with rapt attention. “Sorry. Please continue.”

“Whoever was making the call from the Sirin offices didn’t go into too many details, but she did say
specifically that Becca was to be a facilitator for a business transaction. It was mentioned that this is a two million dollar deal and to do whatever necessary to make sure the business was completed to the client’s satisfaction. Further instructions will be given once Becca is in the hotel room.”

“Well we obviously can’t let her go,” I said. “And we can’t let those gems exchange hands.”

“I’ve already had a man pick Ms. Gonzales up, and he’s holding her in a safe house for the time being. I’ve also confiscated her phone.”

“That’s clever of you,” I said, a plan hatching in my mind. I looked up at Savage and saw the gleam in his eye. We were on the same wavelength. It was everyone else in the room that seemed to have a problem.

Kate had laid her head down on the table and Nick was giving me a death glare so strong I could feel it through the side of my brain. The other agents in the room were trying their best to pretend they weren’t there or make direct eye contact.

“So,” I said.

“So,” Savage answered. “With Becca out of commission we need someone to go in and take her place. We can bug the room and set up surveillance with a team one floor below. I can have another team watching Natalie Evans, and if the exchange is made how I think it’s going to be made, we can pick her up for questioning and confiscate the stolen gems.”

“Piece of cake,” I said.

“I hear the phone ringing,” Lucy said, leaving the room abruptly.

“I’ve got to—”

“—doctor’s appointment”

“Root canal—”

Voices clambered over each other as the other agents gave their excuses and fled the scene.

“You and I are coming very close to having a problem,” Nick said.

At first I thought he was talking to me, but when I turned to blast him with my opinion I saw he was looking at Savage, and it wasn’t a friendly look.

“Anytime, anyplace. But you know as well as I do that my orders override your personal feelings. We’ll do this however we need to so we can get the job done and go home.
If you have issues with that then I have no problem cutting you out of the loop completely.”

“You’re more than welcome to,” Nick said.

He was stone cold in his reply. There wasn’t even a hint of the anger I knew was boiling under the surface. A quiet Nick was not a good sigh. I moved my chair over slightly to get out of the line of fire just in case.

“But
you
know as well as I do that I can make things harder on you. I won’t be bothered by playing dirty.”

Savage’s smile was sharp as a blade
and Kate looked like she wanted to put her hand on her weapon just in case things got out of hand.

“You can try,” he said. “Or we can see this through and be done with each other. You’re call, Detective Dempsey.”

“She doesn’t go in alone,” Nick said. “I want a man inside the room. And I want in on the bust.”

“Easily done,” Savage said.

“Hey, I’m sitting right here. Don’t I get a say in this?”

“No—” they both said in unison.

“All righty then,” I said. “You guys let me know when you’ve got the details hashed out. I need to go shopping. I’m fresh out of semi-formalwear.”

I decided to take advantage of the situation and walked up to Savage, holding out my hand. He turned those dark eyes on me, and he quickly banked the fire of his anger. I appreciated the gesture, because an angry Matt Savage was disturbing. He raised a brow in question and looked at my hand.

“Credit card,” I said. “It’s the least the FBI can do to catch a group of dangerous criminals.”

Savage rolled his eyes and reached into his back pocket for his wallet, taking out a silver credit card that carried his name.

“This is my personal card. Try not to go crazy.”

“Hey, talent like mine doesn’t come cheap. I’ll look every bit as good as Becca Gonzales by the time I’m through. Kate’s going to help me.” I grabbed Kate by the arm and hustled her to the door before the conference room turned into the OK Corral. “You boys have a good time
bonding.”

***

At six o’clock I had on underwear worthy of a high-class call girl and my head between my knees. I’d been close to hyperventilating for half an hour.

“Who
se idea was this?” I asked for the millionth time. “This doesn’t seem at all safe. Maybe we should get someone else.”

“This was your idea,” Kate said. “And it isn’t safe. Maybe one day you’ll stop opening your mouth as soon as a thought pops into your brain.”

“Hmmm,” I said. The dizziness was mostly gone and I picked at a piece of loose thread on the bedspread, deciding if I left my head between my legs too much longer I was probably going to suffocate. I didn’t know how guys did it.

I flopped back on the bed, wishing I had Marky-Mark to look upon and ask advice like in my old room. It was easier to breathe lying down. The boning from my lingerie was no longer cutting off the circulation
to my innards.

Kate was sprawled at the other end of the bed. “Look on the bright side. You got some really awesome clothes out of the deal. And maybe you could try this getup on for Nick later. That would probably go a long way in soothing his temper.”

“I’ve already used that approach once today,” I said. “Do you think there’s a limit?”

“Not so far as I’ve noticed. I think as long as you’re naked and semi-willing, then you can get things to turn in your favor when it comes to dealing with a man.”

I put my hair in hot rollers and spent a few minutes looking at myself in the mirror. The corset was black lace and only hinted at the skin beneath. It also did a damned good job at sucking in the cinnamon rolls, Twinkies, ice cream and Oreos I’d gorged on the past week. When I thought about it like that, it was almost enough to make me sick. What can I say? I’m a stress eater. And I’d had more than my fair share over the last few days.

The panties were briefer than I’d like, but I wasn’t actually planning on stripping down. I was assuming Savage would bust in and put things to a halt before it got that far.
And I’d forgone the garters because there was no way in hell I was wearing stockings in this heat.

Mostly I was wearing the underwear because Kate was right. I had a whole lot of making up to do where Nick was concerned.

I did a full makeup job and dusted bronzer over my neck and shoulders before slipping on the black strapless sheath I’d bought earlier. Kate helped me zip it up in the back and I waited until the very end to take the hot rollers out of my hair. I was dealing with a hundred and twenty percent humidity, so it was a little bigger than normal. I evened it out by putting on another coat of lipstick and long silver dangles at my ears.

“That’s as
good as it gets,” I finally said.

I looked over and Kate was asleep on my bed. She’d opted to be in the
surveillance room with Nick and a couple of other FBI agents. I personally thought Kate needed a vacation. She was burning her candle at both ends.

Savage picked us up a little early,
and he did a mostly good job of keeping his gaze above my neckline. It was kind of hard to blame him. The corset pushed my breasts up to impossible heights, and I kept catching glimpses of them from my peripheral vision.

Kate took her own car and followed behind us, and Savage put his hands around my waist and lifted me into his Tahoe. I was grateful, considering there was no way I’d be able to lift my leg that high without ripping the dress.

I kind of leaned back against the seat so I could draw air into my lungs a little easier, and decided then and there that I was cutting all sweets out of my diet. My spleen was starting to go numb.

Savage narrowly missed a parked car while glancing over at my décolletage.

“They’re pretty good, huh?” I said.

“They’ll do. I hope the poor bastard isn’t old. I’d hate for him to have a heart attack.
Adds more paperwork.”

I was kind of hoping he
was
old. Even I could probably outrun a senior citizen. And I could probably knock him over if I had to.

“We’ve already got a team set up on the floor below th
e penthouse suite,” he said as we turned onto Randolph Street and headed straight for the Marriott. “I’ve spoken with the manager and all but delivered death threats to make him keep his mouth shut. I don’t want Natalie Evans getting word of this before we can pick her up, and she has the uncanny knack of having all the right people in the right places.”

“Where are you going to be?” I asked, picking invisible pieces of lint from my skirt. I was trying to figure out how I was going to get my head between my knees in this dress if I had another moment of panic.