One Night Stand (8 page)

He nearly exploded. "What? Fuck that. I know you're not a criminal. And we have a union and lawyers to help if I did get into some shit. My job isn't the issue at all."

"What is?"

"I just came off a six-month undercover operation. It's a huge case with some seriously bad people. When it goes to trial it will be massive. This, whatever," he shook his head, "situation could overturn everything I did, all the evidence I provided if someone spins it the wrong way."

"Oh." No wonder he'd been so mad. My big mouth could cost him everything and put really evil people back on the street. "God," I sobbed. "I'm sorry."

"It isn't your fault." He held me tight again. "Please don't cry."

"I can't seem to stop."

"Try, for me?"

I sniffled for a while and nodded. "Okay,"

"Here's the thing. I told you about my case because that's what I was thinking about last night. And I wanted to be honest. But now? This is bigger than I thought."

"I get it, Sam. You're sweet to meet me here, but I understand you can't help me. I'll go to the station, tell them what I know. I'll keep your name out of it."

"Carly, no." He held me by the upper arms, looking intently into my eyes. "You don't understand what I'm telling you. From what you've said and some things I can't explain right now, I think this could be related to my other case."

"What?"

"I know it's weird, but I was…" He paused and looked a little sheepish. "I looked into your boss last night. I couldn't get much information from his file but there were a few things in the summary that I remember hearing about before. The details don't matter, but I think you've stumbled into something here."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you can't report this. You can't tell anyone else what you saw, what you did."

"But I have to!"

"You
can't
."

"Why?"

"The people involved. This isn't some half-assed operation with your boss at the helm. He's at the bottom rung of a very tall ladder. And the people at the top would be perfectly fine killing him, and you and anyone else they need to."

My fears from the first day I'd seen the pills came flooding back. "This is a mob thing."

"Yes. Look, I shouldn't be telling you any of this but you need to know."

I trembled. "So what do I do? Nothing?"

"No.
We're
going to do something."

"We?"

"We. I need your help but after that you're out of this."

"I don't understand."

"Remember how I told you to keep your phone on while you walked over here?"

"Yes."

"Well I want you to take this one back to work with you and leave it in your boss's office. It's a burner, unregistered."

"Why do you have that?"

"Just an old habit from my assignment. But it's coming in handy right now. We don't have time for an elaborate plan, we have to make do." He handed me the phone, holding my hand for a moment. "Is there somewhere you can put it without him finding it?"

"I think so."

"Okay. You do that and I'll handle the rest."

"Sam, come on. You have to give me a little more than that."

He sighed and looked around the empty room. "I need a recording of his voice on my phone. I can take it in as part of my investigation and get the team to look into him. He'll never know you were involved and everything will be fine. For you, at least. You'll be safe." His voice broke a little at the last word and I grabbed his head and kissed him.

Sam's lips parted against mine and he returned the kiss hungrily. Our teeth scraped together and our arms tightened around each other. As if the air was poison and the only safe oxygen was inside us, we desperately shared our breath, not stopping until I was dizzy and he was panting.

"Sorry," I said, not meaning it at all.

"Don't ever apologize for doing that. But right now we have to focus. My number is programmed in the phone. Just press send right before you place it and the phone will do the rest."

"Okay."

"Leave the phone and get out of there. I'll be close by. When I see you outside I'll pick you up and we'll get out of here. You can stay at my place until all of this is resolved."

"Wait, what about Anna? I haven't talk to her in days. She'll be worried."

"It's safer if you wait. Once this is all over you can tell her anything you want. But until then, only we know about this. Okay?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now, remember the plan. If anything goes wrong, just leave."

"Got it."

"All right. Do you wanna freshen up before you go back?"

"Now?" My voice was a shrill shriek. "I have to do this now?"

"The sooner you do it, the sooner it's all over."

"Right. Of course."

I dropped my head into my hands and sighed. Sam grabbed my chin and lifted it until I looked at him.

"You can do this."

I laughed humorlessly.

"What?"

With a shrug I closed my eyes. "I must be the worst one-night stand you ever had."

"Baby, no." He caressed my jaw, soothing the tensed muscles there. "You might just be the best thing that ever happened to me. You'll get through this.
We'll
get through this. We just have to stand together on this. Trust each other."

His deep voice was so calm, so sure, it made me believe. Next to Sam I felt so safe. Not protected so much as supported. Like we really could stand up to anything. Together.

I stood up, trying to make my trembling limbs obey me. Sam escorted me to the rest room and stood outside until I returned. He left the coffee shop and told me to wait two minutes before following. I did and every second felt like an hour. The plan seemed so simple when he was walking me through it, but as I stalked stiff-legged back to the office, I thought of a million things that could go wrong.

Shaking those doubts off I concentrated on figuring out where to leave the phone so Mitchell wouldn't see it but it would pick up his voice. Nothing obvious came to mind, but it was enough to distract me until I got to the door.

The front was empty, but I could hear some of the guys in the back. I glanced at the clock. They must be heading out. I palmed the phone Sam had given me and walked at a normal pace around the office, checking for Mitchell. As expected, he was still gone. And while I was looking I heard the messengers leave through the back door, off shift for some and out to make their next deliveries for the others. I wanted a few minutes to ensure I was alone, flipped the lock on the front door and took a deep breath before going into Mitchell's office.

The room was deathly quiet, and seemed strangely stuffy, but it might have just been me. I pressed the call button and watched it connect to Sam's cell. Once I was sure it worked I circled the small space, searching for a hiding place.

There was a box of tissues on the shelf behind his desk. A quick look at the thick dust that covered the fake wood and the box told me he never used it. Perfect.

I placed the phone in carefully, making sure the microphone was pointed straight up and rearranging the tissues to hide it from a casual glance. It was then I realized I'd been holding my breath and I let it out loudly, sagging against the back of Mitchell's chair with relief. I'd done it. The end of this nightmare was in sight. It was time to go.

Wondering briefly if I should call Sam to check that everything was working, I paused with my hand on the doorknob as it started to turn from the other side. I froze for a split second and then jumped back to sit on the edge of Mitchell's desk.

He opened the door and peered at me, surprised, but not very concerned. "What the hell are you doing in here, Carly?"

"Uh, I…I wanted to talk to you again. In private. Apologize again for the other day."

"Christ, girl. Quit sniveling. I'm not going to fire you, okay?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

He looked me over, beady eyes scanning me from head to toe. Ugh, he really earned his nickname sometimes. I felt covered in slime just from his gaze. "Hey, how come your hands are shaking?"

"What? Oh, it's nothing. Too much caffeine today I guess."

He sidled over to me and I could smell raw onions and smoke on his breath. "I don't believe you."

"Really, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about. I better get back to work."

I stood up straight, ready to walk out.

"Hang on a second," he said, placing his clammy hand on my arm. "I think I know what's going on here."

I froze. "You do?"

"Yeah. I'm not stupid, you know."

"Of course not."

The Slug chuckled. "I thought something like this might happen."

I cast a helpless glance over my shoulder, as if Sam could see me or sense my fear.

"Yeah," Mitchell continued, his fingers tightening on my skin. "You're not the first to try something like this."

My legs nearly gave out. "Try? Try what? I'm not trying anything."

"It's okay, really. I can't blame you. You see a single guy running his own business and you think I'm vulnerable. And yeah, okay, I get lonely sometimes. But let's be honest, you're not winning any beauty contests, sweetheart. The face isn't bad, but I like a petite girl, you know? Someone who makes me feel like a man." He had a faraway look in his eyes that made me want to retch. "But hey, all cats look alike in the dark, right? As long as I get to be on top I'll throw you one."

A wave of nausea and relief rolled through me. He didn't know what I had done, he thought I was there to – I could barely stand to think it – seduce him. I'm sure there were more disgusting things in the world, but I couldn't think of a single one.

"I-I am flattered, Mitchell. Really. But I should probably get back to work now."

"Stupid bitch," he said, sneering. "First you fuck up at your job and now you're refusing my charity? You're even dumber than I thought. If you don't want a piece, what the hell are you doing lurking in my office?"

Shit. That's the last thing I wanted him wondering about. There was only one thing to do. One really, really revolting thing to do.

I batted my eyelashes dramatically. "Mitchell, please. You were right, but I'm embarrassed."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes." I sat back against the desk and arched my back, pushing out my breasts. "I never thought a man like you would ever look at me like that." That much was true, just not the way he thought.

"Well, like I said, you're not my type. But it's been a slow couple of months. So…why not."

"Gosh," I said vapidly. "So, do you want to go out some time? Get a drink or two?" To myself I thought there wasn't enough booze in the world.

"Hold up there. I'm not trying to be your boyfriend sweetheart. But you know, if you wanna fool around a little bit that'd be fine I guess."

Happy my stomach was empty, I smiled broadly. "Ha, you're such a kidder."

"I'm not kidding at all. In fact, things are pretty quiet right now. Why don't we do some business?"

Mitchell stepped closer to me, crowding me against the desk. His crotch hit my knee and I could tell he was hard. A long string of curses went through my mind.

"Well?"

I let out a fake giggle and stood up, pushing him away. "Not here, silly. Anyone could come in. In fact, I think I hear someone outside right now."

"Don't worry. No one will interrupt us. Now, come here and show me what you got. The only blessing of chubby girls like you is the tits. I hope they don't sag to the floor."

I couldn't hide the look of disgust on my face.

His leering smile turned upside down and a cold rage filled his eyes. "You're just another fucking cock-tease, aren't you? Goddamn it. Well guess what, Carly? I don't like to be teased. And if you want to keep this job you're gonna have to start acting better."

I backed around the desk, trying to keep it between us, but he followed.

"Mitchell, I'm sorry. This is just all a bit much for me, I wasn't expecting-"

"Shut your mouth."

The man in front of me wasn't The Slug anymore. He was scary. Memories of another man turning on me flooded my brain and I felt the panic start to rise, threatening to paralyze me.

"Please, I'm sorry."

He rushed around and grabbed my arms. "If you don't shut up I'll have to shut you up."

"Let me go."

"No. What are you going to do about it, cry?"

"Fuck off," I spat at him, frantic to escape.

"Don't you talk to me like that you stupid fucking bitch." He reared back and slapped me hard across the cheek. His pinkie nail scraped my face on the follow-through and I stumbled hard into the bookcase.

The bottom shelf, apparently not secure to the back, tipped forward, spilling everything onto the floor around us. Including the box of tissues. The cell phone fell out and lay between our feet. For a long moment we were both frozen in place, Mitchell's arm still raised and my hand covering my cheek.

"The fuck is that?"

I didn't say a word.

"Holy shit," he said, eyes wild. "Are you some kind of narc? Goddamn it I knew you were trouble."

"Narc? No. What are you talking about?"

"I knew it. I fucking knew it. You're here to infiltrate my operation. Well good job. But don't think I'm gonna let you out of here alive."

"I swear I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh no. The time of playing dumb is over, sweetheart. Do you have any idea who I am? What I can do to you?"

"Mitchell, please." I shifted my feet sideways, trying to keep my eyes on him while I planned my escape.

But he caught me by the throat, wrapping his fingers around my neck. "I'll fucking kill you, bitch."

As he squeezed I struck out with my fingers and legs, moving without thinking, acting instinctively. It wasn't enough to make him let go, but he stumbled on something and we both went down in a heap. On the floor I kept it up, scratching and clawing him while I tried to push him away with my long legs.

Mitchell was stronger than he looked, though, and managed to keep a hold of me. He used a knee to batter my stomach, trying to force the air from my lungs and the fight from my limbs. For the second time in my life I looked into the eyes of a man who meant to kill me and this time I swore I'd die before I gave in.