Partners (3 page)

Being that she
wore jeans and an ordinary black fitted jacket, she felt comfortable enough to
go into the Chinese joint and pass under the radar. She sauntered over and
stopped to look in the window. The image reflected back was of a slender woman
with dark hair, long, tousled and messy, and a face trained not to smile.

With a quick
fluffing of her hair, and a fake grin, she sauntered inside and checked the
menu. She knew from reading the report that this Ross character liked to pierce
his body and had enough tattoos to belong in the freaking circus. Shouldn’t be
too hard to pick him out if he happened to be there. But he wasn’t.

A younger Chinese
girl came to ask if she wanted a table and showed no signs of placing her for a
cop. So she went into the act she’d taught herself when she was young and being
nice kept her alive.

“Hey, I wonder if
you could help me. I have a friend who lives next door, Johnny Ross. He was
supposed to meet me here tonight. Have you seen him? I’m a bit late.” She
smiled and made sure to look worried.

“He not here.”

“No, I can see
that. Was he here earlier?”

“No, we delivered.
To his place...” A slight hesitation followed and then she continued.
 
“…apartment forty-three.” The slight twitch
of the left eye could have been a wink. In fact Aurora was sure of it. Casually
she thanked the girl, but this time she also smiled with her eyes.

The hostess nodded
and turned to the people coming in behind her.

The black sedan
that pulled up soon after she’d stepped outside had her breathing a sigh of
relief. She waited for Detective Hampton to park and join her. No way she
wanted to miss out on this guy Ross. The lead was the best she’d had in months.
But she knew she’d have gotten her chops busted if she’d gone in alone.

Ham, mean and
burley, a cop who’d seen it all, came to stand beside her. He nodded when she
shared her information, and they moved forward together. She double-timed to
keep up with his long stride and hated feeling so small. Feeling inadequate
next to some of the bigger guys on her team pissed her off. Guess it’s why she
favored boots with heels, kept her back straight and walked tall. Still, her
head only came up to the shoulder of his six-foot-three frame.
 

Because they’d
worked together before, the operation proceeded smoothly like dancers in a
well-rehearsed samba. He halted on one side of the apartment door. She knocked
and waited.

“Whaddaya want?”
After reading his rap sheet while she’d waited for backup, Aurora knew Ross
only stood a couple of inches taller than her, but his voice sounded
surprisingly deep.

“It’s me Johnny.”
Sweet and sugary, she answered.

“Who?” This time
the interest was evident.

“It’s me, honey.
You remember, you promised me a party.
 
Well tonight’s your lucky night so open up.”

 
Hearing him approach, she quickly shook her
hair down around her face, undid the top two buttons on her blouse to show some
cleavage, and adopted a sexy stance. Working it even more, a look of being high
replaced the eagerness she felt.

At first his voice
was rough. “You wanna party with me? Why?”

“Heard you had
some good shit. I need it. I’ll be good to you.” She softened her tone…sounding
like a little girl.

Bingo! He
obviously liked little girls. “I sure do have some good shit. But you gotta pay
for it, and I know just how you can do that, you pretty little thing.”

Feeling his eyes
peering through the peephole, she licked her lips enticingly. “Whatever you
want, Johnny. I need it real bad.”

God she was
good!
Once he unlatched and opened the door an
inch, she slammed it the rest of the way, and Ham had him down before he knew
what hit him. Handcuffed and surly, he whined like the girl she’d imitated
earlier.

“Hey! You can’t
come in here like this. I’ve got my rights.”

“You let me in.
Remember, sugar?”

“You tricked me.”

“And you promised
me a party.” She pointed at the bags of pills and powder on the cigarette
stained table. Her evil smile made him turn away. Ham threw the weasel onto the
sagging couch then searched the place while she bagged the evidence and read
him his Miranda rights.

Back at the
precinct, Aurora left the jerk to wilt in the holding cell while she did the
paperwork. This guy was crud, but the more she found out about him, the more
she realized he might be the answer to her ongoing search for Rhondo.

Deciding that
after two hours he’d had plenty of time to imagine his future years in the pen
playing girlfriend to the lifers, she opened the door and approached,
confidence showing in every line of her compact body.

“Hey Johnny,
you've got some information I want. And I’ve got the get-out-of-jail card you
want. So, what say we play a game here?”

From slouching
asshole to alert and ready, the fish took the hook, swallowing the wiggly worm
in one big gulp. Didn’t even chew! No surprise there. It never failed to amaze
her how some turned over and showed their bellies quicker than a mistreated
mutt.

“Whaddaya want
from me?” His eagerness to spill his guts made her sick. It didn’t seem to
matter what it was she wanted.
 
He
looked ready and willing to share.

“You know a guy
called Earl Rhondo?”

The light went out
as if she’d doused the wick.

“Nah! Never heard
of him.” His excitement waned, and his face shut down. Clearly, he feared
Rhondo more than he wanted his freedom.

Move in quick.
Don’t give him a chance to grow balls.
She shoved
the table away from him and pushed her knee over the handcuffs on his hands,
forced them down into his crotch. Snagging the piercing on his left eyebrow,
she twisted hard.

“You wouldn’t look
so good with a torn face, now would you? Girls don’t like a freaky-looking
dude. And I want Rhondo enough to make a real mess of this pretty mug of
yours.” Moving in real close, her face inches from his, she sneered her
disgust.

The pussy couldn’t
take it. He screamed and tried to push her away, but by blocking the handcuffs,
she’d pretty well made that impossible.

In a reasonable
sounding voice, she added. “You gotta know I’d lose my job if anyone found out
that I’d treated you so mean. But hey, do I look like I care? Tonight there
aren’t a lot of officers around. And the one’s who’re here, are all friends of
the female officer your buddy attacked. We don’t take it lightly when one of us
gets hurt. So, they feel the same way about Rhondo as I do. We want him behind
bars, and we’re all willing to take a turn just to help convince you to be
smart for once in your miserable life." Tilting her head to the side, she
demanded. "Capiche?”

Tears rolled out
of the corners of his eyes when he tried to nod.

“Good.” She backed
off a little; surprised by the small amount of force it had taken. “Tell me
what I want to know, and you’ll be back on the strip within the hour. Hell,
I’ll drive you there personally.

Aurora could
almost hear the wheels turning. With a bit more pressure applied he squealed,
and then he begged. “Don’t hurt me.”

She backed off
again and patted his cheek. “Sugar, I won’t touch you if you tell me what I
want to know. Where’s Rhondo?” All business now, she shot questions his way
like a semi-automatic firing.

“Look, all I know
is he’s throwing a party at the old shack on Freemont.”

“What’s the
address?”

“I don’t know.”
She moved in purposely and he shrunk back into his chair. “I can show you on a
map.”

“What night?”

“This Saturday.
He’s invited all the old gang.” This sounded better and better. She loved
crashing parties.

“You gonna be
there?”

“Hell no! I’m
leaving Vegas tonight.”

She nodded. “Good
boy! Just remember, there’s no place you can hide if this turns out to be
bogus.”

“It’s for real, I
swear. Saturday, you’ll get Rhondo.”
 

The
strange-looking black purse on Debbie’s old desk the next morning warned Aurora
that very likely her new partner had arrived. So far Cory had kept the woman’s
identity close to his chest. Other than the name, Kai Larson, she knew nothing
about her at all.
 
Strange name, Kai,
not one she’d heard before. Maybe this girl came from Hawaii?

What a weird
looking purse! Hope this gal isn’t too butch. It could be embarrassing seeing
as how Aurora had always looked so damn feminine. Not something she worked on.
In fact it had been the bane of her existence since she’d bought her first
feminine products.

She started her
computer, picked up her Coyote hockey mug, then went to the coffee area seeking
her third hit of the day. Hadn’t had time to do a drive-through this morning,
and her system craved its usual dose.

“Hey Ham. Thanks
again for your back-up last night. It worked out pretty smooth. So far, it’s
the best lead we’ve gotten on Rhondo since the latest incident.”

“Sure, Morelli, no
problem. I organized the tail on Ross like you wanted. You were right. He lit
out last night to Reno. We also put the tap on his cell. He’s been a good lad
and hasn’t used it. I had a buddy of mine pick him up at the bus depot when he
hit town. Make sure the snake doesn’t do anything stupid like tip off Rhondo.”

“Sweet!. I knew I
could count on you. Hey! You seen any female strangers around here this
morning. There’s a purse on Deb’s desk that tells me my new partner has
arrived.”

Ham’s eyes
crinkled before the grin hit or the chuckle burst loose. “Oh-
boy-oh-boy-oh-boy. Is the shit gonna hit the fan?”

“Hey, come back
here! What do you mean?” A slight buzzing started in her head and the wave of
apprehension wouldn’t shift. “John Hampton, you come back here and face me like
a man.”

“Ain’t gonna
happen, It’s not my story to tell.”

Knowing that the
big Irishman wouldn’t budge, Aurora stalked to her cubicle. All she saw at
first was a pair of cowboy boots at least size twelve on the edge of the desk.
The faded jeans that covered the muscular legs gave her the next clue. And the
bald head cinched it. Her new partner was a man.

Not just any man.
He was the type that she used to fall for in her younger years. The cocky dude
who knew he was prime. Sexy as all get out, Mr. Hotshot had been spoilt by the
ladies and loved the attention.

Before she could
react, Cory appeared in the doorway wearing the look of a boss who wasn’t about
to put up with any of her shit. His hand went up at the same time as her mouth
opened.

“Not a word,
Aurora.”

Her mouth refused
to close. Her finger pointed at the sloucher who sat watching this interaction
wearing a cheeky grin below his flashy blue eyes. “No way!”

“Not open for
discussion. You both have good reasons to want Rhondo as much as I do, and I
figure working together, sharing your files, you’ll get him. That’s all I care
about.”

She’d never heard
Cory use that tone with her before. Filtering the facts through her head faster
than most, she knew at once that she didn’t have a hope in hell of losing this
purse-carrying cowboy.

Before the words
‘then I quit!’ could be uttered, Ham burst in, an unusual excitement billowing
around him like an aura of static electricity. “Hey boss, just got a call. A
couple of rookies are shooting it out with a guy who sure sounds like Rhondo
and a few of his friends. The young cops flagged his driver for speeding, and
instead of pulling over, the schmuck took off. They gave chase and ended up in
the same con as before. They’re pinned down, trapped in that bloody underground
lot.”

Before he’d
finished, Aurora had her gun in the holster and her jacket halfway on. Twisted,
it gave her trouble until she felt someone undo the sleeve and help her into
it.

“Thanks.”
Grudgingly she remembered her manners.

“Hey, what are
partners for?” He waved her to go first and took up the rear.

Cory unblocked the
doorway. “I’m stuck here. Have a meeting with the mayor.” Frustration sounded
in his voice. “You two go and get that son-of-a-bitch. And play nice with each
other. You hear?”

“Yes, boss!” In
unison the words had more oomph, and as she passed Ham, Aurora caught the silly
smirk he didn’t bother to hide.

“Quit grinning
like an idiot and grab some of the others. That bastard’s not getting away this
time. Not if I can help it.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Within minutes,
Aurora spun out of the parking area, turned on the siren and drove into the
oncoming traffic as if she had sole possession of the road. Out of the corner
of her eye, she saw her new partner, big buff male that he was make the sign of
the cross. And he did it knowing she’d see him.