She smiled. “Now you’re talking.”
We chatted a little longer and then Dee left after making me promise to call her when I got home, no matter the time.
I took my time in the shower, shaving my legs (hey, a girl never wants to get caught looking like sasquatch) and doing my hair. I gave it a little extra mess because I was feeling edgy and nervous.
I was downstairs waiting at seven.
At seven fifteen, I checked my phone.
At seven forty-five, I wondered if I had imagined him asking me out.
At eight, I knew he wasn’t coming.
There was surprise in Dee’s voice when she answered the phone. “If you’re calling me from a date, then I know it’s not going well.”
“He didn’t show.”
There was a very long pause on the other end of the line.
“Dee?”
“He’s a dog. I’m plotting his murder. I need silence.”
I laughed. Some of the sickness in my stomach loosened. I couldn’t believe I fell for his charm again.
Shame on me.
I heard Dee’s muffled voice. She was talking to someone in the background. Most likely it was Craig. Then she came back on the line, loud and clear. “We’re going out.”
“I don’t think so,” I protested. All I wanted to do was put on my ugly sweatpants and eat ice cream.
“Arguing is futile.” She insisted. “We’re going. We’ll pick you up so you can drink.”
“Fine,” I muttered and hung up the phone.
A drink sounded like a pretty good idea right now.
6
Blue
This time I wasn’t going to screw this up. With a woman like Julie, a guy didn’t get many chances. Hell, I was surprised she gave me a second chance. But she had. And I wasn’t going to waste it.
She didn’t seem like the kind of girl who needed a lot to be impressed. Julie struck me as the kind of girl who wanted to feel like she was all her man could see. All he wanted. She was the kind of girl who would rather be lavished with attention than money.
I could do that.
It might not always be easy, but I had a feeling she was worth it.
I figured we’d drive out to Topsail Island, have dinner at a place on the water, and then end up on the beach. I was going to kiss her. Not kissing her the first time we went out had been hard and it was a decision I regretted to this day. Not knowing what she tasted like haunted me.
I locked my apartment and jogged down the concrete steps when my phone went off in my pocket. I glanced at the screen: Work.
I answered it with, “I’m busy.”
“Markson, this is Cramer. We have a situation. We need you to come in,” said a gruff, no-nonsense voice into my ear.
I winced. Cramer was like the boss of my boss. When he called, I came. Damn. “I’m actually on my way out,” I tried.
“Good. I’ll see you in a few.”
Clearly the guy didn’t know how to take a hint. I pointed the Challenger in the direction of the JPD and prayed this was some kind of situation that required five minutes. I was early to pick up Julie so I had a little bit of time to get this taken care of.
I strode into the station and swiftly made my way back to the police chief’s office. I didn’t bother to knock. They called. I came.
Chief Watson was bent over his desk with Cramer, and I got my first inkling that something big was up.
“Have a seat, Markson,” Chief Watson instructed when he noticed me hovering in the door.
I sat down even though I felt like pacing the room. This reminded me of the last time I got called into his office. It ended with me falling off the face of the earth for months.
“We need you to go under again,” Watson said, getting right to the point.
My stomach clenched. I sat there stiffly for the span of two heartbeats. “Same case?”
“Yes.”
I exhaled. I always knew there was a possibility I would have to go back, but I really didn’t think it would be so soon… if at all. “Was there a break in the case?”
Cramer spoke up for the first time since I walked in and sat down. “The department has learned some new information. Apparently, the supply of drugs pumping into the Myrtle Beach area has been followed back to this area.”
That was surprising. Months ago I was called into the station unexpectedly and was told I was needed undercover on the outskirts of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Because the area is such a hotspot for entertainment and clubs, the drug scene was growing rapidly and new cocktails of dangerous drug combinations were appearing and claiming lives.
I was pulled from the unit here and sent deep undercover with a background story and a new ID to try to ascertain where the drugs were coming from, who was funneling them in, and to gain leads on how to stop the poisoning of a well-known vacation hotspot.
I was gone for months. Months of living in the ghetto. Months of no contact with my family. My friends. My life. I literally walked in the station one night a cop living his life and stepped out hours later with a new identity and strict orders to speak to no one that could possibly identify who I really was.
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?”