“Silly, of course not. Well…not that I really remember since I tuned him out when he was droning on. But he told me not to worry my pretty little head over the details, which was just fine with me. Horace—Henry, whatever—is gonna buy me one of them fancy diamond bracelets with his cut, he said.” Indi giggled and wiggled again. “Not that he won’t expect some you-know-what in return for his generosity, but thank God he’s a minute man…if you know what I’m sayin’.” The women chortled, Shae coughing as though she had taken a swallow that had gone down the wrong way.
“Excuse me.” Almost without warning, Clay was suddenly standing by their table. “Buy you ladies a drink?”
Turning to look at him, Indi twirled a lock of her neon-red hair around her finger and batted her hazel eyes. “Well. Aren’tyoua snack?” Letting her gaze travel up and down Clay’s body, blatantly gauging the cost of his clearly expensive suit, avarice filled her expression. “I wouldloveto let you buy me a drink, doll, but my Mama taught me never to accept a drink from a man I didn’t know in a place like this. If you know what I’m sayin’.”
“Unless it’s an expensive bottle of champagne or top-shelf liquor,” Dani lobbed the catty remark at Indi casually, lifting her beer bottle to her lips with a satisfied smirk. “Be careful,doll. She’ll take the fillings out of your teeth if you let her.” Shaelyn snickered and gave her sister a high five.
Giving Dani a sarcastic, equally catty grimace, Indi turned her attention back to Clay, her smile turning more charming. “I’d invite you to sit down so we can talk, doll, but your friendsdon’t exactly look thrilled you’re standing over here with us while ignoring them. My goodness, that one with the shaggy head looks like he’s ready tomurderme.”
“Jack is perpetually grumpy, sweetheart. Don’t worry about him.” A smile that never reached Clay’s eyes touched his mouth. “Why don’t you ladies join us? We can push the tables together and make this a real party.”
Rolling her eyes, Dani stood up, beer bottle in hand. “Count me out. I’d much rather shoot some pool.” Looking at Shaelyn, she asked, “Are you coming with, or are you going to watch this bitch reel in another fish on her line? How fucking dreary.”
Her sister rose from the table with her own beer bottle. “Yeah, I’m outta here, too. Catch you later, hooker. Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.”
Kelly’s low voice came over the comm as Clay and Thom moved the two tables together after the Forrester sisters had moved off. “Fuckingbrilliant. Indi’s going to play them like a fiddle. A lone operative always has a higher chance of success when targeting more than a single individual if they play it right. The targets will always automatically assumetheyare the ones in control when there are more of them. Sadly for them, India is the one actually holding the reins in this situation. Reflex just doesn’t know it.”
With a nod at Brooke, who was sitting next to her in their apartment, Blake added, “And the Forresters are positioned so they can get to Indi in a blink if she needs them. Fucking awesome. Okay, ladies, it’s showtime. Let’s see what you got.”
Indi beamed up at Clay as he seated her, giving no indication she had paid any attention to the voices in her ear, then twirled another lock of neon-red hair as she fluttered her eyelashes coyly at the four Reflex partners. “Well, hello there, gentlemen. Whatcha wanna talk about? And what does a girl hafta do to get a drink around here? I’m parched.”
Chapter 19
“What’s your name, sweetheart? I don’t much like drinking with a woman whose identity is a mystery,” said Clay, signaling to the server. “Can I get you another beer?”
“It’s Cherry, doll. Bet you can’t guess why,” Indi giggled, pointing to her head. “I’ll take another beer, maybe a shot of whiskey later. This ain’t exactly the kind of place that knows how to make a good Cosmo, if you know what I’m sayin’.”
After Clay had given the server their order, he leaned back casually. “I couldn’t help but overhear what you were shouting to your friends. Sounds like your boyfriend fell into something sweet.”
Indi let her nose wrinkle. “He’s not my boyfriend. Really, I haven’t known him long. Horace…uh, Henry…uh,whatever…likes to buy me things in exchange for a littlesumpin-sumpin. If you know what I’m sayin’.” She winked and ran her tongue over her lips. “Anywho, he promised he’d buy me a diamond bracelet with his next score. Guess he’s hooked up with some dude who’sswimmin’in it. Flash and cash from what Horace…uh—” she huffed and rolled her eyes with a slight grimace, “from what my friend says.”
Propping her chin up on her hands, bent elbows resting on the table, her gaze traveled over Clay again. “I overheard him on the phone with this guy the other day when he thought I was asleep,” she confessed. “Something about selling junkies to these shady treatment facilities? I dunno. Like, how doesthatmake any sense? As if some junkie—I don’t give a shit how high off his ass he is—gonna let some big shot shove him into a padded roomwithout causing a scene.” Indi shrugged as if she was not much interested, accepting the beer the server brought to her.
An electric shock raced through the APS team. Infinity had told them Rob Vonn—Rob Kilgore—had been sniffing around the body brokering business, but didn’t have a way in. He had no contacts, no reputation among the big players, and his name had never once floated up anywhere outside of embezzlement or money laundering schemes. Other than Kilgore—in his persona as Rob Vonn—hijacking the remains of the mother of one of Infinity’s clients from the funeral home where they had been taken and selling them on the open market, there had been no indication Kilgore/Vonn was seriously involved in body trafficking.
Now, however, it was quite clear Indi had been harboring more than a few suspicions concerning Kilgore’s possible involvement inlivebody brokering—in addition to his embezzlement, money laundering, and grifting wealthy marks—and she was using this casual meet as an excuse to dig for additional intel. It was rapidly becoming clear that body brokering had mostdefinitelybeen on his agenda.
And Rob Kilgore’s partners hadn’t a clue how much he’d been scamming THEM.
“Goddamn,” swore Blake over the comm, watching Reflex closely with Brooke. “Look at Kilgore’s face! That motherfucker knows something his partners-in-crime don’t. Son of abitch!”
Rob Kilgore wore an impassive expression, but the slight tightening of his mouth and positively arctic eyes as he flicked them at Indi meant he was quite aware of the minefield he was currently treading. Meanwhile, Clay—after ordering whiskey shots for the table—frowned slightly as he casually asked, “Did Horace say anything else, sweetheart?”
Shrugging, Indi took a swallow of her beer before revealing, “Maybe something about the job havin’ to do with him andthe other guys this dude has on the hook makin’ money from fingering the junkies they know? Christ knows, there ain’t no shortage of them around. I’m guessin’ the guy scoops up the ones with insurance and pushes them to these shady rehab centers for a cut, then pays his dudes a finder’s fee out of it. But you didn’t hear that from me. Ain’t healthy for a girl in my position to hear too much…if you know what I’m sayin’.”
“She’s fishing,” said Kelly softly, her eyes glued to the live feed. “Indi is throwing out different scenarios to see if anything lands, while playing brainless ditz at the same time. Looks like there’s a fish on her line, if Kilgore’s reaction is any indication. Whatever limited intel our girl has had up her sleeve and been sitting on until this point has hit the bullseye.”
“We’re not necessarily talking about human remains. JesusChrist. He may possibly be trafficking in the sale oflivebodies, just not from a sexual exploitation perspective.” Drew was thinking, her brow furrowed. “There’s someone I need to talk to online tonight, who can possibly shed some light on this. I suspect she knows far more about this shit than she’s let on so far.”
Brooke’s voice came over the comm. “In other words, the Reflex dudes have been all about their typical embezzlement and money laundering scams while in Tampa Bay. Cask & Canvas is only one of the craft microbreweries that has been a target in their usual sleazy con. But, unbeknownst to the other partners, Rob Kilgore has set up his own hustle grifting wealthy marks under a different aliasandpotentially brokering drug addicts to shady treatment facilities, who are more concerned with profit than providing actual patient care.” She hissed, furious, as Blake pulled her femme into her arms to calm her down.
“Indi? Step carefully, my friend,” Bryn said quietly. “Clay has started to look suspicious, and your Rob Vonn is clearly incensed, for all that he’s been keeping his expressionemotionless. It’s apparent that Jack and Thom have started to feel the tension between them as well. The APS crew onsite will help Shaelyn and Dani extract you if you need it, although it appears you still have control of the situation at the moment.”
As the server came up to the table holding a tray on which an unopened bottle of whiskey and a stack of clear plastic shot glasses sat, however, Indi squealed and clapped her hands as if she had already forgotten what she had been blathering about. “Ooh! Shots! Iadorewhiskey! Pour ‘em out, boys…let’s get this party started!”
“Is she seriously going to do whiskey shots?” Riley wanted to know, raising a dark brow. “Surrounded by those goddamn predators? Has she lost her fucking mind?”
A snort came from Piper. “Dani told me when they were in college, Indi could drinkanybodyunder the table. Even when she, her sister, and their friends were drunk off their ass, little Miss barely-weighs-more-than-a-minute would only have a slight buzz. Her metabolism must be off the chain. She’ll be okay, although it’s my bet she’ll pretend to be affected just to throw them off.”
