Giggling, Indi slammed down her empty shot glass after throwing back the whiskey, then pouted at the lack of noise from the plastic cup. “Poopy. Plastic shot glasses arenofun.” She waved her hand in front of her face, tittering. “Is it hot in here, or is it just me? Who’s ready for another one?”
“Cherry.” Clay, for all his suspicion of the situation, attempted to keep his voice casual. “Just one more question, sweetheart, then I promise we’re going to have a real good time. Did Horace ever tell you how he contacted this man? Phone number, email, anything like that? How did he get ahold of him if he had any questions?”
Indi’s eyes grew huge. “Oh,no. No, no, no, no, no. Horace wasn’t allowed to call him, doll.” She squinted as though thewhiskey was already affecting her. “Or is it Henry?” Impatiently, she flapped her hand at Clay. “Whoever the dude is, he would callyouif there was a job. Any problems, you figured it out for yourself. If you couldn’t, then you missed payday. Better luck next time, loser. Everyone used a burner phone forreasons, if you know what I’m sayin’.” Her eyes grew wider. “Holy hell, this girl needs topee. Pour me another shot, fellas, and I’ll be back. Think I saw the little girls’ room on my way in.” She rose unsteadily, then turned on her heel and started making her way to the front of the bar, acting as though she was tipsy.
“Dani and I are not far behind her.” Shae’s voice came over the comm. “However, Vonn/Kilgore immediately jumped up and is now following her, too…and he is fuckingfurious. Indi, he’s moving fast, not caring who he’s shoving aside to get to you. The look on his face? That right there is a man who plans to get answers, even if he has to shake them out of you, because he is skeptical about your whole story. Watch your six, sis. I have a feeling shit’s about to get real in here.”
“We’re moving.” Already, the APS team was jumping out of their vehicles, heading for the front door of The Hideout. “It sounds as though you’re not too far from the front,” Riley said. “Be warned: APS showing up like this is liable to cause a stampede. Blowing your cover isn’t exactly my first choice, unfortunately, but we’d already discussed the possibility of that happening if the op went south. If Kilgore has decided Indi isn’t who she said she was, the three of you may need to get out of therenow.” Flinging open the front doors, the APS crew rushed in—and walked straight into bedlam.
?ω?ω?ω?
“Dude! What the fuck?!” Standing at the front corner of the long bar that ran down the length of the room, Indi yanked herarm out of Rob Kilgore’s grasp after he grabbed her and swung her around to face him. “What the hell is your problem? IsaidI was going to be right back! Geez, like I don’t have enough pushy dudes in my life to deal with!”
“Who are you?” He yelled and tried to grab her again as Indi skillfully avoided him. “What’s your game?Who do you work for?”
“Look, doll, whatever you’ve been smoking, I think you need to lay off. You’re fucking delusional.” Grabbing a glass filled with water and crushed ice sitting on the bar, Indi tossed the contents in his face, leaving him sputtering. “Take your hands off me, asshole! Now, see how you likethis!” Grabbing two more glasses filled with water, ice, and liquor, one in each hand, the Infinity operative hurled them over his head into the center of the crowd, Shaelyn and Dani also following suit—screams filling the bar when they landed, spraying sticky liquid everywhere. The place exploded like a lit match to gasoline as bar customers bellowed in anger and began to fight with each other, not knowing where the assault had come from.
Indi scooted behind the end of the bar, with the Forrester sisters throwing punches at anyone who came near them. As APS rushed in, they took in the riotous, chaotic scene at a glance, then dove into the fray without hesitation. Jaime and Casey moved right next to Shae and Dani, providing them with some cover, as Riley, Kelly, and Piper took positions near them, each of them scanning for the rest of the Reflex crew even as they fought the drunken bar patrons.
“Going up,” Drew shouted to Indi as the APS team lead rounded the bar. Seizing Indi from behind, her large, strong hands grasping the petite operative’s waist, Drew lifted her high into the air, then tossed her the remaining distance so she landed on the bar top. Crouching as she balanced, Indi stabilized herself, then strode forward a few steps, flipping off the bar onthe other side as she kicked out with both feet, which were clad in heavy combat boots. Catching two men perfectly under the chin, causing them to fly back and sprawl on the floor—out cold—Indi hit the ground with soft knees before straightening up, starting to battle in earnest as Drew came around the bar to join her.
While the hand-to-hand fighting technique she used appeared very similar to Krav Maga, it was not hard to notice there were differences as well. Nonetheless, India Lunastar was averywell-trained fighter, easily on a par with Kelly, and more than held her own in the fracas—as did the Forrester sisters. Rob Kilgore had disappeared into the crowd, clearly choosing to retreat rather than attempt to grab Indi again, as he and the rest of the Reflex crew melted into oblivion.
Suddenly, horrified screams cut through the commotion. “APS! APS is here!” the voices yelled as the bar patrons realized who was fighting in the midst of them. Immediately stampeding toward the front door en masse, the crowd burst through the entrance in a panic before running to their cars, peeling out of the parking lot when they reached them and started them up. Reflex did not appear, evidently escaping out of the back, as did some others. “Was it something I said?” quipped Casey when the bar was finally empty except for them and the bar staff.
“Asshole.” Blake’s voice came through their comm. “You so owe me for this one. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve gotten into a good bar brawl? You all fuckingsuck.”
Drew shook out her thick waves, then tied her hair back again. “You’ll survive. Although I have to admit…that was kind of fun.” She glanced at the Infinity operatives, especially Indi. “You guys okay? No injuries?”
“Nothing worth mentioning, except some idiot tore my favorite blouse.” Indi examined a hole in the hem. “More importantly, we collected a lot of information to dissect.Reflex confirmed a bunch of my suspicions tonight, but most of all, we now know Rob Kilgore—aka Rob Vonn—has been doing a considerable amount of grifting,withouthis partners’ knowledge,” she said, back to her quiet self. “I would venture to say that tonight opened their eyes to his deceit since he has been flying under the radar until now. No more, though.”
Dani grinned as she reached them, along with Shaelyn, and elbowed Indi in the arm. “Now you know why we can’t take this bitch anywhere.” The operative grimaced and flipped her associate off. “Seriously, thanks for the assist…looks like we make a good team. Why don’t we all go home, shower, and get a good night’s sleep, then meet first thing in the morning? We’ll be fresh and ready to go over the entire clusterfuck, then decide our next steps.” Murmurs of agreement came from the team.
As everyone headed out the door, Drew fell back next to Riley and Kelly, who were walking hand-in-hand in the rear of the group. “I need to pay a visit to Purgatory before I go to sleep tonight,” she said in a low voice as they walked to the SUVs. “Every instinct in me is screaming that my moonchild knows a hell of a lot more about this bullshit with Kilgore and Reflex than she has admitted.Especiallythis body brokering piece of it. I do believe it’s high time the two of us had a chat.
“Because, I swear to you…if it’s the very last thing I ever do,The Shadowwill pull every single thingCyb3rmoonknows out of her. One way or another.”
Chapter 20
Whimpering, Brooke tried to slow her ragged breath as Blake dropped a final kiss on the inside of her wet thigh before pulling herself up her femme’s body to take her in her arms. As they kissed each other, Brooke tasted their co-mingled essence, running her hands over Blake’s hard body with a passion that still simmered.
“I never get tired of making love with you,” she sighed, nuzzling Blake’s jaw. “When you come in my mouth or under my hands, I feel…I feelcomplete. Yes, I love what you do to me, too. But to be the woman who sees the softer side of you, to know how much you love and trust me enough to be vulnerable with me, in the privacy of our bed? Do you even understand what that means, to be the femme who can give that to you?”
In the dim light, she saw Blake smile. “And doyoueven understand that, until you, no woman has really gone down on me before?” Brooke’s eyes rounded as she raised her head.
“Never?” she asked in disbelief, propping herself up on an elbow.
“I take that back,” Blake amended, brushing a strand of Brooke’s dark blonde hair back from her face. “When I was younger and had started seriously dating women, a few of them talked me into letting them go down on me, so I did. Honestly, baby, it didn’t do much for me, so early on, that was something I discouraged. I never cared if they wanted to use their hands to stimulate me that way, but anything else was off the table, as far as I was concerned. Sex toys? As long as I’m the one driving, so to speak, it’s all good, but that’s the extent of it.”
A wicked smirk tilted the corner of Blake’s mouth. “As a matter of fact, hearing you scream while I’m working you with both my mouth and a vibrator at the same time sounds kind of…interesting, come to think of it.” Brooke whimpered again. “We all know how much I love playing games, don’t we?”
A flood of arousal ran from between Brooke’s legs. “You are so not fair, Seibert,” she moaned, feeling her desire rise even more despite her exhaustion.
“Sofair, tigress,” whispered Blake before kissing her deeply. “However,” she continued after she had raised her head, “as much as we are still on fire for each other, we are also exhausted. We have that early morning meeting with APS and Infinity, with a fuckton of shit to disseminate. Let me clean us both up and change the sheets, then we can go to sleep.”
“You’re on sheet duty. I’m in charge of hot washcloths and towels.” Brooke unraveled herself from Blake’s arms and rolled over, then swung her legs over the bed. “Maybe I’ll buy you some colorful bathroom towels and washcloths to offset all this gray you have going on. Sheets, too. Graphic artists need a bit more flamboyance, babe, ‘cause this ain’t doin’ it.”
Laughing, Blake sat up and got out of bed. “Tigress, my mom was so aggravated when the Seven first moved in because I wouldn’t tell her what color I wanted—because I didn’tcare—and this is what I got. As far as I’m concerned, you can do whatever. Your duplex was cute, inside and out, and had character and personality without being gag-inducing. Grab my mom and take her over there with you so she can see it, you two figure it out, and I’ll pay for whatever you come up with. You will make Dolly Seibert anincrediblyhappy woman.”
