His eyes lit up like Fourth of July fireworks as he leaned forward to touch the tie on her blouse. “May I have the pleasure, darlin’?”
She tried to swallow the lump in her throat enough to speak. “Of course,” she managed to say, but Barone didn’t seem to notice her nerves, he seemed happy her words were in the affirmative. His sausage-like fingers moved to undo the knot and soon he was pulling aside the fabric to reveal her heaving breasts. He gazed at them like he was being presented with a prize.
Moreno made no effort to hide his delight in seeing this part of her as well. “Lovely, Katie, as I suspected you would be. I don’t understand why you haven’t shared this delectable part of you more often with us. It would go a long way in releasing you from your debt.”
She gritted her teeth as the others stared. Her dinner protested, threatening to revolt and she wasn’t sure she could stop it. Moreno got up slipping her shirt off her shoulders until it fell to rest near her wrists. This was a new low for her. She hoped whatever information she could get would be worth it. Why couldn’t they get back to playing cards, talking? They must have seen better bodies on many women. She sat there pretending she was merely a model for an art class and these were students doing an assignment.
After another minute of staring, Barone got around to dealing the new hand. These men had probably seen more than their share of nude women. Meg hoped her bare breasts would only hold their attention for a short time. They’d lose interest and start talking about the location of the warehouse.
None too soon the men stopped gawking and resumed the conversation they had interrupted earlier. She continued to smile at Barone who seemed extremely pleased that he was finally getting somewhere with her. He better not think he’d be allowed to play out some of hisotherfantasies.
“I’ve got extra men set up at the warehouses on pier seven and pier twenty. The smaller shipment of drugs is being delivered to the pier twelve warehouse so I’ve made arrangements to have my suppliers there when it comes in.”
As she sat there listening, trying to remember the exact addresses, which they had finally mentioned, Barone threw down his cards, triumphant. He’d won this hand and Meg hadn’t even noticed.
“You are my good luck charm, darlin’ Katie,” Barone said as he jumped up, planted his hands on her shoulders, then ran them down to cup her breasts. “Or I should saytheseare.” He gave them a squeeze.
Oh, God, no. She couldn’t do this anymore. He pulled her in close and suggested, “We need to celebrate. How about right here while the others watch. They’ll be quite envious.”
Her dinner started to protest and rumble in her stomach so she pulled away, shaking her head. “No. Sorry. Mr. Martin wouldn’t like it.” She shrugged the top back over her shoulders and grabbed for her tray, making sure to snag the napkin underneath. With the tray in front of her, hiding the untied sides of her top she stumbled through the door to the ladies room. Inside the stall she dropped the tray and managed to write the information she’d heard onto the napkin.
Taking a deep breath, tears fell as her stomach finally emptied itself of its contents.
* * * *
Chris finished his conversation with his supervisor smiling at all the information Meg had been able to get for them today. If they could stop even one of these shipments, especially the gun shipment, they’d have enough to put Moreno and many of his goons behind bars. They owed it all to Meg.
He looked at the closed door of the bedroom and wondered exactly what had happened tonight. She’d given the napkin to Dave to slip to him, barely looking his way. But she’d been distant the past few days anyway--ever since the meeting when she’d discovered Dave was a cop. She was now reserved, her teasing gone. He hadn’t meant to hurt her. He’d only been thinking of her. She was much safer not knowing the bartender’s identity. There was less likelihood of letting anything slip when she wasn’t privy to it.
After they’d returned here tonight she’d simply transcribed the notes she’d written and supplied him with a few more facts about the warehouse security Moreno was putting in place. With his excitement about the information he hadn’t noticed how tense she’d become.
But now that he’d passed the information along to the proper channels he thought back realizing something about her demeanor had been off. Maybe she was just tired and needed this to be over. He was ready to get this guy behind bars, too, but he hated to admit he’d gotten used to having Meg nearby.
The sight of her, all tousled and sleepy, when she finally woke up as well as her fresh remarks whenever he teased her about staying in bed late got his motor revving. But even with her quick wit and sarcastic humor, she also had such a sweet side to her. Had she been like that all the time before she’d gotten into this fix years ago? The feisty attitude and playfulness she had dancing around her was something else. The impish grin she often wore made his heart beat faster and he wasn’t sure he was ready to give that up yet. Sometime soon he’d have to.
A slight cry came from the bedroom and he went to investigate. Meg thrashed around in the bed, moans coming from her throat. She cried out and he rushed to sit beside her.
“No. No, please don’t.” Her cries rang through the room. The pain and intensity of her pleas was evident. He held her shoulders and she resisted at first but when he spoke softly in her ear, she relaxed a bit.
“Meg, Meg, sweetie, it’s Chris. I’m right here. You’re fine.” He wasn’t sure what she was experiencing in her dreams but whatever it was, it scared her. He completely understood. This case was causing too many nightmares.
She sat up and her eyes popped open. It was a few seconds before she seemed to figure out where she was. He continued to speak softly, assuring her everything was fine. Her breathing slowed and she finally looked at him.
She took a deep breath then let it out slow. Her eyes couldn’t meet his--almost as if she were ashamed. Of what though? Maybe her nightmare had brought back some of the times Moreno had mistreated her physically. Hardly her fault. He wrapped his arms around her quivering shoulders hoping he could help her forget her dream. He knew how real they could seem. Last week’s had been as bad as anything he’d had after returning from Afghanistan. Meg was there for him then. He was here for her now.
“Hey, you okay?” He filled his voice with warmth and sensitivity. “It was just a bad dream. I’m right here and you’re fine.”
She shook her head trying to convince him as much as herself. “Yeah, I’m…uh fine. Just a bad dream. I’m sorry I woke you.”
“You didn’t wake me,” he assured her tilting his head at the dress slacks he still wore. “I was on the phone with Doolittle. He’s pretty stoked about the information you got tonight. This could be it, Meg, the final nail in Moreno’s coffin.”
“It better be worth it,” she spat out, her eyes doing the avoidance thing again. Anger and bitterness laced her voice and once more he wondered if something different had happened in the back room tonight. Rubbing his hand up and down her back, he stared at her agonized face.
“Meg,” he asked softly hoping she wouldn’t crawl back inside her protective shell. “What happened tonight? You seem a little off.”
She buried her face in his shoulder which worried him. She wasn’t the type to cling for comfort but she curled deeper against him. He stroked his hand through her silky hair for a few minutes then eased her back so he could see her face. Her eyes wouldn’t meet his, never a good sign.
“Tell me what happened.”
