“I feel the same way.” She kissed him again, this time, deepening their embrace.
“We’re knocking this out, then I’m taking you to bed.”
They sat side-by-side at his kitchen table and Stryker logged in to his laptop. Once he’d accessed the department’s website, he was able to get into Doug’s online file. Together, they read several of Doug’s reports to get an overview of his UC work.
Doug Easton had infiltrated a tight-knit drug gang in Northern Virginia. According to his notes, they were the region’s premiere seller of heroin and opioids. Small, but powerful, they called themselves The Trinity. Doug had risen through the ranks, earning himself a position that gave him access to the gang’s leader, known only as The Father.
“None of these guys use their real names,” Emerson said.
After skimming a report, Stryker would open another one. It was almost one in the morning when Emerson said, “Last one for now. I’ve got an eight AM meeting with the chief toxicologist.”
Stryker clicked on a report and they started reading.
“Here we go,” he said. “He got a name.”
“Donny Farraday,” Emerson read.
According to Doug’s notes, Farraday had been pushing heroine and opioids for decades, and staked a large area of Northern Virginia as his turf. It didn’t take Stryker long to find Farraday on social media. The guy loved posting pics of himself with strippers.
After a quick search for Farraday on the dark web, Stryker found X-rated photos of him and a woman. Ten minutes later, Stryker learned the woman wasn’t a woman at all. She was a sixteen-year-old teenager.
“This guy is dumb as fuck,” Stryker said.
“Thank you for doing this for me.” Emerson caressed his face with the back of her fingers before dropping a soft kiss on his lips.
He stood and held out his hand. “Let’s go to bed, baby.”
As she entered his bedroom, she squeezed his hand. He’d left a box with a bow on his bed.
“You bought me an electric toothbrush. Or you bought yourself one and put a bow on it.”
On a chuckle, he handed her the box. “For you.”
“Thank you,” she said, before kissing him. “This sleepover was premeditated.”
“Guilty as charged.”
With her new toothbrush in hand, she said, “I cannot believe how much you spoil me.”
“Neither can I, but I love it.”
They brushed their teeth, stripped down, and got into bed. Then, she eyed his shoulder. “What happened to you?”
“I got stabbed.”
“What?”
After he told her about the teens at the playground, she gently kissed his healing wound.
“Mmm, that helped.”
She dotted his shoulders and chest with kisses before returning to his mouth. When he drew her into his arms, she felt home. This was where she was supposed to be and this was her person. She felt it in her bones and in her soul.
“I’m falling in love with you,” he murmured.
I’ve already fallen, so, so hard.
“Me, too.” While she didn’t like withholding her truth from him, she viewed him as a free spirit when it came to women and commitment. Because of that, she’d tread lightly.
