Loving Night: Dream Catcher Series ~ Book 2 (5 page)

“I want to be very clear that I’m
only filling this position on a temporary basis,” Chaz expressed to Roy when
they met an hour later.

“Understood,” was the supervisor’s
only reply.

A meeting was scheduled for that
afternoon with the rest of the task force, including the lieutenant and sergeant
overseeing the officers of the Kentucky State Police, announcing the change of
roles for Chaz. Roy explained Chaz’s deep involvement with the details of the
case and experience on other task forces as his qualifications to be the
temporary Team Leader. Since everyone at the FBI was confident that this change
in leadership would not impact the schedule or scope of the plans that had
already been made, the meeting went smoothly.

Officer Austin Marks (using the
last name Parker) had overseen the transformation of a small office building
into a jazz club and hidden brothel. Sitting on its own lot with plenty of
parking, the three-story building was perfect for renovating the upstairs into
rooms where patrons would have privacy with the ladies. From the outside, the
upper floors would appear to be regular office space being used by legitimate
businesses that were actually non-existent. The stairs were sealed off by gates
that could be easily opened in the case of an emergency, and only body guards
would have the key to unlock the elevator to the upper floors.

Officer Chris Jenkins (also using
the last name Parker) had been in charge of installing and monitoring the
electronic security system along with assisting with the hiring of security
guards.

Agent Vanessa Long (using the last
name Mitchell) would continue to supply information to her handler in the
Louisville office but would have one meeting with Chaz so that they would be
familiar with each other in order to complete his team’s assignment. She would
remain undercover after this case until Damien Granger could be arrested and
convicted.

Everything was set.

In two days, Chaz would move into
an extended-stay hotel in Covington that would be his residence for the
duration of the operation. Chris Jenkins/Parker had set up the brothel’s surveillance
equipment so that a feed would be recording at the safe house. Technicians from
the Cincinnati office would work 12-hour shifts to monitor the activity within
the business. Since the brothel was expected to open within the next week,
there would be plenty of errands to run where none of the operatives would be
missed, and they could make time to check in with Chaz.

Although Chaz would be within an
hour of reaching the Cincinnati FBI office, he had no intentions of going home
during this assignment. There were too many uncertainties regarding the
possible involvement of Paul Watkins. So, Chaz compiled a checklist of
everything he needed to have with him at the safe-house and would be available
to the undercover team 24 hours a day. Even though he didn’t want to be away
from Stephanie, he also didn’t want to risk putting her, or the mission, in
danger by coming home during the assignment—just in case anything went wrong.
They could video-chat and speak on the phone; that would have to suffice.
Besides, she didn’t believe the case would last several months, as projected.
She was certain her husband would return home sooner than that.

As Chaz pushed his suitcase over so
that he could load the box of supplies into the back of the SUV that had been
rented for him, he hoped his wife was right.

Stephanie changed the linens on the
bed in the master bedroom and set aside Chaz’s pillow case. She wouldn’t wash
it until he returned—or until his scent was so faint that she couldn’t detect
him any longer. As she moved around the bedroom taking care of mundane chores,
she wondered how she would sleep without him beside her. Except for that week
in December when Chaz had been sequestered at a safe house during the trial of
Evan Moseley, they hadn’t spent a night apart in the six months she’d been
living in Cincinnati.

She understood why he had to leave.
She also understood that the link between them was different than it had been
the last time he was working undercover. It was much stronger. From her most
recent dreams, she was also certain that there was a role for her to play in
solving this case. She didn’t know what it was. Still, as it had been when she
had dreams during Chaz’s case in Erie where they met, Stephanie was open to
whatever she needed to do to keep her husband safe.

Her dreams and her intuition would
lead her. They always had.

At 10:00, she climbed into the
freshly made bed, sat back against the headboard, and sipped a cup of tea that
would hopefully relax her enough to sleep through the night. She’d already
spent half an hour meditating. Less than fifteen minutes later, Stephanie
turned off the bedside lamp, pulled Chaz’s empty pillow case from beneath his
pillow to smooth it out over hers, and settled in for the night. Her left hand,
with its gorgeous set of wedding rings, rested on his side of the bed where his
chest would normally be beneath her face. She could imagine him there.

She was calm.

Her morning alarm buzzed at 6:45.
She had made it through the first night. Chaz would be calling or texting her
in a few minutes, as was their agreement. Taking her cell phone with her, she
went to the bathroom and then the walk-in closet to choose her outfit for the
day. Just as she was laying out her undergarments, the phone notified her that
a Skype call was coming through.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Chaz
said as soon as he saw her face on the screen.

“Good morning to you, too.” Her
smile was as bright as his. “Did you miss me?”

“You can’t believe how much.” He
yawned and stretched. “I kept waking up wondering why the bed was so cold, and
each time it took me a moment to realize that I wasn’t home with a beautiful
woman curled against me.”

“Well, I slept just fine. I don’t
think I woke up at all.” She laughed when he frowned. “I slept on top of your
pillow case and fooled my senses into thinking you were here. The scent of your
cologne mixed with the last time we made love is something I’ll never get tired
of.”

“Clever lady.” There was a long
pause while he simply looked at her. “You know, I’m totally in love with you,
Stephanie.”

“I feel the same way, Chaz.” She
gave him a confident smile.

“I’m assuming you didn’t have any
dreams last night.”

“Nope. None.”

“You’re clear on what to do if
there’s something you need to tell me, right?”

“Yes, sir. I’m supposed to send you
a text message with the word ‘dream’ and you’ll call me the moment you get it,
or as soon as you can.”

“That’s right. No matter what time
it is, okay?” His wife nodded. He kissed his finger and pressed it to the
screen. She did the same.

“Have a good day,” she said softly.

“You, too.”

A moment later, Stephanie was
turning on the shower and stepping into the steam. She’d had a dream, but like
the walk-in shower, it was foggy. She wouldn’t mention it until she knew more.

~
~ ~ ~ ~

The files forwarded from the
Louisville FBI office didn’t add much to the information already collected by
the undercover Kentucky State Police officers. What it did was give Chaz
greater insight into the personality of Damien Granger. The undercover FBI
agent, Vanessa, had been meticulous in describing incidents in such a detailed
way that Chaz felt like he was discovering their target for the first time. No,
he wouldn’t discount what his office had already gathered, but he definitely
wasn’t going to dismiss the observations of someone who interacted with the target
on a daily basis.

He glanced at his watch. Vanessa should
arrive soon. She was supposed to shop for dresses to wear to the opening night
of the jazz club, and that would provide an opportunity for her to slip away to
meet with him.

Chaz studied her photos and
profile: lean but still nice curves, oval-shaped face with high cheekbones, large
brown eyes, long lashes, auburn hair that hung in gentle curls halfway down her
back, deep bronze skin tone, 5’7”. Chaz couldn’t determine her ethnicity other
than to assume that at least part of her heritage was of a light African
American or dark Asian origin. She was beautiful; apparently Granger favored an
exotic look. Damien Granger had met Vanessa at a restaurant—a seemingly random
encounter where she was alone at a table in the bar area and just happened to
be caught surreptitiously checking him out. Chaz could see how she would be a
distraction from whatever business had brought the target to that restaurant on
that evening. His eyebrows wrinkled as he wondered how much of a role she was
playing in getting women settled into the brothel.

Just as he walked around the
counter to put his coffee cup in the sink, someone knocked on the door. He placed
his hand on the gun that was concealed in the back of his waistband before
approaching.

“Who is it?” he called out as he
stood to the side of the door frame.

“Little Bo Peep.” The codeword
identified Vanessa. Chaz swung the door open and stepped aside so that she
could move in quickly.

“Chaz Lawson,” he said as he stuck
his hand out.

“Vanessa,” she responded. “Creds?”

“Oh, yeah.” He reached into his
pocket and pulled out his FBI credentials. “I’m glad you’re cautious.” When he
stepped aside to let her move fully into the common area, he got a whiff of a perfume
similar to what Stephanie wears. Obviously, Vanessa had good taste.

The suite at the extended-stay
hotel consisted of an open-concept floor plan with a large seating area, a
kitchen, and an eating area on the first floor with the bedroom on the loft.
Vanessa took a quick assessment before settling on the edge of an overstuffed
chair by the faux fireplace. Deciding it would be best to let her get
comfortable around him, Chaz chose to casually lean against the counter that
separated that room from the kitchen.

“I’ve read your file and your
reports,” was how he started their conversation. “I’m impressed that you’ve
been able to get so much information, considering most men in Granger’s
position are cautious with their pillow talk.” He made sure his words didn’t
sound judgmental since he didn’t know how she would respond. “Let me tell you a
little about myself.” He proceeded to give her a brief history of his years
with the Bureau and his goals as Team Leader. Finally, she relaxed and settled
more fully into the chair. Chaz took that as his cue that it was okay to move
to the sofa. He sat and leisurely crossed one leg over the other.

“Now, there’s an issue we need to
discuss that has to stay strictly between you and me.” Vanessa’s eyes lit with
a bit of curiosity. “There are two undercover police officers who don’t know
you exist and I plan to keep it that way. You’re the Bureau’s most valuable
asset and there is no way we want to rely on anyone else to protect your cover.
So, I’m making the call that you should know about my guys but they can’t know
about you. If at all possible, I’d like you to stay out of their way.” He
nodded at a folder on the coffee table. “Those are photos of them.”

“I know this one. Austin.” Vanessa
tapped a photo. “Damien has been relying on him to get everything set up. He’s
supposed to run the show because Damien doesn’t want to relocate here; he has a
lot going on in Louisville. There’s no way I’ll be able to avoid your guy since
I’m going to participate in interviewing the girls tomorrow. I’ll also be at
the club every night.” She set the folder down and settled back into the chair.

“So, what happens if those cops get
hurt while I’m around?”

“Not your problem. We need for your
relationship with Damien to stay intact. No matter what.” Chaz held her stare
for a long time before she nodded and looked away, but not before he saw a
brief flash of anger that said a lot about her character. No good cop would be
comfortable turning her back on another cop in trouble. He wanted to tell her
that if she heard anything that might threaten the men, she could try to get the
information to her handler, but he knew she’d do that without his prompting. He
didn’t want her to think there was any situation in which he would ask her to jeopardize
herself and her case for his. As he’d said, she was the more valuable asset.

“No direct contact under any
circumstances?” she asked.

“Not unless
your
life is the
one threatened. Then, get to Austin, tell him you know me, and ask for his
help.”

“Codeword?”

“Little Bo Peep,” he said with a
grin. “And, they think my last name is Bryson.”

Vanessa chuckled, stood, and said
that she needed to get back to her errands. They shook hands before she left.
Only the fact that she couldn’t be seen with him kept him from escorting her to
her car.

Chaz looked at his watch. He had a
couple of hours to kill before the FBI technician arrived to set up the surveillance
equipment. He wanted to use that time to get acquainted with the streets within
a five-mile radius of his hotel. He was going to need to know roads and exit
strategies to make sure no one ever followed him to the “safe house.” Streets
that wound into dead ends or looped back on themselves could get a person
trapped. And trapped could mean life or death.

He’d already walked around the
hotel and was comfortable that he knew the layout and exit routes in case he
noticed someone suspicious. In addition to having a different rental car every
couple of weeks, he planned to occasionally park away from his room and enter
from a different direction. Every suite had a patio door that opened to the
pool and picnic area in the center of the property. There were also breaks in
the building after every fourth unit. Chaz knew where each one led.

~
~ ~ ~ ~

That night, Stephanie had a hard
time getting to sleep. Her instincts told her that it wasn’t because Chaz was
in any danger; he’d seemed fine when they’d video-chatted little more than an
hour earlier. After that, she’d had a warm bath and a cup of tea. But, her mind
wouldn’t let go of the uneasy feeling. She climbed out of bed and went to fill
her hot pot with tea leaves so that she could meditate. Maybe that would calm
her mind enough to sleep, or it would allow her to get in touch with whatever
was bothering her.

Just as she settled into a relaxing
position, her cell phone chimed with a text message. That was odd. Chaz
wouldn’t be sending her a text unless something was wrong. She rushed into the
bedroom to find out what was going on.

The text wasn’t from her husband,
which puzzled her even more.

Karen:
Hey. Are you still awake?
I feel off.

Stephanie frowned. What was going
on? Her best friend had been off kilter the last time Stephanie was trying to
adjust to a shift in the way her gift has always worked. She immediately sent a
reply.

Stephanie:
I feel off too. Odd
that you connected with me again.

Karen:
You’re the one driving
this, remember? Can’t sleep?

Stephanie
: No. Not worried about
Chaz. Getting ready to meditate.

Karen:
OK. Chat with me in the
morning. 6:30?

Stephanie:
Deal

After a few minutes to consider it,
she sent a text to her husband.

Stephanie:
Are you awake?
She
didn’t have to wait long for an answer.

Chaz:
What’s wrong?

Stephanie:
Can’t sleep. Anything
happen since we talked?
The reply didn’t come as quickly this time.

Chaz:
No dream?
It wasn’t
like him to be evasive.

Stephanie:
Just feel weird. Did
something happen?

Chaz:
Small misunderstanding.
What do you feel?
It was Stephanie’s turn to hesitate.

Stephanie:
Doubt. Maybe anger. Distrust.
Chaz took so long to answer that she wondered whether she had interrupted
something. Regardless, even with him on the other end of the phone, she didn’t
feel any unease about his circumstances.

Chaz:
Can’t tell details. Will
make note that your feelings match my problem. Text every time this happens,
okay? I’m going to keep a log.

Stephanie:
Okay. Goodnight.

Chaz:
Goodnight baby. Love you.