Authors: Heather Lowell
Santa Monica, California
Saturday morning, March 13
T
essa woke early Saturday morning and simply lay there enjoying the exhausted, well-loved torpor of her body as it was warmed by a patch of morning sun. Sometime during the night they had crawled under the covers, but that hadn’t stopped Luke from learning every inch of her body. Her face burned at the memories of him sliding underneath the sheets before dawn to wake her with the heat of his mouth between her thighs.
And then he’d cuddled behind her spoon fashion and made love to her again, this time with his body and his hands. The memory was woven through with dreamlike recollections of the sensations he’d evoked, feelings so intense that she’d buried her face in a pillow that smelled of him and screamed.
Luke Novak was a dangerous man, no doubt about it. She hoped there was good soundproofing in his house; otherwise, the neighbors had probably gotten an earful last night.
She continued to lie there with her eyes closed, not quite sure how they would face each other in the morning light after
the things they had done. Of course, since the man clearly had no shame, it wouldn’t be a problem for him. But this level of intensity was completely new to her. For the first time in her life she sensed a serious threat to her peace of mind—and maybe even her plans for the future.
Disturbed, Tessa turned her back to Luke and curled up on her side.
Lying beside her, he didn’t need a degree in psychology to understand that he’d rushed her the night before, and now she was pulling away. He’d been eager to take their attraction to the next level, but he should have slowed down once he understood how gun-shy Tessa was about commitment. But he’d been so sleepy and content with her on the couch, so relaxed. All of his good intentions had vanished in a heartbeat once he’d seen the awareness in her eyes,
Well, it was too late to slow down now. Lucky for him he’d always been good at damage control.
Stretching slightly to ease the kinks in muscles that had gotten a thorough workout the night before, Luke figured a strategic disengagement would be in order. He’d keep things casual but affectionate. He’d need to give Tessa the impression that he was perfectly happy with whatever she was willing to give him, while at the same time tempting her into giving more.
Kind of like fishing—the idea would be to have the net ready to scoop her up before she was even aware that she was being hooked and reeled in. Of course, she’d be furious at the analogy, or at the idea that Luke was manipulating her in any way.
If he hadn’t been falling hard and willing to do anything to keep her around to explore those feelings, he might even have felt bad about his plan. For a little while, anyway.
But since he had her very best interests at heart, he figured that gave him a little leeway in terms of maneuvering around her commitment issues. She’d had little enough reason to trust men in her life—by his own admission her father had
betrayed her utterly at a young age. Then the two men she’d been seriously involved with as an adult had tried to push her into marriage when she said she wasn’t ready, and succeeded only in driving her away.
The key to living with someone as smart, independent, and commitment-shy as Tessa would be to make sure that wherever they went, she thought it was her idea to go there.
Luke flipped back the sheets and stood up, enjoying the sight of her curled in the middle of his bed. Keeping it casual, he covered her with the blanket and stroked tousled blond hair away from her face. Then he left the room to take a shower.
Wide-awake now that Luke had left the bed, Tessa told herself she wasn’t really disappointed that he hadn’t tried anything hinky in the light of day. She listened as he ran the shower, then rattled around in the bathroom for a few minutes. He came back out trailing the scent of cologne and stood bare-assed naked in front of the closet as he selected clothes to wear.
Men really had no modesty. He wasn’t even sucking in his stomach or keeping his shoulders back—not that he needed to. Everything about the man was just right. Big, firm, and…with a shiver, Tessa rolled to her back.
“Didn’t you say you had a meeting with Carmen this morning?” Luke asked with his back to the bed. He pulled on boxers, casual pants, and a sport shirt, since he would be going to the office for part of the day.
Tessa cleared her throat. “Yes. Just a quick one to find out what she knows about the task force investigating Club Red. We missed each other all week because she was out of town, then playing catch-up.”
“I’ve got a couple hours of work to get done at the office, then some phone calls to make and a meeting with MacBeth. Why don’t you swing by Novak International at four or so, and we can organize things from there?” Luke came over and sat on the bed next to Tessa to slip his shoes on.
“Okay,” she said, discreetly tugging at the length of sheet that was trapped underneath Luke. When he’d sat down, the pull on the fabric had exposed her upper body. Given that he’d had his mouth all over her, it was stupid to be shy. But habits were habits.
“Towels are in the bathroom, and you should find anything else you need with a minimum of looking. I’ll put on a pot of coffee before I leave. Oh, and don’t worry about the door—it locks automatically. See you later.” Luke leaned over and gave her a thorough kiss, but pulled back before she could respond. Then he was out the door and down the hall before she could do more than say good-bye.
She told herself that the feeling in her stomach was abject relief that he seemed to be willing to play by her rules and keep things casual.
Carmen Ramirez motioned Tessa into her office for their 11:00
A.M.
meeting. “Look at you. Someone had a hot date last night.”
Tessa made herself busy balancing file folders and pulling a chair up to the desk. “I actually was asleep before nine, if you can believe it.” Granted, she’d been up again after that, but didn’t feel the need to share her personal life with her boss.
“Darn. Well, I hate to say it, but we need to keep this short. I’ve got a golf game with the lieutenant governor at twelve-thirty,” Carmen said.
“You’re the one who called the meeting. I don’t have a lot of updates. You know we talked to the FBI about the ongoing task force investigation of Club Red and Ricky Hedges,” Tessa said as she took a seat. She didn’t like the vibes Carmen gave off as she tapped scarlet nails on the oversized desk.
“That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about,” Carmen said. “I got a call from a Special Agent Peebles of the FBI. He’s heading the task force, and his nose is out of
joint that you have been ‘sniffing around’ the subject of his investigation without coordinating things with him first.”
“I didn’t even know there was an investigation until—” Tessa began.
“That’s just what I said to him. Don’t worry, I won’t hang you out to dry. Yet. I told Peebles that while we were aware of his task force and one of our investigators had been attending the meetings, you didn’t know anything about it. And since the case hadn’t reached the point of being ready for prosecution, there was no way you would have known about it when you started to investigate your rape case. It was an unavoidable breach, but I also told him it was poor form on his part to be upbraiding one of my prosecutors for doing her job.”
“What information do you have on the task force? I mean, what has our office done to date?” Tessa asked.
Carmen shrugged. “Nothing much. There were so many personnel changes to the task force team, and progress was slow because it was a low-priority case. Our investigators here assumed the investigation had stalled. On this type of operation, the D.A. doesn’t get involved until the subpoena and search warrants phase—and sometimes not even then. Unless local and state laws are being violated, the federal investigation takes precedence. In reality, we were just getting courtesy copies of the communications until now.”
“How far out of joint is Peebles’s nose about our cases crossing paths?” Tessa asked.
“Pretty badly. I’m guessing from the tone of his phone voice that he’s a short, balding man.” Carmen waved her hand dismissively. “I told him that his task force needed to make room for my prosecutors at their future meetings. He needs to understand that we are now going to be actively involved. You’ve been added to the CC and e-mail lists for communications pertaining to the case and should get an invitation to their next team meeting. I have a copy of docs for
you here,” Carmen said, indicating three boxes next to her desk.
“When is the next meeting?”
“Next month.”
“Kelly can’t wait that long,” Tessa said. “And I don’t want to have to fight turf wars with the FBI or any other agencies. They aren’t after the same thing I am.”
“I know. I tried to get him to bump the next meeting up, but he said everyone had other cases to work on and would be busy. So I told them you would continue in your pursuit of the rape-and-kidnapping investigation with my blessing. I also said you would follow their lead in terms of cooperation and coordination, which I expect will mean there’s going to be a lot of polite memos and not much actual collaboration.”
“What about their sensitive investigation? I was told that if we keep asking questions about Club Red, it would be noticed at high levels in Ricky’s organization. The implication was that I could tip him off to the FBI’s task force.”
Carmen looked unconcerned. “If you happen to blow the lid off their organized crime investigation by looking into these rape allegations, so be it. That’s what the FBI gets for letting the case drag out so long.”
“I was told the priorities of the Bureau are terrorism and national security, and this was low-priority for them.”
“I don’t really care why the case got hind tit, I just told him that we can’t be expected to share the FBI’s priorities in this investigation. We are treating it as a high-priority, high-profile case, and will be pressing forward with the LAPD.”
Tessa winced. “The FBI practically accused the PD of corruption and made it clear that they are not a part of the task force.”
“I know,” Carmen said. “LAPD is pissed, though I’m keeping the chief as a reserve weapon. Your PD contacts will just have to muscle into the investigation if they can.”
The complicated politics of the situation were enough to
give Tessa heartburn. She wished she’d had time to eat breakfast, instead of just bolting a cup of Luke’s coffee before fleeing his house earlier.
“Can I be frank, Carmen?” Tessa asked.
“It’s one of the things I like about you.”
“This is a pretty convoluted setup,” Tessa began carefully. “Lots of people, each with different goals and jurisdictions. I’m not sure if it’s a workable solution.”
“I don’t need workable, I just need enough room for your team to move and deniability for myself if you screw up. I figure if anything goes wrong with the task force investigation, there’s enough for me to lay it all at the feet of the Bureau as lead agency. Part of your job will be to make sure that they can’t blame you for anything bad that happens to their case.”
“What about actually solving the case?” Tessa asked. “Is that an expectation, or am I merely acting as a raised middle finger to the FBI?”
Now Carmen laughed. “You wanted to be in charge of a major case, Tessa. Welcome to the big time. I have absolute confidence you’ll get a conviction and make me look good. The fact that a Deputy D.A. will get more done than the FBI could in a year will not go unnoticed, and will be a fabulous boost for your career as well.”
“How long do I have to work this miracle?” Tessa asked.
“You have a week to make progress. Ideally, I’d like enough information to go for a grand jury indictment by then. If you can’t come up with something in that time, then we’ll use a crowbar to make a place for your case at the next multiagency task force meeting. They’ll have to reprioritize and get moving. In the end, you’ll have to share information and credit with the FBI, but you’ll help ensure that the D.A.’s Office is there for the back patting when a local criminal organization is taken down.”
“Have you ever tried to force your way onto an existing
team? It’s next to impossible, unless everyone is feeling extremely helpful and cooperative.”
“That’s why I’m sending you. People look at the body and the blond hair and think you’re harmless. I trust you’ll show some teeth and use them on Peebles’s fat ass when the time is right. I’m counting on you to make this happen for the D.A.’s Office, Tessa.”
“I appreciate that. But what if they actively obstruct my progress?”
“Then you make sure we have enough to cover our butts. If it all falls apart, and the shit starts flying, I’ll put on a Teflon raincoat and walk away.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“It’s politics, Counselor. Nothing personal. Just make sure that the situation doesn’t come up, and we won’t have to worry about it, okay?”
“Sure.” Tessa wondered if she had enough medicine in her desk to take on the headache she was developing to go along with her heartburn. As if her life wasn’t in enough turmoil after last night, now she was being told flat out to perform a minor miracle at work, or her boss would throw her to the wolves.
But it was nothing personal.
“So what’s next for our investigation?” Carmen asked.
Tessa fumbled a manila folder from the stack in her lap. “Ah, it seems that Ricky Hedges fancies himself a real estate entrepreneur. I thought I’d pull articles of incorporation and see if he has any other businesses besides Club Red where he might be hiding or laundering money. I’m guessing there are copies of personal and business records in these boxes—probably stuck in the back of the folders.”
“I take it the FBI didn’t look into this?”
“No. They pulled the financials for Club Red only, but the rumor I heard was that their forensic accountant clashed with the team lead and left the Bureau. They haven’t replaced her
yet, maybe because they didn’t see the need to hurry. The agent we talked to also hinted at budgetary constraints and the fact that Club Red just wasn’t a high priority.”