Vortex (SAI Book 1) (8 page)

Casually, he glanced over the top of the couch and waved. “Did you have a good time, honey?” That sounded normal. Right?

Slowly, she moved toward him, and he noticed her dazed and happy smile. He might have to kill that dumb federal agent after all.

Flopping onto the couch, she sighed. She slipped her sandals off and put her feet up. Lying back, she beamed. What the hell had the kid done to make her beam?

“I had a lovely evening.”

Her feet were resting against his leg, so he lifted one and started massaging it. When she let out a murmur of enjoyment and her eyes rolled into the back of her head, he relaxed slightly. “What did you have for dinner?”

“What didn’t I have?” Lifting her head, she grinned. “I love to eat. So I went a little crazy when I ordered for us. I wanted Wyatt to see how wonderful the food is here, so I started us off with oysters Rockefeller. The original sauce was invented there by Antoine in the 1800s, so it’s worth having. Then we had alligator bisque, which was delightful. We each had gulf fish. I had it fried with the meuniere sauce, and he had his stuffed with crab meat. We shared the creamed spinach and potatoes au gratin. Then we had baked Alaska and café brulot diabolique.” Patting her stomach, she moaned. “I don’t feel very well, but it was completely worth it.”

The fact that she had just taken ten minutes to describe the food and not the man gave him a small measure of hope that she wasn’t really that interested in the guy.

“Then he took me dancing. I love to dance and haven’t been in probably ten years. It was so much fun to be in a man’s arms and move around the dance floor. It was so romantic.”

He picked up her other foot and started massaging it. “So are you going to see him again?”

Opening one eye, she studied him. “Probably not. He’s going to North Dakota tomorrow to work the investigation from that end. He really didn’t tell me too much, but it has something to do with the gangs in the area that traffic prescription drugs.” Sighing, she closed her eyes again. “I guess the one date will have to do.”

He watched her eyes close and heard her breathing even out. “I guess so,” he replied quietly. He let go of her foot and saw that she’d fallen asleep. Her long dark lashes rested against her cheeks as she breathed quietly. Why was Vivi the one to make him feel things? It was a crush that no one understood, including himself. His rational brain was making rational arguments against it. And failing miserably. The feelings didn’t stop just because he wanted them to. He stared at her beautiful face and knew that it was pointless to fight it any longer.

He’d never shied away from anything in his life. Why was he resisting her so strongly? Maybe it was time to try to put his demons to rest and see what he was capable of. It might not be enough for her, but he finally admitted that he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t try.

He grabbed the remote, turned the TV off, and studied Vivi’s sweet face. “Okay, Vivi. I’m going to quit hiding from the truth. I hope like hell we’re both ready.”

Sliding her feet off his lap, he stood and scooped her up. She mumbled something against his chest, and he whispered against her hair, “Time for bed, honey.”

Slowly, he moved down the hall and up the stairs and walked into her room. It smelled like her, and he realized that her fragrance had been in his memory from their first meeting. That was almost a year ago when they had met at Ronnie and Chase’s engagement party. Sitting down on the bed, he cradled her and finally had the guts to admit to himself what he had known all along. Vivi DuMond enchanted him, and she probably always would. It seemed that now was the time to see what it all meant.

“Vivi, do you want to get out of your dress before you sleep?” Slowly, she opened her eyes and gazed around. “Did I pass out while I was talking?”

“No, you were done with your story.”

She slid off his lap and twisted around. “Can you undo the top two buttons?” Lifting her hair off her shoulder, she tipped her head forward and waited.

He had the steadiest hands of anyone he knew, but right now, they were shaking slightly. “Sure, honey.” He released the top four buttons and rested his hands against her arms. “Anything else?”

Glancing over her shoulder, she gave him a small, sleepy smile. “No.” He reluctantly stood and moved toward the door. He was about to say good night, when he saw the dress slip off her body and pool at her feet. She stood before him in a pale pink slip that matched the dress she had worn, and nothing else. Literally nothing else. He could tell because she was backlit by the lamp next to her bed. Swallowing loudly, he tried to say something. Instead, he stood there and mutely stared at her.

Waving slightly, she pulled back the covers and slipped into bed. Reaching over, she turned off the light. “Night, Joel. Don’t wake me up early.”

“Okay,” he croaked out. Taking one last look, he smiled.
Son of a bitch
, he was cooked. Closing the door, he went downstairs and checked all the doors and set the alarm. As he turned off all the exterior lights, he smiled to himself. It seemed that he needed to come up with a plan for protecting Vivi and winning her approval. No other outcome was going to be acceptable.
 

CHAPTER SIX

Joel sat at the kitchen table and heard the door open. He stood and went into the foyer and visually confirmed that it was Ben and Dane. They ambled toward him, and he didn’t have to ask how their evenings went. Based on Ben’s shit-eating grin, he knew that everything worked out with Ruby, and Dane’s relaxed manner told him that he and Trinity were getting along. It seemed this little trip to New Orleans was working out for his men, and maybe it was time he did something to help himself out.

Seeing Vivi go out on a date last night had broken something loose in him, and he was going to do something about it. He remembered the story she told him about the kid that she’d been battling with and how a kiss behind the pool slide solved things between them. It might be time to kiss Dr. Vivi DuMond and see if it would get him straightened out. “I’m not going to ask how your evening went, because I can tell. So tell me what happened at the clinic.”

Ben slapped him on the back as he passed and sat at the kitchen table. “Is there coffee made?” Rubbing his stomach, he grinned. “Ruby made a delicious breakfast this morning, but I didn’t get much sleep, so I could use another cup.”

“I got more sleep than you did, but I could use anther cup too,” Dane added.

Vivi had silently entered the kitchen and responded, “I’ll make a fresh pot.” Shuffling over to the counter, she pulled out the pot.

Joel pivoted and noticed she had changed out of the slip she’d gone to bed in and thrown on a college T-shirt and shorts. The woman had amazing legs, and he felt a small measure of relief that he was no longer forcing himself to ignore that fact. He stepped over and leaned against the counter. “Good morning. How are you feeling?” Her head swiveled, and she glanced over her shoulder. “What are you looking for?”

“I thought you were talking to Dane, because you were smiling.”

“Vivi, why do you think that I wouldn’t smile at you?”

“Because you usually don’t. Snarling, snarking, and expressing general disapproval, yes. But smiling…no.”

He took the pot out of her hands and went over to the sink to rinse it out and refill it. As the water filled the pot, he thought about what she said, and he realized that it was probably true. Damn. If things were going to change, then it was completely up to him. Turning off the water, he returned and handed the coffee pot back to her. “There you go, honey.”

Taking the pot, she set it down on the counter and then pressed her hand to his forehead. “I want to see if you have a fever.” Apparently satisfied, she took his arm and checked his pulse and silently counted to herself. “Are you experiencing any dizziness, pain in your arm, or headaches?” She stepped back and held his face as she checked his pupils. “How old are you, Joel?”

He took her hands in his and noticed how soft and small they were. “I’m thirty-eight, and I’m in peak physical condition. I have no underlying medical conditions for either one of us to worry about. Why are you worried?”

“Because you smiled at me and then called me honey.” Turning back to the coffee pot, she got it started and then walked over to the fridge and rummaged around. “Who’s hungry?”

Joel heard Dane and Ben laugh behind him, and he spun around and gave them both his commander glare, and they instantly stopped laughing. “Nothing for us, Vivi,” he replied.

“Okay, then I’m going to take my breakfast upstairs, and I’ll see you all later.” Grabbing a carton of yogurt and a banana, she then filled a big cup of coffee and walked out of the room.

Joel watched her leave and realized that he had more work to do than he initially thought. “That didn’t go well,” he said to himself.

“Ya…think?” Ben said. He strode over to the coffee pot, filled three mugs, and returned to the table. “That was a disaster.”

Taking a sip of coffee, Dane nodded. “It sure was.”

“How did it go down at the clinic yesterday?” Joel asked. It was time to change the subject and take his interest in Vivi off the table. “Is the system installed?”

“Sure as shit is,” Ben replied. “The clinic is wired from front to back as well as outside. We have eyes on the street, too. We can see two blocks in any direction.”

Dane tipped back on his chair and crossed his arms. “We had a visit from the man who lives across the street and is good friends with the DuMond family. Mr. Stewart brought his grandson by, and we had an extremely informative discussion. It seems that Mr. Stewart is doing everything he can to keep the kid out of the gangs, so he thought if we had a chat with him, he may see the military as an option.

“The boy’s name is Taylor, and he seems like a good kid. He gave us some intel about what he’s been hearing on the streets about the clinic. The two most active gangs in Algiers are the Fischer Fools and Hot Block. They’ve been having a territory dispute, and Vivi’s clinic is a hot point of contention. He told us where the shoes were hung, indicating the territory dispute.”

“That squares with what the Feds suggested yesterday in the meeting, but it doesn’t explain the two men that ended up in the clinic,” Joel replied.

“Taylor and his grandfather are going to be over at the DuMonds’ tomorrow for the Super Bowl party, and we thought he and Gideon could have a talk and see if he could make some sense of it,” Ben said.

“No one in the neighborhood would know that he was talking to the cops, and maybe he has some info that could be helpful,” Dane confirmed. “We also told him he could come down this summer after he graduated, and we would get him in shape if he decides to join the navy.”

“Good call,” Joel answered. There were a lot of pieces of puzzle out on the table, and he wanted to begin putting them together. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to Vivi, and right now he wasn’t sure where the threat was coming from, which made him want to lock her down out of sight. They were going to have to operate by some new rules, and he had a feeling that she wasn’t going to like them. Too bad. Mad and alive was better than the alternative.

***

The guys left, and Joel assumed they were returning to the women who were making them so damn happy. Not that he cared. His phone buzzing brought him out of his jealous thoughts, and he barked into it, “McDade.”

“Vivi must have gotten home late from her date last night,” Gideon said as his greeting.

Joel sat down and let out a huff. “She got home later than I expected.” He wasn’t going to advertise his feelings to everyone, so he left it at that. “What do you have?”

“The Feds shared some information this morning that I think you should be aware of. The old-fashioned way of tagging a territory by throwing shoes on an electrical wire or spray painting a wall are pretty much a thing of the past. They still do it in Algiers, but they also are doing what they call ‘electronic tagging.’ It means that they’re sharing the information on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram as a way of letting rival gangs know what they’re claiming.”

“So Vivi’s clinic got electronically tagged?” Joel asked.

“Unfortunately, the clinic has been tagged by the Fischer Fools, Hot Block, and a crew out of North Dakota.”

“What the fuck? Why in the hell is her small clinic such a hot commodity for so many people?”

Gideon cleared his throat before answering. “The two neighborhood gangs are claiming the clinic because it sits on the corner between their territories. The crew out of North Dakota is claiming it because it is part of a string of clinics that they want to target to feed the need for their prescription drug business. The neighborhood gangs post to brag, and the larger crews see it and decide if they want a piece of the action. Welcome to gang life and social media in the twenty-first century.”

“This isn’t going away, then. The clinic will remain a target until it stops offering prescription drugs for the patients.”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Gideon replied. “Talk to Vivi and see if she would be willing to either relocate or stop offering that as part of her services.”

“Good luck to me,” Joel grumbled. “There is no way that she is going to like either of those options.”

“If she wants to stay alive and keep her friends safe, then she is going to have to consider them. We still don’t know why the men had Vivi’s picture and information on their phones, and that means that she is still in the eye of the storm.”

“I know. It’s what’s keeps me up at night.”

“I have a meeting with the DEA in ten minutes, so let’s talk more tomorrow at the party.”

“Okay, call me if something comes up.”

“You got it,” Gideon replied.

***

Joel trudged upstairs as all the new information swirled around in his head. He and Vivi had to come to an understanding, and he knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Knocking lightly on the door, he waited for her to answer.

“Come in,” Vivi called.

Opening the door slowly, Joel saw Vivi sitting on the couch near the window with a pile of papers around her. “I wanted to give you an update on the intel that I just received.”