Chapter 13
Jameela
The days and weeks since I’d gotten my latest assignment seemed to blur into a mixture of ebbs and flows of emotions.
Highs from making love to Nicholas and spending time with him and the girls to the lows of trying to snoop and find anything incriminating that I could. I told myself that I could do it.
This was not my first ballgame. This was my third undercover assignment.
It should have been the easiest since I was already close to the mark.
I didn’t have to find a way in. I was in.
This was my job. Still, I felt like a traitor.
I was a traitor. I cared about Nicholas more than I would ever care about my job.
There was a point when I thought it was the most important thing in my life, then I had Bella. Now I had Nicholas, and everything else in the world seemed insignificant, even continuing the legacy that took my dad from me in the first place.
Even in my anger after I got the assignment, I felt like I could compartmentalize.
I was a pretty good actress, thanks to spending a few years in the drama club.
It was one of the things that made me good undercover.
I could be the doting girlfriend and the undercover cop at the same time.
That was what I thought anyway. In the words of the incomparable Mariah Carey, I didn’t know nothing.
I was stupid. I was foolish. I was lying to myself.
The lies and secrets were eating me alive.
Bella and I had been back at Nicholas’s house for a couple of days after spending that initial night with him.
I felt so comfortable there that I had to get away from him for a few days.
In my last briefing, I didn’t have much intel to provide to the team.
I let them know we were getting closer but that I hadn’t found anything that I thought would be significant to the case.
Nicholas didn’t discuss business. He had even been working on taking more time off from the casino to spend time with me and the girls. Tremaine didn’t like that idea, but Officer Christopher felt like the more time I spent with him, the more he would open up and let me into his world.
After I reported that we were at the point where I was spending a few days at his house, Tremaine had been on my line more than ever.
If he wasn’t careful, he was going to blow my cover, calling and texting me all times of night, being jealous.
He didn’t give a damn about that case as much as he wanted to control me.
They didn’t know that I was praying that I never found anything that would help their case.
Once again, I was in an unnecessary meeting with little to no intel to deliver. Nicholas didn’t talk or conduct business at home. He wanted to spend his free time with us and not be a workaholic for a change.
“We’ve noticed some patterns,” Benton explained.
“Like what?” I quizzed, curious about what they had come up with since our last meeting.
“Large cash deposits are being made to the club twice a week from a known associate of the Vargas Cartel. We need you in that meeting. If you can’t get in, we at least need audio.”
“And how would I get audio if I can’t get in?”
“Find out where the meeting is being held.”
I nodded, knowing that whatever access I could get would make or break the case.
More than anything, I wanted this to be over.
No, I took that back. More than anything, I wanted Nicholas to be innocent.
I had never felt so delusional and na?ve, but I needed this to be a mistake or misunderstanding. I needed him to be innocent.
“OK. Is that all?” I asked, looking between Tremaine and Officer Benton.
“That’s all I have for you,” Benton confirmed as he stood from his seat.
I followed suit, standing and picking up my copy of the reports I’d submitted. Tremaine held up a hand to stop me.
“Hang back for a second,” he told me.
After a brief exchange, Benton left, and Tremaine turned his attention to me.
“It’s been weeks, and you haven’t given us anything, Officer Sutton. I’m going to need you to wear a wire. The tech department has some devices for you. A lapel pin or something that they want you to wear.”
“I’m not doing that.”
“That wasn’t a request. We have to move this case forward. I know you’re good at what you do. I find it strange that you haven’t produced a damn thing the whole time you’ve been investigating this case. All you’ve been doing is getting wined and dined and fucked.”
“Kiss my ass, Tremaine. I can’t help that I’ve been cursed with this flimsy ass case. Where is all this evidence you were talking about?”
“Don’t let me find out you’re trying to sabotage this investigation, Jameela,” Tremaine fussed.
“Just because I haven’t come up with anything doesn’t mean that I’m not doing my job. You know I know what I’m doing.”
“You think this is a joke, but I’m serious. You know I care about you, but I will not let you fuck this up for me.”
“I’m not worried about you caring about me. Meanwhile, you haven’t asked about your daughter in weeks.”
“Jameela, don’t start that shit.”
“I’m not starting anything. You stopped me. If that’s all, you can get out of my way and let me go do my job.”
“Just a minute. I have someone I want you to meet. You two will run into each other, so I need you to know him when you see him.”
As he was saying that, a man strolled through the door. His face was familiar. I just couldn’t put my finger on where I knew him from.
“Darius, this is Jameela. She’s working on the case from the inside as well. I’m sure you will run into each other.”
I could have fainted when I realized that the man Tremaine wanted me to meet was Nicholas’s cousin, who I’d met briefly a while back.
This was crazy. I wanted to pick his brain, but even more, I wanted to know why they needed me if they had someone else inside.
I had a strong urge to tell Nicholas what was going on, but I knew I couldn’t do that.
“Good to see you again, Jameela.”
“Oh, so you two have met?”
I nodded. “In passing.”
“I would say I’m surprised to hear that, but it makes sense.” Tremaine noted.
“Why is that?” I asked him.
“I’ve never seen Nicholas with a woman who wasn’t the model type. Even his daughter’s mom looks like she’s straight off a rap video. You look too real for him. I should have known something was up.”
“Oh wow,” I said, unsure of how else to respond to his comment.
“Well, that’s all for now, Jameela. You just stay available. I shouldn’t have to call you multiple times to get through.”
“You shouldn’t be calling me at all, knowing I’m on a mission. If you want me to do my job, let me do it.”
I didn’t give him time to protest before I left his office.
It took everything in me not to storm out.
I couldn’t believe Nicholas’s own cousin was in on the plan leading to his demise.
By the time I made it back to the main lobby, my head was pounding.
I couldn’t stand coming to a place I once loved.
I couldn’t wait to get this case over with.
I needed another flash drive and some copying paper, so I went to the copy room to grab a few supplies. Just because I was working off the grid didn’t mean I was going to be using my own supplies.
“You must feel right at home playing house with criminals. Isn’t that how you became a single mother in the first place?” Kelly asked, sneaking up on me from behind.
“Bitch, don’t you ever speak on my child again in your life,” I said, turning to face her. She needed to see my face so she would know how serious I was.
“Hm, I’m not speaking on your child. I’m talking about how you’re trying to fuck your way to a promotion. You see how that worked for you last time.”
“Girl, move around. Worry about how much time you have to spend on your knees to get to the top, not what I do.”
I pushed past her and didn’t stop until I was outside.
Once I picked Bella up from Miss Ramirez, I headed straight to Nicholas’s house.
Being around him gave me a spiritual reset.
I needed my nervous system regulated in a major way.
Just one hug would make me feel better. How was this the man I was supposed to arrest?
About an hour later, I pulled in front of Nicholas’s door. My heart hammered against my ribcage, but I didn’t know if it was more from my anger at Tremaine or the situation as a whole. I felt nervous, even though I was more excited to see Nicholas than ever.
By the time I got Bella out of the car, Nicholas and Amira were standing at the door, waiting for us.
My heart swelled as I looked at the excitement on their faces.
It didn’t help that Bella squealed with excitement when Amira called her name.
When I made it to the porch, I put her down and let her toddle over to her new friend.
“Hey, Miss Jameela!”
“Hey, Amira. How are you doing today?”
“I’m doing good. Me and my daddy have been waiting for you. Haven’t we, Daddy?”
Nicholas shook his head but agreed. “That’s right, baby.”
“Yep. He looked out the window like three times, but you weren’t outside yet. I said she’s coming, Daddy.”
Nicholas threw his head back and continued to shake his head as I closed in on him.
“A little birdie tells me that you missed me.”
“You didn’t need a little birdie to tell you that, habibti. I could have told you how much I missed you myself.”
I smirked, staring up into his handsome face. “I still haven’t heard you say it.”
“I missed you, Jameela,” Nicholas confirmed, dropping a kiss on my lips.
“Miss Jameela, my daddy said that we can play outside if it’s OK with you. Can Bella come see my swing set? She never got to play on it yet.”
“She might be too little to get on the swing set, but I don’t see why she can’t go out and play.”
“Come on, baby love.” Nicholas cooed as he crouched down to Bella’s level.