Chapter Eight
CHAPTER EIGHT
REBECCA
Walking towards the bar I looked around the Quarter. New Orleans French Quarter was a place that you either loved or hated. I knew within a couple hours that I loved it. There was so much history, and the atmosphere was just alive. The art, music, food it just drew me in from the start. I knew I wanted to come back when I was free to roam on my own time. This time I was living on the Bureaus dime. I was working and it wasn’t really a nine to five position. I was always on duty. Seeing Dean was a shock. That could have gone a lot of ways and badly. Thankfully he wasn’t angry about my job or that I had lied about who I was. I guess as an outlaw biker he had to pretend to be someone else at times. The chemistry between us was off the charts. I had not slept with anyone in two years. Nobody caught my interest and thankfully none of the assignments I had so far required an intimate relationship. I have been in New Orleans for a few months. I was trying to find proof of arms dealing on my boss. He was a local cartel implant. He ran a few clubs and used them to launder money from his arms deals. We had taken down a couple of his minions a few months back and they sang like canaries after a little ‘persuasion’. They gave us enough that we knew which club I was most likely to find things in and around. I have been working at his club for over six weeks and so far, nothing. I was worried he was on to us and had moved locations. I kept my eyes peeled each shift watching for anything out of the ordinary. As I approached the door, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It looked like a large truck backed up against the dock. We got our shipments of food and alcohol on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It was Friday and I was at least an hour early for work because I had thought of fixing myself a salad and eating here before I started my shift. I wasn’t scheduled to be here for another forty-five minutes. When I peeked around the corner, I heard my boss and a couple of his employees speaking in Spanish. There were a few guys I had not seen before too. This was a good chance for a raid. I turned and was about to head across the street when I ran smack into my manager. He was a slimy creep, and he looked down at me with a leer. Ugh.
“Well, what do we have here?” he said grabbing my arm. He started to drag me towards the door.
“Ouch Manny, damn. I thought we were being robbed I was going to call the cops. We don’t get deliveries on Fridays.” I was totally scrambling for any excuse. “You’re hurting my arm, let me the fuck go.”
I snatched my arm from him and when he went to grab me again, I ran. I wasn’t about to bite a bullet from this asshole or worse. I got to the local precinct and went inside. I immediately called my contact and told them if they wanted to get evidence, they better get over there before they reloaded and took off. I had a change of clothes in my bag along with hair ties and a hoodie. I went to use their bathroom. I had my burner phone that had Dean’s number. I called him quickly.
“Hey baby, everything okay?” he asked when he answered the phone. I shut myself in the ladies room and took a deep breath.
“I can’t go back to work, and I can’t go back to my apartment. Where are you staying?” I was in an individual bathroom so I had the exhaust fan on and water running so I could have him on speaker low while I changed.
“We are at the Bienville House Hotel, room two twelve. Do I need to come get you?” he asked me. That wasn’t a terrible idea right now.
“Yes, pick me up at the back of the police station on Royal. I’ll be watching for you. I’ll be wearing jeans and a hoodie. My hair will be pulled back so it can’t be seen. Hoodie has House of the Blues on it.” I was changed and working on my hair so it would stay under the hoodie. I also washed my face free of all the makeup I had been wearing. I knew that when I was fresh faced, I looked like a teenager. Nothing like the Goth that I had been acting like the last couple of months. Peeking out the back door I saw Jagger and Skully pull up on their bikes. I should have known his buddy would come as back up. Honestly, I was thankful. I ran out and climbed on the back of his bike. He handed me a helmet. I slipped it on and secured it. We took off. We drove past the club, and I saw several unmarked cars out front along with some of the guys I saw sitting on the curb cuffed to a pole. I found out their helmets had headsets when he asked me if we needed to stop.
“No, if I get photographed at the arrest my undercover career is over. Take me back to your room please.” I curled myself as close as I could to his warm body. We pulled up in the parking garage and I paid for the valet to point me to a spot. Nobody drove my bike but me and I didn’t leave it out in the elements here. We went upstairs and sat down in my room to talk.
“I’m glad I was here to help you. What would you have done if I wasn’t?” He asked me, watching as I pulled down the hoodie and brushed my hair out.
“It wasn’t about needing your help. I could have stayed at the precinct. It’s about the fact that if I was there when the Bureau showed up they would take the burner phone, destroy it and I’d be gone again with no way for you to find me. I know I could find you at the clubhouse, but I was afraid to try and reach out because frankly I didn’t think you would want to talk to me. I wanted to program my real number in your phone and tell you where I’m from.” I needed to wash this red dye out of my hair. “Do you mind if I shower?”
“Hell no, I’ll help. Skully, keep an eye out while we are in the shower, please.” He jerked his head at us, and we closed the door to the bathroom. “I don’t want any surprises. I doubt we were followed but I’m a suspicious son of a bitch.”
I laughed as I folded my clothes and placed them on the counter. They were clean and I would put them back on. I just wanted this nasty stuff out of my hair. I reached back and unhooked the extensions underneath and tossed them in the trash. He turned on the water and grabbed both complimentary bottles of shampoo do you have a t-shirt I can borrow so I don’t have to put that hot ass hoodie back on?” I was using the blow dryer and brush on my strawberry blonde hair. He walked out of the bathroom and then tossed me a shirt.
“I’m going to talk to Skully, take your time.” He said closing the door for me. I saw him frown before he left the bathroom and when I looked back in the mirror, I saw the large handprint bruising my right arm where Manny had grabbed me. I was fair skinned, so I bruised easily anyway. When I was finished my hair skimmed my shoulders. I popped out the colored contacts that I had been wearing as well. Washing my face really good I looked in the mirror and laughed. This is one look I never used. The fresh-faced farm girl. I slipped on Dean’s shirt, and it was obviously one he wore earlier because it smelled like him. I think that’s what he wanted. I smiled, it hung mid-thigh. I peaked around the bathroom door and noticed it was just Dean. I walked out and stood in front of him. He looked me over from head to toe.
“So, is this green-eyed, strawberry blonde my Becca?” he asked pulled me close. “Because I have to say you look hot as hell in my shirt baby.”
“This is as me I get. My eye color is unusual enough that I have to wear contacts on the job. Too easy to recognize with the green eyes and strawberry blonde hair. I promised you some truths.” I crawled up on the bed and he scooted against the headboard, pulling me back against his chest. “I’m from Ripley Mississippi. My family has a farm there. I try to make sure I call them at least once a week when possible. If I know I won’t be able to I tell them that. I never call them from a burner phone or anyone’s cell phone. I use a random payphone. I won’t even use one close to where I’m staying. I go out of my way to find one. I stopped keeping an apartment not long after the case in Memphis. I am never home long enough to make it worth paying the rent. I have a room above the garage at my parents’ place. I keep my things there and go by for a weekend at least every four months to decompress.”
“That doesn’t seem like enough time. I’m sure you see some horrible shit.” He kissed my neck gently. It’s like he couldn’t be close without touching me and I craved it.
“I’m sure club life isn’t much different. You are always a biker, no clock punching for that either. I’m being vulnerable to you. If you ever do anything to compromise my family’s safety, I’ll conveniently forget I’m a Federal Agent and there will be no place you can hide.” I was staring out the window as I spoke. “McCall Farms in Ripley. Anyone will know how to direct you. I need to call my contact and see if they managed to find what they were looking for. Either way my cover is blown here, and they will be reassigning me.”