23. Chapter 23
Chapter 23
“I don’t like this,” Rowan grumbled from the driver’s seat of the SUV. He’d been a surly teddy bear all morning since Berlin and Adalyn had come up with the perfect plan for getting pictures of the Acton brothers.
Berlin shot Adalyn a look, eyebrows raised. Adalyn simply shook her head and Berlin was pretty sure her boss and friend barely restrained an eye roll.
Then Chance turned around from the passenger seat to look at both of them, but his gaze remained on Berlin, his eyes flickering to the decent amount of cleavage she was showing off for just a moment. “I don’t either.”
“You two are being ridiculous,” Adalyn responded before Berlin could. “And if I didn’t know any better, I’d think this was a sexist thing.”
Rowan turned around whip-fast. “Seriously?”
“No, I just like getting you riled up. But maybe this one is feeling sexist.” She chin nodded at Chance.
Who simply shot her a dry look before his attention was once again on Berlin and her short blonde bob and sparkly pink dress. “We don’t know enough about this crew, and one night of research doesn’t feel like enough to drop into this place to get pictures of these assholes—if they’re even there.”
“The only way we’re going to get more on this elusive gang is from this. And it’s a good plan,” Berlin said. “And we’ve already been over everything a billion times.”
She’d been following multiple conversations on TikTok thanks to the information Eugene had given her, and they were relatively certain that the Acton brothers owned a tattoo parlor in New Orleans. She didn’t think the city was a big hub for them, but a tattoo parlor would be a good place to conduct business and handle various amounts of cash. And the place was open late, which matched the kind of businesses their clientele would deal with. Not to mention it wouldn’t be strange for different faces to move in and out, so for anyone watching the place it would be difficult to decipher who might be part of their operation or who was just a customer.
Overall, it was a really smart cover and one of the most common types of places for laundering money—which they were also likely doing. Berlin had tried hacking their cameras but couldn’t lock into anything, which was interesting all by itself. She knew that these Acton brothers didn’t like technology so maybe they didn’t have cameras, but used actual people for security. Or maybe it was more localized and not connected to a bigger service.
Regardless, she and Adalyn were going inside to scope out the place—and get pictures. Because that was what Berlin needed. Once she had faces, she could get names. And from there, it was only a matter of time before she could do a deep dive on these operators. Because no matter how good anyone thought they were, they almost always left a trail.
“We’ve been over it twice,” Chance grumbled before turning around—but not before sharing a look with Rowan.
Because apparently the two of them were friends now.
“I just don’t like you going in there unarmed.” Rowan turned around again. “And I get that you’re a weapon, Adalyn, but I don’t have to like it.”
“I know,” Adalyn said. “But we’ve got this and you’ll see what we see. If anything is off, just bust in there.”
“Oh we will.” This was from Chance, who didn’t turn around again but stared stonily out the front.
Which was probably the best for Berlin’s sanity. After yesterday afternoon, then into the evening, then again this morning… Her entire body was weak. In the best way possible, but the only breaks she’d taken had been to eat, shower—though that had been with Chance too—and work online to track these guys down.
She slid on her fake glasses that would take images of everything inside the tattoo parlor. Everything she saw, her sparkly pink glasses would capture.
“Let’s go.” Adalyn slid out without waiting.
Berlin did the same, following along with Adalyn who was dressed differently than her. Instead of going for the bubblegum Barbie look, she was in all black, looking a lot like Berlin did normally. But she had on a wig as well, a light brunette one with soft curls and bangs that did a good job of covering her face.
The walk to get to the tattoo place took about ten minutes with the uneven sidewalks and city streets, but they hadn’t been willing to risk parking closer. They were simply two tourists in town for the weekend, visiting from Biloxi.
The pink and orange neon OPEN sign was on so Adalyn opened the door for Berlin, moving in with her as if they were together. She slung her arm around Berlin’s shoulders, her expression a scowl as they approached the front countertop.
In contrast, Berlin was all smiles to match her bubblegum outfit. This whole thing had been Adalyn’s idea and she didn’t hate the cover. Especially since Chance’s tongue had basically fallen out of his mouth when she’d walked downstairs dressed in practically nothing.
There was one man behind the counter, two people sitting in the waiting area, and behind them, three glass windows showed people getting tattoos. They were all on display like fish in an aquarium.
“How can I help you?” the man asked, his gaze doing a slow once-over of Adalyn, not even acknowledging Berlin.
She tried not to let her ego be dented too much.
“My girl wants a tattoo. It’s going to be her first and you guys have a good reputation.” Which was actually true—they had tens of thousands of positive online reviews. Real ones too, not bots.
“Normally we have a four month wait, but you’re in luck.” His gaze was still on Adalyn as he shoved his long-sleeved shirt up to reveal inked sleeves of exquisite work. “We had three cancellations today. Mercury in retrograde or something.” The guy shook his head slightly, clearly annoyed, before he smiled at Adalyn again. “Are you getting one today because I’d love to get my hands on you.”
Okay, they might not be a real couple, but this guy didn’t know that and he was putting on the flirt vibe hard. Also, gross.
“Just my girl.” Adalyn’s words were hard, clipped, which apparently didn’t matter to the guy because he simply grinned at her. Apparently he had a death wish.
Berlin popped a piece of gum in her mouth and looked down at the glass countertop. “Ooh, that’s pretty. Can you pull out some of those drawings?” She was looking down at his hands and arms, making sure she got a great view of his ink for the cameras. She could run them through various programs later, including NCIC, see if she got a hit on any of them. Luckily when people were booked for crimes, often (if the arresting officer wasn’t lazy) distinguishing tattoos or markings were recorded.
“Maybe later you and your girl want to hang with me and my boys,” he continued even as he pulled out the pages of drawings for Berlin. “I love an older woman.”
“But I don’t like little boys.” Adalyn’s voice was saccharine sweet. “Come on, let’s get out of here—”
“I’m just messing with you—unless you do want to hang out. But stay, let your girl pick out something fun. So where are you thinking of getting your ink, sweetheart?” Now he looked at Berlin, but his gaze strayed to her breasts. Stayed there. Couldn’t even be bothered to look just a little higher at her face.
Yep, gross.
“Inner thigh, probably. Where’s your restroom?”
He cleared his throat, jerked his thumb toward a hallway lined with different illustrations as he leaned over the countertop to talk to Adalyn.
The last thing Berlin heard was, “Do you ever bring a third into the bedroom?”
Jesus, this guy wasn’t even kind of subtle. As she made her way down the hallway, she slowed, looked at the art, but was mostly scanning for any hidden cameras. Instead of opening the bathroom door, which was clearly marked, she opened a door that should lead to one of the tattoo rooms.
There were two guys in there—one giving a tattoo to another. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Adalyn through the glass keeping the other guy’s attention. “Oh, sorry, I was just looking for the bathroom. Oooh, that’s cool. And so big. Does it hurt?” She leaned into the Barbie persona, smacking her gum, pitching her voice a little higher.
“You’re not supposed to be in here.” The bearded tattoo artist with ink all up his left arm and on his knuckles didn’t look up.
“It’s fine, you can stay and watch if you want.” The guy in the chair was about forty, with a trim beard and a sculpted jaw. Potentially Mediterranean heritage. He might be considered conventionally attractive if not for the scar that started under one of his ears and dipped low under his black Henley.
Berlin grinned, sauntering into the room, her pink heels clicking on the tile as she swept her gaze over everything in interest before turning it back onto the two men. “Thanks. My girlfriend brought me to get a tattoo but I’m not sure what I want yet.”
The guy’s gaze flicked past her, likely sizing up Berlin. But his mouth curved up. “I see she’s shooting down Luis.”
Berlin shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not.”
The tattoo artist looked up then and she captured his face with her glasses as he glanced at her. He did the same sweep over her, but it was mostly with disinterest until he reached her feet. “Nice shoes.”
“Thanks. So how long have you been doing this?”
He just shrugged.
“Santi isn’t much of a talker,” the man on the chair murmured, his gaze amused.
“What about you? Are you a talker?” Berlin asked.
He just shrugged, but he was watching her with some amusement. “Depends.”
“I’m Kitty by the way,” she said, hoping he’d tell her his name, fake or not. Sometimes aliases could help as much as real names when researching. She moved closer to the artist, leaned over slightly to glance at his work—and intentionally showing off her cleavage. Guys could be so stupid sometimes and she wasn’t above using her assets to get information.
“You’re in my light.” The tattoo artist was all growly, but there was no real bite to his words.
“Stop being a dick. And I’m Carlos,” the guy murmured as he let his head fall back, his eyes closing with a sigh.
Berlin moved out of the way. She’d just about overstayed her welcome and she’d gotten what she came for anyway—multiple angles of their faces and clean images of their ears. “Sorry, I’ll leave you guys alone. I’ve gotta pee anyway. Thanks for letting me check out your work.”
“I didn’t let you do anything, you just barged in here,” the man named Santi muttered.
Smothering a smile, she hurried out, went to the restroom, which had more art, pretended to take care of business, then washed her hands and met Adalyn back in the waiting room.
“Have you decided what you want yet?” Adalyn’s voice was bored as she tucked Berlin up against her.
“I think I want to wait. It looks too painful,” she whined. “And I only like pain if there’s a payoff,” she added playfully. In return, Adalyn gave her an indulgent smile. Man, she really was good at acting. “Besides, that guy back there was kinda grumpy. Maybe we should try somewhere else.”
“You’re not supposed to be back in the rooms,” the man who she now knew was potentially named Luis practically whined. “I’m gonna get bitched at later.”
Berlin popped a bubble of her gum at him in response. Boo freaking hoo.
Adalyn gave him a once-over. “We might be back later if she changes her mind.”
“Even if you don’t, feel free to hit me up anytime.” He slid a card across the countertop to Adalyn. “My boys and I are partying later tonight.”
Berlin snatched up the card and tucked it in the V of her sparkly dress. “You don’t get to hit on my woman right in front of me. It’s disrespectful.”
He actually looked at her now, as if she hadn’t been there the whole time, and held up his palms slightly. “Sorry, sweetheart, no offense.”
“You’ve been propositioning my girlfriend from the moment we walked in here and you mean no offense?” She leaned in, really liking this role. “Just don’t be surprised if you leave work one day and your bike’s on fire.” There were a handful of motorcycles in the parking lot so she took a gamble that one of them was his.
His eyes widened as she swiveled and stomped off as Adalyn murmured, “My kitty’s got claws.”
Once they were outside, Adalyn snickered.
“Threatening arson was a nice touch.”
“He was rude.” She slid her hand into Adalyn’s, linking her fingers with hers as they headed down the sidewalk. She seriously doubted they’d be followed, but they’d planned ahead of time to have a normal day of shopping and sightseeing after stopping in the tattoo parlor.
Just in case.
If someone was following them, they watched Adalyn and Berlin buy fancy chocolates, even fancier lingerie, stop for mimosas at an open bar, a little boutique where Adalyn bought her a couple dresses, and then they disappeared into a shopping center. From there, they dipped into different dressing rooms, completely changed their appearances and then left via a back exit.
“You weren’t followed,” Rowan said as they shut the SUV doors behind them.
“How did the pictures look?” Berlin asked as Rowan pulled away from the curb.
“Not bad. You got a lot of images,” Chance said, handing her the tablet. “I went through some of them and the angles are all really good.”
Shivers rolled through her as their fingers brushed and she did not imagine the heated look he gave her.
Ignoring it for now—or pretending to—she snagged all the facial images she’d captured and uploaded them into multiple programs—some she’d hacked into and some she or her friend Gage had created. Once she’d done that, she pulled out the card the guy had given to Adalyn and input that phone number as well. It was going to be a lot of work cross-referencing incoming and outgoing phone numbers, so she pinged her friend and sometimes coworker Hailey with all the pertinent info. Because she needed more sets of eyes on this. She thought about asking Gage for help, but his wife Nova was currently on bed rest in her ninth month of pregnancy and she didn’t want to bother either of them.
Then she texted Hazel, just letting the special agent know that she was working on finding the Acton brothers. She didn’t have to check in, but Berlin believed in keeping open communication, especially since the other woman had gone out on a limb and given her information she hadn’t needed to. Of course, Redemption Harbor Security had gotten the FBI a couple wins recently, but still.
She got a thumbs-up from Hazel.
“Luis is going to be disappointed you’re not calling him,” Rowan grumbled from the front seat.
Berlin looked up for the first time since the guys had picked them up, realized they were almost to the safe house. “You can’t actually be jealous of that guy,” Berlin said, snickering.
Rowan just shrugged. “Not jealous. Just didn’t like the way he was watching my wife.”
Berlin shot Adalyn a sideways glance and the other woman just shook her head. Before meeting Chance, Berlin couldn’t have imagined that she’d like a man getting jealous like that. But…she didn’t think she’d hate it if Chance had the same reaction to her.
And that terrified her. She hadn’t seen him coming, had never expected anything like this with him. Now…she wasn’t sure what to think about anything.