Chapter 2
2
COURT
I slid out of Dalton’s bed and slipped on my boxers.
“Leaving already?” he asked, rolling over to face me.
I grabbed my cargo shorts off the floor and started to step into them. “Yeah. I need to pick up the pies I made on the way to my aunt and uncle’s house.”
“You really want to spend the Fourth with them instead of coming to the party at Sarge’s place? You know you’d have way more fun with me.” He smirked.
“Right.” I snorted. “And risk the entire unit finding out about us? No thanks.”
Dalton and I had started messing around last summer after a long night on a bust. Once we successfully completed the takedown, we celebrated with a couple of drinks at my place. It had just been the two of us, and the chemistry that had always simmered between us ignited. Before we knew it, we were in my bed. Since then, we’ve had a friends-with-benefits arrangement that has worked perfectly for us.
“Come on, Court. We already struggle to keep our hands off each other at work. Just imagine what would happen at a party.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Exactly.” I shook my head, smiling. “And I don’t want anyone catching on to what we do off duty.” I pulled on my T-shirt.
“Fair enough,” he said. “But if you change your mind …” His voice dropped, and as I glanced at him, he winked.
I chuckled. “If things end early, I’ll swing by McCall’s place.”
“And if not, fireworks at your place after?”
“Yeah, I’ll text you when I leave the party.”
I parked a few houses down from my aunt and uncle’s place, and when I stepped out of my Dodge Durango, the aroma of grilled meats hit me.
Grabbing the pies I made, I headed toward the familiar house and heard laughter and music coming from the backyard as I got closer. For as long as I could remember, my aunt and uncle hosted the Fourth of July party in their West Roxbury neighborhood, a tradition that always brought our family together.
“Hey, Court!” my cousin Jake shouted, waving me over as I stepped through the side gate.
“Hey!” I called back with a head nod.
He strode over to me. “Are those your famous strawberry pies?”
“Yep. Made three this year,” I replied, setting the pie carriers on the table next to a spread of snacks.
“Damn. I need to get the recipe because”—he leaned in closer and lowered his voice—“your pie is the only reason I come to this party.”
“Oh, really?” I grinned. “And here I thought it was because Aunt Vanessa and Uncle Greg were your parents.”
“Touché.” He slapped me on the back and then walked over to the cooler for a beer.
As I scanned the crowd, I spotted my parents chatting with some relatives and my sister Rita lounging nearby, scrolling through her phone. I made my way over and greeted them, wrapping my arms around my mom first, then my dad. “Hey, Mom. Dad.”
“Courtland! Honey, it’s so good to see you!” My mom took a step back to look me over. “How’s work?”
“Busy, as usual,” I replied.
“Did you bring your strawberry pie?” Dad asked.
I nodded with a smile. “I brought three.”
“That’s my boy!” Dad nodded approvingly.
“Hey, Court!” Rita called, looking up from her phone and breaking into a smile. She rushed over and hugged me. “I’ve missed you!”
It had been a few weeks since I’d seen my family because of work.
“I’ve missed you too. How’s the real estate business?”
“It’s going well. Got another Bruins player as a client. He’s looking for a multi-million dollar house. If I can find him what he wants, the commission will be insane.”
“Good for you, little sis.” I playfully nudged her in the arm with my fist. “Score me some glass seats, okay?”
“I’ll see.” She beamed.
After catching up for a bit, I noticed my other cousin, Nick, sitting alone at a table. He was usually the life of the party, so I headed his way to check in with him.
“Hey, man. You all right?” I asked, taking a seat beside him.
He looked up, his eyes widening as though my presence scared him. “Yeah, everything’s cool.”
I cocked my head slightly. “You know I can tell you’re lying. It’s kinda my job.”
“No shit,” he whispered and picked at the label on his beer bottle.
“Long week?” I probed, hoping to draw out whatever was bothering him.
He shook his head. “Nah. Nothing like that.”
“Then what’s up? You’re usually near the alcohol, mixing up some wild concoction for everyone.” He worked as a bartender at a strip club downtown and was always coming up with new cocktails. I’d told him once that he needed to create a cocktail book with all his crazy recipes in it.
Nick was hesitant before he blew out a breath and said, “I knew you’d be here.”
“Okay?” I came to our family’s Fourth of July party every year unless I had to work.
“I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to lose my job.”
“Why would you lose your job?” I asked, suddenly very interested in what was going on that might have something to do with me.
My cousin glanced around, lowering his voice. “Remember all that shit that went down with the Sapphire Lounge’s previous owner?”
Two years ago, the club’s owner, Joseph Hughes, was convicted of conspiring to kill the president’s son over a loan dispute. He had mistakenly targeted the wrong Donnelley and sent an enforcer to collect his debt. The situation escalated when Fallon Donnelley was shot and the Secret Service intervened, resulting in the death of Hughes’s henchman and ultimately leading to Hughes’s arrest in connection with the attack. The strip club had remained open because, after an investigation, it was determined Hughes’s shady dealings were not connected to the establishment. “Yeah, I remember.”
“Well, after Joseph was arrested, his fiancée’s son took over. I’d always suspected Donnie was selling drugs and lately, he’s been doing it at the club. Just the other night, I overheard a couple of guys talking about a big shipment coming too.”
My instincts kicked in. “When?”
Nick took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I just heard them when I was in the stockroom.”
“Do you know who they are?”
“No.” He shook his head. “They usually go into Donnie’s office, and I never hear anything.”
My mind was reeling with the information. “You need to be careful. If what you’re saying is true, things could get dangerous.”
He swallowed hard, staring at his beer. “I know. I don’t want to get mixed up in anything illegal. I like my job, but I want nothing to do with drugs.”
“Have you talked to anyone? Like a supervisor?” I asked, keeping my voice low.
“Are you kidding? No way! I can’t trust anyone there.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I was thinking maybe you could help.”
“Yeah, I’ll talk to my team.”
Nick nodded. “Just don’t let it get traced back to me, okay? I can’t afford to lose this job, or worse, my life.”
I didn’t want to tell him that if his boss was selling drugs at the club, it might be shut down and he would lose his job. I couldn’t imagine letting him lose his life either, not if I could help it. I needed to find out what was really happening at the Sapphire Lounge and fast.
“Trust me.” I squeezed his shoulder. “I’ll handle it. For now, just keep your head down and act normal when you go to work.”
“Thanks, Court.”
I stood and slid my cell from my pocket. “I’m going to call my guys now and get this on their radar. I’ll be in touch.”
A week had passed since the Fourth of July party. My unit had opened an investigation into the strip club, and we came up with a plan where I would pretend to need a job and wanted one working for Donnie. Luckily, I had Nick as my in and we didn’t have to fake our relationship.
Going undercover wasn’t new for me. I’d done it plenty of times before. Like the time I posed as a low-level dealer to take down a meth operation, or when I infiltrated a heroin ring by pretending to be a user. Each job sharpened my instincts and taught me how to blend in.
As I grabbed my keys, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out to see Nick’s name flashing on the screen.
“Hey, what’s up?” I answered.
“Dude, the plan’s changed. Donnie wants to meet at the basketball court instead of you coming to the club.”
“What? Why?” I asked.
“He forgot I was bringing you in for the job interview.”
That wasn’t good. “Okay, and he wants to do one while shooting hoops?”
“Who knows. I didn’t want to argue with him. He just said for you to come. It’s his weekly game and he’s down two players.”
“All right. Text me where to meet and I’ll let my team know about the change.”
“Okay, but Court?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m really nervous about this.”
“I know you are, but this isn’t my first time going undercover. Also, it helps that we’re really cousins. Trust me.”
“Yeah, I do.” He blew out a breath. “See you soon.”
The text from Nick with the address of where to meet came in, and I called Dalton to fill him in on the new plan and to also tell him an idea I had.
“Hey,” he greeted on the other end of the line.
“Change of plans.”
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Donnie wants to meet at a basketball court instead of the club. I need to make sure everything goes smoothly.”
“Okay. What’s your angle?”
“I’m still going to act like I’m looking for a job, but I need your help.”
“How so?”
“I was thinking you could show up and somehow start a fight with Donnie. I’ll step in to protect him, making it look like I’d be an asset to have around.”
“That’s bold. You think it’ll work?”
“It has to. This could be my best chance to gain his trust.”
“All right, I’ll let the team know and I’ll have them get on scene to break up the fight. They are going to love getting into uniform for this.” I could hear the sarcasm in his voice. We mostly worked in plain clothes and not in our blues. “Text me the location.”
“Will do.”
“And Court?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t go easy on me. Make the fight look real.”
I laughed under my breath. “Don’t worry, I will.”
We hung up, and I sent the info to him before changing into a muscle tank and basketball shorts. I left my regular cell behind and grabbed the new one I had for the undercover mission.
As I pulled up to the basketball court, I found a spot on the street and parked my Dodge. I spotted Nick sitting in his vehicle, nervously tapping the steering wheel. Before stepping out, I looked around and spotted Dalton at a court next to Donnie already, and then walked over to my cousin. “Hey, you ready?” I asked as he opened the door.
“Yeah, but I’m not sure how this is going to go.” He glanced over at the court.
“Just play it cool. I’ve got this.”
We started making our way toward the court and he pointed out Donnie, who was flanked by a couple of guys, all warming up for a three-on-three game. “That’s him.”
“All right.” I already knew who he was since we had a working file on him.
As we approached, Donnie looked up. “You must be Court. What can I do for you?”
“Hoping to get a job,” I replied.
“All right. But first, do you play?” He nudged his head toward the basketball court.
“Yeah.”
“Good, because we need another player.”
“I’m game.” I shrugged.
Once we were all warmed up, Donnie had me on the opposite team as him. He had a solid shot, but I played hard, keeping pace with him.
He turned to me mid-game, grinning. “Not bad. You’ve got some game.”
“Just trying to keep up.” I smiled.
We stepped off to drink some water. As Donnie was mid-sip, I saw Dalton chuck the ball toward him. It bounced a few times and then hit Donnie in the back.
“Hey! What the hell?” Donnie snapped, turning around.
Dalton paused, pretending to be surprised. “Sorry, man. It was an accident.”
Donnie stepped forward, anger clear on his face. “Accident or not, you need to fucking watch what you’re doing!”
Before I could step in, Dalton squared up to Donnie, shoving him. “Fuck you, man. You don’t own the courts.”
I got between them, hands raised slightly. “Hey, let’s keep this civil. We’re all just here to shoot some hoops.”
Dalton laughed. “Oh, look at the peacemaker.” He pushed my chest. “Maybe you should take a seat and let us handle this, pretty boy.”
I squared my shoulders, stepping into a defensive stance. “Pretty boy? If you want to throw down, let’s do it!”
Dalton grinned wickedly. “Let’s go then.”
He lunged at me, throwing a punch that connected with my side. Pain radiated through me, but I rolled with it and countered with a sharp jab to his jaw. We traded blows, and I dodged a right hook, retaliating with a punch that sent him stumbling back.
He charged again, and I tackled him to the ground, both of us wrestling for control. We were a tangle of limbs and grunts. Every punch, every move, showed Donnie that I was serious. That I could stand my ground.
As Dalton and I struggled, I pinned him down momentarily. He twisted beneath me, throwing me off and scrambling to his feet.
We faced off again, both of us breathing heavily, and ready for the next round. I could see Donnie watching, and I had to hope he was impressed with the charade, but I kept my focus on Dalton. I could taste blood on my lip and saw his nose had a trickle of it dripping down.
As arranged, a squad car with flashing lights pulled up on the street and away from where I’d parked.
“Cops!” someone shouted and Donnie’s crew scattered.
“Let’s get outta here!” I yelled at Nick, who looked frozen. “Move!”
We sprinted toward my SUV and I jumped into the driver’s seat. Nick got into the passenger side and I cranked the engine.
“Was that all part of the plan?” he asked, buckling his seatbelt.
“Yep.” I wiped my lip with the back of my hand before shifting the vehicle into drive.
I took off from the curb, not sure where Donnie and his guys had gone. Nick’s phone buzzed in his pocket a few minutes later. He pulled it out and looked at the screen, a grin spreading across his face.
“It’s from Donnie. He says you start tonight.”