Page 33 of Blood Money

“Nah, nothing. Just a quick meeting uptown.”

“Want me to go with?” He knew Dom would decline in his typically cryptic way.

“Not worth your time, partner, and you’ve definitely got your hands full.” Dom bolted out the door.

Nothing, huh? Bullshit.

This was the second such mysterious meeting Dom had disappeared for in the last month. Gray had a feeling he was being left in the dark about something important. Partners didn’t keep secrets from each other, and he damn sure wasn’t about to let Dom start. As soon as this op was over, he’d confront his partner and choke it out of him if he had to.

“Alex, do you want me to stay?” Lt. Frye shrugged into his jacket, clearly sending a message that he had better things to do.

She shook her head. “No, sir. But thank you.”

Lt. Frye closed the door behind him, leaving them alone in the large conference room. Gray took the phone from Alex, doing his damnedest not to touch her. Her nearness was frying his brain cells as it was. He jumped right into explaining how to operate the technical equipment, though every nerve in his body stood on high alert.

“This plug goes into the bottom of your phone.” Gray inserted the plug and held up the earpiece on the other end of the wire. “The earpiece containing the microphone goes in your ear. Leave it set up like this and you’ll be ready to go. As soon as you get a call from a number you don’t recognize, assume it’s the Pyramid and start the recorder by pushing the record button. If it turns out not to be them, you can erase the recording. I’m signing this equipment out to you so that you can have it with you at all times. The call could come in at two in the morning. If it does, record it then call me right away. No matter what time it is.”

Gray programmed his cell phone number into Alex’s contact list. “Got it?”

“I think so.” Alex exhaled a shaky breath.

“You’ll do fine.” Without thinking, Gray rested his hand on her shoulder. He jerked his hand away and yanked his cell phone from his belt. After putting a good three feet between them, he dialed her number. “We’ll do a practice run. Pretend I’m the Pyramid and start the recorder.”

A second later Alex’s phone rang. She picked it up, placed the foam-covered earbud into her ear, and pushed the record button on the digital recorder. Next, she answered Gray’s call. “Hello?”

“Good job. You’re a natural.” Despite the simplicity of the equipment, most cooperators were nervous their first time and had to go through the routine at least twice to get it right.

“Is this really going to work?” She still held the phone to her ear.

“It’ll work if you keep your cool. When they do call you, remember not to be too eager. Get as many details as you can. Who, what, where, and when. Keep them talking for as long as possible. Even professionals make mistakes. They might drop useful information without realizing it.”

Alex held his gaze a moment longer before ending the call, and that’s when Gray saw it. Her shaking hands. The courageous woman, who not moments ago dictated her demands to the NYPD, was afraid. She should be. In the bad-guy league, the Pyramid was as bad as it got, and this was one deadly ballgame. If he did nothing else, he would get Alex out of the predicament she was in, then say good-bye.

Gray unplugged the ear wire cord from Alex’s phone and hit the play button on the recorder so she could hear confirmation for herself that the equipment worked. As he replayed their brief conversation, she tugged the earbud from her ear. Her knuckles were white where she gripped the tiny device.

“The next piece of equipment you need to be familiar with is the locator transmitter.” Gray unlocked the larger silver case on the table. Inside were a monitor, a GPS-type gadget pre-programmed with city maps, and a small plastic case containing the locator. “You’ll wear this.” He plucked the button-sized locator from the smaller case. “It uses a tiny watch-size battery. As soon as we turn on the system, this device will go active and transmit your location to this monitor.”

“Who will be watching the monitor?”

“I will.” He wouldn’t trust Alex to anyone else.

She nodded. “Can we do a practice run with this, too?”

Gray gripped the locator’s plastic case tightly. Not a chance in hell. That would involve Alex unbuttoning her blouse in order to clip the locator behind the front of her bra. As awkward as it was, he had to ask. “Uh, do you have a front closure bra to wear the day of the meet?” When her body stiffened, he added, “With the device’s weak signal, the higher up on a person’s body it’s located the better the chances of picking up a signal, particularly with all the expected interference from tall buildings. Front closure bras are perfect, since the clasp neatly conceals the locator.”

“Installed many of these on women, have you, detective?” Alex grinned, bringing much-needed color back to her pale cheeks.

“Very funny.” Not. Just talking about having his hands anywhere near Alex’s breasts was enough to give him a hard-on. “I’ll arrange for a policewoman to do a test run with you the day of the drop.”

“I want to do it now,” Alex insisted. “I don’t want to leave anything to the last minute. Please, can we just get this over with? I’m nervous enough as it is.”

Without waiting for an answer, Alex began unbuttoning her snug black jacket, popping open button after button. Then she began unbuttoning her blouse, revealing the sexiest, laciest, white, front-clasp bra Gray had ever seen. His mouth went dry at the sight of her full breasts mounding above the edges of lace.

Shit. This is a bad, bad idea.

Damn his legs for not connecting with the part of his brain telling him to walk away. And for that other part of him that was beginning to harden painfully.

After taking a deep breath, Gray grasped the locator between his thumb and forefinger then began to clip it directly behind the clasp of Alex’s bra. His hands were so large it was impossible for them not to brush against the smooth, curvaceous mounds of flesh. Her heart beat out a steady, accelerated thumping beneath his fingers. As he clipped the device in place, he raised his eyes to hers. Invisible electricity surged between them as brightly as a muzzle flash.