CHAPTER NINE
Seth
Never, and I mean never had I ever thought I’d be working as a john.
When a cop works undercover, they do a lot of things: drug buyer, hitman, gang member—whatever it takes to bust someone. Of course, I knew people went undercover as prostitutes. I just never imagined I’d be working on the other end and buying them. In fact, most cops never get the chance to go undercover. Not everyone is cut out for the job. You have to forget who you are to become who you need to be.
For the past week, I’d been training with Paul, and I had to admit, he knew how to shoot. When I found out he used to be in the Army, I had a little bit more respect for him. I still wasn’t convinced that he was right for Joss, though I didn’t think any man would be. This was my best friend—practically my sister—and given what she’d been through, she deserved someone who wouldn’t give her shit. I knew she could handle herself. She was FBI after all, but real life was different from working a case. If I ever got wind that Paul was stepping out on her, or just plain out being stupid, he was going to have to answer to me. So far, though, I got the feeling he was a good guy.
I’d also met his friend Gabe.
“Joss said you teach shooting classes?”
Paul put his Jeep in park. “Yeah. It all stemmed from when Gabe’s fiancé was married to our old Major. He wasn’t a great guy and treated her like shit. After she left him and shit went down, Gabe and I wanted to help women out. The Army shaped us to make this country better and helping civilians is what we want to do now. It just so happens that we have a drive to help abused women because Auttie was abused by Major Dick.”
“Man, that’s crazy.”
“It’s all good. Gabe and Auttie are getting married after their baby is born, and look at Joss and me. They say everything happens for a reason.”
“That they do,” I agreed, and we both opened our doors to exit.
“I think Gabe is here now for a session. You can meet him.”
“Perfect.”
We made our way inside. After we’d checked-in, Paul and I walked into the next room where the firing line was. A bald dude stood behind a woman, watching her shoot.
“Cap,” Paul yelled over the gun shots.
The guy turned his head. “Hey. Didn’t know you were coming today.”
“It’s all good now. I got my girl back, we’re engaged—”
“What?” I wasn’t the only one shocked at the engagement apparently.
“It’s a long story. I’ll have to tell you about it some other time.”
“Paul Jackson is finally settling down with one woman? You’re out of the game?”
“Yep. Quit that shit, bought a ring, and now Joss’s best friend, Seth—”
“Who’s Joss?”
“Andi.”
“What?” Gabe asked again.
Paul sighed. “Andi’s real name is Joselyn, and she’s been working with S&R undercover.”
“Undercover?” Gabe asked looking from me to Paul.
Paul chuckled. “Part of the story I can’t tell right now, but she’s FBI.”
“FBI?” Gabe balked.
“I’m Seth.” I stuck out my hand to Gabe.
“Right. Sorry. Gabe, this is Seth. Seth, Gabe.” We shook. “He’s not FBI like her, but a detective in D.C. I wanted to bring him out so we can both practice to get ready—”
“Let’s do that, yeah?” I cut him off as I sensed he was about to tell Gabe our entire plan. Our undercover plan that was top secret.
We did a few rounds and then headed back to his place. Time was getting closer to when I’d actually start my part of the undercover operation. Before any of that could happen, Joss got approval from her boss to get married to Paul. I didn’t fully understand the rush. Though, if Cat and I were together, I’d marry her before going undercover too. It was symbolic or some shit. Joss and Paul were getting married on Saturday, and then no telling how long it would take before they could start their life together because on Monday her vacation was over and the plan was going to start. Would Joss move back to D.C. afterward, though? Would she stay in Vegas? We wouldn’t know until we took down the man who had caused Joss to have nightmares for twelve years.
And I was looking forward to that day.
I still couldn’t believe it. Deep down I’d always known that something had to have happened to make her run away. I just never thought it was Joss being sold to the highest bidder to rape her of her innocence. When I come face to face with this Tony guy, there would be no telling what I was going to do. Just thinking about it made my blood boil. And that was if I got to him before Joss did. I wasn’t sure if I’d stop her from killing him if it ever got to that point. The FBI wanted a clean case, one where we just bust him and bring him in so he could serve time, but did a man who sold women for money deserve to live a life where he had a roof over his head and food in his belly? It didn’t matter that it was behind bars. I didn’t want my tax paying dollars to go toward this asshole at all.
What happens undercover, stays undercover. That, of course, wasn’t true, but we were in Vegas, and everyone knew their motto.
And this was personal.
Technically I wasn’t undercover yet. We were in the briefing stage and Joss was no longer undercover either. Andi Middlebrooke was no more. Michael Wade and his bodyguard, James Jackman were on the case.
So far being undercover was like a vacation. I woke up, went to the gym, went to the range and then came back to Joss’s house where we’d talk about the case over drinks. We had a plan. A plan that, when placed in motion, would be the last time Tony would breathe free air. I now had no doubt that bringing Paul in as a bodyguard was smart. The more people we had on our side, the more likely everything would go as planned. I’d thought about asking Joss what she thought about bringing Gabe in as well. I’d found out that he was Paul’s captain in the Army, and having two trained marksmen with me would be even better. But then I’d learned that Gabe and his fiancé were expecting a baby, and not knowing what we were walking into made me realize that it wasn’t a good idea after all. Plus, we were talking about taking down pimps. How crazy could it get?
“So, I called Cat.”
The beer bottle I was holding stopped at my lips. “Yeah?” Keep cool, Seth. Keep cool.
Joss sighed. “I had to. I know I haven’t seen her in years, but I can’t get married and not have her there.”
I set the bottle on the coffee table and sighed myself. “I don’t know where it all went wrong with all of us.” I knew I wasn’t telling Joss the truth. I did know. I just didn’t know why Cat never gave me the chance to explain. “We were all so close.”
“Me either.” She shrugged. “I guess we all put our careers before our friendship.”
I nodded. “People lose touch. Just didn’t think it would be the three of us. We survived years with only seeing each other during the summers.”
Joss took a sip of her margarita. “She called and left a message that she’s coming so, maybe this weekend will bring us all back together. After this case is over, I feel that my life is going to change.”
“What do you mean?”
“Once we take down Tony, then what will I do? I don’t know if Paul will want to move to D.C.”
“Transfer here. Tony’s not the only pimp in town, Jossie. I mean, Vegas is notorious for prostitution.”
She stared at me for a beat. “But I’ll miss you.”
I moved closer to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, bringing her to my side. “We’re talking about you moving to Vegas. I’ll visit every vacation I get, and if I hit it big, I’ll retire and move here too.”
Joss shoved my shoulder. “You can transfer too. Maybe go to Quantico and join the FBI. We can stay partners.”
I pulled her back to me. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We need to take down Tony first.”
“We will. I know Bryce will pull through.”
“We will,” I agreed.
What else could go wrong?
Of course she was coming.
When Joss told me that she’d called Cat to invite her to the impromptu wedding, I was freaking out. Would she bring a boyfriend? Would she come single and I could have another chance? She’d know I wasn’t seeing anyone. Or maybe she wouldn’t. I didn’t think Joss would tell her why we were in Vegas, and me showing up to the wedding by myself would be like a neon sign flashing that I was single. Usually, I wouldn’t care, but I did when it came to Cat. After all these years, I’d thought about what would have happened if I never went on that date with Gibbs’s sister. Or if I just would have told Cat beforehand. Would we still be together? Would we be married? Would I live in Miami? Would she have moved to D.C.? So many things could be different just by changing that one night.
Or maybe they wouldn’t be.
I also found out that the owner of an escort service made a lot of money. I wasn’t sure how much, but Mark, the owner of Saddles & Racks, had a nice pad. Since Joss and Paul were getting married lickety-split, they needed a place stat. Joss wasn’t down for having Elvis marry her, and all the casinos were booked a year or so in advance for a Saturday wedding, so Paul talked to his old boss and he agreed to let them use his house for the night.
When Paul, Gabe and I pulled up, I thought it was a standard house. But then when we walked in, I’d realized you can’t judge a book by its cover—or a house in this case. It was a two-story, flat roof, stucco house that had a view of the desert mountains. The backyard was spectacular with an L-Shaped infinity pool that looked as though it went on for miles. And since there was going to be a wedding in the backyard, there were flowers floating in the pool with candles and white roses all over. To the right were stairs that led up to a balcony, and then another set of stairs that lead up to the roof. I wasn’t sure what was on the roof yet, but I could only imagine the view. Living in D.C., I didn’t have views like this or the quiet the mountains provided. I had cars, buildings and a whole lot of chaos.
“Gentlemen.”
I turned to see a well-dressed guy behind us.
“Seth, this is Mark. He owns Saddles & Racks,” Paul introduced us.
I stuck out my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Are you FBI too?” I jerked my head back slightly, confused that he’d knew. “I’ve known since before Andi—Joss—joined S&R that she was FBI. My cousin’s her boss and the one that put her undercover in my company.”
The cat was out of the bag in a sense. The S&R crew knew Andi was really Joss, though they didn’t know details on the case or that the case was still ongoing. They just knew that Andi no longer worked at S&R and it had been only for the FBI. Since my role hadn’t officially started yet, no one was the wiser as to who I was other than Joss’s best friend.
“Oh.” I shook my head. “No, I’m not FBI.”
“Ah. Just a guest of the wedding?”
“Something like that.” I smiled.
“I have a feeling I know what that means. Anyway, a room is upstairs for you boys to change in. I’ll come up when the bride gets here.” Mark shook my hand again.
“A few of the S&R crew are coming,” Paul said to Mark. “Brad, Vinny, Nick, Lea, and Nina. Joss’s friend Cat and her boyfriend, too. Oh, and Brandon Montgomery and his wife, plus Blake, Brandon’s brother, and a guest—”
My heart stopped. Cat and her boyfriend? Fuck!
“Paul,” Mark cut him off. “I get it. People are attending your wedding. You don’t need to list them all. When they arrive, they’ll be in good hands.”
Paul smiled. “Sorry. Just nervous.”
Gabe slapped him on the back. “PJ. You’re marrying the love of your life, not a hitman. Calm down and let’s go get you suited up.”
I watched Gabe try to calm Paul down, but my thoughts were still on the fact that Cat was coming with another man.
I needed a drink.