CHAPTER FIVE
Joel sat with Gideon at the kitchen table, and they drank beer and shared a pizza. When the detective had called earlier and suggested they meet, he agreed right away. His specialty didn’t include solving crimes. He could go into hostile territory and pull out a hostage with a hundred people after him and succeed with his eyes closed. But solving a crime like this was outside his wheelhouse. “Thanks for meeting me here. I have to finish up the system tonight while Vivi is on her ‘date’.”
“How in the hell did you let that happen, man? You and your guys show up, and they decide it’s time to break up the widows’ club.”
“I guess it’s our magic touch,” Joel replied.
Taking another slice of pizza out of the box, Gideon devoured it quickly. “When Vivi came back to town last year, I did my best to be a good friend. I even tried to see if there was anything left between us.”
“How did that go?” Joel asked.
“We will be good friends for the rest of our lives, but she shut me down hard on anything else. I understood. Mostly.”
The sound of high heels clattered against the wood floors as Vivi made her way into the kitchen. Joel tried to prepare himself for what he was about to see, but he did a piss-poor job. When he swiveled around and Vivi came into view, he almost fell off his chair. Lord have mercy. It was true, she was going to torture him. Vivi stood before him in a formfitting, pale pink dress that left nothing to the imagination. It was tasteful, but her curves were shown off beautifully by the fabric that draped against her body. Her long chestnut-brown hair lay against her shoulders in soft waves, and her warm hazel eyes stared at him. Dr. Vivi DuMond was a fucking knockout…and she was going out with another man. How had he screwed up so spectacularly? What a shit show.
Gideon stood up and held out his hands. “Let me see you, girl. My God, you’re not going to show that poor Fed any mercy.” When she put her hands in his, he twirled her around and whistled. “You better behave tonight.”
“Oh, poo. I always behave. When do I get to stop behaving?” Sliding her hand onto her hip, she studied Gideon and winked. “I believe the last time I didn’t was when you talked me into losing my good name to you when we were sophomores.”
Gideon’s eyes roamed all over her body and he grinned like a wolf. “It was the best thing I ever did. Those memories of the two us still keep me warm at night.” Winking, he sat down and took a sip of his beer and wiped his brow.
“Always the charmer, Gideon. I love that about you.”
There was only so much that Joel could take, so he interrupted the cozy walk down memory lane. “Where is Wyatt taking you this evening?”
“I think he’s taking me to Antoine’s. He’s not real familiar with Louisiana cooking, so I thought it would be a good way for him to try it out.” Sliding into a chair at the table, she opened her small bag and gazed inside.
“Do you have cab money, Vivi?” Gideon pulled his wallet out and handed her forty dollars. “Just because he’s a Fed doesn’t mean that he knows how to behave with a proper Southern woman.”
Patting his hand, she smiled. “My goodness, you’re sweet.”
Interrupting the little tête–à–tête, Joel took her phone and programmed in his number. “You call me, Vivi, and I will come and get you. Maybe I’ll just go and hang out in the bar and make sure that everything goes okay.”
Laughing, she looked at both men. “I feel like I’m in high school and my two brothers are giving me advice. The next thing I’m going to hear is: Nothin’ good happens after midnight. The only things open are bars and legs, and you don’t need to be in either one of them.”
“I heard that from my daddy more times than I can count.” Gideon laughed.
“Seriously, Vivi. I’ll go sit in the bar. We don’t know anything about this guy.” Joel crossed his arms and studied the breathtaking woman before him. There had to be a way to stop this date. He just needed to figure it out in the next sixty seconds.
“I will not have a chaperone on the first date that I’ve had in three years.” The doorbell echoed through the house, and Vivi stood. “Prince Charming has arrived. You all sit here. Wyatt doesn’t need to know that I keep company with the likes of you two.” She waved her finger between the two of them and scrunched up her eyes. “Behave.”
The sound of her heels clicking filled the silence. When she laughed and greeted her visitor, Joel felt sick to his stomach. “I hate Wyatt,” Joel said to himself.
Gideon smirked and slid another piece of pizza onto his plate. “If you’re interested, I suggest you do something about it. Now that the girls are closing the widows’ club, it’s every man for himself. And I can tell you, there will be a long line for each one of them. So don’t sulk and give her a hard time if you’re not willing to do something about how you feel. Which, by the way, is obvious to everyone.” Standing, he then walked over to the bar cart in the corner of the kitchen and studied Vivi’s selection. “I think we need some bourbon.”
“No bourbon for me. I’m going to stick with beer. Who knows? She may be calling me for a ride home,” Joel replied.
“Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that.” Gideon laughed. “So tell me about this little business you have down in Florida.” He poured them each a generous shot and returned to the table.
Joel pushed the glass away and took a sip of his beer. He was still recovering from the other night with Uncle Buck. “Our company provides executive protection, security plans, and policies for companies, specialized security training programs, crisis-and-emergency-management planning, high-risk-travel planning and coordination, maritime security for commercial and private clients, and military leadership and tactical training.”
“So, you handle the easy stuff,” Gideon replied.
“Yeah, nothing too complicated. Everyone in my group is a former SOF operator. Most of the men in my office are from the Teams. They all have a ton of experience. I’ve discovered the more times you’ve experienced danger, the better able you are to slow it down. And my team excels in dangerous situations.” Tipping back in the chair, he shrugged. “Protecting the girls and making sure the clinic is secure is easy. The hard part is figuring out who is doing it and why. Fortunately, that’s your job.”
Taking a sip of the dark amber liquid in his glass, Gideon stared at the floor. “Having two federal agencies involved is guaranteed to screw this up. They each have their own agendas, and that means they’re not going to share information. I’ve seen this shit before, and it hardly ever goes down well. All I care about is what is happening in this city and how I can prevent it from happening again. My takeaway from the meeting was that we have two national crime groups that are interested in our corner of the world. We haven’t seen a lot of this in the past. I hate like hell to think this is what we have to look forward to.”
Closing the pizza box, Joel thought about a case that they had been on last year. “We worked security for a mid-level bureaucrat from Mexico last year when he was in Florida speaking on the growing gang wars in his country. He spoke about the increasing ‘cooperation’ or ‘partnerships’ that neighborhood-based gangs are creating with national street gangs. If they can create an alliance that can increase their power and thus their access to money, then they will. Maybe that’s what’s happening here.”
“It seems probable. We saw that a year after Katrina. Many of the gangs from the ninth ward were relocated to Houston. Several of them created alliances when they were there and came back better armed and connected. The 39ers were a result of the G-Strip and 3NG gangs coming back to town and not having a neighborhood to operate out of. Theirs was gone after the hurricane, so they were spread all over the city. They had to do something to survive. The group that was formed became deadly, until we took out enough of the top leadership.”
“Does the problem ever get solved?”
“Not really, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t keep trying.” Rubbing his finger on top of his glass, he shook his head. “There are days that I want to give up, but I don’t. The damn carnage is endless. One of the guys I work with is a retired marine, and he said that sometimes what he sees on the streets reminds him of Falluja. It’s that bad.”
Joel shook his head and crossed his arms. “I spent fifteen years abroad for the most part in hellholes, and I often wondered why people who pretty much had every opportunity available to them decided to behave like people who had none.” Holding his hand up, he went on. “I know there are all kinds of arguments about how everyone here doesn’t have the same opportunities, and I agree. But compared to the rest of the world, they do.”
“I hear you, man. But none of the people who are living the neighborhoods and involved in gang life see their life very differently than someone who lives in a war-torn country. What they see every day on their corners is like war to them. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to care or want to walk far enough to see that there are other possibilities.”
“That is true all over the world.” Joel took a sip of the bourbon and immediately put it down. There was no need to go down that road again. “So what is your take on what’s happening in Algiers?”
“I think the local bangers posted something on social media and caught the attention of a larger crew. Maybe someone made an offer that the local guys couldn’t refuse.”
“How would they connect?” Joel asked.
“Social media is how it all happens. Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, to name a few. Street gangs have advanced on pace with technology, as members exploit mechanisms that afford anonymity and instant communication. There are recruitment wrap videos all over YouTube. All you have to do is look.”
“So how do you solve something like this?”
“Keep tapping on the low-level guys until they give you the next in line, and so on and so on. See if we can gather info with all the surveillance we have out there and, God willing, catch a couple of breaks.”
“So why did both men found in the clinic have Vivi’s picture and home address on their phones?”
“That, my friend, is the million-dollar question, and one I intend to answer. I would’ve sent her out of town if you weren’t here protecting here. Quite frankly, that’s the thing that scares the shit out of me.”
“Me too,” Joel mumbled to himself. The idea of what was out there threatening Vivi and the girls made him uncomfortable. The fact that she was on a date without protection tonight was fucking crazy. He had a feeling that old Wyatt was only paying attention to the beautiful woman in front of him and not potential threats. It didn’t matter if he was a trained agent or not.
“I can see your wheels spinning, and I suggest you stop them. Vivi will never forgive you or, most importantly, trust you if you show up at the restaurant.”
“Shit. Was I that obvious?”
“It was all over your face. You must suck at poker.”
“I’m a great poker player. Something about Vivi has me all screwed up, and it’s messing with my regular mojo.”
“Well, you should figure out what it is, because her life is in your hands.”
“I know…” Scrubbing his hand down his face, he thought about Francie and then Vivi. Gideon was right. He needed to figure it out.
***
Joel checked his watch for the thousandth time as he sat in front of the TV watching some old movie. It was 12:42, and there was no way that she needed to be out so late. Standing, he then walked to the front room and looked out the window…again. He’d turned on every light in the front and had the place lit up. It would take a brave man to kiss a woman in those conditions on a first date, and he was praying that Wyatt wasn’t the exception to the rule. A pair of headlights came down the quiet street, so Joel moved quickly away from the window. Hustling, he moved back to the family room, lay on the couch, and thought about closing his eyes. He decided not to, because Vivi was a smart woman and she would figure it out. Car doors slammed, and he let out a breath. About damn time.
Fifteen minutes passed, and he was about to jump out of his skin. There was no way that Vivi was kissing Wyatt. No fucking way. The front door opened, and he lay back and tried to appear relaxed. He heard the click of her heels again and knew that he had to do something. Because there was no way he was going to sit here and watch a parade of men woo the woman who had him so tied up. This was like BUD/S: assume success and never let another option enter your mind.
Casually, he glanced over the top of the couch and waved. “Did you have a good time, honey?” That sounded normal. Right?
Slowly, she moved toward him, and he noticed her dazed and happy smile. He might have to kill that dumb federal agent after all.
Flopping onto the couch, she sighed. She slipped her sandals off and put her feet up. Lying back, she beamed. What the hell had the kid done to make her beam?
“I had a lovely evening.”
Her feet were resting against his leg, so he lifted one and started massaging it. When she let out a murmur of enjoyment and her eyes rolled into the back of her head, he relaxed slightly. “What did you have for dinner?”
“What didn’t I have?” Lifting her head, she grinned. “I love to eat. So I went a little crazy when I ordered for us. I wanted Wyatt to see how wonderful the food is here, so I started us off with oysters Rockefeller. The original sauce was invented there by Antoine in the 1800s, so it’s worth having. Then we had alligator bisque, which was delightful. We each had gulf fish. I had it fried with the meuniere sauce, and he had his stuffed with crab meat. We shared the creamed spinach and potatoes au gratin. Then we had baked Alaska and café brulot diabolique.” Patting her stomach, she moaned. “I don’t feel very well, but it was completely worth it.”
The fact that she had just taken ten minutes to describe the food and not the man gave him a small measure of hope that she wasn’t really that interested in the guy.
“Then he took me dancing. I love to dance and haven’t been in probably ten years. It was so much fun to be in a man’s arms and move around the dance floor. It was so romantic.”
He picked up her other foot and started massaging it. “So are you going to see him again?”
Opening one eye, she studied him. “Probably not. He’s going to North Dakota tomorrow to work the investigation from that end. He really didn’t tell me too much, but it has something to do with the gangs in the area that traffic prescription drugs.” Sighing, she closed her eyes again. “I guess the one date will have to do.”
He watched her eyes close and heard her breathing even out. “I guess so,” he replied quietly. He let go of her foot and saw that she’d fallen asleep. Her long dark lashes rested against her cheeks as she breathed quietly. Why was Vivi the one to make him feel things? It was a crush that no one understood, including himself. His rational brain was making rational arguments against it. And failing miserably. The feelings didn’t stop just because he wanted them to. He stared at her beautiful face and knew that it was pointless to fight it any longer.
He’d never shied away from anything in his life. Why was he resisting her so strongly? Maybe it was time to try to put his demons to rest and see what he was capable of. It might not be enough for her, but he finally admitted that he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t try.
He grabbed the remote, turned the TV off, and studied Vivi’s sweet face. “Okay, Vivi. I’m going to quit hiding from the truth. I hope like hell we’re both ready.”
Sliding her feet off his lap, he stood and scooped her up. She mumbled something against his chest, and he whispered against her hair, “Time for bed, honey.”
Slowly, he moved down the hall and up the stairs and walked into her room. It smelled like her, and he realized that her fragrance had been in his memory from their first meeting. That was almost a year ago when they had met at Ronnie and Chase’s engagement party. Sitting down on the bed, he cradled her and finally had the guts to admit to himself what he had known all along. Vivi DuMond enchanted him, and she probably always would. It seemed that now was the time to see what it all meant.
“Vivi, do you want to get out of your dress before you sleep?” Slowly, she opened her eyes and gazed around. “Did I pass out while I was talking?”
“No, you were done with your story.”
She slid off his lap and twisted around. “Can you undo the top two buttons?” Lifting her hair off her shoulder, she tipped her head forward and waited.
He had the steadiest hands of anyone he knew, but right now, they were shaking slightly. “Sure, honey.” He released the top four buttons and rested his hands against her arms. “Anything else?”
Glancing over her shoulder, she gave him a small, sleepy smile. “No.” He reluctantly stood and moved toward the door. He was about to say good night, when he saw the dress slip off her body and pool at her feet. She stood before him in a pale pink slip that matched the dress she had worn, and nothing else. Literally nothing else. He could tell because she was backlit by the lamp next to her bed. Swallowing loudly, he tried to say something. Instead, he stood there and mutely stared at her.
Waving slightly, she pulled back the covers and slipped into bed. Reaching over, she turned off the light. “Night, Joel. Don’t wake me up early.”
“Okay,” he croaked out. Taking one last look, he smiled. Son of a bitch, he was cooked. Closing the door, he went downstairs and checked all the doors and set the alarm. As he turned off all the exterior lights, he smiled to himself. It seemed that he needed to come up with a plan for protecting Vivi and winning her approval. No other outcome was going to be acceptable.