Molly

Walking into The Landing Strip during the day is surreal.  With the bright fluorescent overhead lights on, this place looks almost like any other bar in the city. If you can look past the stage and the stripper poles, there’s an eerie calm and silence that is deafening.

“Ah, Harmony. Thank you for joining us,” Dallas’ greeting startles me. He takes a glass of dark liquid from the bartender and nods. “Can I get you a drink.”

I’m the only one here. “No thanks. I’m good.” Warning bells are going off all over the place. Especially considering they refused to let Cody inside. I don’t think they were buying the boyfriend act at all.

Dallas places a hand on the small of my back, the contact causing me to tense. “I’m sorry,” he apologizes gently and removes his hand. “If you’ll follow me to my office. I have something I’d like to discuss with you.”

Swallowing down the anxiety churning in my gut, I do what he says.

Inside his office, he removes his grey suit jacket, hanging it over the back of his desk chair and rolls up the sleeves of his white dress shirt.

Taking advantage of the silence, I soak in everything about Dallas.

At six-foot-three and probably close to two hundred and fifty pounds, he looks a lot like an All-American billionaire playboy when he’s dressed in a full suit. Take away the fact that I know how dirty he is, one might even say that he’s attractive. The tattoos that are revealed as he rolls up his sleeves take away the wholesome look and give him the ultimate bad boy look instead.

When he turns around and presses buttons on what looks like a security keypad, my eyes immediately zone in on the Glock tucked into the back of his trousers. Great, I’m unarmed, and he’s probably made me and plans to kill me.

Dallas gives me a gentle smile, one I’m not expecting when he turns back around to face me. “Have a seat.” He motions to one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Or if you prefer, we can sit over here if that would make you more comfortable.” He nods to the couch on the left side of the room.

Yeah, I’ll pass on the couch. He’s probably fucked his fair share of strippers on the fancy black leather surface. The chairs may not be off limits either, but they seem like the safer bet.

“Actually.” I look down at the ground, aiming for the whole shy girl vibe. “If you don’t mind, Sir, I’ll stand.”

“Harmony...or is it...Molly....”

At the mention of my real name my head snap back up. I curse inwardly because I know that for the briefest of moments, my façade has slipped, judging by the look on Dallas’ face, he is well aware.

“Relax.” He leans against the corner of his desk, crossing his long legs out in front of him, and his arms over his chest. “When it’s just us, you do not have to call me Sir. But, Molly...you should know, I’m not who you think I am.”

Ah, fuck! This is bad. So bad.

Part of me hopes that Cody and Cole are catching this, as I pray that they’ll storm in here and save me. The other part of me wants to be brave and do what I came here for. If I can keep Dallas talking, we may get what we need.

“Look at me please,” Dallas pleads.

Picking at the invisible string on my shirt, I ask, “How?” One word. That’s all I need to know is how. How did he find out about me?

“I’m trying to explain; your nervousness is distracting.”

I huff. “Try not to be so damn intimidating then.” Shit. Cole always said, my mouth would get me into trouble.

Dallas chuckles and shakes his head. “I’ll give you credit. You’ve got balls.”

“No, I don’t actually. No balls. Just a vagina and apparently a whole lot of stupidity.” Word vomit. Is it impossible for me to keep my mouth shut?

“Not stupid at all. In fact, I think you and I have a lot in common. See, with both have the same idea here.”

“I...I...don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He stands up and walks slowly toward me. “Ah, but I think you do,” he says as he runs a finger across my cheek. “Molly, I’m well aware that your ‘boyfriend’ who’s waiting out front, is not, in fact, your boyfriend. I believe the two of you work together. Correct?”

FUCK! My pulse quickens as I try to come up with the best answer. In my mind, Cody would want me to deny this information.

“Incorrect. He is my boyfriend. We’ve been together for three years.” I give him my best lie.

“They can’t hear you.” Dallas reaches behind me and removes the hair tie that’s holding my long brown hair back. The same one that has a mic laced in it. “Soundproof. Blockers,” he explains. “Your friend Cole isn’t the only one who knows all about the latest and greatest technology. A guy like me? I have to be able to protect myself.”

“What do you want? Can we quit playing games and cut to the chase? You’ve figured me out. Happy?” Too soon. I probably shouldn’t have conceded yet. I chide myself.

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Dallas takes my hand and puts the hair tie in my palm. “Let’s make this quick before they come storming in here and blow my cover.”

His cover? What the fuck is he talking about? “Care to elaborate?”

“As I said. I’m not who you think I am. Your boys are barking up the wrong tree.”

With my hands on my hips, I give Dallas a hard stare.

“Cute. Really cute, Molly. They could have sent someone better inside if they were really trying to snuff me out.”

“You’re a fucking asshole.”

“Yes, I’m well aware. Comes with the territory though. I have to be an asshole if I want to convince people that I’m running a drug ring.”

Realization slowly creeps over me, and I think, I’m starting to understand the riddle that Dallas has been trying to tell me. “You’re not...”

“I’m not. I’m undercover and have been for some time.”

There’s a knock on the door behind me. Dallas walks over and opens it – as if he already knows who is on the other side.

“Sorry boss, they insisted they had a meeting with you and the little lady. Kammie said it was okay.”

“I’ll take it from here.” Dallas moves to the side and two very pissed off Davenport brothers step into the room.

“He’s a fucking cop!” Cole barks as soon as the door shuts behind them.

My eyes widen as I look between the three of them.

“And you’re interfering with a federal case,” Dallas snarls. “I’ll admit, sending Molly inside to infiltrate was smart. But not smart enough. Next time, you may want to send someone with more experience.”

“Fuck you,” Cody, Cole, and I all say at the same time.

“How do we know you haven’t gone rogue?” Cody speaks up. “Maybe this is all a ploy to get us off your ass.”

“If I was, you would not have gotten a call from my superior and I sure as shit wouldn’t be wasting my time right now. If I was rogue, Molly would already be up on that stage stripping every night,” Dallas confesses. “And, I wouldn’t be about to ask you for your full help and cooperation.”

“What?” Cole asks in disbelief.

“I won’t say it again. And I’m not giving you any more information unless I have your word that you’re willing to work with me on this. Cole, you know that the Feds aren’t going to call in some civilian off the streets to help us out. Your service history and your track record with your private sector shit have caught my boss’ eye. He thinks you can be trusted, an asset to the team.” Dallas crosses his arms over his chest again. “I, on the other hand, will take some convincing.”

I can’t believe this. We’ve all been played. What’s even more shocking is when Cole and Cody shake Dallas’ hand and take a seat on the couch. They immediately start hashing out details and reviewing what they all know.

My head is spinning as I try to keep up. Cole’s firm has been under surveillance since about a year ago. Knowing that Feds have been following all of us, watching all our moves, is creepy as hell. Alarm bells went off when Cole really started sniffing around. They felt him out and even hired him for a few contractor jobs to test us all. From the sounds of it, we passed.

“Okay,” I finally speak up. “This is all well and good but what happens now? What’s my role in all of this?”

“You strip,” Dallas says far too nonchalantly for Cole’s liking.

Spitting out the water he was attempting to drink from the bottle Dallas offered everyone previously, Cole bellows, “Fuck, no! This stops now.”

Rubbing the back of his neck Dallas hisses, “Then we stage her death, and she goes into Wit-Sec.”

“NO!” I protest. “Fuck THAT.”

Cody is smirking at me and shaking his head. I already know what Cole’s thinking.

“Kill her,” Cole affirms.

“It’s not going to happen.” I’m adamant. Cole really needs to get over his self. “I’ll strip.”

“Listen.” Dallas holds up one hand. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but I think Molly’s right. She’ll make a better pawn if we kept her in the loop. There’s a client that’s been watching her for a while now, and I think he may be one of our guys. And some of the ladies have already started whispering about favorites and shit. I can potentially buy her a little more time as a waitress, but it will be tough. If we fake her death, it may draw unwanted attention. Let her get to know the ladies more. I could use her on the inside. I have a feeling two of the girls are part of this scheme that these guys are running, if Molly can befriend them, we may be able to get more details,” he sighs. “I’ve been trying for a long fucking time to get closer to them, but I’ve yet to earn their trust.”

“Again, likely because you come off as intimidating as fuck,” I blurt out before my internal filter has a chance to kick in.

Dallas looks at Cole and Cody with a smirk. “You have your hands full with her, don’t you?”

Cole let’s out a huff. “More than you know.”

His comment earns him a one finger salute from me and a laugh from Cody.