CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE | SIENNA
I was just going to have to do it alone. Don a disguise and go undercover. Build a case. It was what I did best.
Wasn’t that what Chief once told me?
All I was good for was putting on a wig and some slutty heels and walking into a casino?
Then that was exactly what I would have to do. I just wasn’t so sure of myself this time because I’d never done it by myself before.
Technically, tonight, I’d have no backup, nobody to radio-in and nobody to signal for help if things went belly up.
Not like I was planning a full-on heist. That would be the stupidest thing to pull on my own.
I just needed to work slowly and steadily and build a case, gather evidence and then let someone else from the team finish it off.
But this was dangerous territory. I’d never tried to gather evidence against a fellow officer of the law before.
Especially not someone who was my boss.
The chief of our department.
Mark Kaplan.
I was sure he was working as a double agent. It was why he couldn’t sing enough praises about Mr. Money. Why he wanted me to look in any direction but his. Why he was the one who’d tampered with all the information we had on Mr. Money in our database.
Chief Mark Kaplan was the man I needed to bring in first.
Of course it wasn’t my job to launder the department, but someone had to do it.
As long as Kaplan was allowed to get away with his little agenda, that was how long Mr. Money could continue his work, too. They both needed to be stopped and it’d have to begin with Kaplan.
Tonight’s disguise would have to be extra special. I couldn’t risk being recognized by Kaplan at the club. Especially since he knew my tricks and was familiar with my disguises. He’d easily be able to pick me out in the club if I looked remotely like myself or any of the other looks I’d used before.
I spent too long shopping and planning for my plan tonight, but I was sure it would eventually be worth it.
As long as I didn’t go and get myself shot.
This wig was beautiful, a sleek dark chocolate number that fit me perfectly. I wasn’t going for the bleach-blond candy flavored lollipop look tonight. It was too predictable. I was aiming for a more sophisticated getup, someone who’d be at the casino to make money and not to get out of her dress.
That wig was the perfect start.
As were the black leather ankle boots with the toothpick heels tipped with brass.
I felt strange when I looked at myself in the mirror.
Not dressed in pink or fluorescent colors and fishnets. Instead, I was wearing a wine velvet cocktail dress that clung tight to my body. My hands rose instinctively to my belly. It was too early for me to start showing and I was grateful for that.
A little life was growing inside me.
One that Ace helped me create.
I had to snap myself out of it and get on with the night.
I was on a mission to accomplish something important.
***
I was in Mr. Money’s casino, walking aimlessly across the floor, trying to impersonate a bored socialite here to make some easy money. I wasn’t even sure if the chief was going to be here tonight, but my plan was to stalk this place till the night I finally saw him here.
It was going to happen. I was sure of it.
I had a glass of dry martini in my hand and I flicked my hair over my shoulder.
My calves were strained from walking in those high heels all night.
No matter how many undercover personas I pulled off, or how many stilettos I wore—I felt like I’d never get used to these high heels.
I tried not to focus on one person for very long, batting my eyelashes lazily and looking away instead.
The last thing I needed was for some jackass to turn up next to me and distract me from my mission.
Just as I took another sip of my cocktail, my eyes landed on him.
Chief Kaplan, he’d just walked into the room and the thumping lounge beats seemed to be the intro music to his arrival.
I’d never seen him in a slick suit like this before with his hair brushed back.
That sleazy grin on his face remained and I felt a cold shiver run down my spine.
Even though I expected to find him here, seeing him now made me feel sick to my stomach.
One of the men in suits who were walking around the casino, watching over everyone’s every move, found Kaplan and they greeted each other with a handshake and a smile.
The man now guided Kaplan across the floor, towards a door at the other end, several feet behind me.
I knew I had to act fast and make sure he didn’t see me.
So I turned my back to him and pulled out my phone instead.
I turned on the camera just as he was walking past behind me and I turned the camera to myself.
I started clicking, pouting at the lens so it looked like I was taking selfies.
From the corner of my eye though, I could see Kaplan reaching into the pocket of his jacket and pulling out a playing card. He flashed it at the man in the suit.
The card was identical to the one Ace had shown me before.
Kaplan having access to that card spoke volumes.
It spoke loud and clear of his connection to Mr. Money
I clicked away, making sure I got clear shots of Kaplan flashing the card and slipping it back into his pocket again.
Got him.