They stood to leave, and Ramos turned to Manetto. “Ricky’s taking her home. Something’s come up that I need to discuss with you.”
Manetto’s gaze narrowed, and he sent Ramos a nod. “All right. Thanks Shelby. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After the door shut behind her, Manetto turned to Ramos. “What is it?”
Ramos sighed and shook his head. “Remember Sloan, the government agent who helped us in Mexico?”
“Of course.”
“She just showed up here, and she wants something from us.” Ramos explained the situation, not missing Manetto’s cold glare and raised brows. “I told her you’d never go for it, but she said he’s already here for the deal. Because of that, she said she’s willing to owe us another favor if we help her out.”
“A favor…well, I guess that’s something.” Manetto let out a breath, “Especially with Blake Beauchaine breathing down my neck.”
“That’s true,” Ramos agreed. Blake had reconnected with Manetto about a month ago. They’d been close friends in college, but after a dispute, they had gone their separate ways, each ending up on different sides of the law. As a government agent, Blake wasn’t above putting Manetto and his business under scrutiny, and it made Manetto nervous.
“So,” Manetto continued. “This Carlos person is here and expecting to buy weapons from me. There might be a way to work with that. But…I’m afraid I can’t be involved.” He caught Ramos’s gaze. “It would have to be your operation, not mine, and I’m fine if you don’t want to do it.”
Did Ramos really want to get involved in all this? No, but it was Sloan. She was counting on him, and he found it hard to turn her down. Not only had she risked her neck to help him out in Mexico, but they’d meant something to each other once. Maybe they still did.
“What do you think?” Manetto asked. “Are you willing to risk it?”
“Yeah,” Ramos said. “I’ll do it. What do you have in mind?”
Manetto smiled. “It’s pretty cut and dry. Sloan supplies the weapons, Carlos pays for the weapons. We keep the payment for our troubles. It’s up to her to catch the guy and get the weapons back. See? No one loses.”
“Except for Carlos.”
“Yeah. That’s why I can’t be the seller. If it got out that I turned him in to the feds, it could ruin my reputation. It could ruin yours, too. So maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if Carlos didn’t survive the deal, but I’ll leave that little detail up to you.”
Ramos nodded, wondering if he’d regret his decision. It would put him in a tight spot working with the feds, and he’d have to be careful that Sloan didn’t double-cross him. Not that he thought she would, but what about her team? If they found out who he was, they might not be so inclined to look the other way.
“There’s always the favor she’ll owe us,” Manetto said. “It might come in handy the next time Blake shows up. I know he’s interested in Shelby, and that worries me. I don’t want him finding out about her special talent. It’s already bad enough that he believes in her ‘premonitions.’ If he knew the truth…I’d hate to think what would happen.”
“You’re right. I’ll see what I can work out. Sloan is supposed to call me on this.” He took the phone from his pocket. “It’s a burner phone.”
Uncle Joey’s brows drew together. “Hmm…that means they might be monitoring our phones again. I’ll have Nick get on that first thing in the morning. We’ll talk about this then.”
“Sounds good,” Ramos agreed. “Depending on how it goes, I might want someone to watch my back.”
“Use whoever you need.”
Manetto left soon after that, leaving Ramos to wait at the bar for Sloan’s call. It wasn’t long before he felt the vibration in his pocket. “Yes?”
“I’m across the street in the apartment above the diner. Come around to the back staircase, and I’ll let you in.”
Ramos shook his head and pocketed the phone. So that’s how she knew where he was, she’d been spying on him. What else did she know? Too bad he didn’t have Shelby’s skill. It could sure come in handy right about now.
He zipped up his leather jacket against the cold and left the club. Sloan met him at the back door and motioned him inside. She had changed her clothes, wearing black tights and a tank-top under a long-sleeved cardigan, with slippers on her feet.
He climbed up the steep staircase behind her and couldn’t help admiring the view. Keeping her at arm’s length could be a struggle but, until he knew more, he wasn’t about to make that mistake again.
She opened the door to the small apartment and led him inside. “I’ve got coffee. Do you want some?”
“Sure,” he replied. Inside, he noted the small kitchen on one side of the apartment, and the living room with a couch on the other. As he took off his jacket, he caught sight of a tripod with a camera and telephoto lens at the window.
His breath caught, and anger bubbled in his chest that she was taking pictures of the club…and him. Then wariness replaced it. Why would she let him see this? She could have taken it down, but she wanted him to know. Was she that confident that he’d agree to her plan? She came to his side and handed him a warm mug.
“It looks like you’ve got a nice set-up here, with a perfect view of the club.”
She shrugged. “I had to make sure you and Manetto were there. Let’s sit down.”
She plopped on the couch, expecting him to follow, and pulled her feet up under her. With a frown, Ramos took a seat on the other end, leery of getting too close. There was no way he would ever fully trust her, and he didn’t want to fall into a trap.
“So what did Manetto say?” she asked, totally ignoring his scowl.
“He won’t do it.” At her indrawn breath, he waited a beat before continuing. “But he agreed that I could take over in his stead.”
“Okay. That should work. They know you’re his right-hand man, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“He’s still holding you to your end of the bargain.”
“Of course.” She glanced at him with a tight smile. “Let’s get started. I’ve been feeding Carlos information about the weapons that Manetto wants to sell. I can set it up for Carlos to come to the club to meet with Manetto, but you can meet with him instead. It might spook him a little, but there’s nothing we can do about it now. Here’s his photo.”
She picked up a photo from the coffee table and handed it to him. He half expected to recognize the man, but there wasn’t anything familiar about him, and he handed it back.
“I can arrange for him to meet with you tomorrow night, and then the two of you can set up the exchange. I was hoping to use one of Manetto’s warehouses for the deal.”
“Not one of Manetto’s,” Ramos said. “He wouldn’t want anything like this to be traced back to him, but I know of an abandoned factory that will work. And before we go any further, I need to know what sorts of weapons you have.”
“Sure,” she said, shrugging like it was no big deal. “Carlos is in the market for rocket launchers, and I have twenty, along with the stinger missiles that go with them. Besides that, I have a few RPGs to sweeten the deal, and a couple of cases of M16’s and night-vision goggles…plenty of things Carlos would pay top dollar for.”
Ramos shook his head in wonder. “How did you get your hands on all of that?”
“Let’s just say my superiors are loaning them to me for this operation.”
“Hmm…they must want this guy pretty bad. Or you just know how to get your way.”
She sent him a pleased grin. “You might say that.”
Ramos admired her spunk. It was one of the things that drew him to her. And she was a lot like him, only on the good side of the law. “Pretty soon, you’ll be running the place.”
“Ha…not hardly, but I’m working on it.”
That didn’t surprise him. “All right. I can see how this might work. So where are the weapons?”
“My team is en route. They’re just waiting for the go ahead f
rom me.”
“I see.” It looked like she’d been planning this whole operation for quite some time. She must have been pretty sure he’d agree, and that bothered him. What else did she have up her sleeve? Sure, Manetto was a prime candidate to sell the weapons, but someone undercover could have worked just as well.
She lowered her gaze and took a sip of her coffee. “We can go over our strategy tomorrow morning, and you can show me this abandoned factory of yours.”
She leaned back against the cushion, smiling at him invitingly. Her sweater fell off her shoulder, exposing the beautiful curve of her neck. It brought back all those memories of their time together, and he realized she wanted that again.
Part of him wanted her, too. But even though the attraction was still there, he wasn’t about to get pulled into her schemes. Who knew what else she’d want from him then? No one ever did anything for anyone without wanting something in return…except for maybe Shelby.
Ignoring her heated gaze, he moved toward the camera. “Who’ve you been looking at?”
His disregard of her clear invitation caught her off balance. “Wait.”
Before she could stop him, he had the camera off the tri-pod and had begun to scroll through the photos. His brows lifted to find several of him from the last couple of days. Then there were a few of Manetto.
From tonight, there were at least five of Shelby. Ramos was with her in most of the shots, but there were a couple of close-ups of her. In the last, his hand rested on Shelby’s back as he ushered her inside the club.
“So, who’s the blond?” Sloan asked, peering at the camera from behind him.
Ramos glanced over his shoulder. “Why? You jealous?”
“No, of course not.” His grin seemed to flame her temper even more, and she shook her head, then grabbed her empty coffee mug and hurried into the kitchen.
He placed the camera back on the tripod and followed her. “What time should I come by tomorrow?”
“You’d better come early, at least by eight. We have a lot of ground to cover.”
She turned to face him, and he stepped close, invading her space. She backed up until she hit the kitchen counter and there was nowhere left to go. Her breath came fast, and their gazes met. Ramos wanted to kiss her in the worst way, but he hated being manipulated.
“I’m not playing this game with you,” he said.
“Why not?” she murmured. “It was pretty fun last time.”
That brought a smile to his lips, and he shook his head. “Maybe later…after the job.” He stepped away and caught the flare of disappointment in her eyes. “I’m hoping that will be an extra incentive for you to make sure your team doesn’t get trigger happy, and I come out if this alive.”
She huffed out a disgruntled breath, and he stepped to the door.
“See you tomorrow.” After shutting the door behind him, he hurried down the stairs. That was a narrow escape, and he didn’t know if he felt relief or disappointment. Maybe a little of both.
Chapter 2
The next morning, Ramos arrived at Sloan’s apartment early. He hadn’t slept well, and this whole deal left him unsettled. He liked being the one in charge, and trusting her wasn’t easy to do. So why didn’t he tell her no?
Manetto had given him every opportunity to back out, but he hadn’t, and now he hoped he didn’t regret it. That’s why he’d spent half the night coming up with a few plans of his own that he was willing to implement, with or without Sloan’s knowledge.
“You’re early,” Sloan said, opening the door. “I’m not quite ready. Go ahead and get yourself some coffee.”
She went back into her bedroom and shut the door. Instead of getting coffee, Ramos took the opportunity to glance around the room. Some papers lying on the floor next to the couch caught his eye, and he quickly picked them up.
Shock rippled through him to see his name in a police case file from Orlando. Only instead of Alejandro Ramos, it was his real name – Alejandro Ramirez.
The bedroom door opened, and he turned to face Sloan, his eyes tight with accusation. As she realized what he held in his hands, her face paled. “I can explain.”
Ramos took a deep breath and clenched his jaw against the bitter anger that surged through his chest. He’d worked so hard to leave all of that behind him. Not even Manetto knew his real name. She might think she could hold this over his head, but he had friends of his own, and he wouldn’t let it happen.
“You can’t touch me with this,” he said.
“That’s not - I didn’t do it for that reason.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Of course you would.” She glanced at the papers, but instead of trying to snatch them back, her fierce gaze caught his. “Keep them if you want. I haven’t told anyone your real identity, and I’m not going to.”
Ramos narrowed his eyes, then folded the papers and stuffed them into the inner pocket of his jacket. He knew giving them to him was a futile attempt to appease him, since she probably had a lot of material on him stored somewhere. But it didn’t matter. Alejandro Ramirez didn’t exist anymore. So what did she plan to do with this information?
“I can’t be bought,” he said. “So whatever you had in mind, you should just forget it.”
She shook her head and closed her eyes before facing him. “That was never my intent. And since you’re being so close-minded about it, I don’t think I’ll ever tell you why I found it.” She slipped on a black coat and pulled on some leather gloves. “Let’s go.”
Ramos followed her down the stairs and outside. Her car was parked behind the building, and she moved to open the door.
“Since I know where we’re going, let’s take my car,” Ramos said. With a shrug, she followed him to the street where his black sports car was parked at the curb. They drove for a time without speaking, then Ramos broke the silence. “How many people are on your team?”
“There’s five of us, if you count Antonio, who’s working undercover with Carlos.” She sent a quick glance his way. “Uh…just so you know…I had to tell them about you. To be honest, they’re not too happy to be working with a mob-boss and his hit-man. But I got the okay from my superiors, so they can’t touch you.”
Ramos raised his brows, not reassured in the least. Did she really believe that? If they knew who he was, he’d be lucky to come out of this alive. Hell, if the bullets started flying, he’d probably be the first person they’d target. “Good to know.”
He got on the freeway and drove to the industrial side of town, closer to the airport and some old abandoned buildings. Taking the exit, he drove several more blocks until coming to a set of dilapidated buildings at the end of a long entryway.
The largest building sported a few loading docks outside the warehouse, with all kinds of old drums and barrels left to rust. From what Ramos knew, this was an old paint factory. He wouldn’t be surprised if some of the containers held toxic materials.
A smaller building to the side had been used as an office. The door had been broken down, and all the glass windows had been shattered by rock-throwing vandals. In such a sorry state, no one came out here, so it was a perfect place to do business.
“I think this might work,” Sloan said, obviously impressed. She stepped inside the warehouse to take a look around, then did the same with the smaller office building.
“How do you want to do this?” Ramos asked.
“There’s plenty of room inside to store the weapons. Carlos could get a good look at what we had and then, after he paid up, we could arrest him.”
“You make it sound easy.” Ramos shook his head. “Believe me, nothing is ever that easy.”
“Well,” she said, huffing out a disgruntled breath. “Do you have a better plan?”
“How about this,” he began. “Your people are bringing them in a truck, right?” At her nod, he continued. “Then we park the truck there.” He pointed to a space out in the open. “And take a few of the crates out of the back for him
to inspect. After he looks through them, and he’s satisfied that I’m not trying to cheat him, he pays me, and then you arrest him.”
“I see how it is,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “You’re after the money.”
“Hey, I’ve got to have some compensation for the risk I’m taking. I also have a reputation. I wouldn’t want it getting out that I helped the feds.”
As she thought it over, he continued, “There’s plenty of places your men can hide. You could even put a couple of snipers on the roof if you wanted. With Carlos and his men out in the open, it’s a nice set-up.”
Sloan glanced around the area again, then turned to give him a grudging nod. “All right. It should work. Let’s do it.”
On the drive back to her apartment, Sloan explained that the truck with the weapons and the rest of her team were at the local army base about an hour out of town.
“They can have the truck with all the weapons here by tomorrow afternoon, so we can do this pretty quickly. First, we need to set up a meeting between you and Carlos. If that goes well, then you arrange the deal with him for tomorrow afternoon. With any luck, this whole thing could be over and done in time for Christmas.”
Ramos nodded and shot her a quick glance. “You got someone to get home to?”
She shrugged. “My parents are always pretty happy to see me. Last year I was on an assignment and didn’t make it, so…yeah, it would be nice. What about you?”
Ramos let out a breath. He didn’t have a family to speak of, but he had plenty of friends in the Latin community who were always inviting him to their homes for carne asadas and pupusas. Most of them knew his reputation, and he’d ended up taking care of a few problems for them, so they were close in some ways, but not like a real family.
“I have plans.”
“Anyone special?” she asked.
He chuckled. “My job is not exactly favorable to any type of a relationship, not that I don’t have plenty of offers.”
She shook her head. “I don’t doubt that.”
He smiled at her jealous tone. She obviously didn’t like how easy he had it with women, and it warmed his heart. “If we’re still alive once this is over, we might want to celebrate before you go home.”