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  Pulling the map back up on his cellphone, he looks up the address that was given to him by the commissioner. Following the directions, he leaves the park to get swept up in the people again. While going with the flow, he looks around at the street signs, carefully. Along the way, he catches sight of an ATM machine. Fighting his way through the people, he gets to the machine. Taking out his wallet, he slides his debit card and punches in the pin number. He makes a withdrawal of five hundred dollars to make up for the money the boy still owed. Putting all the money in his wallet, he takes the transaction receipt and heads home.

  Dark clouds start to gather overhead by the time he gets to his place uptown. The winds are picking up, creating strong gusts that knock even him off balance. He steps up to the stoop and is surprised to see a curvy figure standing there. Lara is pressed against the doorframe, using it for cover against the gales.

  “What the hell took you so long?” She’s forced to shout to be heard over the howling wind.

  “I got lost,” he yells back. “What’re you doing here?”

  “Miles sent me to get the money!”

  “Okay,” he says, still hollering. “How about we go inside?”

  Grady unlocks the door and opens it for Lara, feeling the wind trying to push it shut. The two of them go into his house for the first time. He’s surprised to see that his apartment is actually a townhouse just for him. Walking out of the foyer, he takes her to the living room. He notices that the style and layout is similar to his apartment back home, only it’s a lot cleaner.

  Lara looks around, clearly impressed. While he is also impressed with it, he catches himself staring at her. That is, until she turns around and looks at him. Clearly caught, he plays it off by reaching into his pocket for the money.

  “Oh yeah, here’s the cash,” he says, placing the stack in her hand. “How come Miles doesn’t come to get his money? Why’d he send you?”

  “I really don’t feel like talking about it,” she says abruptly, turning her eyes to the floor.

  Knowing something’s amiss, all Grady can say is, “Oh.” He’s trying not to think about last night and suddenly hopes to hell that’s not why she’s in trouble.

  “Yeah, anyways… Nice place by the way.” She shrugs uncomfortably and looks around one more time. “Anyways, I have to get going.”

  She tries to head for the door, but Grady grabs her by the arm. “Wait! It’s about to piss-storm out there. There’s no way I’m letting you go—out there, I mean. It’s too dangerous.” He nearly scoffs at himself, like walking through a storm is worse than living with Miles.

  “Grady,” she whispers as she looks back to the door and then to him. “I’m not so sure—”

  “I’m not letting you go out in this weather,” he repeats, cutting her off. On cue thunder roars like an angry beast, making them both jump. “You see?” He laughs at the look on her face, like she’s wondering if he actually set the thunder to rumble above them. “If it’ll make you feel better, I can call Miles.”

  “No! Don’t do that!”

  He raises his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, okay.” He runs his fingers through his hair and glances around. “A co-cousin of mine got me this place. It’s pretty sweet, ‘eh?”

  Lara slowly does a three-sixty. “It’s nice.” She walks up to him, placing her hands on his chest. The feel of her soft hands on him makes his heart quicken. She smiles. “You’re not like other men. You’re actually sweet.”

  Really? ‘Cause last night he wasn’t thinking about sweet. Or maybe he was. He’s not sure. He swallows hard. “Why don’t you make yourself something to eat?” He sees his bag down the hall and knows there’re a few things in there he doesn’t want her to see. “I’ve no idea if my cousin left me any food, but you can check. I’m going to take a shower.” He would love to ask her to join him but clamps his mouth shut. He stinks and needs a shower. He doesn’t wait for her to reply, he heads down the hall and grabs his bag, taking it with him to the bathroom.

  After showering and dressing, he goes through the bag and finds his gun. He hides it in a cupboard in the bathroom, under a stack of towels. Throwing on some aftershave he wipes the fog off the mirror and stares at himself. “Don’t do anything stupid. Keep your head down and do your job.” His reflection in the mirror looks at him like he’s crazy. He’s not even a day into the undercover and he’s already causing shit.

  Lara’s not in the kitchen or living room when he goes to check. Thinking she may have left, he heads up the wooden staircase and his heart starts hammering. He knows that if she’s waiting for him in the bedroom he’s screwed. He won’t be able to say no.

  Quietly he opens the door. She’s there on the bed, but fast asleep. She probably hasn’t slept on a decent bed in months. He could go and lie down beside her except duty reminds him this is a job, not a pleasure trip. He closes the door and returns to the living room, taking a seat on the couch. Unlike the couch he slept on the night before, this one is a million times softer.

  He flips on the television and puts the volume on low. He finds himself lying down, falling asleep, too exhausted to do anything else, and for the first time in forever, he actually relaxes.

  Chapter 5

  “Good morning,” Lara whispers gingerly in his ear.

  When he opens his eyes and rolls over, he comes face to face with something white and silky. It takes him less than a moment to realize they are a pair of panties. Seriously sexy panties.

  His eyes widen, looking up to see that his guest has taken it upon herself to wear one of his dress shirts. The buttons are undone, exposing skin from the collarbone all the way down to her naval. Luckily, the cloth covers her breasts, but one wrong move will have them exposed.

  Grady groans, immediately closing his eyes. “What’re you doing?” he demands. “Put some clothes on.” Wait, did she just say morning? He groans again. Miles is going to kill both of them.

  “I didn’t have any pajamas,” she says nonchalantly. “So I had to borrow this.”

  “I’ve plenty of t-shirts.” He figures if his dress shirts are in the closet, his t-shirts are probably in drawers. “You could’ve worn one of them.”

  “It was too hot to wear something like that,” she murmurs sweetly. “This breathes better.”

  Grady struggles to sit up with his hand covering his eyes. “All right fine. Just, just get dressed.”

  She says nothing. He knows she’s staring at him, but he refuses to look up. She’s probably wondering why he had no problem the other night in the bathroom and now he’s playing all innocent. She sighs finally. “Okay, by the way, you can have your shirt back.”

  He feels cloth hit him in the head. Instinctively he pulls it off of his face. He manages to catch a glimpse of her bare back that trails down to a firm ass, half hidden under lace and silk. There’s one hell of a sexy tattoo detailing down her back and ending somewhere in her panties. There’s another one on her arm. She disappears up the steps to the bedroom before he can finish staring at her sexy legs or check for more tattoos. He’s got a hard-on just watching her walk up the stairs. Grady takes off the shirt he slept in and puts on the one she was wearing. He catches her scent on the collar as he pulls his arm through the sleeve. It has a pleasant, fruity aroma to it. He makes sure to have the shirt buttoned up, except for the top three, which he leaves undone. It reveals the top of his chest.

  As he is making sure his breath smells pleasant, Lara comes bouncing down the steps. She jumps the last four and lands with a rumbling thud. “If you ain’t playin’, I ain’t stayin’.” She winks at him.

  Grady shakes his head and tries unsuccessfully not to smile. He walks with her to the foyer, and like a gentleman, opens the door for her.

  Lara smiles as she walks out first. Outside they find the sun shining brightly after the storm died hours ago. Steam is rising from the dampened streets. Remains of the high winds are scattered about the streets. Broken branches lie across the sidewalk while someone’s mailbo
x is left out in the middle of the road. Grady looks to make sure it’s not his. Luckily, it’s not. He goes and collects it anyway and leans it against a telephone pole. Better than someone running over it and causing an accident.

  “How about we get some breakfast?” he suggests.

  “There’s a great diner in this part of town,” Lara says. “My father and I used to go there all the time back when I was younger.”

  She had a father? Somehow he imagines her fatherless as a kid. More like an orphan or a foster kid. “Sounds good, you lead,” he says. “I’m still new to the area.” He also didn’t picture her growing up in this end of town. It seems too… too… classy. He shakes his head at himself. He doesn’t know her so he shouldn’t judge.

  Taking him by the hand, she makes a right, heading north. Grady is pulled through the people who are scouring on the streets. He notices that there are not as many as the day before. More likely than not the storm has kept some inside. Although the sun is shining, Grady looks up to see dark clouds still lingering in the sky. Perhaps another storm is on its way. They walk in silence, comfortable without feeling the need to talk.

  Lara takes him a few more blocks before making another right.

  “How long have you lived in New York?” he asks finally, too curious to hold it in any longer.

  “All my life,” she answers, not looking back when she speaks. “How do you like the big city so far?”

  “It’s going to take a bit of adjusting,” he confesses. “I live in the city too, and I thought it was big. This makes my hometown look tiny.”

  “Oh, where are you from?”

  “Pitts—,” Grady catches himself slip up, but it’s too late to fix the damage. “I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, but I moved to Philly after I graduated high school.”

  “Oh wow, you graduated high school?”

  “Well yeah…” He stares at her graceful neck, swallowing the urge to want to press his lips and tongue against her skin. He swallows hard again. “Why do you seem so surprised?”

  “Most guys in this line of work aren’t that smart.” She shrugs, laughing softly to herself. “I doubt Miles has ever seen the inside of a classroom.”

  Grady cannot help but laugh too. “What about you?”

  “Of course I graduated from high school,” she says. “I’m pretty sure my father would’ve killed me if I didn’t.”

  Grady is about to ask something else, but she pulls him out of the travelling throng of people to the diner. The building is a small, box-shaped structure covered in silver. It looks like it once was a train car. Hanging over the door is a neon sign with the name of the establishment, but the lights have been switched off for the day. Grady tries to open the door for her again, but Lara beats him to it. A bell rings as they enter. From behind the counter a woman wearing a pin apron pops her head up. Lara gives the woman a smile as she leads Grady over to the booth closest to the door.

  Just as they sit down, the woman trots over with a pen and paper in hand. “Good morning,” the waitress says pleasantly. “What can I get for you two lovebirds?”

  “Oh we…” he stutters and flushes. “We aren’t…uh…”

  “I’ll have the special,” Lara interrupts, placing her order without looking at the menu.

  “Excellent choice, sugar,” the waitress says, jotting it down on her notepad. She looks to Grady, “And you there, handsome?”

  Grady tries to look over the menu, but gives up in the end, “Just give me the special too. Please.”

  “All right then, dearies, I’ll be back out shortly.”

  They watch as their waitress moseys behind the counter and disappears into the kitchen with their order. The diner is completely empty this morning, except for the two of them. Overhead, the vents spew cold air directly on top of them. Lara shivers. The skin on Grady’s arms sprout goosebumps. He rubs the raised skin to warm himself up, but it does little to help. They get up and move to the next booth where the temperature is a bit more bearable.

  Lara stares intently at him. “There’s something different about you.”

  “What’s that mean?” He plays with a napkin, not sure he wants to have this conversation now. He should’ve played stupid or told her to go home yesterday. Why the hell did he have to fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon and wake up with her still in the house? He’d probably just fucked everything up and blown his cover. Shit, he hadn’t even checked his phone yet.

  “You’re not like the other guys, especially Miles. You’re too smart, too nice for this line of work.”

  “Well, I actually wanted to become a detective,” he tells her in earnest, but quickly switches to a false story. Shit! Why not just come out and tell her he’s an undercover cop? He clears his throat. “When I went to college, I developed a bit of a gambling problem. I bet on everything I could; football, horse races, you name it. Didn’t take long to blow through my entire tuition. So I dropped out.”

  “Really?” She actually seems kind of impressed he went to college.

  “It’s not going to stop me, though.”

  She laughs, as if believing you can accomplish something outside of your neighborhood can really happen.

  “Here’s the situation,” he says and leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. “I ended up owing some bad people a lot of money. My cousin offered me a job working for Miles until I pay off the loan sharks. I intend to save up enough money to leave this business and get back to school.”

  Hearing the high hopes he has weakens her smile. “Grady, there’s no way out…”

  Grady stares at her, troubled by her statement. “Why not? What about you? You seem way too smart to be with that idiot Miles.”

  “Let’s just say it’s complicated,” she answers, but refuses to meet his gaze. Instead, she looks out the window.

  “Is it Miles?” he asks, but she just shakes her head. “Then what?”

  He gets no more information out of her when the waitress returns with two plates. Eggs and bacon cover the porcelain, rearranged in a smiling face. Grady wants to push for more answers, but his stomach growls from the smell of bacon. He’s too hungry to ignore the meal sitting in front of him. So instead he and Lara eat.

  After they finish, he pays and they leave the diner. The metropolis is now bustling as midday approaches. The sun has gone from hot to fiery. Sweat finds its way around his brow, forcing him to wipe it away in his sleeve. Lara takes Grady by the hand again, as they are swept up in the flow of the crowd. It’s several blocks before she pulls him out. They stand outside the restaurant that Miles uses as a front for his drug operation.

  “Does Miles have another job for me?” Grady asks. He hopes he’s not going to get her in trouble for hanging with him. No guy’s going to believe he let a girl like Lara spend the night and not sleep with her.

  Lara shakes her head. “Follow me. There’s something I want to show you.”

  She takes him by the hand again. Instead of walking through the front door, she leads him around to the alleyway. In the back, the smell of the dumpster baking in the summer heat wafts through the air. The stench alone makes Grady gag. Lara laughs at him, but then grimaces when she catches wind of the pungent odor. Holding her breath, she moves quickly away from the dumpster to the fire escape. She starts to climb. Once she’s up on the steel platform, she motions for Grady to follow. Driven by curiosity, he follows. The two of them climb, the foul smell shrinking away as they get higher up.

  Grady gets to the platform, but Lara is already climbing up to the next level. He’s forced to play catch up, racing up the metal steps. When he looks up again, she has disappeared completely. A few more levels have him at the top of the fire escape, looking out onto the rooftop. He sees Lara standing on the middle of the flat roof. Four stone ledges surround it while an access door is on the right side. Climbing over the ledge, he joins her on the roof. Twenty feet above the city streets, the winds blow fiercely across their faces. The air is still hot so the gust is
not at all pleasant. Across the sky, the black clouds march their way into the city.

  Approaching her, he asks above the wind, “Why’d you bring me up here?” He’s cautious. If she pulls a gun, he’s not sure how fast he can get out of bullets’ way or if the access door is even open.

  Lara casually strolls over to the ledge and takes a seat. A little mischievous smile crosses her pretty red lips. She holds her hand out, showing Grady a slip of paper clenched between her fingers. It’s difficult to see the writing as it flaps in the wind, but even at a distance he recognizes the bank emblem plastered at the top. He checks his pocket, finding the receipt for yesterday’s withdrawal has gone missing.

  Shit. Pretending to look at the receipt, he asks, “Where’d you get that?”

  “I found it lying on the floor this morning,” she says, looking over the paper. “I wonder why you took out so much money the same day you took it from that kid, Bradley.”

  “That’s none of your business.” Fuck! He’s going to blow his cover. He reaches out to take it. “Just give it back.”

  Lara gives him a sly wink. Instead of getting off the ledge, she climbs up on top of it. Her hands sprawl outwards to give her balance as she walks between the rooftop and the street twenty feet below.

  The sight makes Grady stiffen.

  Before he can say anything to her, she jumps.

  Grady rushes to the edge, but is helpless to stop her from disappearing. Looking over the side, his stomach is in knots at what he expects to see. Except Lara is not a splattered mess on the concrete.

  She is perfectly fine the next building over. The receipt is still between her fingers as she smiles coyly. “You want it back?” she teases him. “You got to come catch me.”

  Once those words are spoken, Lara’s running across the rooftop, leaping to another building.

  Grady lets out a sigh of relief that she’s not dead. Taking a few steps back from the ledge, he starts stretching, making sure he is limber enough to make the jump. Psyching himself up, he goes into a dead sprint for the ledge. He ignores his conscience screaming at him to stop, planting his foot on the edge of the building. Pushing off, he is airborne. In that moment, he feels as though he’s flying. His legs flail underneath him as if he were running on air. That feeling ends when his feet touch the uneven surface of the rooftop. He tries to stop, but ends up falling and tumbles.