Chapter Two – A Joint Mission

"I hate this," Gina said as she sat in the passenger seat with her head resting fully on the headrest and her eyes temporarily closed.

Trudy smirked as she felt the wind rustle her curly hair and cast a cautious glance at her partner as she pulled up outside Biscayne General Hospital. "I don't know; driving a convertible in the sunny weather while the boys are stuck behind the wheel of a van with giant bug on top," she laughed. "On their way to do a little dive, attempting to find out what happened to the electrical bug. It suddenly feels like we've got the glassy job this time."

Gina rolled her eyes but at the same time a grin began to spread across her beautiful face. She bent down to reach for her purse, resting on the floor between her legs. She retrieved a few photos of Alberto Pina in various poses and her badge. "Shame he's a bad guy," she said. "He's quite good-looking."

"Were might be a better word," Trudy stated, emphasizing the word were, as she got out of the driver's seat and closed the door behind her. "Besides, I didn't think Latinos were your type. I thought you were going for a certain blond guy-" she trailed off and began to laugh at the annoyed expression on Gina's face.

"Yeah, I admit, I like the wrapping. I'm just not sure about the inside," she let on sarcastically.

Trudy stopped teasing her partner. She knew that, deep down, Sonny and Gina had a special relationship, she wasn't daft. She could easily see the way Gina looked at Sonny from time to time, especially since Caroline had filed for a divorce. Trudy didn't like the idea of them getting together because it put her in an awkward position and, if something bad should happen between them, she would end up with one friend less than before. She simply didn't want to choose between them but in the end, if she had to, Gina was her partner.

"Come on, let's go see if our missing dealer is here," Trudy encouraged.

Gina huffed although her voice was soft. "And if he's not we're on to the next medical facility and then the next-"

"Positive thinking, Gina," Trudy said as her lips curled upwards. "Think about the giant bug on top of the van and the hours the boys are going to spend in it."

OOOOOO

Zito involuntarily ducked and closed his eyes as Switek drove into a pothole. He glanced forebodingly up against the roof of the van as a loud bang vibrated through it. "I don't know Stan," he mused. "I'm not so sure running around in this giant bug thing would classify as anonymous."

Switek broke into a grin. "Relax brother, the whole place is probably crawling with bugs," he reasoned as he drove through the rough neighborhoods next to the pier where the bust had taken place the night before.

"Yeah, don't forget to add drug dealers and junkies as well," Larry muttered as he straightened the collar of his uniform and then eyed the name "Joe's Pesticides" that graced the front right of the jacket. "Look, why are we even doing this? The CSI's would have been over the place with a fine toothbrush, there would be nothing left for us to find. Besides-"

"You'll have to work on your attitude, Zito," Stan interrupted happily as he parked the car. "Come on, let's see if we can find anything. If we don't, we head over to where Mr. Pina crashed his limo and see if we can pick up the signal from there."

Larry nodded toward the murky water next to an old tramp steamer. "I'm not taking a swim here," he muttered in dismay.

OOOOOO

Lieutenant Martin Castillo glanced up from the folder on his desk as an unfamiliar man in a black suit stepped through the door to his office. "Is there something I can do for you?" he asked calmly yet his voice was cold and reserved.

"They cautioned me about your warm attitude," the man replied enigmatically as he walked into the room and closed the door behind him. "I'm Agent O'Halloran-," he rummaged around his pocked and retrieved a badge, confirming his identity, "DEA," he finished.

"You know-," Castillo began as he straightened in his chair. "I'm a little weary of your cooperation techniques after the last stunt you pulled a year ago when one of your agents almost got one of my detectives killed."

"I assure you, Martin, it was an unfortunate misunderstanding," he said regrettably, his voice as smooth as silk. "May I call you Martin?"

"I'm Lieutenant Castillo to you, Agent O'Halloran," he replied steely.

"I've heard a lot about your work for the department, just feels right to call you by forename," he said simply.

"What do you want, Agent O'Halloran?" Castillo asked, annoyed at the small talk.

"It seems our operations are overlapping," he finally admitted.

"Really?" Martin said evenly. "We've been working this case for months. You've had plenty of time to contact us before yesterday. You only want to get your hands on the information we've collected. That's not what I consider a cooperation."

"I'll be the first one to admit, Lieutenant Castillo, that we didn't know you had a case involving Barossa and Torres. You see; Vice is pretty good at keeping information from the DEA as well as the other way around," he finished with a wry self-pompous grin.

If he was waiting for an outburst from the calm man on the other side of the desk he was sourly disappointed.

"I asked what you wanted, Agent O'Halloran," Castillo simply repeated, his voice even and detached, the tone flat and uninterested.

O'Halloran fought to keep his temper. "We had a man on the inside. He'd almost made it to the top when you butted in and got Torres killed," he said sharply. Unfortunately, he was too slow on picking up on Detective Tubbs's cover persona and when my man realized he belonged to Vice it was too late."

"So, you've come to my office to tell me what? - First that you want to cooperate but refuse to give me any information you might have that could shed some light on what went wrong. Secondly you accuse me for sending my men undercover and blow your operation. Is that statement correct?" Martin asked with a raised eyebrow.

A moment of silence passed between them as they glared at each other, seizing each other up, before the lieutenant spoke up again.

"Then I might inform you that it is you who've jeopardized the lives of my detectives and the ongoing Vice operation by failing to let us know of your case. You're grasping at straws for some reason and if you don't want to share the information you have, you'll get nothing from this end."

"We were after the top man of Torres's operation," O'Halloran finally relented. "And Torres was this close to spill," he added, raising his hand to show a small gap between his thumb and index finger.

"We're chasing Barossa," Castillo replied. "Unfortunately he had no money or merchandize on him when the arrest was made and the evidence against him will be circumstantial at best when his lawyers digs into the case we've built against him."

O'Halloran sighed as he ran a tired hand through his thick grey hair.

"And now it seems we're both interested in the mysterious third party that turned the bust into a disaster none of us gained anything from," Castillo guessed.

The agent smirked. "So it seems, lieutenant," he replied wearily and reached out with his hand for Martin to shake. "I'm willing to bury the axe if you are."

Castillo studied him for a moment, then he leaned forward in his chair and offered the other man a firm handshake.

OOOOOO

Rico got out of his car and casually straightened his suit jacket. He glanced up at the large house next to the beach which he'd staked out with his partner before Mr. Burnett hade made an entrance. Now it was Mr. Cooper's turn to nestle into the drug dealer's home with an agenda of his own.

A man with an AK-47 strode up to him, his hand resting comfortably on the butt of the semi-automatic weapon. "Something I can do for you?" he asked cockily.

Rico shrugged and made a face. "No, but there is something I can do for you," he replied with a smirk. "I need to talk with your boss. I take it he's in?"

The guard straightened suspiciously, not liking the attitude of the black man. "Why would he be interested to see you? Why don't you book an appointment like everyone else and wait till he replies; if he replies," he said maliciously.

"Miguel!" someone shouted sharply from the balcony. "Let him in."

The guard bowed slightly as he turned toward the balcony and then muttered something unintelligible under his breath. "Come this way Mr-"

"Cooper," Rico drawled.

A minute later he was shown into the house and into the living room just as a largely built man with curly, black hair came from the balcony. The man was dressed in an expensive suit, tailored to grace his toned and tanned body perfectly, and the attire was completed with shoes made of crocodile skin.

For some reason Rico couldn't help but to think of Elvis and then his thoughts automatically went to his injured partner.

"My apologies for Miguel, he means well, seeing to my interests. Come to think about it, that's what I pay him to do," Barossa said smoothly as he sat down on the plush leather sofa, his attention directed at Rico as he snapped his fingers.

Immediately a maid was at his side, pouring him a glass of expensive wine.

Barossa eyed the man before him curiously, his expression almost amused as he whirled the wine gently in his glass. "So tell me, Mr. Cooper, why are you here?" he asked casually.

"When Torres was shot last night my contract with him dissolved. His operation is chaotic at best at the moment," he said coldly as he took a step closer to the drug lord. "I'm simply put off by losing my money."

"I see," Barossa replied skeptically.

"You see, unless you planned to have him killed yesterday, you and I have a common enemy. That is, of course, if you didn't send Pina out to run amok and ruin everything in order to trick the police that lay in ambush close by."

Barossa took a gentle sip of his wine. "Someone obviously set both of us up," he mused thoughtfully. "Unfortunately, I had nothing to do with Torres's tragic death and Pina's obvious disappearance but I can assure you that if he shows up on my doorstep, I'll sign his death certificate."

The smooth voice had gradually turned so cold and frosty that Rico involuntarily shuddered.

"You see, Mr. Cooper-," Barossa spoke up again, this time in his normal smooth and soft cultivated voice. "-Trust has to be earned."

Rico snorted. "Like Mr. Burnett?" he asked sarcastically. "I noticed his absence here as well tonight."

"He's a good man," Barossa replied with a smirk. "He'll turn up as soon as he's licked his wounds. Apparently he had a little argument with Pina on the boat."

"What makes you so sure he wasn't the one that set you up; both of you," Rico dared, wanting to see if Sonny's cover had been blown.

"I knew about the police," Barossa relented simply with a shrug. "I have connections."

Rico was suddenly fuming but forced himself to calm down. He knew Sonny hadn't said anything. 'DEA,' he thought bitterly. 'Now they'd been meddling a bit too much in the Vice business.' He found himself wondering what they would gain by tipping Barossa of the police raid. Obviously they had a larger fish on the hook, the question was who they were after.

"As for Mr. Burnett, he's not a cop," Barossa reasoned. "He's a smart guy."

Rico huffed as his persona, Cooper, would not see eye to eye with Burnett.

"If you want to work with me, now that you've been abandoned so to speak, you have to earn my trust," Barossa pressed.

Rico tilted his head slightly and a playful yet evil smirk appeared on his lips. "What if I told you I know where Torres keeps his stash?" he asked. "What if I lead you there so you could pick up a few K's for your loss?"

Barossa smiled slyly as he leaned forward in the sofa. "I like your style, Mr. Cooper," he said smoothly. "But I must warn you. If you're planning a setup of some kind your body will be found floating in the river."

OOOOOO

To be continued