AN: Hi guest, thanks for the review; it is nice to hear that someone likes my writing. I am not in the habit of giving away my end goals, and Molly is part of this story. This is all I can tell you. And now let's see what's next for our undercover friends...
Chris's mind is still spinning on the drive back to the undercover apartment. Street hadn't quit; he was just undercover. She understood the need to play the charade, but she hated that she hadn't known. She also hated she had gotten played. She believed the play hook, line, and sinker. She had given up hope. She had thought the worst.
Her night is restless, but she is not the only one.
Street still had the problem that although he had proven to Nolan time and time again, he was a good resource that the man would continuously leave him out of the important meetings. He needed to find the supplier so they could end this and, most of all, get Nate out of there.
Nate. His brother. The man had turned out as stubborn as a mule. Insisting on not leaving him hanging out to dry with Nolan. Street shakes his head, remembering.
With a glance at his watch, he knows he needs to get to sleep if he wants to be at least semi capable of doing his job the next day.
The next day Rodriguez got called into the office to talk shop with Salazar almost immediately when they walked into the place, and that left Chris with the task of pretending to be a capable barkeeper and waitress. She also rechecked the cameras and bugs in the VIP section and the aforementioned office. Everything was working fine, as far as she could tell.
With the other girls starting to arrive, she mingled with them and also took stock of what some of them were saying about her. Yes, it was a small problem within the female employee base that she had managed to become sort of Salazar's favorite, and it annoyed Chris to no end, but it worked in their favor for the operation. And it gave her the freedom to move around this place almost unsupervised.
"Lola," one of the girls approaches her with a sour look on her face. "They want you in the office. "
Chris wasn't sure what the intonation of you was supposed to tell her, and she couldn't read the look very well. So, she placed down the dish towel she had been using to polish the glasses and walked over to the office.
After entering, Salazar greets her with his trademark sleazy smile and beckons her over to him. Chris remembers to smile and holds out her hand. The slimeball loves to pretend he is a gentleman.
He grabs her hand and pulls her closer while twirling her. His other hand lands, as expected, on her butt.
"She's going to need a lower cut dress with a shorter skirt, but it can work."
Chris can't help but quickly raise an eyebrow and frown at Rodriguez, who is lounging in the other chair, raking his eyes over her as usual too.
She walks over while Raul says, "Marie probably has something she can borrow, and we can have a conversation with Nolan without his pet cop."
Her breath gets caught for a second, but Chris still manages to place herself fairly smoothly onto her partner's lap.
"But baby, I can't.." she tries to object to that plan, but Raul places a finger on her lips.
"You are the perfect distraction," he says loud enough for Salazar to hear and looks her straight in the eyes before moving his lips to her neck and ear to murmur. "Either you do it, or he tries another girl. This way, Street can listen in,"
Chris moves her hand across his shoulders to signal she has understood. But she still hates this plan, and she is all but certain Street wouldn't be on board either. Nor receptive, for that matter.
A few hours later, Chris has changed into the Salazar-approved dress Marie had chosen for her. In her mind, dress was a little too much of a word for the piece of fabric on her body. Way too short even for her tastes, but she had to wear it.
There hadn't been a chance to warn Street, though, and that was what concerned her now, and the other thing was that somehow Salazar had seen looks Street had sent her way. Thank God he had misinterpreted those, but it was a dangerous game she would have to play in a short while, and when this night was over, they hopefully had all the pieces to shut the drug ring and the prostitution down. At least that was what Chris was hoping for.
Down in Long Beach Street got ready for another night out with Nolan. He hated being that man's personal chauffeur slash bodyguard or whatever else that ass wanted, but it gave him the access he needed. He was surprised when the destination was again La Perla, but maybe that meant he would finally get the name of the guy at the top. And now that he had a day to think about the situation with Chris and her partner there, they were three cops, and they just had to be able to shut it all down. Get Nate out safe and themselves preferably too.
The music is already blasting when they walk inside, and their way leads, as expected, back to the VIP area. He took stock of his surroundings again and spotted two new security cameras. He had no idea why they were there, but he had a bad feeling. Especially after the way Nolan had mentioned Molly tonight before they left. How the sleazy bar owner had even figured that connection out was beyond him, and as much as he hoped it wasn't really over, Jim Street had to admit to himself it probably was. He had ignored her for two weeks now. And she hadn't tried contacting him for a while now.
And now they had also placed him in a seat in full view of those cameras. Chris and Raul are in one chair with her draped across the man again, but Street almost forgets to breathe when Chris gets up to go get their drinks. He swallows thickly and mentally chastises himself for objectifying his colleague and friend. But she absolutely was dressed to kill.
When he looks up again, he can see the smirk on Salazar's face, and the gangster shares a subtle nod with Rodriguez, which confuses Street for a second before he tunes back into the conversation.
Way to be unprofessional. Pops into Streets head, but then he remembers why he is here and refocuses.
The men talk about the next Heroin shipment but seem to be careful not to let specifics slip. Something feels odd to Street, and his feelings get even worse when Salazar greets Lolita. That singsong voice the man uses every time to address her is creeping him out. He follows Chris while she passes out their drinks, and he somehow expects that she gives Rodriguez his glass last so she can sit with him, but something else happens.
The final glass on the tray is his soda, and when Chris, well, he better think of her as Lola, because that sultry smile is not Chris, walks over with that smile and a slight sway to her hips…. Street has to admit his eyes are on her. And her alone for a moment at least, and then he catches Salazar smirk at Nolan.
That switch in his head tries to refocus when his brain recognizes the play, but he can't fathom why Chris would…
His train of thought gets stopped by Chris sliding into the armchair he is sitting in and feathering her fingers up his arm. Her warm breath on his cheek freezes him.
"So, you were a cop," her voice still holds an unfamiliar sultry tone, and Street has to concentrate not to frown. "Did you ever arrest someone?"
He swallows thickly but manages to nod and make his mouth answer "Yes," while still straining his ears to hear Nolan.
Suddenly Chris shifts even closer and whispers in his ear, barely audible, "Stop resisting. Rodriguez will share. Play along, or we are both dead."