Moth(36)

“I don’t recall you complaining.”

She’s nodding. “This thing with us. It’s different. It’s probably wrong of me to say it, but think I might like to see you again.”

“I figured. I’m a damn good kisser.”

“You’re not too shabby,” she teases. “You’re also cocky and …” I refuse to allow her to finish.

I bring my lips to hers and savor the way it feels in case it’s the last I’ll ever get. I never know what will happen, good or bad. As I retract from the embrace I hold my face close. “I’ll leave you with that.”

“You’re determined to change my mind aren’t you?” Her question leaves me with a content grimace.

I run my fingers over the lips I just finished kissing. “I’ve never wanted to know a person as much as I want to know you.” When I walk away it’s not without contempt.



I’m prepared for the lashing I’ll get when I return to the surveillance platform. House is flicking a pen in between two fingers while leaning back in a metal chair. He lets all four legs touch the ground when he sees me walk in the room. “There he is. The man of the hour.”

I put my hands in my pockets as I speak. I can’t allow him to know I’m becoming somewhat emotionally attached to someone we’re targeting. “Did you enjoy the show? I figured you and dipshit Renner would be chowing down on popcorn taking bets.”

“We did that earlier. Since you couldn’t get past first base he called it a night.”

I smirk and shake my head. “Whatever. I’m doing my job.”

“Well, while you were doing your job,” he says in a sarcastic way. “Malone called. She found out the pharmaceutical company was started up from a division of an international packing and shipping corporation.”

“What? How long ago?”

“Four years give or take a couple months. That’s not all. Check out the logo for that company.”

He hands me a copy of what Malone sent over. It’s not the same as the heroin wrappers, but it’s close. The raccoon is the same. There are no crossbones, but instead the animal is heaving a stack of boxes. I crumbled the paper into a ball and toss it across the room. “Fuck. Does John know about this?”

House nods. “Pretty sure. He’s been on Malone like a fly to shit.”

“All the time we’ve invested going after Alizar and now this. Can you imagine if he’s building an empire to not only create and manufacture the drugs, but also smuggle them across the globe without being detected?”

“It’s all I can think about, man.”

I scratch my head and give myself a second to take it all in. “My brother’s death can’t be a coincidence.”

“Yeah, I was thinking that too. Are you sure you still want to take the Windy approach? Maybe we should be focusing on the people who run the company instead.”

I shake my head. “No. This girl knows something. We’ve tried to catch Alizar by going after his top people. We need a different approach this time. If this operation is as big as we think, there’s no telling who he has in his pockets. We need to keep this information on the down low for a little while, at least until I can convince Windy to trust me.”

I pull out my phone and dial Malone’s number. She picks up on the second ring. “Hey, boss. How is Virginia?”

“No time for small talk, Malone. I need you to do a search for all pharmaceutical science majors in the country. It can’t be that many. Narrow the search to females between the age of twenty-two and twenty-seven. Cross-reference those that have male siblings. I don’t give a shit if you have to go through census records for the last ten years. Send me a list of what you find, including DMV records for each. We need to be on top of this. If Alizar is close enough to off my brother, it’s only a matter of time before he comes after one of us. We need to end this before he ends us.”

“Yes, sir. I’m right on it. I’ll send you something ASAP.”

The call ends and House remains watching me. He’s crossed his arms, and I know him well enough to sense he’s questioning my ambition. “If we act too fast we could make a mistake.”

“I’m aware. We’re not going to act fast, but the clock is ticking. If Alizar ordered a hit on my brother he already knows we’re here. We could be playing right into his hand again. You saw the note he left for me. This is personal.”

“Exactly why you might need to take a step back. Have you considered he’s done his research? Have you even wondered how a woman who you couldn’t have manufactured in your head more beautiful is suddenly connected to your brother and this case? He’s playing with you. She’s a decoy, man.”

“No. That’s too easy. He’s a complex thinker. He’d assume we’d go this route. Something bigger is about to happen. I can feel it.”

House stands and stretches. “Whatever it is, we need to figure it out soon. I’ve had a bad feeling about this since the bust in Guatemala. Whatever you decide I’ll be here, but you better hope to shit that you don’t get us all killed, because my big ass will come back and haunt you for an eternity.”

I don’t take it as a serious threat. House may be a huge man, but he has a kind heart. He’s worried about me, and this is the only way he knows how to express it.