Unauthorized Affair (Unauthorized #1)(21)
Sadler spun at him. “It’s never been proven! But that doesn’t mean it’s not true! Of course he works with his dad! Of course he’s going to be running the family when papa finally kicks the bucket. What else is someone who has been raised by a criminal going to do?”
He started pacing again. “But I saw the way he looked at her.” Sadler pointed at Jen. “Ten bucks says he comes back within a week. Twenty bucks says he gets hot and heavy on Tinkerbell here. And if I’m right, she could be the key to pretty-boy Savoy. And pretty-boy could be the key to his dad.” He rounded on Hunter again so fast that Hunter stepped back. “Imagine if we locked this up tight, and not only did we get our three targets, but we got Savoy junior and Savoy senior too. I smell Lieutenant rank, for both of us!”
Hunter drew back again. His mind was spinning. He felt like knocking Sadler on his ass for being such a jerk, but Sadler just kept piling it on thicker and heavier, so much so that Hunter wasn’t sure what to be most pissed off about. Sadler didn’t give him time to decide.
“I say, if he comes back. No, when he comes back, she flirts with him. You saw the way he was all over her. He would go for it. If she dated him we could have a front row seat into daddy’s camp. And no one would ever suspect her.”
The full weight of what Sadler was proposing crashed down on Hunter. He saw red. Knocking Sadler on his ass suddenly seemed too good for him. Right now, Hunter wanted nothing less than to see Sadler kicked off of the force for good.
Chapter 11
Jen’s alarm jerked her out of a deep sleep. She one-handed it onto the floor, her eyelids feeling like they weighed 100 pounds each. Like the night before, she’d gotten very little sleep, but unlike the night before, she did not feel energized this morning. She groaned and turned over. She was actually surprised she’d gotten any sleep at all, with the questions that had been circling her mind nonstop. And those questions were still unanswered.
She pushed herself out of bed, plodded to the shower, and tried to focus. But her mind returned to last night’s horror show. After Sgt. Sadler had revealed his little plan to get her to date Coleton Savoy as a way to get surveillance on his mob boss father, Sgt. Foley had pulled him into the next room, his jaw clenched tight and his face red with anger. Not that it had done any good. She, Ivy, and Ryker could hear every word they shouted at each other. The conversation was burned into her brain. She could close her eyes and hear the voices like they were in the next room.
“No way are we asking Recruit Mansko to date Savoy. That’s above and beyond what we are trying to do here. It’s too dangerous,” Foley had said.
“Why? We’ve had undercover officers infiltrate criminal dens that way before, dating a daughter or sister or mother.” Sadler replied.
“But she’s a woman.”
“So? She’s a cop.”
“She’s a trainee.”
“She won’t have to do much. Just look pretty, string him along. Maybe he tries to impress her early and we get what we want quickly.”
At this point Jen had heard banging noises. And Sgt. Foley’s strained voice. “We aren’t asking her to do that, period. No way.”
“Are you serious man? This is the chance of a f*cking lifetime and you won’t even see if she’s willing to try? You’re just going to say No way and think that’s it? Well it’s not up to you. I’m going over your head.”
More banging noises drifted in from the other room. The wall actually shook. Jen thought maybe someone had overturned a table. She had looked at Ryker but he sat motionless, his eyes far off under his cowboy hat. What if they fought in there? What should they do?
Sadler’s voice rang through once more. “You’re the one who told me the Chief thought women would be perfect for this particular undercover assignment. And he was right. We’ve got a chance to put this guy behind bars, finally, and I think the Chief will be very interested to know about it. Let’s see what he says.”
They saw the door open and Sadler come out of it. He went down the long hallway opposite them and left the building in a huff. Eventually Sgt. Foley had come out of the room and told them they could go home. His face had left no room for questions. Jen had practically fled, wanting to get home and process the day.
And here she was. In her shower the next morning. Wondering ceaselessly what this day would bring. A request by the Chief of Police to date Coleton Savoy? And if it came, what would she say? Yesterday, when she thought he was a regular guy, she would have jumped at the chance to date him. At least get to know him a little bit and see what kind of a person he was. But today? All of that was ruined for her. But did she have it in her to pretend to date him? To gather intelligence for the police department? She thought that was probably out of the league of things she was willing to do. Besides. Could she even do it? Could she put on a false face in such an intimate situation as dating someone? Sure, she could go on a date. But what if he wanted a second date? And a kiss? Could she kiss someone, knowing she was undercover and faking it all? Knowing she could be putting him in jail? And what about the danger? What if she said yes and she was discovered? If she had to wear a wire or something and he found it? Maybe while he was kissing her? His face swam into her mind and she recoiled from the image. He was handsome. But he was a criminal. Correction, a small part of her mind whispered. His father was a criminal. He had never been connected to his father’s activities.