"Where the f.u.c.k is she? How the h.e.l.l could he let her spray him with pepper spray? What did he try to do to her?" Aces asked.

"I don't think she was legit," Rafael told him as he stood by the bar in the office with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"What the f.u.c.k do you mean?" Aces asked as Miklos appeared coming from the doorway and holding onto some brunette in a trashy metallic dress.

"Lana is a cop," Miklos stated through clenched teeth.

Aces felt his gut tighten and then anger fill him. "A cop? Why the f.u.c.k would you think that?"

He shoved the brunette down onto the rug and she cried as she fell to the floor. Her face was battered and her lip bleeding.

"That b.i.t.c.h was one of Lana's friends she was hanging out with. Turns out that Cesar, behind the bar, saw her talking into her wrist all night and watching the balcony."

Aces would kill this woman and he would kill Lana or whatever her real name was. He'd been scammed.

"What was on her wrist?" Aces asked and Miklos pulled the bracelet that looked like a clock from his pocket.

He lipped to him. "It's on."

Aces smiled and then took the bracelet with the listening device probably still intact and he smiled at the woman. He bent down next to her and grabbed her hair and head. She cried out.

"Trespa.s.sing is a crime, pig." He shoved her back down and she cried out again.

"Take out the trash." He placed the bracelet onto the floor and then smashed it with his boot, crushing it entirely.

"Get rid of her, and don't get caught."

Chapter 2.

"Frankie, calm down," Lauren told Frankie as they stood outside the unmarked patrol car. They had been on their tenth wild goose chase and a sighting of Miklos, Aces, and his crew of s.h.i.t. Eight weeks after the raid and undercover operation and the sc.u.mbags were still on the run and evading capture. They always seemed a few steps ahead of the cops, and she wondered how. It was frustrating.

As they stood outside the empty warehouse, Frankie was irate.

"Calm down? How the f.u.c.k can I calm down? That could have been you, eight weeks ago. They f.u.c.king beat and killed Monica, then dumped her on the streets. They'll come after you next. They'll find you."

"They can't. Aces men have been arrested and Miklos and Aces will be found."

"But they should be dead. They should have been killed."

"You need to calm yourself. It will happen. They'll wind up behind bars soon enough. The agents and troopers are working on it. They're close."

"They're not close enough, Lauren. After what you did, what you found out, those men, all of them, should be behind bars. It wasn't supposed to end up like this. Now you're in even more danger. It's all f.u.c.ked up," he continued to complain.

Lauren had never seen her partner so upset and angry over a case. Yeah, things didn't work out exactly as planned but Aces and his crew were going down. She had confidence in the agents and the detectives they knew.

"Listen, I know you're upset because of Monica. I don't know why she was still in there. Why she didn't get out of Phaze when the commotion started. But something went wrong."

Frankie looked at her and then his cell phone rang. He lifted it to his ear, mumbled a few things, and then his eyes widened and he looked both angry and excited.

"Come on. Let's go."

Lauren's heart was pounding inside of her chest. They were in a bad neighborhood, and it was late at night, and with everything that happened she didn't like feeling vulnerable and out in the open like this. What the h.e.l.l was the phone call about to Frankie and why were they here, of all places?

"Frankie, I don't like this. What the f.u.c.k are we doing here?" Lauren asked her partner, who read the address and info again from their informant off his phone.

"Rico said our guy hangs here."

"Great, another f.u.c.king wild goose chase. Let's head home. It's been a long day," she said.

"No. We stay and check this out. It has to end here, Lauren. It has to finally be over."

"Yeah well, this is a bad neighborhood. There's a crack house on every corner and the Tenth Street gang. They're bada.s.s and then some, as we know firsthand. Considering the raid didn't stop them, I'd say we should keep our distance, call for backup even," she pointed out.

"I know, but that piece of s.h.i.t Miklos has been hiding out for the last eight weeks. He's our guy. He's the one responsible for those seven murders, including that family of four. He killed Monica that night you were all working undercover in the club. The Feds f.u.c.ked up the entire case and so did the state police. This f.u.c.k is going down. He's a wanted felon, a cop killer, and he's here. You've been wanting this a.s.shole as much as I have."

"I understand that, but we don't know who's in there. We should wait for backup. Hercules and the others should be here in five minutes."

Frankie stared down into her eyes. "You want to wait, you wait, but I'm going in before we lose Miklos and the others again."

"Frankie, just hold on for another few minutes. I'm calling Jonathan."

Frankie rolled his eyes. "You sure you're not f.u.c.king him? You need him for every f.u.c.king move you make." She shot Frankie a dirty look. She knew he was just jealous. Although she'd never done anything with Frankie, he still had a protectiveness over her and she thought an attraction since that night she went undercover and Monica was captured and killed. But she avoided that complication big time.

As she turned away from Frankie, she called Jonathan.

"You don't move a muscle. I'll have a team over there in ten minutes. There's a SWAT in the area and Hercules and his men are on their way. Tell Frankie to get his s.h.i.t together," Jonathan told her over the phone.

"f.u.c.k, we need to move. A car just pulled up," Frankie said then moved forward.

"Frankie. Frankie, d.a.m.n it, wait for backup," she whispered hard.

"Lauren, you tell that partner of yours to sit tight."

"Police. Freeze," Frankie yelled out, gun drawn and pointing toward the car illuminated by the street light. Two men stood there, including the one they were looking for, Miklos.

She drew her weapon and backed Frankie up as Frankie approached.

"Cops. What the f.u.c.k?" one of them yelled out.

"Drop the phone and put your hands on the hood of the car," Frankie gave the orders and no one moved.

Miklos looked so pompous as his eyes went from Frankie to her and then he winked. She got a bad feeling.

"No. You drop your weapon and place your hands on the car, pigs," the guy spat back.

"Put your f.u.c.king hands on the car now," Frankie yelled and was moving closer.

"Frankie," she whispered, but he didn't listen.

"Bad choice, cop."

The sound of gunfire filled the night. Frankie fell to the ground, his gun going off and hitting one of the men. The others fired upon them and she started shooting, taking out two of the men and hitting Miklos in the shoulder. She needed cover as the car doors opened and more men got out. She was outnumbered as she ran for cover in one of the buildings. Pulling out her phone, she called for help. "Officer down. I repeat, officer down." She rambled off the address and reported that shots were being fired upon her.

She stumbled over bodies, druggies out cold or high. She was shaking, her adrenaline beginning to kick in and overpower the fear. But still her body shook as she tripped and fell twice going up the dark stairway. The place reeked of vomit, s.h.i.t, and garbage. She ran into one man, dirty smelling, clothing soaked in his own vomit. "Hey, baby." She shoved him away and tried running despite the darkness and uneven flooring. She had nowhere to go.

"Where are you, copper? You're going to die, b.i.t.c.h," the gunmen taunted her in the darkness as she wedged herself between a closet and a doorway in the pitch black. The light from the streetlights caused a light glow in the room. She could barely make out the figures. One, two, three, maybe four men. Could she take them out? Could she take all of them?

"She's in here. I smell her perfume," one said.

Something crawled across her foot. She kicked at it and a gun went off. One of them shot at her. On instinct she fired as the bullet whizzed by her head, hitting the wood behind her. She heard the grunts. One, two, three, but the fourth was on her fast, striking her and dragging her from the closet.

They fought, hand to hand combat. He was bigger, stronger, and out of his mind. She couldn't give up. She wouldn't die out here in the middle of some crack house at the hands of gang members. She thought of Frankie and hoped he wasn't dead. But he'd taken multiple shots to his body. She continued to fight but his strikes caused more damage as she lost her breath. She saw the gun, dove for it, and turned and shot as he jumped on top of her.

She couldn't move. A gun went off. She felt the hit to her side. She shoved the body off of her and tried to scramble to her feet. Two more shots. She jerked as they hit her. She hoped the vest protected her but it hurt like a son of a b.i.t.c.h. She roared in anger. She wasn't going to die here. She couldn't die. Not like this.

She turned and ran toward the other room, then stopped short. There were three men, including Aces. She gasped and his eyes widened in shock as well.

They drew their weapons and she shot. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Aces shot back and charged at her. She felt the hit to her bulletproof vest and it knocked the wind out of her. She fell to the floor, landing on her back. She scrambled backward. She could hear the sirens in the distance, her phone vibrating against her hip.

"You f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h!" Aces roared as he jumped toward her, blood oozing from his neck toward his shoulder bone. She shot him two more times. He landed on her with a thump and she cried out, screaming and using all her might to roll him off of her.

She was crying, freaked out, totally losing any ability to remain in control of this out-of-control situation.

"You killed him. You killed Aces. They're going to come for you. You're going to die, b.i.t.c.h. They'll hunt you down and kill you," one of Aces henchman carried on as police arrived on the scene and she pointed for them to cuff him.

"Detective, you're shot," one of the officers stated and she could feel the adrenaline rush leaving her body as quickly as it arrived. Her vision blurred. "Officer down." She heard the chaos, the yelling, and the panic on the officers' faces before everything went black.

Chapter 3.

Galvin Watts walked around the new construction site outside of the ranch. Brock, Smith, Rex, and Reno did an amazing job on the house. Everything was up to par and now an additional dwelling was being completed as a guesthouse. He looked at his team members, Gus Parks, Harper Calloway, Orin Neal, and Mace Weathers. They all looked impressed and happy. Finally.

Their dream of a ranch home-upscale, containing high-tech security and a location to secure anyone needing a safe house-was complete. The final touches were being added to the guesthouse as they stood watching.

"I like it," Asher said to them while his brother Avery fixed one of the light fixtures near the walkway.

"Yeah, we're impressed with everyone's work. So you'll be done by tomorrow?" Gus asked.

"We need to be. That job in Dallas started weeks ago and Storm is on our a.s.ses to get some more workers out there," Avery told him.

"Yeah, Harper, Orin, and I stopped in on our way back from a job in New Orleans. There's years of work for that site," Mace told Avery and Asher.

"There sure is. How did that job go anyway?" Avery asked.

"A few b.u.mps along the way but as good as expected," Orin added and he rubbed along his jaw. Galvin was concerned to hear the details of their latest mission. A bruised jaw and cut by Orin's eye was a clear indicator it hadn't been such a piece-of-cake transport as they thought. Seemed he needed to call Dmitri and give him some feedback. The Russian mobster paid well, but the last few jobs they'd gotten from him risked a little more of their lives than they signed on for.

"Maybe it's time to retire like the rest of us pretty much have? We could hook you guys up with some honest work in construction," Avery teased.

"Honest work my a.s.s. What's exciting and fun about hammering in nails and inhaling sawdust?" Orin snapped.

"Better than eating bullets, taking on knife wounds and st.i.tches, and not knowing what's coming at ya," Asher said.

"Sounds like Cora has softened you guys up," Mace teased.

"You're just jealous," Asher replied.

"Yeah, she does have a great a.s.s," Orin said and the others chuckled but not Avery and Asher.

"Watch it, Orin. I may mistake your head for a nail," Asher told him and the others made sounds and egged on the little fight. But Galvin chuckled. These men were all close, good friends for life and were only teasing.

"I'm just f.u.c.king with ya, guys. You know I think highly of Cora," Orin told them.

"I know, plus you enjoy her cooking. You've been making lame excuses to come over our place every Sunday," Avery replied.

"Well s.h.i.t, she's a great cook, and she invites me over," Orin replied.

"She has a soft spot for you, Orin," Asher told him.

Mace slapped a hand on Orin's shoulder. "She thinks you need saving. Poor woman. She doesn't know that you're a lost cause."

"Go to h.e.l.l, Mace.

"Been there. Multiple times," Mace replied and Orin shook his head.

"Well, we've got s.h.i.t to do. I have to drive into town to meet up with Wyatt. You coming with me, Gus?" Galvin asked.

"I guess so. Beats hanging out with these losers. Oh, make sure you clean our guns from the trip," Gus told Mace and Harper.

"That bet wasn't serious, Gus. I was kidding," Harper exclaimed. They started laughing.