Page 22 of Liaising Kai

“Damn you, Davis,” she said, banging her hand flat against the door. He chuckled to himself and proceeded to take a cold shower.

With a towel around his waist, he entered the room and Kai was cross-legged on the bed cleaning his weapon. While he reached into his suitcase for a clean, dry shirt, she expertly reassembled the weapon, then racked the slide, checking the barrel. All his ammunition had been dried and put back in the magazine. She shoved in the clip and set the weapon down.

“Hey, thanks for doing that.”

“Yeah, I didn’t want the salt water to work on it, and for it to malfunction when you need it most. I think we’re going to need all the firepower we can get.” She shrugged. “I also needed to keep my mind and hands occupied.” Her gaze roved down his body. “Could you do me a favor and get dressed?”

He was holding the shirt he’d picked up. “Sorry, I got caught up in how sexy you looked handling my weapon.”

“You jerk,” she growled as he grabbed a pair of soft gray cotton sweatpants that came to his calf. He ducked the pillow she lobbed at him, and slipped back into the bathroom, chuckling, then realized he’d forgotten underwear.

“Could you grab me a pair of briefs?” he asked, poking his head around the door. She gave him a narrowed gaze filled with retribution but got off the bed and picked through his case. She came up with a pair and tossed them to him.

“Payback is a bitch, Davis.”

“Mmhum,” he said. “I’m shaking in my towel.” Dropping the towel out of her sight, he donned his clothes. He used the terry to get most of the moisture out of his hair, then finger-combed it off his face.

He walked out of the bathroom, tying the drawstring to his pants. “Now that I’m fully dressed and not tempting you, can we talk?”

She did smile at that, despite the concern still clear in her eyes. “Who says that does anything for my distraction? It’s you, Davis, that’s the distraction, no matter what you’re doing or saying or not saying, wearing or not…uh…wearing.”

His smile faded as he went back to professional mode, and it wasn’t an easy shift. “I don’t think dealing with that part of our relationship during this trip is such a good idea right now.”

“I agree. I’m just stating facts,” she said, still sitting on the bed with her legs crossed like a teenager.

He took the wing-back chair in the corner after grabbing some socks and sneakers. “Tell me your concerns.”

“First off, the person we want to question, a person who might shed some light on our case, Mrs. Cordero, is murdered within hours of our arrival. Secondly, we’re hitting dead ends with no information to show for it.”

“We have a lead right now at the precinct.”

She gave him a quelling look.

“What?” he asked, lifting his hands. “I’m stating a fact. Roberto Jimenez knows more than he’s been willing to share. I can get it out of him.”

“I wish I had your confidence, but my gut says he won’t stay alive long enough to answer any of our questions.”

“Okay, so maybe my gut agrees. What do you suspect?”

“That someone at the police department is dirty and leaking our intel to what I’m beginning to think is a drug-related situation. How it’s related, I don’t know yet, but until we find Eduardo, and I’m thinking he’s already dead, we don’t have jack. Since this started with Mayta yesterday, we’ve got nine more bodies on this case. The task force was blown up for a reason, and we both know that their mission was to root out organized crime related to drug enforcement.”

“Los Esmeraldas?” he said gravely.

“Yes, look how heated Cesar got when Dario suggested it was them who had killed Mrs. Cordero.”

“What did Dario say to you when you indicated that I should keep Cesar distracted?”

“He said, ‘A word of caution, Kai. If the Los Esmeraldas are involved in these murders, walk carefully in this city and outside it. They are the largest and most feared gang, the savage watchdogs of their cartel. They will not rest until everyone who stands in their way, including you and your partner, are dead.’” He stood and she slipped off the bed. “His warning does beg the question. What cartel? Nevertheless, I think we should heed his warning.”

He nodded. “We need to make sure not to assume, and to keep an open mind.”

“What happened to all that gut instinct talk?”

He grinned. “Well, my instincts told me not to get too tangled up with you, and you can see how effective that was.” He watched the color steal into her cheeks, but she didn’t look away. “So, selective gut instinct?”

“Or until someone has a Mr. Darcy moment?”

“Ooh, you’re a dirty fighter.” The blush that flushed her skin charmed him even more this time around.

---