Page 22 of A Very Un-Shakespeare Romance
This current case with the Kellys involved both, and they were still waiting to hear whether Internal Affairs had reported the mob money from Tara’s nail salons to the Organized Crime task force that involved Boston police, the FBI, the DEA, and other law enforcement agencies. Sheila had bet her a case of coconut water it wouldn’t be reported. Lily had countered with Lindt chocolates, arguing that if it wasn’t, it might be because IA wanted to run a contained operation. Too many cooks in the kitchen and all…
“You know, Summer was just saying how gorgeous it is here too!” Sheila swatted Lily playfully, drawing her back into the conversation. “This is our first time in the Outer Banks, and there’s so much to explore. We read about this great bar and grill that has live music a couple of nights a week. What’s the name again, Sunshine?”
She wanted to grit her teeth as Sheila’s hazel eyes danced with glee. “Umm…something with brewers in it. I’ll have to check.” Being too prepared was a no-no on cover ops.
“I can ask our landlady for suggestions.” Billie rubbed the back of his clean-shaven head, which she hoped he’d smeared with sunscreen. “Maybe you two would like to go out for a drink after our girls hit the hay? The last couple of nights they pretty much fell flat on their faces after dinner. My mom would say too much fresh air and sun.”
“I understand the feeling.” Sheila gave her signature murmur, arching her neck, eyes closed, and rubbing her fingers through her thick black hair. It worked like a charm on every man. “I’m still exhausted after finishing up a huge audit with one of my clients. I was practically whimpering by the end.”
Lily almost hoped Billie would ask her more about her work because Sheila could back it up. Interested in working on major fraud and corruption cases someday, her partner had gotten an accounting degree and practiced as a certified accountant until she’d applied for the FBI at thirty.
“Sounds like you haven’t had much fun lately,” Billie commented, shifting on his haunches as his hand came closer to her towel, clearly uninterested in shop talk. “We should do something about that.”
“Yes, we should.” Sheila opened her eyes and gave him another beaming smile. “You should see if one of your brothers wants to come along. That way someone could still stay with those cute little girls. Or… Me and Summer could swing by with the drinks. I make a very authentic margarita.”
Lily knew this line. “Trust me, it’s not to be missed.”
Someone shouted up the beach, and they all turned. Robbie was flicking his hand in their direction, as if beckoning his brother to join the family. Billie rolled his eyes before saying, “I’d better get back to family time. Let’s figure something out, though. Be fun to have a drink.”
“You know where we are,” Sheila murmured, turning on her side to show off her luscious curves as Billie rose to his feet.
He pursed his lips, clearly admiring, and then gave another winning smile. “I sure do. See you, ladies.”
As he ran off, Sheila lay on her back and sighed. “He’s going to be easy, just like I thought. Robbie, however, seems determined to fight his attraction for you, which has me wanting to throw you at him.”
“Sheila, I doubt you could throw me,” she said dryly.
“If Billie gets us into their house, we’ll see if they have a phone we can ask for a wiretap on. Maybe Tara’s in touch with them, checking up on her girls.”
“Robbie would know it’s a risk.”
Sheila took a drink from her water bottle. “True, but we’ll still tap something if we can. Oh, and I’d like to extract the cat tracker—unless you think we should leave it in case they run on us like Tara did.”
They didn’t have an official search warrant for the house, but they could look around. If they spotted something, they could ask for one. “Let’s keep the tracker,” Lily commented, watching as Billie scooped Reagan off his brother’s shoulders and took off farther up the beach, the kite continuing to streak through the clear blue cloudless sky.
Sheila sat up. “You know, Billieiskinda hot and he does seem good with kids. Let’s hope his flirting will lead him to unburdening himself on little ol’ me.”
Lily studied the group as Tim chucked Cassidy under the cheeks, making her squeal and flail her little arms. Robbie stood staring out at the ocean. In profile, he was compelling. Hard angular jaw. A solitary demeanor. Yet connected when needed—like when Cassidy reached for him. He took her easily from Tim and propped her on his hip, saying something to Tim that made him throw back his head with laughter.
“I don’t think either of Robbie’s brothers up and took vacation from their full-time jobs without being told why.” She pulled her knees to her chest, analyzing. “They’re tight. Did you notice how Billie said nothing about them and kept the questions about you?”
“Yeah, but players are good like that.” Sheila opened the sunscreen and squeezed some onto her arms. “The less details, the less to remember with multiple women.”
“That’s true, but I don’t think he’s going to reveal anything that might hurt his cousin or those little girls.” Lily took the sunscreen and applied some to her shoulders, grimacing at the greasy feel. “They were raised in Southie. People get cut or killed for talking out of turn.”
“Meaning they have trust issues.” Sheila lay back and rolled her shoulders. “We really are kindred spirits. I know you won’t want to make a run at Reagan to see what she knows.”
Her stomach knotted with tension. “I know it’s part of the job, and as a kid who helped an undercover FBI agent unknowingly, I understand the merits. But I’d prefer to go for adult source info if possible.”
Sheila patted her hand. “You’re all tense now, and I’m sorry. I know it bothers you. It’s not my favorite way to get information either, but if we need to go there—”
“Then we will.” She pressed her hand to her locked diaphragm. “When we’ve exhausted other options.”
“Meaning we need to figure out how to get Robbie talking to you, since he has the most info. Clearly, you’ve turned on his reptilian brain.”
“Sheila, that’s so gross.”
“That football nailing his face almost had me guffawing.”
