For all his youth and handsomeness, Joe was even more lethal than Tee. He never compromised, never took prisoners. Something that was at odds with his pretty-boy features.
He had on a black leather shoulder holster with the ivory handle of a .38 Special peeking up (Joe had once said he liked being cliché on the surface), but it was the stiletto he kept strapped to his calf that he was most famous for using (that was for the surprises he liked to give after someone mistook him for cliché).
His shoulder-length, dark brown hair was worn in a ponytail, and for once he had the sleeves of his blue dress shirt rolled up to show off the telltale colors of the dragon tattoo he had on his left forearm—a Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
remnant Rhea had once been told by Tee of the days when Joe was a member of a vicious New York street gang.
“Does this mean I have your permission to rack him?” Rhea asked Joe.
Joe gave Ace an amused smirk.
Ace snorted. “I don’t think so. Remember, I do know where you live and sleep.”
“Yeah, but not even you could get past my security system.”
Joe was probably right. His specialty was wiring and demolition work. He could booby-trap just about anything. It was a special talent that Rhea couldn’t imagine aNew York City boy acquiring legally.
“So who are we after, anyway?” she asked, opening her folder.
“Lucius Bender,” Ace said. “Ever heard of him?”
Rhea nodded. Of course she had. It was a case she’d been begging Joe for, and why he’d assigned it to Ace she couldn’t imagine. She was twice the agent he was. At least she was when it came to research and reconnaissance. When it came to physical case execution, Ace had her beat only because the man had a flagrant disregard for human life, especially his own.
“He arms a lot of theWest Bank terrorists,” she said.
“Yeah,” Ace agreed. “I’ve been aching to nail this bastard since I worked for the Secret Service and one of his flunkies made an attempt on the president’s life, but he’s slippery as hell and we haven’t been able to pin anything on him. The IFT just told us that a few days ago the German authorities picked up his favorite dominatrix, who they’ve had under surveillance for contraband. Now the brothel she worked in is looking for a replacement.”
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“And I’m the replacement?” Rhea asked.
Ace nodded.
Joe reached into her folder and pulled out the most recent photo of the bald, unattractive, middle-aged man for her inspection. “The GA have a bug in Ute’s cell where she’s been talking with other cellmates about Bender’s odd habits. Seems he likes to talk a lot during his beatings, and one of the things he brags about is how many terrorist acts he’s either funded or committed. He has a thing for women who look like Bettie Page, so we want to send you in as Latex Bettie, his newest toy. You go into a wired room, get him to confess, and then we come in with the GA and arrest him.”
It sounded simple enough. Too simple in fact, and nothing was ever that simple.
“All I have to do is beat him?” Rhea asked suspiciously.
Joe nodded.
“He’s a real fucked-up bastard,” Ace said as he showed her another photograph of Bender at a party with a dark-haired, Bettie Page–looking girl who couldn’t be any more than fifteen…and that was stretching it.
“Okay. If this will get him off the street, then hand me the thong and stiletto heels.”
“You’re killing me, Rhea,” Carlos said from the other side of the wall.
Rhea huffed audibly at the comment. “Go to work, Carlos.”
“Joe?” he called over the wall. “I want a transfer to Ace’s case.”
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“Why, Carlos?” Joe asked. “You aching to wear high heels and a woman’s thong?”
“Hell, no.”
Rhea cleared her throat to get Joe’s attention. “So how do we prep this?” she asked.
Ace smiled. “Me and you are meeting with a coach to learn about bondage and dominance. You’re going to be the mistress and I get to be your slave.” He looked to be enjoying this way too much.
“You really are a perv, aren’t you? Admit it?”
Ace laughed.
Joe rubbed his head as if they were starting to give him a migraine. “Since the two of you are going to be extremely intimate over the next few days, why don’t you leave early and have dinner together tonight so you can discuss the case and get to know each other before you actually get naked.”
Now she was the one developing a migraine at the prospect of what this assignment entailed. “Thanks, Joe,” she said sarcastically.
“Anytime, Rhea.Hell, I’ll even let the two of you put it on the company card.”
She gave him a droll look. “You’re just so damned generous.”