Free HighonYou by Sky Robinson

become his
top priority, not the drugs or taking down the corrupt cops or any of it. He
always kept his people safe but this was different. He was falling in love with
Crystal.
    It was stupid as hell but he couldn’t stop it even if he
wanted to. And he wasn’t so sure he wanted to. It felt good, felt right. If
only there weren’t so damn many reasons they shouldn’t be together. He’d be the
laughingstock of the whole agency if people found out he was dating his
informant, dating a drug mule. Even worse than that, he could lose his job over
it. Mason could pretend like he didn’t know when it was just him but if the
guys found out, Mason would be forced to do something about it.
    Blake pulled into the parking lot of a run-down motel. A
beat-up, black Chevy Caprice from the early eighties was parked in front of the
office and a few other rough-looking cars dotted the lot. Nothing suspicious so
Blake pulled in and parked.
    “Let’s get a room here, hang out for a while.” He wanted to
take her someplace nice, he didn’t even know why. It wasn’t as if she expected
anything from him and it wasn’t as if she was used to a life of luxury but it
didn’t stop him from feeling bad about bringing her to a scummy motel. But they
needed a place that would take cash and not ask any questions.
    “Okay.” She bit her lower lip and stared out the window. It
was damn sexy. But that shouldn’t be his focus right now. They were in a
dangerous situation and all he could think about was fucking Crystal again.
    “Come inside with me.” He came around to her side of the car
and opened the door as he looped the backpack around his shoulder.
    Blake wasn’t letting either Crystal or the backpack out of
his sight. Not now that the seriousness of the situation had come into full
view. He couldn’t take the chance of her running now that things were getting
scary. Not that it would make much of a difference in the investigation. Mason
had tabs on four more phones and had to have the name of the officer who was
shot trying to get the drugs from Crystal. They should be able to tape the
conversations, track down the phones and arrest the men involved.
    Crystal didn’t say anything but took his hand and climbed
out of the car. He squeezed her hand tightly in his. Not because he thought she
would run or that he needed to keep up the act of lovers for the front desk
man. He would make that assumption anyway. Blake held her hand because he
wanted to. He liked having her soft skin touching his. A little too much
probably.
    “We need a room for tonight.”
    “All night?” The guy behind the desk wore dirty, blue
sweatpants and smelled as if he was storing some leftover fried chicken in his
beard.
    “Yeah. All night.” This was a place you could rent a room
for an hour and the fact the man asked the question wasn’t a surprise but Blake
tensed up.
    “It’ll be sixty-five dollars.”
    Blake reached into his walled, counted out the exact amount
and handed it to the guy.
    “Here’s your key, room twenty-three, second floor, go to the
right four doors down.”
    “Thanks.” Blake grabbed the keys and walked out the door,
pulling Crystal along with him.
    * * * * *
    When the cops had been in and out of Crystal’s apartment,
had definitely found the body and knew something, Mason spotted a guy he knew
and walked over.
    “What’s going on here?” he asked the tall, dark-haired cop
with just the right amount of innocence and curiosity.
    Sam was someone he had worked with before on a joint case,
someone he knew wouldn’t question his presence, someone he was pretty sure
wasn’t involved with anything illegal.
    “There’s been a shooting in a woman’s apartment.”
    “Yeah?” Mason pretended to not have too much interest in the
subject but he was dying to know what they were thinking, how they were
processing this shooting.
    “Neighbors say she’s been bringing some new guy around the
past couple days and then one of the regular