Free Fraud: A Stepbrother Romance by Stephanie Brother

take, but that was expected and some of the circles from which
they had come. There’s some glamour with mixing it up with Mafia wives, and
these women secretly wished that their husbands had more balls and ambition to
try to become made men.
    And, I know corruption is nothing new.
    But to find it so deeply embedded the law
enforcement community was very disheartening to me.
     
    *****
     
    I can remember the entire incident as
though it happened yesterday:
    Our local intelligence indicated that
somehow, Sam Parker’s business, (the one he’d been running with Megan’s father,
my stepfather), was aiding King’s money laundering racket.
    After some discussion, we’d decided a
frontal approach was out of the question, so I was tasked with running a
reconnaissance mission.
    Typically, this was not a great big deal.
I would just swim out to Sam’s boat, the “Punta Gordo II” and slip into
someplace cozy.
    My mission was simple - listen.
    I’m very good at listening.
    I was to get some information for later
action, collect some intel.
    Above all, try to remain hidden.
    Discovery was a big no-no.
    After all, we were known as the best of
the best.
    This wasn’t my first rodeo, after all.
    Just don’t ever ask me about Bin Laden…
     
    *****
     
    Later that week, our informant gave us the
time when Parker and King were next slated to meet on the “Punta Gordo II” .
    I geared up, with our Team Leader, Randy
and Walt, another member of the Alpha Team, checking me out.
    “You sure do look purdy, there, Derek,”
said Walt. He was known for his ribbing when we were prepping for a mission. It
was his way of dealing with stress.
    “Thanks, Walt,” I replied.
    “Say, did you brush your tooth today?” I
asked.
    Walt grinned, all of his teeth gleaming in
the sunset.
    A pretty large storm was coming in from
the west, like it normally did every day in Miami during rainy season.
    The seas were really choppy, and large
swells shook up Biscayne Bay.
    I hoped that I’d be lucky, and King and
his cronies would just stay in the marina.
    No such luck…
     
    *****
     
    I swam over to Sam’s boat, and carefully
crawled up the back steps. I was hoping to find out more about his dealings
with Robert King and my stepfather. It was a really ugly day, and the sea was
getting even rougher. I was lucky I’d gotten my sea legs when I joined the Navy.
    Then, I saw King drive up in his Mercedes
and park.
    He got out, and so did another of his
people - George Tanner.
    Sam Parker pulled in beside them about
three minutes later, in a Tahoe. When he had parked, King and Tanner exited
their car and walked out to the boat. They managed to get aboard without
breaking anything.
    Sam came on after them, and Tanner began
to untie the boat from the pilings.
    “What the fuck?” I thought.  Were they
seriously getting ready to go out in this shit?
    Most men I knew, even seasoned veterans,
headed for a safer berth when weather like this threatened, if they could. The
fact that this boat was heading out in this indicated to me that there was some
pretty bad shit ahead. Few people are on the ocean when it’s angry.
    I was going to need a strong stomach to
avoid giving myself away.
     
    *****
     
    Once we were underway, the swells and chop
only worsened, the further from shore we went. The sky was heavy with
thunderclouds, and lightning bolts crashed in the distance.
    Sam guided the boat out of the marina, and
into the bay. He pointed it towards Key Largo, and put the throttles to full.
    The boat rose and crashed into the waves,
pounding the hull mercilessly. It made me queasy, but I was managing to hold
on.
    Barely.
    After about an hour of getting jostled as
badly as I ever had been when on a ship, I heard the three men talking.
    It was hard to hear them over the wind
noise, and the waves. It started to rain, and I couldn’t quite make out what
they were arguing about.
    “You slimy bastard!” Sam Parker yelled
suddenly.
    “Who do you think you