Free Heat (The Stark Affair Book 1) by Skylar Cross Page A

thesis.”
    “ Hm , for such a smart guy he seems to spend a lot of time
squandering his skills.”
    “His
hands are tied by the Board his father set up before he died. Colton Stark only
owns 49% of Stark Worldwide. While he is the majority shareholder, most company
decisions are made by Jasper van der Voort , his father’s best friend and Chairman of the Board.”
    “Ooh...
Daddy didn’t trust little Colty , did he?”
    “Apparently
not.”
    I
look out at the ocean. The bright turquoise waves glow as they hit the shore,
shiny white reflections of October sunlight dancing on their caps.
    “ LaTashia , I need to ask. Why are we meeting way out here on SoBe ?”
    She
takes a sip of her latte and glances out at the park, squinting. Some kids are
setting up a volleyball net on the grass under the
palm trees.
    “I’m
not supposed to be telling you this,” she says, “but there is an Inter-Agency
Task Force operation going on. They have people on the inside of Stark Worldwide.
We’ve been sharing intel with them, but every time they get close to nabbing a shipment, it vanishes.”
    “Oh
my God, you think we have an informant on our team?”
    “There’s
no evidence, but I smell a rat. Could be any member of the task force. FBI.
DEA. Coast Guard. Us. I don’t want to think it’s us, but I am now forced to
operate with that possibility.”
    LaTashia earned the nickname “The Cleaver” for cleaning house her first year. Looks like it’s time to do another sweep.
    “Sofia,
I need to ask you a favor. It’s personal.”
    “Anything,
Lieutenant. You know that. If it weren’t for you, I’d still be losing my mind
in the Pit.”
    “You’d
have lost it already. You were a ticking time bomb when I pulled you into OCS.”
    “Yeah.”
I get a flash of the dead girl on the landing, as clear as if I were looking at
her right now. Then I shake my head to make it dissolve. It never fully
dissolves, though.
    “Sofia,
what I’m about to ask you is... not an assignment. It’s a favor. If you say no,
I understand perfectly.”
    “You
want me to get to know him?”
    She
nods while biting her lower lip. “Well, I know he isn’t your type.”
    “My
type?”
    “Either
hyper-masculine men or runway model girls.”
    I
smile. “What can I say? Life is short. I want to experience it all.”
    “But
you’re definitely his type.”
    “He
likes tomboy bitch cops with short fuses and profanity issues?”
    LaTashia grins. “No, Latinas. Latinas with... assets.”
    “You
mean Puerto Rican girls with big butts?”
    She
shrugs. “You say potato, I say pa- ta-tah .”
    “Lieutenant,
you’re serious? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not your typical
nightclub party girl.”
    “Oh,
I’ve noticed. But Sofia, you’re a detective now. A good one. I know you’ve never been deep undercover, but you’ve shown promise on your assignments.
This is a little out of character for you, I admit, but I would appreciate it
greatly. Nothing too intense. Maybe go to his club...
attract his attention... get him talking after a few drinks. Get to know what
makes him tick. We don’t know what motivates him. If we could figure that out,
maybe we could figure out what he’s doing with the money. Not to mention who’s
blowing our cover.”
    I
look over at the kids setting up the volleyball net. One side isn’t secure
enough. It’s going to fall as soon as someone taps the top.
    “I
can take him down,” I say.
    “Sofia,
I don’t want you to take him down. I’m just looking for information. Put your
gun away. Leave it at home. Just get me some insight. Discreetly. Nobody can
know about this. I’m not asking you to sleep with him or anything.”
    “Him?
Ha, I would never sleep with a guy like him! I don’t do criminals.”

 

Chapter
2

 
    Sofia

 
    LaTashia has
a meeting in Doral so I go back to the office. Right away, I know somebody has
been at my cubicle.
    I
don’t bring home to work and vice versa, like other