Outrageous

She was too trusting for her own good. And he was too intuitive to be fooled by her prissy demeanor. Emily Cooper had more than her fair share of backbone, and that was almost as sexy as her eyes.

Stopping at a corner drugstore and leaving the truck at the curb, Judd got out to use the lighted pay phone. He never used the phone in his apartment to contact headquarters, in case there were prying ears. To his disgust, his hands shook as he fished a quarter out of his jeans pocket. He made the call, and then waited.

Lieutenant Howell picked up on the first ring. “Yeah?”

“Sanders here.”

“It’s about time. Where the hell have you been?”

Judd closed his eyes, not relishing the chore ahead of him. This wasn’t going to be easy. He took a deep breath, then told his boss, “We have a little problem.”

“I’m waiting.”

“I met a lady tonight.”

“Is that supposed to surprise me, Judd? Hell, you’re working as a male stripper. I imagine you meet a lot of broads every damn night.”

“Not a broad,” Judd said, the edge in his tone evident. “A lady. And she was actively looking for Donner, though she hasn’t put a name to him yet. Seems she knows a kid who had a faulty automatic blow up in his face, and she’s pegged Donner as the seller.”

There was a low whistle, then, “No kidding?”

“The kid’s alive, but from what I understand, he’s in pretty bad shape. His parents have taken him out of the country.” Then, in a drier tone, Judd added, “They’re upper-league.”

Judd expected the cursing, then the inevitable demand for details. The telling took all of three minutes, and during that time, Howell didn’t make a single sound. Judd tried to downplay his initial meeting with Emily and the fact she’d seen him perform, but there was no way to get around it completely. When Judd finished, he heard a rough rumble from Howell that could have been either a chuckle or a curse. “She could throw a wrench into the works.”

Judd chose his words very carefully. “Maybe not. I’ve been thinking about it, and it might actually strengthen my case. Being a stripper in such a sleazy joint makes me look pretty unethical. And I’ve made it known I’d do just about anything, including stripping, to make a fast buck.”

“But Donner hasn’t taken the bait yet.”

“He will.” Judd was certain of that. Donner always used available locals. That was how he worked. “It will happen. But maybe, with a classy woman hanging around to make me look all the more unscrupulous, Donner will buy in a little quicker.”

“You think he’ll figure the little lady is keeping you?”

“What else would he think? We’re hardly the perfect couple. As long as she’s informed and close enough for me to keep an eye on her, she’ll be safe. And Donner will definitely get curious. Besides, I don’t have much choice. She made it real plain she’d investigate on her own if I didn’t see fit to help her. It’s a sure bet she’d tip Donner off and send him running.”

Howell chuckled. “Sounds like you got everything nicely under control.”

No. He didn’t have his libido under control, or his protective male instincts that had him wanting to look after her despite his obligations to the job and his loyalty to Max. “I can handle things, I think. It would have been better not to have a civilian involved, but my options are limited now.”

“I could have her picked up for some trumped-up violation. That might buy you a little time to settle things without her around.”

The thought of Emily being humiliated that way, being harassed—by anyone other than himself, was unthinkable. “No. I’ll keep an eye on her. Besides, she’s so clean, she squeaks. I doubt you’d find anything. And I already tried scaring her off, but she’s sticking to her guns.”

“Determined, huh?”

Judd snorted. “I almost think she wants Donner as bad as I do. She was taking pictures. Can you imagine? I took the film. I don’t think there’s anything important on it, but I don’t want to take any chances. Not with this case.” And not with her. “So I’ll let her hang around a while, and use the situation to our advantage. In any case, she’ll probably be with me when I perform at the bar on Tuesday.”

“Keep me posted as soon as you know about the film. And in the meantime, watch your backside. Don’t go getting romantic ideas and blow this whole thing.”

“Fat chance.” He hoped he sounded convincing. “I just wanted you to know what was going on.”

“You need any backup on hand, just in case?”

“No.” Everything had gone better than he could have hoped. His performance was convincing, even superior to the other dancers’. But he didn’t intend to share all that over the phone. It was humiliating. “I don’t want to take a chance on blowing it now. I’m accepted. No one suspects me of being anything but a stripper.”

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