Aces - Prologue

Tucker

My eyes wandered through the crowd. I nodded to Dean who was standing just a few feet away from me. He nodded to Jason at the end of the bar, but they both froze with shock when they looked at the man I was nodding towards. Dean turned towards the counter talking into his sleeve. I suspected the detectives knew who he was. Then Michael spoke in my ear, “Tucker, this could get dangerous. This isn’t about narcotics anymore it’s about territory.” I flinched. Territory? But this wasn’t a gangster’s club, this was mine. What the hell was he talking about? I was more and more confused.

Then I saw her. She was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. I narrowed my eyes to get a better look at her. She wore a short black dress covered with sequins; it was dangerously short and clingy, sculpting every voluptuous part of her body. Her red high heels made her seem tall but her beautiful grey eyes met mine and reeled me in like a fish.
I jumped a little when Dean suddenly spoke in my ear, “We need this to play out like it usually would. We need them to deal in order to catch them in the act. Go mingle, look cool and calm and keep your eyes open.”

Usually I worked behind the bar, but this night it was my sole purpose to mingle. As if I couldn’t stop my feet or control the direction they walked, my body moved towards the big eyed girl. Her hair was done in a messy up do, where streaks were hanging loose on her shoulders, her hands were clutching to her handbag while she looked up at a blond haired woman, telling her something. She looked uncomfortable while she fiddled with the strings on her purse and constantly pulled down the short dress. The blond disappeared when I appeared.

“Hi,” I said not knowing what to say. Her eyes flicked nervously and then she turned her head to see if I was talking to someone behind her. I chuckled a bit at her reaction.

A red blush streak covered her cheeks when she spoke, “Hi yourself.”

"So why are you hiding in the corner and not joining your friends on the floor?" I was eager and her sudden blush made me want to tease her.

She mumbled something, searching for words.

"Er, what Bambi, club not in your taste?" This is funny; it’s like her face turned bright red just by me speaking.

"Not exactly… yes... But not in a bad way." She's cute when she's nervous.

I leaned in wanting to whisper, just to have my mouth near her neck. Her breath quickened. I had her where I wanted her. “How’s that?” I asked my lips lingered near her ear.

"It's hot, sweaty, overcrowded in here and to be honest I didn't want to come tonight, but my best friend kept assisting on me coming… she can be very persuasive…" She believed her own words and it hurt a little knowing something I owned was not in her taste. She kept avoiding my eyes while she spoke.

"Indeed it is hot and sweaty in here," Damn I was burning up where I was standing and all I wanted was to be alone with her. I wanted her. "Not sure what to do about that but we can definitely do something about it being overcrowded, follow me…?" I nodded in the bar direction, actually meaning the stairs behind it and she stood. "This way…" I whispered my breath quickened on her neck and I slid my hand on her waist. Then her body moved away from me as her partner pulled her towards the dance floor. She resisted her friend’s tug. Her friend pouted, and she relented and went off with her.

I snapped out of the effect her perfume had on me and shook my head to get rid of the excited feeling. I got lost in her conversation and almost forgot the job I was sat on doing.

I pulled myself together and made my way through the crowd, searching, watching. I took the bottle of water behind the counter and gulped it down. The club was really hot and crowded, just like she observed. The one night I needed the drink, I couldn’t drink. You gotta keep your head in the game man. I scolded myself while my eyes traveled to where Bambi was dancing. I could find her in any crowd, of that I was sure, not that game, keep it together!!! I scolded again and willed my eyes away from Bambi, searching the crowd again.

A woman suddenly pressed against me, whispering lustfully in my ear. “Come on big boy, you wanna play dress up tonight? I can be the nurse like last time.” She pressed her lips against my ear, “Or you can ravish me in your office,” her hand slid down my chest and rested on my groin, “fuck me hard.” If it had been any other night I would’ve taken her to the office and screwed her brains out, but there were more important things to worry about. I pushed her away gently and walked past her towards a group I noticed earlier. I didn’t bother to look at the disappointment on her face.

“Welcome, welcome.” I said, cupping my hand over one guy’s shoulder, “You enjoying your evening?” I shouted above the music. They all nodded and cheered. I’d seen them here the week before dealing so I pushed past them to another suspicious looking group, introducing myself and welcoming them. It seemed like a waste of time to walk around mingling when the detectives were all over the place. It felt like forever, maybe an hour and a half, till I noticed Bambi again at the bar and made my way to them.

“Hi,” I whispered in her ear and she answered in a giggle, “Hi yourself Mr Drop Dead Gorgeous.” she grabbed her friend’s arm giggling hysterically and I noticed how pretty her friend was. She gave Bambi a shooter and they threw it back gallantly.
I neared her ear again, “Can I buy you a drink?” She looked in my eyes, they were grey; light grey with a tweak of blue barely noticeable.

She pressed her hand on my chest, not hesitating at the thought of a stranger buying her a drink.

“YES PLEASE! Meg what was that blue thing I love so much?” she snapped to her friend and the blond answered “A Smirf.” Bambi snapped back to me and smiled bright, flashing her pearly teeth, “You can buy me one but only if you buy her one too…” she pointed to the blond. I laughed at her gesture because she swayed from side to side grabbing at my shirt to stop the motion.

“Monty!” I shouted a few times before he reacted and hurried to me, “Two Smirfs for the girls.” I ordered nodding to the ladies by my side. I didn’t wait for their drinks to arrive; I just turned and walked towards Jason who was signalling for my attention.

“Mr Tucker.” he greeted me putting up a show not to look suspicious. I gave him a firm handshake and neared his ear.

“Is everything all right?”

“Yes for now, we saw a few suspects but our hands are tied for now. I called you over here to tell you, you should be careful, just be normal, a few people got jumpy when you talked to them, keep it simple.”

I thought about his words a while and thought about my conversations which only held a welcome and an enjoyment question. I only nodded and moved to where Spike stood behind the music board. He banged his head to a song keeping his eyes on the door where Jakes stood next to a familiar man I couldn’t place. He lowered his sunglasses he wore for the bright lights, turned his head and ogled me above it, “Milder Fucking McIntyre.” He said and I froze with shock.

“You sure?” I asked looking at the door. I saw the familiar man in a grey business suit watching over the crowd. I looked at Spike who nodded rapidly. “Keep your eye on him, if he leaves get out.” I said heading for the stairs.

“Tucker!” I heard him shout, “She’s fucking trouble man.” I stood for a moment knowing exactly who he was talking about, but I ignored his comment, heading to where I saw her dancing.

You just can’t stay away, can you? I asked myself, already knowing the answer. She was like my heroin: I was addicted to her and it didn’t matter why. I had to be near her. I had no choice. I wrapped my arms around her waist from behind. Our bodies moved in sync. She locked her hands together behind my neck. I stroked her arms from her hands down her sides to her thighs and then moved up again resting them on her stomach. She moaned a little and turned to face me. I pressed my head to her forehead, looking in her eyes with desire. She took my breath away. Her eyes widened and she turned and ran for the restroom. I resisted the urge to follow her, contemplating what to do next.

Michael then caught my attention so I pushed my way through the crowd towards him.

“You saw something?” I asked but it sounded more like a statement. He motioned towards a group in the middle of the dance floor.

“Don’t scare them, just walk past them and tell Jakes to quietly move people out of here. Something bad is going to happen.” He stated. I turned and did what he ordered. As I passed the muscled men staring at each other, I noticed one was holding his hand on his belt just above his ass. I looked closer. He had a gun. Before I could signal anyone he ripped it out and shot the other twice in the chest. People ducked screaming. Gangsters jumped one another fighting. People ran around and struggled to get through the doors at the same time. They stumbled, crashed and ran over others. I focused through the blurring of people running past, on the groups in the middle of the floor pulling guns, things I’ve never seen, at each other. I looked around trying to spot anyone I recognized, failing miserably. Guns were blazing and shots nearly hit me where I stood so I ducked and dived behind tables and chairs now lying on the floor like a tornado hit the place.

I moved to the restrooms and suddenly remembered Bambi was in there. I swung the door open and froze. Bambi was lying in front of the stall next to the far end. She appeared to be unconscious. Suddenly a man stepped out of the last stall. When he saw me he pointed a gun at me. He looked as if he knew how to use it. I couldn’t leave Bambi, so I took a step toward her. A shot buried itself in the wall beside me. The man said, “The next one won’t go into the wall.”

He noticed what my eyes focused on and moved forward towards her stall door. She moved her head and tried to stand up, she pressed herself against the stall wall I could see her legs pull to her chest. His friend opened the door and walked inside; goon one pulled his gun on her and warned again, “Any sudden moves and she’s dead.” Again I weighed my options and she was still too far away.

I heard the loud thump of the toilet. Then a whisper came from the stall and I saw Bambi fall to the floor. I almost jumped at him, when I felt something push me from behind and I hit my head hard against the floor. I looked up to see another group pointing their guns at the two goons.

I wanted to break their legs for touching her, but I laid there a moment before I crawled on my stomach to the stalls. I heard gun fire and someone behind me fell, I turned my head to see a man in a black suit on the floor, bright red blood seeping through his white shirt. I looked back to where Bambi was lying on the floor, not moving and I moved towards her. I felt pain shoot through my leg but I ignored it, crawling toward her underneath the stalls till I reached her. Everyone was still shooting at each other. I looked at her head touching it lightly where the blood dripped down her face.

My gaze fell on the brick white powder lying next to her hands and shock crawled through me. She was a part of it? She smuggled the drugs in? She waited for them to get there and then she got in the way. That’s why she was so secretive and nervous at first. That’s why she ran towards the bathroom to wait for them. She used me. She distracted me to get me away from what was going to happen. And here I thought… I was a fool. She made me a fool. I closed my eyes as I heard the S.W.A.T team enter the room shouting for everyone to get on the ground and give up their weapons. It took a while for the shooting to stop.

Footsteps ran towards me and I looked up into Dean’s face, then back to Bambi lying beside me unconscious. His eyes seemed confused when mine met them again. It was over. Water was running over my legs and I lifted Bambi from the water almost covering her face and gave her to Dean, who still looked confused. “She’s a part of it, found this next to her,” I picked up the brick and gave it to Michael behind him, “get her out of here and locked up.” I whispered defeated.
I walked behind them as they carried her to the ambulance, limping a bit from the pain I felt in my leg. The paramedic checked my leg and confirmed what I already knew, “An easy in and out, it looked clean, but we should still get you to the hospital though.”

A growl escaped my lips and I stopped the movement they made to ease me in the bus. “No just stitch it up and I’ll be set, no need for wasting the doctor’s time.” It was clear he didn’t like the idea but he did it anyway, giving me a few meds for the pain and then bandaged it up to keep it intact.

I watched the blond girl banging on Dean’s chest screaming, "What are you doing to her?!" she shouted "She didn't do anything!" Her fists hitting him with force as she spoke, "Please let her go it wasn't her. Let her go!" still hitting him with her tiny fists.
Dean turned his head towards her, his face furious, "Miss if you don't stop hitting me I am going to arrest you for assaulting an officer." His voice was calm with a faint sound of anger.

Jakes grabbed her arms but she squirmed and kicked still shouting at them to let her best friend go. Jakes lifted her and put her beside him, letting out a faint order "Stay" he said as if talking to a dog. She didn't stay though she ran towards the ambulance and climbed in trying to get to her friend. Jakes grabbed her again and placed her beside him holding her firm to his side while she covered her face with her hands sobbing uncontrollably. Then she looked up right into my eyes, her tiny body moved with fierce force and her eyes spit fire.

“THIS…” she waved her arms around, then pointed her finger at me, “IS ALL YOUR FUALT!!!”