Playing Dirty by Kiki Swinson Page B

because I didn’t know what was going on. I couldn’t let him leave without telling him what I knew. But the way things were looking, I didn’t have enough time. “Ah, you’re leaving so soon?” I whined. “I was just starting to build a connection with you.”
    “There will be another time,” he assured me. “I have your number, so I will be in touch.”
    As he began to lift himself up from his chair, I grabbed him by the arm. “Please don’t go,” I begged.
    He smiled. “I’m sorry, beautiful, but I have to. Don’t worry, though, you’ll see me again.”
    “You don’t understand. I came here tonight to warn you that the DEA is onto you because someone in your organization is feeding them a lot of information about you. They know how much coke you bring in once a week from South America, and they know that you’re going to be at the docks when your next shipment is brought in.”
    Looking very alarmed, he sat back down. “Who is the traitor?” he demanded.
    “I’m sorry, but I don’t have a name. But I do know that whoever is your lieutenant is the informant. And I also know that whichever day you step foot on that dock, they will be waiting for you,” I continued; then I looked around to see if anyone was watching me.
    “How did you get this information?”
    “I’m sorry, Mr. Alvarez, I can’t tell you who my source is. But I can tell you that they are definitely reliable.”
    “Indeed they are,” he said; then he buried his face in the palm of his hands.
    I didn’t want to say another word. It became very clear to me that he needed some time to think, so I sat back in my chair and waited for him to say something.
    Fifteen seconds later he lifted his head and looked around the room. He motioned for one of his men to come to him. And as soon as he approached Mr. Alvarez, he leaned down toward him, and that’s when Mr. Alvarez whispered into his ear. Several seconds later the guy left the room and headed downstairs.
    I immediately became uneasy and wished that I had not said anything. But it was too late, I had already let the cat out of the bag. Now I had to wait and see what happened. Nervously sitting there, I got up the gumption to speak. “What’s going on?”
    “I told my driver to fetch my car,” he replied.
    “You’re still leaving?”
    “Yes, I am, but I want you to know that you have given me some very valuable information. And I assure you that you will be compensated for it.”
    “But I don’t understand what you mean,” I said, trying to play dumb.
    “Let’s just say that you’ve saved my life, along with millions of dollars, and for that, I must repay you. So tomorrow I am going to have someone bring something very special to your office.”
    “You don’t have to do that,” I said, knowing damn well that’s exactly what I wanted.
    “Stop it! I insist,” he said, and stood back up from his chair. He grabbed ahold of my hand and kissed it.
    I smiled and said, “Please promise me that you’ll never mention that we had this conversation.”
    “You have my word,” he told me, and then he made his exit. And just like that, he was gone. Vanished behind a set of black doors. I sat there and had myself another glass of champagne. I made a toast to myself about the power move I’d just made. And after I finished gulping down the last drop, I set my glass down and left. The entire drive back to my house, all I did was smile and wonder about the special gift Mr. Alvarez was going to have delivered to me. I knew it couldn’t be anything other than money. The question was, how much was he going to toss my way? And since I hadn’t thrown any figures at him, it could be anything. But knowing the magnitude of revenue he had at his disposal made me believe that it would be half a million or better. Time would tell, though.

Dodging the Bullet
    M y BlackBerry started ringing and it startled the hell out of me. I looked over at the alarm clock on my nightstand and realized