OWN HER: A Dark Mafia Romance(11)
“You do yoga, Don?” Carla asked incredulously.
“There's plenty about this here Texas boy you don't know,” Don replied lightly. “Shoot, just 'cause a fella likes his Wild Turkey don't mean he ain't tried wheatgrass a time or two.”
Carla closed her eyes and tried to picture a cord attached to the top of her head, lifting her entire posture. After a moment, she could feel it working. Her shoulders straightened effortlessly, and her body language was able to project confidence without seeming rigid.
“Thanks,” Carla said. “That feels better already. You missed your calling. You could have been a chiropractor.”
“Yeah, I figure there's about a dozen things I coulda been,” Don agreed, “an' about ninety percent of 'em would have made my momma happier than me endin' up a G-Man an' gettin' shot at.”
“So, you just called me in here to give me tips on how to keep my suit from wrinkling?”
“Well, watchin' Louie in there try to amputate his own nipples was gettin' to be a bit much,” Don said, “but naw, that wasn't the reason neither. I'm guessin' you must've heard about five hundred hours of taped conversations between them Mancini boys since you started this case, right?”
“Probably something like that,” Carla agreed. She felt herself growing uneasy about where this was headed. When a straight shooter like Don started asking questions he already knew the answers to, it usually meant he was circling a topic that made him uncomfortable and trying to find the most tactful way to broach it.
“So you, uh, probably heard a tale or two 'bout Gio's habits with the fairer sex,” Don continued.
Carla nodded. “Sure. The rumors say he's a compulsive womanizer who's into S&M, with an emphasis on the S. The other goons like to trade colorful gossip, but they mostly look the other way since there's nothing about his behavior that'd compromise him or make the Mancinis look weak in front of the other gangs.”
“Uh-huh,” Don confirmed. “An' just how do you feel about that?”
Carla regarded Don warily, uncertain of where this was going. “I don't know, Don. How do you feel about it? Are you trying to give me some kind of hint here, or...?”
Don sighed. “Do you happen to remember Patricia Kurtz?”
She blinked, confused. “Sure, I guess. I mean, mostly by reputation. She went undercover with the DEA and Immigration a few years ago, right?”
“Yup, that was her,” Don affirmed. “They sent her south of the border to infiltrate a ring of coyotes bringin' in illegals an' meth.”
Carla nodded. “Coyote” was law enforcement slang for someone who helped people cross the border into North America illegally.
“So she gets down there,” Don continued, “an' at first, everything's goin' just fine. Her espanol es muy perfecto, an' with some dye in her hair, she's able to pass herself off as a poor Mexican lady who'd do anything to make it to America. Trouble was, she played desperate so well that the coyote ended up givin' her the same choice he gave all the cute senoritas who came to him...”
“On top of the fee, she had to agree to sleep with him or he wouldn't take her across the border,” Carla guessed.
Don snapped his fingers. “Got it in one. Now strictly speakin', that kind of stuff's against Bureau rules. But Patty'd made a damn fine career for herself up 'til then, an' she figured if she made this bust, the sky'd be the limit for her...promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge, maybe her own field office some day, an' after that, who knows?”
“So she did it, right?”
“Uh-huh,” Don said. “She could've just told her handler what was goin' on, an' she'd have been taken outta there pronto. But instead, she went ahead with it on her own. Brought down their whole operation. Even got herself a medal for it.”
“Then she was right,” Carla insisted. “She did what she had to, and she was a hero. Are you telling me I should be prepared to do something like that?”
“Not quite,” Don replied. “You said you knew her by reputation, mostly. Never met her, though, did you?”
“I heard she left the Bureau a while after that. Went into private practice as a law enforcement consultant.”
Don nodded. “See, she may have cracked the big case, but she never did get tapped for no promotion after that. In fact, they ended up parkin' her ass right behind the same desk she came from, medal an' all. An' them fellas who make the decisions 'bout who gets to have a career an' who don't? Well, all they could see was a woman who used sex to get ahead when a man wouldn't have. Shoot, there were even a couple guys who said the medal should've, uh...”