Lila is bent down on the floor near the front desk. She stands up and touches her ear with both hands.

“I dropped the back of my earring on the floor,” she explains. “I was afraid I’d lost it. It fell under your desk so I had to crawl on my hands and knees to reach it.”

Something in her voice sounds off. Why is she crawling around on the floor when she could’ve waited two minutes for me to come back and help her look?

“You should have waited on me to get it for you,” I say. “I hope you didn’t mess up your pretty white dress.”

She holds out the palms of her hands, now covered in dust.

“You’re right, and you should sweep in here more often,” she says. “I need to wash my hands. Can I borrow your restroom?”

I tilt my head to the hallway.

“First door on the left.”

The second she steps inside the restroom and shuts the door, I drop down on the floor to search under my desk. I don’t even know what I’m looking for.

And then I see it.

Son of a bitch.

A tiny object no bigger than a watch battery stuck on the underside of my desk.

Lila planted a bug.

I’m stunned, though I shouldn’t be. The only reason she dropped by in her pretty dress was to gain access to the tattoo shop. She obviously isn’t above pulling out all of her underhanded tricks to keep me sidetracked long enough to place surveillance equipment.

Everything she does is a scam.

Wearing a feminine dress and bringing me lunch. Spraying sweet perfume behind her ears and smiling at me like she really means it.

I’m an idiot for buying into her act. Damn! She’s too good at her job.

To say I’m furious is the understatement of the century.

I wonder if the bug is already switched on and recording. For all I know, there could be an unmarked white van down the street with ATF agents listening in on our conversation right now.

I hope they are because I’m about to give them something to burn their fucking ears off. Maybe I’ll even get her fired. Screwing the person you’re supposed to be investigating can’t be considered professional conduct, even in her line of work.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. If I don’t calm down, I’ll blow this shit sky high right now. And then we’ll all be screwed. The MC is depending on me not to fuck up.

Keep it together, Sam.

There’s never been a woman that I couldn’t wrap around my cock anytime I wanted. All I have to do is stay calm and not let her see that something is wrong. If she wants to play dirty, then so can I.

Low-down-filthy dirty.