In Bed with the Enemy by Kathie DeNosky Read Free Book Online Page A

alive for thirty-five years. That’s why he knew immediately when the passenger inside the sedan moved to open the door. Ricky tensed, ready to take whatever defensive action was needed, until he realized it was Yardley stepping out of the car.
    Nodding his acknowledgment of the man, Ricky never took his eyes off the woman in front of him. “Yardley.”
    The ATF agent walked up to stand beside the Campbell woman. “Anything changed in the past couple of days, Mercado?”
    â€œNope. Anything new with you?”
    Yardley tucked his hands in the back pockets of his jeans as he glanced over at the woman, then shook his head. “Same old, same old.”
    Ricky studied the man who had harassed him nearly every day for the past week with questions about being in Mezcaya and the gun-smuggling ring operating in Mission Creek. But there was a tension about Yardley today that Ricky hadn’t seen before. His stance, the way he kept glancing from the very pretty Agent Campbell to Ricky, spoke volumes. Unless he missed his guess, Yardley had the hots for the FBI chick.
    â€œMr. Mercado—”
    â€œCall me Ricky,” he said, giving her his most charming smile. From the corner of his eye, he watched Yardley frown.
    Yep. He’d been right. Yardley had it bad and probably didn’t even realize it. Oh, he was going to have fun with this. Payback time, brother.
    â€œAgent Campbell, whatever you need, just ask.” He purposely turned up the wattage on his smile. “Would you like to go inside where it’s cooler?”
    â€œNo, thank you, Mr.—”
    â€œThe name’s Ricky,” he said, lowering his voice to add intimacy.
    She nodded. “All right…Ricky. I’m sorry, but this isn’t a social call.”
    â€œThat’s a shame.” He almost laughed out loud when Yardley’s frown turned to a deep scowl. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Agent Campbell?”
    Her smile was almost apologetic as she handed hima paper. “This is a court order freezing your assets and requiring you to turn over all of your financial records for the purpose of an ongoing investigation.”
    Anger burned at Ricky’s gut. Why couldn’t the feds get it through their thick skulls that he wasn’t involved with the Mercado crime family any longer? Why couldn’t they accept that he’d stopped living his life on the other side of legal, and gone straight?
    But to the attractive woman in front of him, he gave what he hoped was an understanding smile and nodded. “I’ll be more than happy to cooperate in any way I can.”
    â€œThank you, Ricky.” She looked relieved, and he’d bet every dime he had that she wasn’t sent to work cases out of the office very often. “I really appreciate your willingness to make my job easier.”
    â€œIt’s my pleasure,” Ricky lied. He thought he heard the man beside her mutter an oath. “What was that, Yardley?”
    Yardley rocked back on his heels and shook his head. “I didn’t say anything.”
    Placing his hand at Agent Campbell’s back, Ricky smiled down at her. “Why don’t we go inside and you can take whatever you need for your investigation.”
    As they ascended the steps and walked across the porch, he wasn’t at all surprised to hear Yardley close on their heels. The man wasn’t going to let the very attractive FBI agent out of his sight.
    The only consolation Ricky found in the otherwise intolerable situation was the knowledge that he was frustrating the hell out of Yardley—first by turning on the charm with a lady that Yardley had the hotsfor, then showing a willingness to cooperate with her that Ricky had never shown him.
    If circumstances had been different, he might have laughed out loud. But there was nothing funny about this latest turn of events. They were focusing too much attention on him, and not looking