I didn't even blink when I saw the mountain of hazardous drugs placed in front of me. Being in this career field made you immune to such things. But I would be lying if I said it wasn't slightly daunting to see so much of the black powder that could wipe out thousands of people not even a foot away from me. It was there, sitting on a small oak table as if it were nothing. The agent side of me, the real me, wanted to take the drugs and locked it away. But the role I was playing tonight was much different.

I ran my fingers along the case in a show of mock interest. It's what Samaira Bhatia would have done, therefore, it is what I will do.

"This is magnificent," I spoke with a heavy Indian accent which was the simplest challenge of the night. I just had to channel my mother.

"You are pleased?" asked the man, and my target, sitting across from me.

Vance Ruby was a notorious millionaire who once had a role in The Flock. Although the main issue of the organization was taken care of, we kept finding hidden members scattered around the area. Ruby was, according to our months of research, the last member but a man of deadly taste. He created all sorts of drugs that could harm thousands upon thousands which Malcolm Devenue found appealing. He stocked the man well with riches, including the mansion I was currently in, and even after The Flock was disbanded, Ruby continued what Devenue hired him to do.

We discovered that Ruby had a thing for Indian women, which worked perfectly when we set up a fake online account posing as a woman named Samaira Bhatia that had underground business in New Delhi. Business that he could profit off of. He immediately fell for our trap, and after a few weeks of going back and forth, he finally set up a meeting that was held tonight. To him, he was meeting his potential lover and business partner for the first time when, really, he was sitting in front of an FBI agent. Not his online lover. But that didn't stop him from hitting on me the entire night. Luckily, I wasn't alone in this mission. But that only made it slightly better.

"You continue to amaze me, Vance," I looked up from the drugs to send him a smile. "A man of many talents."

"You have not seen all my talents, my darling. Not yet," he practically purred.

I heard Oliver gag in my earpiece which, thankfully, made me feel slightly better. I pretended like his words didn't make my skin crawl and instead put on my best excited appearance.

"I can't wait. But first, we must get this out of the way." I snapped my fingers twice and immediately Percy was by my side. "Take this to the car. And make sure it is kept safe. We don't want Mr. Ruby's . . . fine work to possibly leak just yet."

"Yes, ma'am." Percy nodded before shutting the case and taking it out of the room. To Oliver who would lock it away from causing any harm. But as Percy walked past Ruby, the man held out his hand forcing the undercover agent to stop. My heart skipped a beat.

"One moment." He looked to me. "Although you are very lovely, my dear, we cannot forget that this is not just a night for us. This is a business transaction." He raised an eyebrow at me expectantly.

I relaxed a little and sent him a smile as tight as my dress. "Of course. Shama karo, I was so excited I almost forgot."

"It happens to the best of us."

He waited as I opened my clutch and fished out the appropriate amount of money. I handed over a thick stack, probably more money than I will ever make in my life, which I had to admit broke my heart a little. All the shoes I could have bought with that amount of money . . .

I watched as Ruby counted it up, bill by bill, before he finished with a satisfied grin.

"Wonderful. It's all here."

"You doubted me?" I smirked.

"Of course not. But one must not be too careful when it comes to business." He sent me a wink before letting Percy go. My partner gave me a knowing look before heading out the door. He wouldn't take long, I already knew that much. But still being left in here completely alone was not ideal. I could handle it, but that didn't mean I had to like it. The second he was gone, I heard Ruby let out a long sigh.

"Finally," he stood up from his seat and walked over towards me, "we are alone."

Before he could get too close I quickly picked up my empty glass next to me and held it up for him to see. "Before we continue, another glass?"

He paused in his prowl to look at my glass then to me with a coy smile. "You really know how to handle your liquor." He then plucked the glass from my hand. "I love it."

I sent him a wink and deflated a bit when he turned away to pour us some drinks. It didn't take long, but anything was better than nothing. When he returned I stood up to take the glass from him. If anything were to happen, sitting down wouldn't help.

"To our future business," he toasted, before handing over my drink. The bright, orange flames from his nearby massive fireplace formed a dark shadow on the side of his face making his smile appear sinister. Not too far from his true personality.

Regardless, I accepted the drink and lifted it up. "To our future business."

We clinked the glasses together. At first I planned on just throwing the substance back but right when my lips touched the edge I heard Oliver say, "Lawson is on his way back, Kumar. Stall a little longer if you can."

I switched up speed and decided to take slow, small sips as if I was trying to savor every drop. By the time I reached the halfway point, Ruby was already finished. He sat his drink to the side and chuckled at me.

"Well, well, I had no idea you were a fan of bourbon."

Without warning, the image of him popped up and vanished quickly at the sound of his favorite drink. Something I thought wouldn't be a problem anymore. Yet here I was transported back to that night.

Before I could go even further down that path, I tried quickly to recover by saying, "It is delightful," before continuing. "It is. A very rich taste. Very expensive. But enough about that."

He then without warning took my glass and sat it next to his which almost cost my role and his life. Nobody takes my drink away from me.

"Let's really begin the night," he said. "With business out of the way, it's time for some fun."

My skin crawled as he ran his rough fingers down the side of my cheek. Now that I had the drugs in my possession and I knew we could arrest Ruby my façade was starting to slip a little. It wasn't as easy to be charmed by the man as it once before, but still, I tried.

"Such an eager man."

"I have waited for many weeks, Samaira. I am not a patient man." His hand started to daringly travel towards my breasts before I firmly grabbed his wrist, halting his actions. It was pure instinct, and I knew I shouldn't have done it, but I had some hardstops I couldn't let go regardless of my mission. He appeared confused by this action, almost shocked, until I roughly recovered and placed his hand back on my cheek.

"I am not the type to rush. I enjoy taking my time."

His eyebrow shot up. "So you are tender? This I did not expect. But that is okay." He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "I can be gentle if you want."

I was waiting for Oliver to make another gagging noise when instead I heard him say, "Oh no."

I didn't understand what he meant by that comment when I noticed Ruby's expression shift from desire to confusion. When his fingertips brushed my earlobe and he asked, "What is this?" my blood froze.

Instantly my hand flew to my ear trying to somehow cover the earpiece although I knew it was too late. With quick thinking, I said, "My hearing device. I usually hide it so well. I am so embarrassed now."

His expression was a mixture of surprise and displeasure. "I did not know you had hearing problems."

"Yes. Since I was a child."

"I see. My younger sister had hearing issues as well." His dark eyes went back to my ear. "Although I will admit that this device . . . it is a bit odd."

Bhosadikey.

"What do you mean?" I played innocent and dumb. A very low yet typically effective card.

"My sister's hearing aid . . . it did not have this part here." He picked at the wire until the whole piece came off. In that small second, I knew what this meant. He must have too when his eyebrows furrowed together as he looked at what is clearly not a hearing aid. "Wait. This is not right. What is going on—?"

But before he could finish his sentence, Percy burst through the doors and immediately went into action knocking out the two bodyguards by the door in one swift move. I used Ruby's astonishment to my advantage by kicking his feet out from underneath him causing him to fall to the ground. Immediately I placed my foot on his chest, keeping him still while I unlatched my gun strapped to my thigh and aimed it at him.

"Do not move," I barked.

"You bitch," he groaned back.

"I've heard worse."

Once Percy was finished, he walked back over to me still catching his breath from his little adventure.

"I am getting too old for this shit," he huffed.

For the first time tonight I sent a genuine smile. "But you did so well."

"For now." He rubbed the back of his neck. "More will be coming. But backup is here."

"Good. We still need to move." I looked back down at Ruby under my foot. "Ready to meet the rest of your friends in prison?"

"Fuck you, Samaira," he spat. "If that is even your name."

"Actually, it's special agent Armita Kumar with the Miami FBI." I winked. "But I did really enjoy that bourbon."

Rather than looking angered like I had hoped he instead seemed confused. "Kumar? Armita Kumar?"

Yes."

"That name . . . I've heard it before."

"Perhaps because I was the one who took down the organization you were a former member of. The Flock." Percy cleared his throat next to me and I quickly added. "Well, me and my amazing partners."

But Ruby shook his head. "No. From somewhere else. I've heard about you. People have talked about you before. They were saying . . . something. What was it they said? You were something important. Something interesting." He was quiet in thought for a moment before I saw something click in his expression. "Kumar. You are related to Arman Kumar."

I tried not to let his words get to me but still, I asked, "How do you know my brother?"

"Everyone knows who Arman Kumar is. And everyone talks about his lovely sister that is in the FBI. An odd situation. But if I had known that you were her . . ."

I pressed harder on his chest. "Stop talking."

"This is truly amazing. And . . . odd. After what happened today, why would you be here?"

"Okay, seriously we need to go." Percy cut in. But I didn't hear what he was saying.

"What do you mean 'after what happened today'?" I asked Ruby.

"You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Kumar, we've got to go!" Percy yelled.

"Just hold on!" I demanded.

"It's all over the news," Ruby continued. "And not just in Florida."

I cocked my gun. "You have five seconds to tell me what you are talking about. Stop playing around."

"But where is the fun in that?"

Right when I was going to call him every name under the sun I heard a loud gunshot go off followed my Percy yelling, "Shit!"

At the doorway was one of Ruby's bodyguards, gun in hand, aiming towards Percy and I. Immediately I aimed my gun towards him and shot twice but he went back behind the wall.

"I'm getting tired of this. I'll get Ruby. You get him," I nodded towards the bodyguard.

"Right." Percy nodded before taking off.

As soon as the large man was out the door I felt a familiar rough hand grasp my ankle before suddenly pulling me off my balance. I fell down harshly to the ground and dropped my gun, but before I could go after it Ruby was suddenly on top of me, both hands wrapped tightly around my throat.

"I don't care who you are. You shouldn't have messed with me," he growled as he tightened his grip.

My instinct was to claw at his hands but I knew that wouldn't go so well. So instead I went for a more effective approach and with all my strength punched him right in the face. If anything, it stunned him causing his grip to ease up. Not one to overlook opportunities, I kneed him between the legs causing him to cry out in pain before I shoved him off of me.

As I shuffled towards my gun, he grabbed my ankle again but this time I had enough leverage to spin around and kick him in the face. He immediately fell to the side bleeding all over the place, which should have been concerning, but I was more worried about the heel that I had just broken off.

These shoes were not cheap.

Once I grabbed my gun I clumsily got back to my feet and aimed the gun at my target but he was already launching himself at me with a loud cry. The second he collided into me we both went flying into his stand of drinks causing them to shatter on the floor. When he attacked again I accidentally squeezed the trigger causing my gun to go off before it fell from my hand. Thankfully it didn't seem to do any damage, especially not to Ruby who kept attacking me with all he had, but again and again I dodged his efforts.

By this point I was tired and just wanted everything to be over so I grabbed a nearby glass with my free hand then smashed it across his head. After being hit there for the third time, Ruby finally came to a halt and fell down to the ground in a bloody heap.

I took a moment to gather myself, my breath, my thoughts, before I went to pick up my gun off the shard littered floor. I looked down at Ruby and shook my head.

"Actually, you shouldn't have messed with me."

And with that, I turned to go and grab my clutch that was still by my chair when I realized Ruby and I were not the only ones in the room. There leaning against the sofa was a large figure that I knew all too well. Percy. Typically, he was all smiles, but right now he was clutching his leg in pain. His bleeding leg. At first, I was confused as to what happened when it all added up.

The gunshot that rang out when Ruby attacked me. I was wrong. It did do damage.

I had shot my partner.

_____________________________________________________________

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey

I know it's been a long time, and I can't make promises that I can stay for a long time for a bunch of reasons. To get up to speed, my current job just let me go because I was looking for another job. Therefore I am looking for jobs  (lolol) and trying to get my life back in order, so that might put a damper in my writing time. I'll still try though! I have a lot of ideas for this book.

With that being said, I hope you are enjoying it so far! There is going to be a lot that will happen so get ready.

My goal is to make sure this is a short story. So like 15 chapters. But you know me lol. We'll see how that goes.

Also, please bear with me as there will be a lot of Indian words that I am not familiar with but am trying to incorporate. This means please do not make fun of my efforts and call me stupid for using the wrong word. Instead of saying, "lolol never heard someone use that word EVER" just remember I haven't heard the term before AT ALL. Just kindly redirect me with the right translation instead of making me feel bad.

+Chapter Song: Higher by The Score

+Questions: What are your thoughts so far? Are you excited to see a familiar face soon?

+Fun Fact: This was originally my NaNoWriMo project but I was never able to finish it.

If you are enjoying Tart so far please feel free to leave a vote/comment letting me know!

Love you all! So glad to see you again!

Sincerely,
Snow