Complicity in Heels Read Online Free PDF Page A

toward the conference table to put distance between her and Lacey.
    She noticed that the bank executive had slipped into unconsciousness. The door closed behind Spence, and the two women stared at each other. “So you’re the infamous Nikki Frank?” Lacey said, breaking the silence.
    “That’s right.”
    “Five years upstate? Not a word to the cops? And the sole reason for making all this possible? Or so the legend goes.”
    “Three years, six months, and nine days,” Nikki corrected. “Yes, and perhaps.”
    Lacey drew her shoulders back and tilted her chin up in a regal pose. “Oh, because to hear the guys around here tell it, you’re some sort of saint or something. I just had to hear it for myself, because I’m not buying it.”
    Nikki considered her words carefully before speaking. “Look, I’m grateful the crew holds me in high regard, but I can’t control their opinions or perceptions.”
    “You know, a lot’s changed here at the Compound since you’ve been gone.”
    Nikki raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”
    “Like me,” Lacey replied. “I’m queen bee around here.”
    Nikki smirked at the arrogant revelation.
    “That’s the way it’s been, and that’s the way it’s gonna be. Understand?” She stared at Nikki for several moments, scanning for any tangible sign of compliance.
    “Well, Your Majesty, we have a slight problem,” Nikki bluffed. “I’m back.”
    Lacey turned around and marched back toward the captive brunette. “You might be back, honey, but you’re certainly not welcome.”
    Nikki chuckled, the impromptu challenge of Lacey’s dominance having the desired effect. It had been a lesson well learned on cellblock eight at Shaw: always present a strong front, regardless of the situation or your true intentions.
    Even so, like a swimmer caught in a rip current, Nikki found herself being sucked into something from which there was quite possibly no escape.
    Cordoza entered the room. His cell phone still pressed to his ear, he strode toward Lacey while continuing his conversation. “Yes, we’re interested in vying for a money-brokering contract out of New York,” he reassured the voice on the other end. “I don’t care what you have to do. Get me in on that reverse auction pronto, all right?”
    The crew leader terminated the phone call then embraced Lacey. Cordoza’s hands continued to explore the curves of her body before coming to an abrupt stop on her backside. “Oh, you drive me so crazy when you dress like this,” he confessed. “What am I’m I gonna do with you? I can’t keep my hands off you.”
    Lacey smiled halfheartedly. “We have company.”
    Cordoza glanced around the room, noticed Nikki, then composed himself. “My apologies…I thought we were alone.”
    Nikki remained silent, unsure what to say. It was the first time she had seen him since she’d been locked up. He’d lost some weight and added muscle to his upper body. In his early fifties, Cordoza had a full head of neatly combed salt-and-pepper hair. Clean-shaven and wearing khakis and a traditional navy blazer minus the tie, he could have easily passed for a run-of-the-mill business executive. Images of the past flashed through Nikki’s head: working closely with Cordoza, forging letters from charitable organizations and setting up bogus PO boxes to receive donations; cloning stolen cell phones from mall patrons for future usage; and their almost kissing after a successful run of the jury-duty credit-card scam—good times. There was always a charge of energy in the air when they dealt with each other, an attraction, something they both knew and suppressed in favor of an optimal working relationship.
    Cordoza stepped away from Lacey. “Nikki, it’s so good to see you. Please sit down.”
    Nikki moved to the front of the room, where Cordoza greeted her with a hug. “I sincerely apologize for not visiting you while you were away,” he said, “but my main priority, first and foremost, has always