The last thing he needed was a run in with the cops. For a long couple of months Noah had stayed clear of any problems with the police because he had made sure that all his personal business operations were flying under the radar of the LAPD.
The unpleasant visit the force to his club which had been brought on by Piper and her new 'boyfriend' left Noah more than sour. Not that he didn't enjoy seeing the pretty blonde again. He had hoped for a moment with her but not under those kind of circumstances.

On top of that he lover had the audacity to blame him for the raid. What a jack ass. piper should definetly get rid of that Wiener. Maybe find a better guy again. Maybe like...

One more time his fists pounded the heavy bag dangling from the ceiling with more force than necessary.
By now his heart rate was up, sweat dripping from his nose and most of the anger, that had accumulated had been punched into the black leather of the bag.

Finally the man gave himself a break and sat down to take a few breaths, drank some water and then thought about his next move.
--


"Piper? It's Noah. Meet me at the cafe, we need to talk." Noah kept his message as brief as possible so nobody but her would know where and when they would meet.


Half an hour later he stepped into the busy place near the beach and let his gaze roam around. First he checked for cops, undercover possibly, then for Jack but he wasn't there so he sat down at a table and waited for Mrs. Sunshine to arrive.

In the few days since the cops raid on Noah's place, Piper had been dealing with Jacks silence and the ever present worry about being found. Having agreed to stay off the radar, they'd spent the time holed up at her lovers place even while trying to puzzle out how the hell they'd even been found. Jack was certain it was Noah's fault and Piper was just as certain it wasn't. But, the problem was, only two people had known she put that call in and both of them she trusted completely. Noah and George, the bouncer. Both of them cared about her, she knew, so it didn't make sense for either one of them to endanger her.

So what the hell had happened?

Still puzzling over that, she'd sent a text message to Noahs number via her new disposable and knew he'd recongize the message. It was one they'd used once upon a time for getting together and it didn't surprise her that he called soon after and left a message. Hearing it, she'd sighed and then made an excuse to get out of the house without Jack for awhile. Jack merely grunted, working on the Evo that Noah had been nice enough to arrange returned and she'd made a get away without questions. It wasn't that she was hiding it from him but she wanted to talk to Noah without the two men glowering daggers at each other.

Pulling her Charger up outside the familiar place she and Noah had always loved to go, Piper got out and carefully looked around. On the off chance Jack was even remotely right, she studied her surroundings before slipping her shades up on top of her hair and letting her long legs carry her into the tiki bar. Spying her old flame at a table, she strolled in that direction and then slid into the seat across from him like she'd always done.

"Hey good looking... " she said by way of greeting before her blue gaze went over the place once more and then came back to him. "Yes, and before you say it.. I owe you an apology. For the record, had I had any clue shit would go down like that.. I would never have called you. I don't even know what that was about, to be perfectly honest.... As far as I know, I'm not wanted by the police because I've done nothing wrong. At least... Not exactly..."

Before she had even set her second foot in the door Noah spotted the familiar, sexy blonde. He could pick her out of a concert audience and this little place wasn't exactly packed to the roof.
With growing concern he watched her walk up towards him and scan the room. Obviously she was weary about being followed. Did she think he'd set a trap for her? Or was she just being careful.

A second feeling grew stronger when she approached him. The old warm, giddy feeling he got around her. Piper had always been special to him. With a genuine smile he greeted her and leaned forward to place a quick kiss on her cheek. "Hello, sweetheart." he greeted her by a nick name that she never really liked.

"Without your lover today?" He wondered. It was better this way though. "Glad you came alone."
When she went into not knowing what happened at the club Noah leaned his back against the seat, firmly pressed it back. He did not believe this for one second.
"Right." He muttered.
Then he let his eyes wander up to meet hers. "Did you come here to tell me stories? or are we going to be straight forward with each other?"
He eyed her for a while, then raised his hand to order some coffee.
Once the waitress had given him a nod, he looked back at Piper.
"How well do you know your guy...Jack?" His forehead was in a million wrinkles clearly giving away what he thought about the guy.

There were very few people who could get away with calling her sweetheart without her planting a fist in their face. In fact, Noah and Jack were about the only two men living that could claim that honor. Tough, independent and well versed in the lines a guy could use when he wanted to get into a girls pants, Piper was nobodies fool and she didn't like played for one. Terms of endearment usually set her on edge. The blond across from her, however, didn't ping her radar as he kissed her cheek and then sat down.

His words, however, did managed to raise a brow.

Leaning over the table a bit, Piper cast another glance around the place before looking back at her companion. For a moment, she seemed to debate something before coming to a conclusion. "I know him enough that hes saved my life twice now and if you two could ever get over your male egos.. You might actually get along. Your both smart and resourceful while having a way of landing your asses in trouble." she told him honestly. "As far as the other night? Its true.. I don't know why the cops were there because as far as I know... The trouble I'm in has nothing to do with the boys in blue. The heat coming my way is more in the form of a mafia family because they accidentally lost something at the club. That something landed in my coat pocket and I didn't know about it till after the fact. Now, they want it back and their willing to see me dead to get it. Since I don't relish the idea of new accommodations under ground, i guess you could say I'm doing my best to foil those plans and Jacks helping me."

Letting those words linger in the air, the blond sighed and pushed a lock of hair out of her face. Observing the man across from her, she let her shoulders slump a bit before continuing.

"That was actually what I came to you for the other night.. Jack thinks getting out of town might be the smart thing for a bit but we need passports and travel id in order to do that. The bad guys are no doubt watching ports and planes so we have to do it smart. Until we can figure out what to do about this all."

Of course the was a short flicker in her eyes when he called her 'sweetheart', which put a tiny smirk on his lips.

Once she starting talking about Jack his expression returned to neutral, maybe a little angry even. Piper was free to choose her boyfriends, of course, but the ones that waved guns in his face easily earned themselves a spot on his shit-list.
He heard her say that Jack saved her life twice, which put him at ease, but he still remained weary about the guy. Who knew, maybe he caused the trouble in the first place.
Carefully he listened to her explanation.
"So you have something the mafia wants?" He wrinkled his brow running his hand over his forehead to push the black hat up and brush some of those blond strands behind his ear.
"So why don't you give it to them and all is well? It might solve your problem with the FEDS, too. Seems like they want the same thing."

That moment the waitress arrived with a coffee pot and two cups.
She sat one on the table for Noah and started pouring before she asked Piper. "Would you like some coffee...Piper?" A large grin spread on her face. "I haven't seen you in ...a year?"
The cafe used to be their weekday morning hang out. Most customers knew the waitress by her first name, so did she. She gave them both a curious glance wondering whether they were rekindling some old relationship.
Then she turned to Noah and placed some milk on the table. "Double white, right?"
"Yeah." He gave her a wide smile.

Once she was gone again he returned his attention on the pretty blonde opposite of him.
"The price has gone up...double...lots of heat on me lately. It's hard to get the good ones. If you really think that's the way to go I can get them for you. Or I could offer you some assistance with your problem."
He kept his voice at its lowest in case people were listening in.

"There's one thing I have to say though! Don't ever bring the cops to my place again." The thread was out and even if he liked Piper very much he'd make sure she wouldn't put him in danger.

"So you have something the mafia wants?" He wrinkled his brow running his hand over his forehead to push the black hat up and brush some of those blond strands behind his ear.
"So why don't you give it to them and all is well? It might solve your problem with the FEDS, too. Seems like they want the same thing."

Giving him a drool look, Piper was just about to answer that when the waitress approached and seemed to recognize her. Blinking a bit, distracted from the conversation, the blond closed her mouth and then nodded. Forcing a smile, she nodded. "I'll take a double chocolate mocha espresso, whipped cream on top with a dash of cinnamon." she told the girl after Noah gave his own order. Receiving a grin, she waited till the girl was gone before looking back at her companion, trying to gather her thoughts.

"The price has gone up...double...lots of heat on me lately. It's hard to get the good ones. If you really think that's the way to go I can get them for you. Or I could offer you some assistance with your problem."He kept his voice at its lowest in case people were listening in."There's one thing I have to say though! Don't ever bring the cops to my place again."

Narrowing her azure gaze on the man across from her, Piper was half tempted to get up and walk out the door at that moment. The flash of temper in her gaze warned him not to forget who he was dealing with and memories of past encounters swirled around in her minds eye. That was the problem with her and Noah. While they could burn up the sheets with no lack of passion, out of them they had been combustible in ways that weren't good for either one of them. They'd spent more time fighting than they ever had just enjoying time together. Living fast and hard like that was interesting while it lasted tended to burn a body out fast. Piper had always needed, wanted, more than that. Eventually, the fights and women had gotten old and they'd parted in an attempt to salvage what they could of the friendship that had once made them work.

Just like old times it seemed. Some things never changed, even the spark of heat that made her lean forward, giving as good as she got.

"Fuck you, Hendrix." she said sweetly, eyes blazing with her own reaction to being threatened. "You and I both know this isn't a game and they aren't simply going to walk away if I turn the disk over to them. Besides, Its worth a few billion dollars and the passwords have already been changed. They've been locked out of all their off shore accounts and theres no going back now." she told him, even as the waitress approached once more and set their drinks down in front of them. Giving the woman a nod of thanks, Piper pulled out some cash and handed it to her, paying for both their drinks before Noah had a chance. "This one is on me." she said, before the girl walked away, healthy tip in hand. "and don't ever threaten me again, Noah.Its not the first time you've had cops in your place and I seem to remember being caught up in it in the past. I told you I'm sorry and had I ever imagine that would go down, I wouldn't have met you there. All I wanted was to dance and have a bit of fun."

Then, taking a small sip of her drink, she sighed again and shook her head. "I don't want to fight with you, Noah. The last thing I need is to be on someone elses shit list. I'm in way over my head here and I don't have a clue how to get out of it. I want my life to get back to something resembling normal but that isn't looking likely any time soon. The last thing I want to do is endanger you either. You gotta believe that."

Apparently Piper hadn't lost her spark. The swift 'Fuck you' she threw back at him was soemthing that not many people could say to him without getting their face smashed in. With Piper things were different. It even earned her a bit of admiration because she didn't take crap from anyone.

"Besides, Its worth a few billion dollars ...." that kind of money never failed to attract his attention, even though it sounded like a sum that would cause a lot of trouble.
Noah barely heard her explanation about not knowing that she was being followed and simply wanted to dance.

"Hang on a second." He placed his hand on hers. "repeat that amount?"
Instantly a plan was starting to form in his head.

When she continued her tone changed to a little softer more desperate. So did his when he replied. "You're not on my shit list. Okay, just sit back and take a few sips of your coffee...if you want me to I'll try to help you out. For that kind of money I'm willing to put myself in a little danger.
Do you know who that 'thing' belongs to? A name?"
His sipped on his own coffee because it was still too hot to drink and then stirred it a few times to let it cool down while he was thinking.
"I'm thinking that they'll be willing to pay some serious cash of they are willing to kill you and Jack for it. We just need more manpower...negotiation power, you know? If you still want to leave the country, be my guest."
If there was a way to make a lot of money in a ...not so illegal way...Noah was willing to pull a few strings.

Piper should have known that the mention of money would grab Noah's attention. Seriously, it was amazing the sort of guys she got herself mixed up with. Sometimes she had to wonder if that bad boy attraction was going to get her killed one day.

"You heard me right, Noah." she told him, leaning back and taking a sip of her coffee. For a moment, she observed him over the top even as she sighed and glanced around again, uneasy about being out in the open after the other night. "Right now, I'm open to any plans that don't land me with new accommodations underground, if you feel me."

Reaching up, Piper ran a hand through her tawny locks before sighing. Shifting her shades on top of her head once more, she rubbed her face before looking at her friend again. "And what the hell was that with you and Jack the other night, anyways? I swear, I thought you two would be friends but it was like a couple pitbulls facing off."

Piper seemed pretty tense compared to her usual ways. The blondes was normally a very open and releaxed person, which Noah had always appreciated about her, but today she seems nervous. No wonder, with the mafia on her butt.

"Okay, I need passport photos of you and your guy. Not the shoe box kind...real ones. As soon as I have them I'll contact my guy. Takes about two days. Maybe three."
He blew on his coffee sending some steam travelling her way while he kept his eyes fixed on Piper, who questioned him about Jack.
"Yeah, I don't usually make friends while looking down the barrell of a gun. Your friend might be good in bed but he's got a bad temper." Noah had met a few guys like that. Most of them were now in jail or dead.
"I have no use for him in my bed, so why be friends?" He gave her an awkward grin.
Truth be told. Noah somehow felt that he had to have an opinion on her boyfriends and that guy just came in wrong.
"I think he'll land you in trouble, baby."

He leaned back in his seat and carefull observed the people behind Piper. There was a family, an elderly couple, two young guys. All of them seemed completely inconspicuous. So he looked back at Piper.
"What are you going to do with the stick? Why not arrange a drop off in exchange for some cash? You don't even have to do the drop yourself."