Kara wasn’t so sure. On one hand, this man was definitely a worthless little weasel, and taking him off of the streets would probably be a good move for her as an agent of the law. If he stayed out, he would probably keep on dipping his fingers into various pies, from gun running, to drug smuggling, to dealing, to other acts of violence. If the speed with which he pulled a gun on the two of them was any indication, he wasn’t averse to even taking on a hired hit, for enough money.
But then again, Kara had promised Cross that, in exchange for his help in finding the gun smugglers, she wouldn’t lead the warpath onto his own people. While Under didn’t seem to be a member of the Iron Brotherhood (or any other gang, for that matter), Kara didn’t doubt that he was probably occasionally useful, even valuable, to the Iron Brotherhood.
So instead of pulling out cuffs to slap on the man (she could almost certainly bust him right here and now for an unlicensed firearm, if nothing else) and calling in backup, Kara just nodded goodbye to Under, standing up as Cross did the same. “Once again, thank you,” she said, intending to say more, but the little man cut her off with a shake of his head.
“I didn’t say nothing,” he told her firmly. “And you remember that, when you walk out of here. You heard nothing from me.”
The weasel was covering his tracks. Well, he might snitch like a stool pigeon, but at least he covered his own ass in the process. Kara just nodded, following Cross outside.
She could feel Under’s eyes tracking her the whole way out, and she resisted the urge to shiver once she stepped back out into the brightness of the afternoon sun.
Outside, Cross glanced sidelong at her as they crossed the parking lot over to where their bikes were parked. “That worked out well for you, didn’t it?” he asked.
Kara looked back at him, raising her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you basically got everything that you need to pull off your FBI raid,” Cross persisted. “Location, a schedule, all you need. It looks like you’ll be out of my hands faster than we expected.”
For some reason, the man didn’t sound entirely thrilled about that. Kara felt a prickle of confusion. Wouldn’t he want this agent of the law, a potential hazard to his own club’s more illicit activities, gone as soon as possible?
As she looked up at him, searching his face for some reason behind this incongruity, she couldn’t help but notice how the afternoon sun caught at the man’s strong features, casting dark shadows across his neck and highlighting the strong lines of his face and jaw. Even in his bulky jacket, she could see that the man was standing tall, the strong shape of his well sculpted body.
Was Cross looking at her the same way? There was something distant in his eyes, Kara saw, as if he was thinking back to another time or location. And his eyes seemed to be lingering on her a little longer than might be necessary.
Was he also remembering the previous night, how they had almost gone all the way together, had almost given into lust as it attempted to overpower their logic and common sense?
Focus, Kara, the FBI agent repeated to herself inside of her head.
“No, I’m not going to be done quite yet,” she finally said aloud, aware of how long that silence had persisted before she spoke. “The FBI isn’t the all-powerful group that you see in movies and on television. We can’t just call in raids on locations without any sort of concrete evidence - that would be a great way for me to quickly lose my job.”
Had the man brightened at that news? For just a moment, Kara thought she caught a hint of a relieved grin, but it was gone before she could be sure of what she had seen. “So next is…” Cross asked.
“Infiltration,” Kara finished. “Under gave us a location. We need to make sure, personally, that his details are correct.”
Now Cross definitely wasn’t looking as thrilled. “That’s going to be dangerous, you know,” he said, sounding more concerned than Kara would have expected. “The Hellraisers won’t just let you go walking in to a place like this - even though they don’t know what you’re planning. And we can’t help get you in.”
This was a concern that Kara had started to consider, but she was certain that she could find a way around it. “Can we sneak in?” she asked.
Still standing out by their bikes, Kara could feel her legs starting to complain about standing up. She turned, dropping down to perch on the seat of her bike, still with the kickstand down. Across from her, Cross did the same, resting lightly on his own chopper. He crossed his arms, frowning.
“Sneaking in will probably be tough,” he said at length. “The Hellraisers aren’t exactly a high security type, but they’re also a ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ type. And your investigation’s definitely going to be stalled if you catch a bullet in the darkness.”
Kara had half expected this, but it still was disheartening news. “Then I guess we’ll have to keep on playing the subterfuge card,” she decided.
“And how exactly do you plan on doing that?”
You, this time, not we. It was a small detail, but Kara still caught it in the man’s comment. She elected not to comment on it. “How are speaking conditions between the Iron Brotherhood and the Hellraisers right now?” she asked.
“Strained.” Cross paused, considering this answer. “Think of North versus South Korea. There’s no actual fighting going on, but there’s also no formal declaration of peace. Basically, we’re both pretending to play nice, while searching for a chink in the other’s defenses.”
“And they don’t suspect that you’re going to turn them in to the authorities?”
Cross grinned briefly, although there was precious little humor in that expression. “That’s too low, too absurd, for them to even consider.”
The way that the man spoke these words made Kara pause. She looked at him more intently, and, as if for the first time, she realized his discomfort. “Too low?”
Cross opened his mouth, but then seemed to think better of the comment, and turned it into a shake of his head. “Later,” he said shortly, his tone making it clear to the FBI agent that she should drop that conversational thread. “Anyway, I could maybe arrange some sort of meeting with someone low in the Hellraisers, but they’re going to come armed, angry, and expecting the worst.”
“But it is possible.”
A nod, although a reluctant one. “Yeah. But trust me, you’re going to have to be a hell of a lot luckier than anything I’ve ever seen if you want to convince them to let you in voluntarily,” Cross added.
It wasn’t much to go on. But it was still a chance, a tiny little crack in the armor of this case. Kara had made more, out of less.
“Reach out,” she decided, throwing her leg over her motorcycle. “We’ll try that avenue, even as I look for other possibilities.”
Cross nodded, climbing onto his own bike, his eyes lingering on her. Was the man just horny, checking out her legs in the tight jeans as she climbed astride her vehicle, or was that concern, something deeper, in his eyes? The thought that it could be more than lust both scared Kara, but also sent a strange little shiver running up and down her spine.
It had been so long, she suddenly found herself thinking, since someone else really cared about her.
Cross was still a criminal, a deviant, definitely not boyfriend material. Normally, Kara would never expect to find herself confronting him - except perhaps across a metal table in a suspect examination room in a police station.
But still, she was finally starting to accept, the man seemed to have a little spark of caring about her.
And it felt nice to know that it was there.
CHAPTER 12
“So, what’s the word? You get anywhere in figuring out what info we’re gonna feed the pigs about those Hellraisers?”
Kara swallowed her bite of food, giving herself time to reflect on the answer before she spoke aloud. “Maybe,” she said, reaching for her drink.
The drink was clear, and consisted of nothing but water and a few ice cub
es. Kara had specifically made sure to turn down any offers of alcohol - not even beer. The other bikers had looked a little surprised at that decision, but they didn’t press her - and for that, the undercover FBI agent was thankful.
Tonight, she definitely didn’t want a repeat of the previous night.
Before heading all the way back to the Iron Brotherhood’s house, Kara had pulled off of the highway at a convenient parking lot. She had waved to Cross to go on ahead. “I’ll be fine from here!” she shouted at him, struggling to be heard over the still-idling bikes.
Cross had looked concerned, but she waved him off, and he headed out to meet her back at the house. Kara watched him go, the little cloud of dust from his bike disappearing off into the distance.
He was wonderful, but she had to give a full and unbiased report back to Rogers at the FBI, and she didn’t want Cross listening in.
Once she was certain that the man was gone, Kara pulled out her phone and placed the call. An unsmiling, blank voice picked up at the other end, and Kara read off her verification code and requested the extension for Rogers’ desk.
Rogers answered with similar guardedness in his voice. But as Kara told her story (although she carefully left out some of the activities that happened last evening, after she had convinced the Iron Brotherhood to help her gather information), the man warmed up, growing less upset. By the time she was finishing, the man was almost enthusiastic - a rarity for the rough senior agent.
“By damn, at least you’re doing better than Shaw and his band of yes-men,” Rogers commented, when Kara finished sharing what she’d uncovered so far. “Normally, he’s a great agent, but for this case he seems to have a gift of sniffing out every dead end - and god, the press is eating my ass alive on this. You’re the one bright note in this shit-show of a day so far, you should know.”
This was faint praise from anyone else, but Kara knew that it was meaningful when Rogers said it, that his intentions behind it were positive. “Don’t count on my solving the whole case just yet,” Kara cautioned, even as her face threatened to break into a smile. “I don’t have any proof yet.”
“But you think you can get it?” Rogers pressed.
She only hesitated slightly before replying. “I’m not sure how I’m going to do it yet, but yes. I’ll get proof.”
“Good. You pull this off, Sybil, and there will definitely be a feather in your cap, or at least a commendation in your file,” Rogers added. “This is a big deal for you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
For a moment longer, Rogers paused, not speaking yet. Kara knew that there was another thought bouncing around in the man’s mind, his wheels turning as he tried to get it organized, and she waited patiently, listening.
“What about your cover?” he finally asked. “Your uncle helped put you in with these bikers, right? Are they suspecting you?”
“I don’t think so. I think that my cover’s secure, sir.”
“No potential problems? You are pushing pretty hard on them, without a lot of time to build any real background. What about your CI that introduced you?”
‘CI’ stood for ‘criminal informant,’ and referred to Cross. It took Kara a moment to remember that, however - the man had already felt like he was something more than just a stool pigeon, lying to save his own and his friends’ skins.
“He’s handling things well,” she said, aware that Rogers was waiting for an answer. “I don’t foresee any problems.”
“Good, good. You’re taking a lot of risk, Sybil.” Rogers still didn’t sound fully convinced.
Kara was about to hang up the phone, but the man opened his mouth again, and she paused. “Kara,” he said, and she started a little. Rogers usually never referred to her by anything but her last name! “Kara, take care. Don’t forget the end goal. Remember what’s most important. If you need to walk away to stay safe, don’t hesitate.”
The man was concerned about her! Kara momentarily felt her throat close up; she was touched by his concern. “Thank you, sir,” she said, trying not to let any of that emotion show in her voice - and failing. “But don’t worry, sir. I’m not in too deep.”
“Good. Then I’ll await your next report with bated breath, Sybil,” Rogers finished, already sounding back to his old self. The phone clicked before Kara had even pulled it away from her ear.
As she finished riding back to the Iron Brotherhood clubhouse, however, Kara considered those last words she’d spoken. She would know if she was in too deep, wouldn’t she? She’d be able to tell, be able to take a step back before going over the edge.
The little spark that Cross seemed to have towards her, it was something to watch, but it wasn’t anything that she couldn’t handle.
And, Kara insisted, the tiny little flame inside of her, the counterpart to what he might feel towards her, was not a threat.
She could squash that feeling at any time.
It wouldn’t compromise the mission - and that was all that mattered. She remembered what was most important.
#
So now, at dinner with the rest of the Iron Brotherhood bikers, Kara was being more cautious than she’d been at the previous night’s gathering. Even before the sun had set, the other bikers had busted out a case of beers, but Kara insisted on sticking to water.
Some of the other men raised eyebrows at that at first, but thankfully, Gimli stepped in, coming to her rescue. “If she has another night like last night, her liver might explode!” he commented with a chuckle as he passed over Kara’s glass of water. “Besides, I’m sure Cross needs a break after last night - after going so long without a woman, we don’t want to break him from over-use!”
That got a laugh from the other men, and they didn’t push Kara any further.
When she glanced over at Cross, however, she was expecting him to look a little annoyed. After all, he hadn’t gotten lucky, no matter what these other men might believe. But to her surprise, he was grinning, looking somewhat rueful!
He leaned in close to her ear a minute later. “Trust me, you were pretty trying to me last night,” he whispered.
Kara’s eyebrows rose. “Nothing happened, remember?”
“I got to see you naked - and trust me, that put some strain on a few systems that are out of use.”
Kara almost slapped the man right there - but she settled for a sneaky grin. “Maybe I can get you to explode tonight,” she whispered back instead, and was gratified to see Cross nearly walk into a table as he tried to saunter away.
Of course, she wasn’t going to do anything of the sort! It was fun to flirt back and forth with the man, but she was going to keep all of her clothes on. So after dinner, as she helped a few other women gather up the plates and clean off the table, she listened in as the bikers discussed what to do next.
“Bars again? I bet I can beat that darts score of yours from last night,” one man suggested.
Cross’s voice cut in. “Not tonight,” he said. “Staying in. I think Gimli’s got some movie that he’s been pestering me to watch.”
Kara’s first feeling upon hearing this was relief. Staying in meant a quiet night, and less risk of problems. She could sit with him at the movie, playing the role if girlfriend, and then feign sleepiness and disappear early in the night. There was no need to worry about Cross trying to bring home some other woman from the bar and finding his bed occupied.
Not that he’d do that, of course.
Would he?
For a moment, she pondered this as she rinsed off dishes, but then she shook herself back to reality. It didn’t matter! What did she care if the man went out and hit on another woman? He was only her cover!
Still, after dinner when she found herself sharing a couch with Cross as Gimli excitedly prattled on about whatever this action movie featured, Kara was surprised to realize how comfortable she felt. Even if she was doing this just as part of her cover, it was nice to have a little disconnect from work, to get to kick back, put up her feet, and relax as a mo
vie played in the darkened living room.
Playing the role of “good girlfriend” perfectly, she leaned up against Cross, nestling into his body as his big hands wrapped around her, one draping over her shoulder and the other sliding around her waist. Considering his muscular body, he was surprisingly comfortable. Bit by bit, almost without thinking about it, Kara nestled into the crook of his arm, breathing in his comforting musky scent.
The movie played on, although the FBI agent was almost immediately lost. Some man’s father had been killed, and now he had to avenge him by killing his way through an entire apartment building - which seemed full of ninjas, assassins, and gun-toting mercenaries. The whole thing quickly devolved into mindless action sequences and rough men waving around guns.
Fraction by fraction, Kara felt her eyes drooping shut. It was dark, and she was comfortable and warm. Cross’s arms around her felt protective, as if they were shutting out the rest of the world.
Effortlessly, the woman slipped off to sleep.
An indeterminate amount of time later, Kara felt herself slightly stirred, the arms around her slipping to a different position. She felt herself swaying gently back and forth, lifted up off of the couch. She stirred a little, turning into Cross’s chest, but she didn’t bother to open her eyes.
He’s carrying me upstairs, she thought vaguely to herself, and, comforted now that she knew what was happening, drifted back to sleep.
When she next opened her eyes, it was dark, even darker than she remembered. There was an unfamiliar weight draped across her back. For a moment, panic suffused her brain, and she shot upright from the horizontal bed beneath her. Where was she? What was going on?
The arm that had been laying across her back shifted, and a hand rose up to sleepily stroke at her back. “Relax,” Cross murmured, next to her. “You’re just in bed. Go back to sleep.”
Oh. Okay. Kara settled back down, but, needing to change positions, she flipped over. The darkness was almost absolute, but she was pretty sure that she was now facing Cross.
Guns & Dusty Roads: The Iron Brotherhood Series Page 8
