“Hey,” Sky said brightly. “You got a fag I could borrow?”

“Sure,” the girl said, pulling a crumpled pack from the tiny pocket of her jacket. She held it out to Sky, who extracted the filtered menthol, put it to her lips.

“Light?”

Wordlessly, the girl held out her cigarette and Sky lit hers off the glowing end. She hugged herself with one arm and took a drag. “Thanks. Too noisy in there.”

“Yeah,” the girl said absently, her eyes dull and vacant. Stoned or maybe drunk.

“Well, thanks,” Sky said, drifting away. The girl paid her no attention. She walked on until she couldn’t be overheard and returned the call. Dan answered immediately. “Not a good time.”

“Where are you?”

“Out of town.”

“You need to get back. Day after tomorrow, you’ve got an appointment.”

Sky did some quick calculating. “It’s gonna be tight for me to make that. Can you reschedule?”

“That would be awkward. There’s some urgency.”

Sky sighed. “I’ll do what I can, but I’ve got some things going on that are more important.”

“I don’t get that sense. You need to be there.”

“Fine.” Sky dropped the cigarette and ground it out against the cracked macadam of the parking lot. “I’ll call you when I know for sure. And let’s keep this quiet. Too many eyes on this already.”

“Yeah. Don’t worry.”

“No, why would I?” Sky ended the call and pushed the phone back into the pocket of her tight jeans. Dan was a decent guy to work with, but he was more of a manager than field agent. He worried a little too much about career advancement and performance reports. None of which made a damn bit of difference out here.

She found Loren still at the bar, but Ramsey was gone. She leaned into her and kissed her. “Hey, baby.”

Loren wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Hey.”

Sky nuzzled Loren’s ear. “We need to go.”

“Then you better make this look good.” Loren pulled Sky tight and kissed her.

Sky gripped the back of Loren’s jeans to keep her balance and fought to keep her brain functioning. This show was for Ramsey and the others. But, God, Loren could kiss. A mind-melting few minutes later, Loren let her breathe.

“Let’s go, baby,” Loren said tightly, grabbing her hand and tugging her into the crowd. “I’m not done.”

Sky followed, slipping with frightening ease across the border between reality and fantasy.


*


Jane pretended to watch the football game in the small lounge on the first floor of the barracks. As soon as she’d arrived at the camp, she’d moved back into a spartan ten-by-ten room, just like the one she’d occupied during her breaks from college. Her only other option had been to find an apartment, and the expense and isolation made this a much better choice. Here, she was close to what mattered—her father, her mission, the men and women who shared her passion for justice and freedom. She was the only woman billeted in the barracks, but that was no problem. The soldiers treated her with friendly but distant regard. She’d come down to the lounge in hopes of finding something to divert her thoughts from Jenn, but nothing was working.

Her guilt made it hard to think of anything else. She was here, home, safe, and Jenn was alone somewhere. Imagining her sister’s desolation kept Jane awake, plagued her through the day, even though she knew Jenn was prepared for it. They’d all been trained with the expectation that they could be imprisoned, interrogated, even physically abused. Jennifer would be able to endure, but Jane wasn’t sure she could. The pain in her chest grew larger every hour.

Her phone rang and she read her father’s number with a sense of relief. She needed a mission, something to fill the expanding void inside her. She hurried outside to answer in privacy. “Sir?”

“I need you over here now.”

“Yes, sir. Right away, sir.” She tucked her phone away and jogged across the compound, up the stairs to headquarters, and back to her father’s office. She tapped on the door and entered. “Sir?”

Graves stood behind his desk, his hands on his hips, his face set. “We have a problem.”

Dread snaked through Jane’s insides. “Sir?”

“The Renegades may have been infiltrated.”

The relief nearly made her gasp. Not Jennifer. Jenn was all right. “They’re compromised?”

“Possibly.” He walked to the windows that looked out over the training fields. His back stiffened, the hands he’d clasped behind his back tightened into fists. “My information is incomplete. My contact in the sheriff’s department says there’s a meeting being scheduled between an FBI agent who’s infiltrated one of the local biker gangs and a Homeland Security agent.”

“Homeland.”

Graves turned, his eyes glinting with fury. “Yes. Interesting, isn’t it.”

“I don’t like the timing.”

“Neither do I.”

“How exposed are we through those bikers?” Jane asked.

“We can’t be sure what the agent knows, but my contact says the Homeland agent is interested in us.”

“Us.” Jane took a breath. “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t buy that this is a coincidence. I don’t know how, but we must assume this is related to…the lieutenant.”

“I agree. Especially considering who the agent is.”

“Sir?”

“Cameron Roberts.”

The air in the room seemed to chill, and Jane’s blood drained from her head. She fought a wave of dizziness and clenched her jaw. “Roberts.”

“Yes.” Her father studied her intently, as if waiting for her to answer a question he hadn’t asked.

Jane smiled and hope surged for the first time in weeks. “That’s very good news, sir.”

He grinned, a feral snarl that reminded her of a rabid wolf they’d come upon in the mountains when she’d been twelve. “I was hoping you would say that, Captain.”

Chapter Twenty-eight


Blair walked Cam to the door and took her overcoat from the closet. She held it to her breasts as if that might keep Cam with her a moment longer. She’d wakened with a heaviness in her chest, as if the air had thickened during the night, pressing in around her with malevolent intent. Foolish, she knew. She just didn’t want their private time to end, and that was natural enough. For a few days they’d been blessedly alone—even Lucinda had been quiet. But paradise was temporary. “Call me when you get there?”

“Of course.” Cam took Blair’s hand. “What are you going to do?”

Blair sighed. “I might as well head back to DC. I need to find out what Lucinda has planned.” She laughed. “She’s actually scarier when she’s silent.”

“Then I’ll see you in a day or two.” Cam kissed her. “Don’t let her talk you into anything crazy.”

“I’ll do my best.” Blair folded Cam’s coat on top of her luggage. “One more thing.”

Cam caressed her arm. “What?”

Blair threaded her arms around Cam’s neck and leaned into her. “I don’t know. Nothing. Just…I love you.”

Cam kissed her. “I love you too. No matter where I am or what I’m doing, you’re always there.”

“For me too.” Blair smiled shakily. Telling her to be careful was needless—Cam would do what she needed to do. “So. You’ve got a plane to catch. I’ll be waiting.”

Cam kissed her again. “Good. Because I count on it.”


*


Sky pocketed her cell phone and walked into the garage where Loren was offloading their gear from the bike. “The meet is set for tomorrow afternoon at a tavern called the Timberwolf Bar and Grill. Know it?”

Loren set the carriers she’d just removed from the motorcycle onto the counter. “Yes. It’s a little out-of-the-way place about twenty miles from here. Why there?”

“Dan set it up. He figured it would be easy for me to get to, and I wouldn’t be gone too long. Plus, in the middle of the day, the likelihood of any bikers being around is slim.”

“I ought to be there,” Loren said.

Sky understood. She’d feel the same way were the situations reversed, and she’d be complaining just as loudly. And Loren, no doubt, would be saying exactly what she was about to say. “No, you shouldn’t be there. It’s doesn’t make good tactical sense.”

Loren jammed her hands into the pockets of her jeans and leaned against her workbench, as if trying to keep from losing what remained of her temper. Sky picked up a rag from a bucket by the bike and started to wipe the snowmelt and salt from the chassis to give Loren a few minutes to get a grip. When she heard what sounded like a growl, she sighed and straightened. Guess not. “Look. You know the reasons why both of us being potentially exposed is unacceptable. I’m not going to repeat them. But, bottom line—I’m your handler, and ordinarily I’d be the one to meet with this Homeland agent anyhow. Just because I’m here doesn’t change anything.”

“Bull.” Loren stalked over, took the rag from Sky’s hand, and tossed it onto the counter. She gripped Sky’s hips, her hold gentle despite the raging storm in her eyes. “Your being here changes everything. You’re a cop, and if anyone in the Renegades, or the militia, or whoever is funding them gets the slightest whiff of that, you’re dead.”

“And the same is true for you.” Sky shook her head, relying on procedural arguments so she didn’t have to admit how much the thought of Loren disappearing one night terrified her—and that’s just what would happen if Loren’s cover was blown. She’d be executed and her body buried somewhere no one would ever find it, and Sky would be left empty and searching for the rest of her life. This was the safest way to ensure Loren’s safety and her own sanity. “The chance of anyone getting on to me is practically zero, but even if it were to happen, your cover would be protected. I could pull out and the mission—”