His sigh of relief was audible. “Thanks. Okay, thanks.”

Trish waved him off with an absent flick of her hand, and he disappeared. “Lisa works with her head, and numbers mean you have to be quick and sharp. That fits. And, hey, working numbers for national? That’s a power position. Smart again.”

“Yeah, I see what you mean,” Loren said, a swell of pride replacing the tension tying her insides into knots. Sky seemed to have sold her own cover just by being herself. Smart and sassy and sexy. And so much more.

Trish tilted her glass in Loren’s direction, as if punctuating her words. “So she’s the kind of woman it’s good to know. Good to have on the side of the chapter, if you know what I mean.”

Loren nodded slowly. “Important to treat her right.”

“Exactly. And it wouldn’t do you any harm, either. She’s about a hundred steps up from the trash you usually bed.”

“I wouldn’t say they’re trash.”

“No, you wouldn’t. That’s another thing I like about you.” Trish took a healthy swallow of her drink and patted Loren’s thigh, her hand lingering until Loren wanted to jump up and run. “In fact, if I ever get tired of Ramsey, I think you’ll be my next choice.”

Loren stared from the hand on her leg to Trish’s wickedly gleaming eyes. “Jesus, Trish. Are you trying to get me a one-way ticket out of here?”

Trish smiled sweetly and slid her hand back onto the bar. “Of course, I wouldn’t bother you if you were already hooked up, you know?”

Loren nodded. “I think I’m getting the message.”

“I always knew you were smart. Think about it.” Trish slid off her stool and sauntered across the room to a table where three biker chicks had congregated with their drinks, leaving Loren to digest the not-so-subtle messages.

Trish liked Sky, but she also liked what Sky could potentially do for the Renegades, assuming of course she was actually the person Trish thought she was. And since she wasn’t, the whole situation only meant Sky needed to disappear sooner rather than later. She’d already attracted too much attention.

Loren contemplated her beer and decided she didn’t want any more. What she wanted she couldn’t have. She wanted to climb into bed with Sky and spend the rest of the night wrapped up in her, immersed in the heat of her body and the sweet taste of her passion. She didn’t want the mission driving a wedge between them, and she didn’t want to be haunted by the specter of Sky being discovered—and eliminated. The idea of Sky disappearing from her life hurt more than she’d imagined possible, but at least if Sky headed back to LA before things got more complicated, she’d be safe. And above all, Loren wanted her safe.

But wanting was not the same as having, especially not when Sky wanted something else entirely. But maybe it wasn’t too late. She’d made a mistake revealing her feelings—not that she regretted how she felt—but she’d pushed too hard. Maybe if she kept things between them strictly professional, she’d have a better chance of convincing Sky to go.

Loren left the bar and drove through the starless, frigid night to her shop. She parked her bike out back so she wouldn’t wake Sky by raising the doors to the garage. When she let herself in, she knew instantly Sky was gone. The room held a stillness that could only mean it was devoid of life. She flicked on a light and scanned the space. Sky’s few things were gone. She hadn’t brought much, but the small touches of her had made the room come to life with a warmth it’d never had. Now it was once again a sterile place bounded by stark concrete and wood. A lot like her.

Loren dropped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. All the things that mattered were still the same—the job she had to do, the need she had to pit herself against those who hoped to destroy the things she believed in. The only thing that had changed was her. Oh, she still believed, she still burned with the need to carry out her duty, but she bled now in places she never had before. Sky had touched her where no one else had ever dared to reach, and now she couldn’t seal the wounds. She needed to be touched as only Sky could, something else she hadn’t realized. She covered her eyes with her arm and wondered how she’d lived so long knowing so little about herself and what really mattered.


*


Cam called the apartment late morning, Blair’s time. Blair answered on the second ring. “Hi, baby.”

“Hi,” Blair said. “How’s the hotel?”

Cam laughed. “Like every other hotel. Room service is pretty good, though.”

“Well, that’s important.”

“How are things?”

Blair gave the barest hint of a sigh. “I was right, Lucinda was being merciful the last couple of days, seeing as how it was my birthday and the holidays. But she is back on Lucinda time now. I got a text at five a.m. instructing me to appear later to review the itinerary, the various venues where she’ll need me to appear with my father, and backup plans for me to take his place if he gets diverted for any reason.”

“Business as usual.”

“Exactly. How’s yours going?”

“Fairly smooth so far. I’ll know more later today.” Cam didn’t discuss operations in progress. Blair wouldn’t expect her to, and she’d learned that what mattered most was simply connecting. The sound of Blair’s voice, the simple act of sharing a few moments of her day and hearing about Blair’s settled her. Knowing Blair was safe and happy was all she needed to ground her.

“Okay.” Blair was silent for a moment. “I hope that goes well. You’ll let me know, as soon as you can?”

“Absolutely. Try to get some rest in between Lucinda briefings. You’ll be busy soon enough.”

“Same to you. And hurry home.”

“I will. I love you.”

“I love you. Talk to you soon.”

Cam disconnected and packed the few things she’d removed the night before. She never fully unpacked, never knowing when she might need to check out in a hurry. Depending on how the day’s meeting went, she might be leaving as early as the next morning. However, if she got anything in the way of reasonable leads from the FBI agent, she planned to follow them up. The rendezvous location was a two-hour drive from her hotel, and she wanted to arrive with plenty of time for reconnaissance. She didn’t know any of the agents involved, and she couldn’t be sure how good their security or intel was.

She owed it to everyone, especially Blair, to be cautious.


*


Sky slept fitfully, waking almost every hour to check the clock. By the time she decided to get out of bed, she was running mostly on adrenaline. She needed to settle, keep her mind clear for the meet later. Unfortunately, the one thing she needed in order to do that, she didn’t have. She needed Loren. She couldn’t stop wondering where Loren had ended up after the Rooster. In one of the club rooms in the back of the bar, with some young hopeful to keep her warm? Or back at the garage, alone in the silence? Or maybe she’d returned, found Sky gone, and decided that was all for the good. Maybe she’d slept perfectly.

That thought was so aggravating Sky threw the covers aside and stomped into the bathroom. The lukewarm shower helped clear her head, and she dressed in jeans, a button-down cotton shirt, a loose black sweater, and biker boots. She gathered her wallet and keys and decided to head to a diner for breakfast. She had plenty of time before she needed to set out for the tavern. She planned on arriving early enough to watch the comings and goings and get a sense of who, if anyone, frequented the place. According to Dan’s intel, the place was usually deserted, so far off the beaten path it rarely got any customers except in the summer season. Locals had no reason to drop in, as it was on a road that led from nowhere to somewhere even less populated. On the whole, a perfect place for an out-of-the-way assignation, and for all anyone would know, she was meeting a lover somewhere they wouldn’t be detected. All the same, she wanted a sense of the entrance and exit roads from the place, what foot traffic if any there might be, and plan her own strategy in case things went wrong. The only way to avoid problems was to see to the details herself.


*


Jane stretched out on her stomach on the rocky ledge a hundred yards above the highway and two hundred yards from the turnoff to the Timberwolf Bar and Grill and peered through the high-powered binoculars at the building where the two federal agents were scheduled to meet. Her assault rifle lay by her side. Her thermal-lined, Kevlar-impregnated camo jacket and pants kept her warm. Three hours to go.

She’d arrived before sunrise and had nothing to eat but an MRE at dawn. The crackers, cheese, and candy bar were enough to keep her hands steady and her mind clear. She wasn’t hungry, wasn’t aware of the cold or the wind. A little discomfort was nothing compared to what Jenn was enduring, hour after hour and day after day. Jane’s whole world had become the ramshackle one-story, split-log building framed by an L-shaped gravel parking lot. A thin trickle of sooty gray smoke streamed from the stone chimney, and the odor of burning pine carried to her when the wind shifted in her direction. Someone was inside although the parking lot was empty except for a run-down, rusted-out Ford pickup truck that presumably belonged to the owner. There’d been no traffic of any kind in or out of the restaurant in the hours she’d been there. A perfect place to carry out their plan.

“Com check,” she whispered into her radio.

“Bravo one, check.”

“Charlie one, check.”

Jane nodded, satisfied. Even knowing where the others were stationed in the dense forest, she couldn’t detect them. “Alpha one, check. Maintain radio silence. Out.”