“It’s a good thing I like you, squirt,” he said, putting his arm around Jess’s neck and yanking her in tight. He absolutely dwarfed her in size—a combination of how petite she was and how huge Ike was.

“Of course you do. I’m totally adorable,” she said, glaring at Jeremy as he rolled his eyes. What Jess lacked in height, she made up for in the size of her personality and the bite of her sarcastic tongue. Shane’s gaze glanced over her, from the black braid that curved around the side of her neck and laid over her shoulder to the low vee of her tight, black shirt to the killer heeled boots she wore over a pair of curve-hugging jeans. When they’d met, Jess hadn’t done a damn thing to hide her attraction to Shane, and he’d had half a mind to have a little fun with her when this mission was over.

Now . . . ?

Crystal.

His mind conjured up the softness of all that red hair, the heat of her curves in his hands, the press of her body against his.

Aw, hell.

Shane gave Jess another look and . . . nope. His interest wasn’t there. Not anymore.

“And this is Becca,” Jeremy said. She smiled as she shook Ike’s hand, but worry and exhaustion shone in her eyes. This situation would’ve been a helluva lot of stress for anyone, but in the past few days, Becca had been injured, nearly abducted—twice, and now she was pulling all-nighters to stand watch over her brother. Thank God she’d managed to take a couple weeks’ leave time from her nursing job. No way she could’ve juggled all that right now.

“So, Ike and Jess, just wanted you to meet the guys since they’ll be coming and going from the building while they get their new security-consulting business up and running.” The team had strategized this morning what to tell Jeremy’s staff. They needed some plausible cover for why they were hanging around so much, and the consulting business well fit their military backgrounds and explained why they were buttoning up the security around here.

Jess pulled out of Ike’s hold and crossed her arms. “Security consulting. What exactly does that mean?” she asked.

“Private investigation, computer and physical-security analysis and installation. That kind of thing,” Nick said casually.

“Jess’s dad was a cop,” Jeremy said, neither his stance nor his voice as relaxed and convincing as Nick’s.

She pressed her lips into a tight line and nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “Well, good luck with it. I’ve got a client coming in ten, so I better get ready.” She gave a small wave and left the group. It was maybe the most reserved Shane had ever seen her. The mention of her dad had almost seemed to take the wind from her sails. Jess’s dad was a cop. Why had Jeremy used the past tense? And, Christ, did they need to worry about Jess or her father being in any way connected to the police on Church’s payroll?

As if hearing Shane’s thoughts, Nick said in a low voice. “Her father died a number of years ago. She doesn’t talk about him much.” He turned to Jeremy. “We’re heading out for a while. See ya later.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jeremy said.

Becca walked up to him. “Can I ask you a favor?”

Jeremy’s smile was immediate and full of affection for Becca. “Name it.”

“Can you keep an eye on Charlie for me? It’s just that I don’t know how long we’ll be gone, and—”

“I’d be happy to. My next client isn’t until four anyway. I can do the prep work I need upstairs.”

“Thank you.” She hugged him. “That makes me feel a lot better.”

Nick gave Jeremy a nod that communicated his thanks, too.

“We better get going,” Shane said. In addition to their humanitarian concerns about Charlie’s condition, Marz was worried he wouldn’t figure out the meaning of the binary codes without Charlie’s help, so it hadn’t taken anything for Becca to convince Nick and the team that Charlie needed treatment beyond what she and Shane could provide. Even leery as they were about bringing in an outsider. A veteran emergency medical technician nearly through with medical school, her friend seemed about as qualified as they could hope for. Better yet, he’d agreed to meet with Becca after lunch. But Shane didn’t want to be late to Crystal’s and risk her getting spooked.

The group of them made their way to the parking lot out back, and Shane updated the guys about his call. The whole team agreed Shane had to cultivate Crystal. Who knew what else she might share? Like a more specific location for Wednesday’s meeting—Derek had explained just how ginormous the marine terminal actually was. Turned out what they knew of the meeting’s location so far amounted to jack squat.

Despite their relative certainty that their presence at Hard Ink hadn’t been compromised, Nick had asked all the guys to go to the meet to provide cover. Church had clearly infiltrated UMC, so Shane understood Nick’s desire to err on the side of caution.

“Hey, whose bike?” Shane asked, nodding to the big black-and-steel beauty parked between his truck and Nick’s black Challenger. Hadn’t seen it back here before.

“Ike’s,” Nick said. “He belongs to a motorcycle club.”

Beckett came to a halt as his gaze narrowed on the motorcycle. “An actual social club or an MC?” he said.

“What’s the diff?” Marz asked.

“MCs often engage in organized crime to support their members. They’re big businesses,” Beckett said, his blue eyes going frosty. Shane turned a hard stare at Nick. Beckett owned a private security firm in D.C. and was never easily ruffled, so the big guy’s concern was enough to fuel Shane’s own.

“Oh goody. The Church gang on wheels,” Marz said, echoing Shane’s thoughts.

“Yeah,” Nick said, nodding. “There are several here in the city. I encounter them every once in a while serving papers. Ike’s group is an MC, but he keeps his club business separate from his work at Hard Ink.”

Beckett braced his hands on his hips and glared at Nick. “And you didn’t think to mention this? Is Ike something we need to worry about? Because we need problems from another direction like Noah needed more rain.”

Nick shook his head, his expression and stance relaxed. “No. Ike’s a good guy. Loyal to Jeremy. I’ve known him for a while, and I’m telling you it’s not a problem—”

“All the same,” Marz said. “I’d like to run some checks on Ike and this club when we get back.” Beckett crossed his arms and nodded. Shane couldn’t have agreed more.

“Fair enough,” Nick said, opening the rear passenger door of Beckett’s SUV for Becca. Then he, Marz, Beckett, and Easy piled into the big beast, too. Shane was riding solo so he could make Crystal’s in time. As he backed out of his space, he gave the motorcycle a last look. Nick had better be right about Ike. Last thing they needed was a threat from within.

On the drive to the park, anticipation of seeing Crystal again had Shane’s pulse beating a little faster, a little harder. He was walking on a knife’s edge where she was concerned, between the team’s need to use her for information and his own growing interest in her well-being.

As a rule, Shane didn’t pursue women romantically just to get intel. A wink and a flirtatious smile. Sure. He excelled at that, and it was harmless. But even in the field, he’d refused to seriously lead a woman on as a means of gaining access to info. It crossed a line for him he couldn’t stomach, maybe because of what’d happened to Molly. Who the hell knew. If that made him a less effective soldier, it also made him a better person. He believed that to his core.

Shane thought through everything that’d happened since he’d met Crystal at Confessions. He was attracted, no question. He was intrigued, without a doubt. So, he was interested. Whether he could act on that interest was one big question, and whether his interest in her conflicted with the team’s agenda was another. And he didn’t yet know the answer to either.

Within fifteen minutes, they’d made it to Patterson Park, a dozen-blocks-long square of green in the middle of the neighborhood east of downtown where Becca lived. Shane wasn’t sure what she’d said to convince her friend to meet her here versus her house, or the hospital, or any of a dozen other places he suspected might’ve been less unusual, but since the guy had agreed, that was all that mattered.

Near the edge of the park closest to Becca’s house, the team took up positions around the Pagoda, a hundred-year-old tower inspired by Asian architecture that stood at the edge of a wide field.

Easy, Marz, and Beckett took cover farther away, providing a perimeter, and the rest of them waited on the steps of the building. Despite the sunny spring afternoon, they were largely alone. In the distance, a group of sun-worshippers lay on blankets and on a far sidewalk, someone jogged with a baby stroller, but otherwise they had the privacy they’d wanted for this conversation.

About five minutes later, a man walked up the sidewalk that led from the street to the Pagoda. Everything about his body language and demeanor was open and straightforward, and he smiled and waved as soon as he saw Becca.

She jogged down the steps, and Nick stuck to her like white on rice. “Hey, Murph,” she called. “Thanks for coming.”

“Becca. How you doing? How you feeling?” he said, coming up to her and giving her a hug.

“I’m okay,” she said. “Let me introduce you to some friends and explain why I asked you to come,” she said. “Murphy Jones, this is my boyfriend, Nick,” she said. “Nick, Murphy.”

Nick shook the guy’s hand, a serious, appraising look on his face. “Nice to meet you. Thanks for coming.”

Becca waved Shane closer. “And this is Shane, Nick’s best friend and a former Army medic.” As they exchanged greetings, Shane took stock of the man. Tall, thin, with short brown hair, probably late thirties. He made eye contact and was completely relaxed in his posture. Nothing about him seemed shifty or uncomfortable, leading Shane’s gut to side with Becca’s instincts that the man was probably trustworthy.