It wasn’t lost on her that he hadn’t gotten back in bed with her.
She ached for him, missed the feel of his big body snuggled up against her. But distance between them was probably for the best. Making love with him last night had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, a choice on her part. She’d needed it and so had he, that release of tension before the “big game,” so to speak.
But now it was time she focus on her job. She’d been too eager in so many ways. Too eager for him, as well as in her involvement with the mission. Both had cost her dearly. It was time to take a step back and let Diaz run the show, job wise. As far as their personal relationship . . .
There wasn’t one. And she was going to have to learn to live with it. She couldn’t have impersonal sex with him. She’d learned that the hard way. Sex without reaching out emotionally meant nothing.
Last night she’d let all her emotions fly. It had been wonderful. But she’d also kept in the back of her mind that Diaz was never going to be the kind of man she could have a relationship with. It had been okay, while they were in bed.
But as soon as they were done, she knew it wasn’t going to be okay. It was never going to be okay being without him.
So she was never going to sleep with him again. She’d just as soon walk away from him than continually batter her heart like that. It was best to simply focus on the mission, get through the end of this case, then get back to Wild Riders’ headquarters and move on with her life.
Without Diaz, because that’s the way he wanted it. She’d ask Grange not to assign her to a case with Diaz for a while. Then, with time and a little distance, maybe she could work with him again. Surely her heart would heal, and they could be friends. She’d move on, start dating, which is what she should have been doing all along instead of getting hung up on a guy who wasn’t interested in a future with her. Once she fell in and out of love a few times, she and Diaz could both laugh about this.
Theoretically, it sounded great. Reality was going to be a lot different.
Enough. It was time to focus. Everyone was brainstorming and she’d barely been tuning in. She turned her attention to the guys.
“We could hijack the RV,” Crush suggested.
Diaz shook his head. “The survivalists would never follow. They’d recognize the setup and it would just send them deeper undercover. We’ll lose the bust that way, and we’ll not only screw up the chance to bring in some survivalists, but Rex, Nate, and the others, too.”
“So the best thing to do is just let the transfer happen?” Jessie asked.
Diaz nodded. “Yeah. I’ve already been in touch with Walt, our Fed contact. The plan is to set up in the prearranged drop location several hours in advance of Rex’s meeting with the survivalists. The ATF is already planning to scour the area and make sure no one’s around. We’ll bury ourselves deep, hide vehicles, and be ready to jump on them as soon as they make the exchange. That way we catch both sides in the act of selling and buying illegal arms.”
“When do we go?”
Diaz looked at Crush. “We’re trained for this. You’re not. This could get dangerous.”
Crush leveled a glare at Diaz. “You can’t kick me out of this now. I can handle myself. Besides, my guys are neck deep in this shit. I feel responsible. I want to see it through.”
Diaz considered it. Bad move to bring in a civilian, but Crush seemed to know how to handle himself, and they might need another knowledgeable biker in case things went south. Besides, Crush already knew what was going to happen. Better to keep him close rather than telling him he had to stay here, pissing him off and risk having him show up at the wrong time and blow the whole operation. “Okay, but you so much as blink the wrong way and I’ll knock you out. This is a Federal bust, and it’s huge. They’re going to crap bricks knowing we have a civilian in the midst of this, so you take every step glued to my side and do exactly what I tell you.”
Crush nodded. “You got it.”
“We already have tracking devices on Rex’s bike as well as the others involved,” Diaz said. “But I want to add one to the RV, too. I’m not taking any chances in case they make a last-minute deviation from the designated meeting place, especially since we won’t be here to watch over them.”
Crush nodded. “Sounds like you have it all planned out.”
Spence snorted. “It’s never as easy as it looks. The plan just sounds simple. And straightforward plans are typically the worst kind.”
“Because a thousand different things can go wrong, and because human nature is utterly unpredictable,” Jessie added.
“Exactly.” Diaz stood and paced Crush’s crowded room. They’d holed up in here because Crush assured them of privacy. “We can plan for different outcomes, but we never know what might happen. The one thing we have to avoid is detection. No one on either Rex’s side or the survivalists’ side can know we’re there watching.”
“Are we doing video?” Spence asked.
“Got it covered.”
At Crush’s questioning look, Diaz said, “We’ll get the arms-for-cash trade on video. The Feds will need it for evidence, and I told Walt that we had video taken care of.”
Jessie grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and started jotting notes. They had to secure the video equipment, make arrangements to sneak out early today so they could rendezvous with the Feds and get everything in place. Diaz put Crush in charge of making appropriate excuses for their whereabouts. Crush was going to tell people that he was leading Diaz, Spence, and Jessie on a ride to one of his favorite spots. That they would be gone for most of the day and well into the night. Before they left, weapons would have to be checked, loaded, extra ammo secured.
Jessie hoped gunfire wouldn’t be necessary, but she knew they’d all do whatever it took. They’d also have to keep an eye on Crush, because he was a civilian. If something happened to him, it would be her fault. Yes, she trusted him, but it wasn’t his job to put his neck on the line to help them reel in the bad guys.
Stupid move, Jessie. She knew better, she really did. She was going to have to stop being so eager and start taking a backseat to the mission leader in the future.
If she even had a future with the Wild Riders when this was over. She wouldn’t blame Diaz at all if he reported her to Grange.
They spent the morning playing at being low-key. They put in an appearance in the lodge restaurant, chatted and drank coffee, acted as normal as possible. Crush made a big deal about talking with Diaz about taking a ride that day, one that would lead them north for a day into Missouri and last into the night. Before long it was time to pack up and go.
It was a little after noon when they arrived at the meeting destination, more than eight hours before the survivalists and Rex’s group were scheduled to rendezvous. The Feds were already there, combing the area. They stashed and covered their bikes, making sure they couldn’t be spotted from the road. Walt met up with Diaz and they exchanged information.
“I’ve got teams clearing the area as far back as five miles, making sure no one is in the woods,” Walt said. “Weather forecast is shit for tonight, low ceiling and heavy rain possible. With all these hills and trees it’s too dangerous for choppers, so we’ll get no air support.”
Walt was tall, well built with deep blue eyes and midnight black hair closely cropped and almost hidden underneath an ATF ball cap. All his men were dressed similarly in camouflaging dark clothes.
The place was crawling with agents scurrying around, making very little noise, saying hardly anything, but everyone seemed to know what they were supposed to do and where they were supposed to be. Their vehicles were already long gone, everything happening on foot. These guys were good.
“You four can move up to the front with me,” Walt said. “You have video, so we’ll need you close to the action.”
Diaz nodded and they followed. There was only one discernible path visible from the main road and wide enough for Nate to bring the RV through. Other than that, it was dense forest all the way. Vegetation littered the forest floor, making the walking hazardous.
“This is going to suck at night,” Jessie muttered, picking her way over fallen limbs and rocks. “If we have to take off after these guys, we’re going to trip and fall on our asses.”
“By then we’ll be hitting them with lights, so that should help your footing,” Walt offered.
Yeah, it would help some, but how much? She hoped it was a full moon tonight. Then again, as she tilted her head back and looked up at the canopy of trees overhead, she realized they’d be lucky to get anything through that thick foliage.
This was going to be interesting.
They discussed the perimeter, where to set up and how. SUVs had been hidden, with drivers stashed behind the wheels, ready to block the main road and all available exits at a moment’s notice. No way could they park nearby because they’d be seen, but Walt assured them that they had vehicles at the ready and could reappear within moments. Jessie assumed they knew what they were doing.
They settled in about twenty yards behind the clearing, well hidden behind a large, mossy rock and a thick copse of trees. To the north was a cliff and a steep drop down to the river, so no chance of the survivalists coming up that way. The only way they’d have to move in was from the east and from the main road, and the ATF agents weren’t set up there. Everyone was buried in the forest, deep out of sight.
Jessie leaned against the rock and grabbed her bottle of water out of her pack. She turned to Spence, who let out a grumbling curse while settling in.
“Are you doing okay?”
He gave a quick nod and a reassuring smile, squeezing her hand. “I’ve handled worse than this, darlin’. I’m gonna be fine.”
She had no idea what was worse than being shot, and wasn’t sure she wanted to know what else Spence had been through.
Now all they had to do was wait. She looked at her watch. It was six o’clock.
They had three hours left.
Stakeouts sucked. Too much time to idle, reflect, and think. Jessie hated inactivity, much preferred doing something.
Diaz had settled in next to her. They were sitting on damp ground, leaves over them. She was starting to cramp.
The skies turned dark and a cold misty rain began to fall. Great, just great.
Jessie zipped her jacket all the way to her chin, pulling the collar up, thankful she’d remembered to put on her thick socks. It was going to be cold tonight, made even more so by the dampness in the air.
“Cold?” Diaz asked.
“Did my chattering teeth give me away?”
He laughed, pushed closer toward her. “I’d lie on top of you to keep you warm, but then I’d lose all focus on the mission.”
She snorted, then turned her head to look at him, sucking in a breath at his dark eyes studying her.
“What?” she asked.
His lips curled. “Nothing.”
Yeah, she was definitely going to have to ask Grange not to assign her cases with Diaz anymore. Her stomach clenched and she felt all warm and gooey inside. Just looking at him made her brains scramble—but at least she was warmer now. Bonus.
The hours passed slowly. They talked about the mission, and Walt helped pass the time by telling them about some other stakeouts he’d been on. Some were dicey and action packed, others complete clusterfucks, and some, like this one, were hours spent just sitting and waiting. His world was fascinating though, and he’d made some high-profile busts.
Finally she heard sounds. Engine sounds. The loud roar of pipes. It was time.
“Get into position,” Walt said, alerting his team via his comm.
They dropped down as bikes entered the clearing, engines shut off, and whispered voices echoed in the empty forest.
It was Rex and the other bikers from Crush’s gang. Diaz signaled for them all to keep hidden. Jessie checked her watch. Straight up nine o’clock. Rex was prompt, no doubt eager to get his payoff.