Chapter 28
Never bring a seal on a secret mission
Flynn
“W hat are we doing? Where are we going?” Sophia bounces in the passenger seat of my truck as we drive toward Rogue’s Landing.
“It’s a secret mission.”
She rolls her eyes. “I figured as much when you told me to change into clothes I don’t mind getting dirty and then ordered me into the car.”
“And those are the clothes you chose?” I nod to her outfit. She’s wearing a pair of designer jeans and a blouse. She looks more ready to hit the mall to go shopping than go on a secret mission.
“These clothes can get dirty, but what if this secret mission ends up with me getting my picture taken? I want to look my best.”
“Maybe I should have left you at home,” I mumble.
She slaps my shoulder. “Wrong answer. You’re going to need my skills for our secret mission.”
“You don’t know what the mission is.”
“But I’m certain I have a skill that will come in handy.”
“Let’s hope so.”
“I have skills, mister. Just you wait and see.” She feigns boxing.
I grasp her hands and push them down into her lap. “There will be no boxing. Which is a good thing since you obviously don’t know how to box.”
“I do too!”
I lift an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Don’t you remember the time I decked Tammy the traitor in junior high?”
“Tammy the traitor?”
“She told on us for skipping biology class. Traitor. There was no way I was dissecting a frog. None of us were. Except Paisley. She refused to skip with us.”
Ah, now I remember. “As I recall you pulled her hair.”
“And she cried and begged for her mommy.”
“Did she cry as much as you did when you had detention?”
She gasps. “I did not cry about getting detention. I would never.”
“You’re probably right. You couldn’t cry every time you had detention. You would have run out of tears.”
“I did not get detention that often.”
“Didn’t the vice principal rename detention to Sophia time?”
She ignores my comment. “And you can’t run out of tears. Trust me. I am certain of this.”
I frown over at her. “Are you speaking from personal experience? Who hurt you?”
“Shane,” she grumbles. “The jerk.”
I pull over to the side of the road. “Who’s Shane? Is he dead or do I get the pleasure of killing him?”
“I told you this already. Shane is the guy who lied and stole the credit for all of my work. Asshole. Of course, the true asshole was my boss, Kirk. He didn’t fight for me. I was his best employee, and he chose to believe his lying nephew over me. Double asshole.”
Relief courses through me. Shane isn’t a former lover who hurt Sophia. I know she’s not an innocent little girl anymore, but I can’t stand the idea of another man touching her. Another man bringing her pleasure. I growl.
Sophia pats my chest. “There, there, pirate man. There’s no need to kill Shane or Kirk. I’m not the kind of woman to have a boyfriend who’s in jail. I don’t think I could do conjugal visits.” She shivers. “A little trailer in the prison yard where everyone knows what you’re doing? No thanks.”
“I think you’ve been watching too many movies.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re not killing anyone for me.”
I palm her neck and lean close to her. “I’m not a killer but if anyone hurts you, I will hurt them back.”
Her eyes flare. “You can’t be all sexy and make my panties wet when we’re on a secret mission. Unless the secret mission is to have sex in a public place. In which case, carry on.”
Images of Sophia naked on the beach flash through my mind. “You want to have sex in a public place?”
She grimaces. “Not really but I figure you won’t either, so we’ll end up somewhere private before too many clothes come off anyway.”
My cock twitches. He’s down with Sophia’s idea. I blow out a breath and lay my forehead against hers. “Don’t tempt me.”
“What kind of temptress would I be if I didn’t tempt you once in a while?”
“Don’t worry, my little temptress. You are not falling down on the job.”
She licks her lips. “Good. Where are we going? And how many pieces of clothing are we allowed to remove before we find somewhere private?”
I groan as my cock hardens and lengthens. I press my lips to hers in a punishing kiss.
“Why did you stop?” She whines when I pull away.
“Because we have a secret mission to perform.”
“Sex is not the secret mission? Check. What else could it be?”
I pull into the visitor parking in Rogue’s Landing. “You’re about to find out.”
I grab the trap and bag of marshmallows from the backseat before motioning her out of the truck.
“Holy cow,” she says when she notices the items. “You’re going to steal the town mascot of Rogue’s Landing.”
“It’s my turn.”
Each town on Smuggler’s Hideaway has a live mascot. Pirate’s Perch has a pirate parrot complete with an eyepatch. Smuggler’s Rest has a Viking otter. And Rogue’s Landing has a rogue raccoon.
It’s tradition to steal the mascot of the neighboring town at the start of tourist season every year. There have been multiple attempts to steal the Viking otter already. No one can get past Hudson, though.
I don’t know how it works in the other towns, but in Smuggler’s Rest, we take turns. This year it’s my turn to steal the raccoon from Rogue’s Landing. I’ve managed to steal the parrot from Pirate’s Perch once. I figure stealing a raccoon can’t be any harder.
Sophia squeals. “And I get to help. Do I need to swear a blood oath before we begin?”
“Blood oath? Why would you need to take one of those?”
“To swear me to secrecy. No one knows who steals the mascots each year. It’s a closely held secret.”
Shit. She’s right. I didn’t think this through. Sophia can’t keep a secret from her girls. The entire town of Smuggler’s Rest will know we stole the raccoon before the night’s over.
“I don’t have a knife so a pinky swear will have to do.” She holds out her pinky and I hook mine to hers. “Repeat after me. I solemnly swear.”
“I solemnly swear.”
“To not tell anyone about tonight’s activities.”
“To not tell anyone including my girls about tonight’s activities.”
I kiss her forehead. “Now, come on. Our window of opportunity is closing.”
I aim for an alley and Sophia follows me. “Where are we going?”
“Tom is supposed to be watching Rogue but his wife, Sarah, won’t let him bring the raccoon into the house. We need to get in and get out with Rogue before Tom gets home from his bowling league.”
Her jaw drops open. “You did recon? And without me?”
I twitch her nose. “Tom works for me. No recon necessary.”
“Oh. You’re a cheater.”
I shrug. “I can’t help it if Tom complained to my entire crew about his wife bitching about the raccoon.”
I stop at the gate to Tom’s backyard. “You ready?”
“What do you need me to do? Animals love me. I can sweet talk Rogue into following us.”
I grunt. “You’re not sweet talking a wild animal.”
“Rogue is not a wild animal. He does tricks at the high school basketball games.”
“That Rogue died a few years ago. This is a new Rogue.”
“Ah. Poor Rogue died? Did they have a funeral for him? Why did no one tell me? I would have—”
“Soph, can we get back to the matter at hand?” I interrupt to ask.
She clears her throat. “What can I do?”
“Open the marshmallows for me.”
She snatches the bag from me and rips it open before shoving one in her mouth. “You brought snacks. Good thinking.”
“The marshmallows aren’t for us. They’re for Rogue.”
She holds up the bag. “He can’t possibly eat this many.”
The gate in the fence opens up and Sarah peeks out. “You’re not very stealthy.”
“Sorry, Sarah.”
“Don’t apologize.” She shoves Rogue’s cage at me. “Just take him and get out of here before anyone else hears you.”
I hand the empty cage to Sophia in order to accept Rogue’s cage from Sarah. “Thank you.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she says as she shuts the gate.
“It worked!” Sophia squeals.
“I can hear you!” Sarah yells from the other side of the fence.
“It worked,” Sophia whispers.
“Let’s go before we get caught.” I hurry down the alley. I break into a run when we reach the parking lot.
I set Rogue’s cage on the backseat and snag the other empty cage from Sophia before urging her to get into the truck.
“That was easy,” Sophia says as she buckles herself in.
“Almost too easy,” I say as I drive out of the parking lot.
Rogue chitters in his cage.
“Are you hungry, little guy?” Sophia hands him a marshmallow and he immediately settles down. Maybe she is the raccoon whisperer.
“What are you going to do with him?” she asks.
“Keep him for a week before returning him.”
“Maybe I want to keep him longer.”
“You— Shit. Hold on. Sammy’s out.”
I screech to a halt. Sammy doesn’t even lift his head. Probably because he’s fast asleep.
“Sammy. Sammy. Sammy,” Sophia mutters as she opens her door.
“Wait! The police are already here.” I point to the patrol car rushing our way with lights flashing. She doesn’t listen and walks toward the seal.
The patrol car stops and the officer steps out.
“Hey, Lucas,” I greet.
“Sammy being a nuisance tonight?”
“Sammy’s never a nuisance, are you boy?” Sophia coos to the seal.
Rogue must hear her voice because he begins hissing and screeching. Lucas freezes. “Do you have an animal in your truck?”
He doesn’t wait for an answer before prowling to the open door and peering inside.
“Damnit, Flynn. Now I have to arrest you both.”
Sophia holds out her hands. “Do what you have to do, officer.”
She may think this situation is funny, but I know for a fact her big brother will not be amused with her arrest. Especially when he finds out Sophia was with me.
Shit. I guess the time to come clean to my best friend has arrived.