Chapter 14
Doralee
“How do you feel about attending the auction tomorrow?” Cricket asks, his eyes on mine as he takes a bite of his chicken breast.
Shrugging, I wipe my mouth with my napkin. “I’ll get through it, but I’m not looking forward to it. I wish we had what we needed to rush in and arrest them all. That would be satisfying.”
“Agreed. I’m not usually involved in investigations. I’m always on the go-team, sneaking around the back while the rest of the team breaks in the front doors. This buildup is very frustrating.”
The way he looks at me, I think he means more than the investigation, considering we almost fucked in the hallway an hour ago.
Something tells me a long, slow courtship isn’t his way, and honestly, it’s not mine either.
You either have chemistry or you don’t, plain and simple, and there’s no reason to bang the drum hoping it will manifest at some point.
“Where do you live?” I ask at the same time he says, “Have you always wanted to be an HSI agent?”
We both smile.
“I live in a small Montana town called Broken Falls. It’s near the Canadian border.”
“Sounds picturesque.” I glance down at my half-eaten sandwich.
“It’s beautiful. As soon as we’re finished here, you should come home with me.”
“Home with you?” I giggle. “Already moving me in?”
“The sooner, the better.” He smiles, but he doesn’t seem like he’s joking. “Now answer my question.”
“Yes, I’ve always wanted to be an agent. My parents were both CIA—he was an agent married to an analyst—and my brother is also CIA.”
“If your family is CIA, how’d you end up in the DHS?” He pushes his empty plate aside and leans forward on his forearms, letting everyone know we’re in deep conversation. I’m not sure who is watching, and surprisingly, I don’t care.
“My dad wasn’t around much, and neither is my brother. When my sister-in-law had her baby, and my mom got sick with cancer, I signed on with an agency that would keep me stateside, just in case either of them needed anything.”
His mouth falls open. “So, you do have responsibilities back in DC.”
“No.” I shake my head and give him a small smile. “Not anymore. My mother died right before I graduated, and my sister-in-law has a great support network when my brother is away. She wants me to travel and live my life, which I will, once we wrap this investigation.”
“Where do you want to go?” Cricket lightly strokes my hand with his finger before interlacing his in the middle of the table, almost like he can’t stop himself from touching me and is fighting to behave in public.
Is it weird that it makes me want to tease and tempt his control more?
“I want to go everywhere.” I shrug. “To be honest, it depends on the day. Sometimes I want to travel the world, and other times I want to find a secluded cabin in the woods and knit hats for cats.”
“Knit hats for cats, huh?” His smile is electric and I swear his eyes are glowing again. “I happen to have a secluded cabin in the woods and love cats.”
“A man who loves cats? I thought manly men prefer big dogs.”
“Fuck big dogs.” He chuckles. “Actually, that’s not fair of me. Some of my best friends are big ol’ dogs.”
“Ha-ha-ha.” I roll my eyes. “How about you? Are you a horn dog too?”
“No, I’m not. Maybe I was when I was younger, but I haven’t been for a while, and now that I’ve met you, I’ll never be one again.”
“That’s a bold statement, Cricket.” I arch my brow. “How’d you get that name, anyway? Cricket?”
“My mother gave it to me because I make a chirping noise when I’m enjoying what I eat.” He waggles his brows, and a hot blush hits my cheeks as I remember the sounds coming out of him right before I passed out last night.
“Oh.” I purse my lips.
“Yeah, you know exactly what I’m talking about.” There’s a cocky grin on his lips, and I have to look away or I’ll self-combust in my seat.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I bat my lashes and look toward the ceiling.
He lowers his voice. “No? Maybe I’ll remind you tonight?”
“Cricket,” I warn in an unconvincing whisper. “Someone might hear you.”
“No one is listening to us, Doralee. I promise, I won’t do anything to embarrass you in front of your peers.” He licks his lips. “What do you say? Can I see you tonight?”
I glance over my shoulder at the four conexes that function as the female quarters. “We’re too exposed here.”
“I’ll take you away. No one will know.”
Biting my fingernail, I once again glance around to discover we’re alone, everyone else heading back to the offices in recent minutes. “Okay. What time?”
“After everyone goes to sleep. I’ll text you to meet me outside.” He glances at his watch. “Probably close to midnight.”
“Midnight? Why so late?”
Glancing over my shoulder, he lowers his voice. “I have something to take care of for Colonel Packard.”
“Can I come?”
He shakes his head. “Not this time.”
“Why not?” I also lean forward and lower my voice. “If this is about the operation, I want in.”
“It’s not. This is different. Promise.”
Sighing, I pull back. “Okay. As long as you have me home by curfew.”
He grins. “What time is curfew?”
“Daybreak, and no one can see us sneaking back onto the compound together.”
Nodding, his smile fades. “I guess that’s okay, for now. But someday soon, Doralee, I’m going to kiss you in front of everyone so they know you’re my girl.”
Cricket’s bold proclamation has been swimming through my head all day.
I’ve been so distracted by it, I let Crash lead the evening brief where we once again go over our plans for the auction tomorrow.
ATF is very interested in the weapons and ammunition crates Cricket saw, but DEA was disappointed there were no visible drugs.
Agent Melon watches me from his second row seat, as if he’s clocking my every move so he can report back to Agent Lucas, who, coincidentally, chewed my ass this morning because I didn’t debrief him last night.
Honestly, after the motorcycle ride with Cricket, I completely forgot about him—not that I would have given him anything, anyway.
Besides, I’m positive Melon is already feeding him information, which means Lucas is testing my loyalty to him over the mission—a test I will fail.
My loyalty is to the operation and the people I’ve sworn to save, not the political bullshit back in DC, especially if it is as corrupt as I’m learning it is.
“While Doralee and I are at the auction with our two bodyguards—Agent Castor and Agent Rumpert—Agents Melon, Bennett, and Caldwell will stay with the vehicles.”
“What about your SpecOps guys?” Rumpert looks around for Cricket, but only finds Pitch smiling at him from the back of the room.
“They’ll be doing other things.” Crash dismisses him easily, something I admire in the SpecOps guys. Even Pitch, who is a baby at twenty, carries himself with more confidence than most of these agents.
“We really want to get a look at these weapons,” ATF Agent Bennett says.
Crash pulls up a detailed satellite image of the property and tilts his head toward me. “You want to pinpoint which cabin held the weapons, Agent Baker?”
He’s been coldly indifferent toward me, although I suspect he’s trying to not let his bullshit with his brother impact our professional relationship. My heart breaks for them, because I can tell it's a deep source of trauma—a festering wound that will never heal if they don’t address their past.
I stand up and get my bearings, tracing the path we went based on where the road is and where the loading bays sit. “This cabin, the fourth one, or the furthest east structure. The other three have beds, showers, and boxes of towels and toiletries.”
“What about this building?” Agent Castor, FBI and lead of the task force, uses a laser pointer and circles a house a half a mile away from the industrial-sized barn hidden by a hill covered in trees.
Shaking my head, I retake my seat. “No idea. We couldn’t see it from our location, so we didn’t know it was there.”
After a few seconds of silence, Crash stands up. “We’ll start calling the number on the card at sixteen thirty. Everyone should be ready to roll at that time. Two SUVs like last time, no visible comms while on site. Is there anything else, Agent Baker?”
I also stand and shake my head. “No. Thanks, Lieutenant Pumarston.”
Everyone files out while I power down my laptop and disconnect it from the screen. Britney walks up with a smile on her face. “That was good. Are you nervous?”
“A bit.” I lick my lips, wondering how much I should tell her. “Seeing the stage erected was surreal. It really brought into focus what we are investigating here, and I hate the idea of bidding on people like cattle.”
“Yeah, it’s fucked up, especially because they are holding it on a cattle ranch.” She brushes her blonde hair back from her face. “I don’t know if I could do it.”
“I thought you wanted to become a field agent and leave the analyst stuff behind?” We walk out of the building together and back to our temporary lodging.
Britney shrugs. “I do. Do you want to spar before dinner?”
“Actually, I think I’m going to take a shower and settle in for the night. I slept for shit last night.”
“Oh.” She frowns. “Bad dreams?”
The exact opposite. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt Cricket looming over me, touching and tasting every inch of me, my pussy pulsing with phantom orgasms that I wasn’t giving myself.
It was sexy, arousing, and unlike me.
“No, I couldn’t get comfortable.” I reach out and squeeze her upper arm. “Have a good workout. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Okay.” She bounces on her toes and jogs over to Agent Caldwell as I slip into my room. Anticipation builds in my belly as I glance at my watch. Six hours until midnight, which is a long time to wait for what I know is coming—more mind-blowing orgasms.
Sighing, I kick off my shoes and lay down on my tiny twin bed, wondering what he’s doing right now. If I can get my brain to quiet down, I’ll take a catnap, because I know Cricket is going to keep me up all night.
I can’t wait.