6. Char #2
I shot him a look as a blush worked its way down my neck. “Anyway, it was around the time she revealed that she knew about all of that. And her very first reaction was to ask me if I was in a situation I wasn’t consenting to.”
“Wait, seriously?” Rat asked.
I nodded quickly. “Yeah, and she was adamant about it. I’m still not quite sure that I convinced her that Dallas wasn’t putting me on without my permission.”
“I would never,” he growled.
I looked over at him and cupped his cheek, turning his angry gaze to mine. “I know you would never. But she clearly doesn’t.”
Rat held his hands out to me. “See? Rescue mission? She’s seen Char in that bar, she’s put us in the vicinity of that bar, and she’s drawn her own fucking conclusions.”
Gauge pointed at the man. “It’s the only theory we’ve tossed about that makes sense.”
Deac shook his head. “It still doesn’t explain the cameras.”
“Or the hit squad that took Bait,” Rat murmured.
“That conversation does put her in the area for weeks, though, which is about how long we figured this person was in town,” Rico said.
Watching his hands as he flailed them around in the air whenever he spoke was entertaining for me. He was a very expressive person, considering the men he was surrounded with.
I wondered how he came to be with the crew, swimming in men so unlike him.
“Char? What town did you grow up in?” Plug asked.
It still hurt to chew on my hometown’s name. “Rackivale, Maryland.”
That’s when he stood and moved away from the table.
“Plug?” Deac asked.
He paused at the doorway entrance from the dining room to the kitchen. “It should be easy now to get her name. And with her name, we can place some official phone calls to dig up the information we need. Let me go make a phone call.”
“Unlock everything.”
That whipped Plug around as the whole table seemed to take a collective breath.
“What?” Plug asked.
Deac stood, his shadowed figure towering over all of us. The sun started setting, casting harsh shadows over his brutal face as he leaned down. He pressed his hands into the wood of the table, and it creaked with his weight. And as he stared Plug down, a shiver worked its way down my spine.
His gravelly, angry voice came pouring forth.
“Unlock everything, Plug. We now know what she’s doing.
She’s not an agent that can come after us without risking her own operation.
And her being undercover explains what happened with your software.
So pull everything. I don’t care who you trigger, what you trip, or who you piss off.
We now have leverage, and we’re gonna fucking yank on it. ”
Plug’s smile grew into something akin to the Cheshire cat. “On it, Bossman.”
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” I asked.
“Does this mean the lockdown is lifted?” Gauge asked.
Dallas simply grinned. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Deac?”
Mace groaned. “Why don’t you guys just share with the class?”
Deac looked powerful when he straightened his back.
I jumped with every crack of his knuckles as he stared out through the glass double doors of the dining room.
The golden hour of sunset caressed his features, accenting his strong jawline and the salt-and-pepper encasing his hair.
His jaw clenched. His temple pulsed. He looked more focused than I’d ever seen him.
It was the hottest fucking thing on the planet.
“We now know what she wants,” Deac said as he moved away from the table. “She thinks she’s here to save Char again from the big, bad boogeyman. So let’s see how far she’s willing to go to make that happen.”
“Oh hell yeah,” Deadlock muttered.
“I’m all in already,” Rico said as he leapt to his feet.
“Plug?” Deac asked.
“What’s up, Bossman?”
Deac pointed at him. “Unlock. Everything. I want a dossier on that woman as thick as my fucking forearm by the time you’re done.”
I’d never seen Plug filled with such energy as he raced into the kitchen and took a hard left to get to the stairs.
His feet practically scurried across the floor like some excited little child ready for his first snack of the day.
They all seemed to be in a much better mood.
The lights in their eyes returned. The strength in their voices sounded.
Even Deac stood tall, with his head held high in pride as he looked over at Gauge.
“As for your question,” he said as he cracked his neck, “we’re still gonna do the lockdown-A schedule with our patrol routes. But once Plug has the information I need, we’re gonna lift those signal jammers and?—”
“Stop,” I said plainly as I held my hand up.
Deac halted his words in his tracks as all of the guys slowly turned their attention to me. They all waited patiently for me to speak, and I knew I had to tread carefully. I was still a guest in their home, and a big missing link to why they were targeted.
I was worried about them.
“You guys have to remember,” I said as I slipped my hand back down into my lap, “that this is supposedly the same woman that destroyed your shop and killed Bait.”
“Not to mention the signal with Doc,” Gauge said.
I furrowed my brow. “Dr. Agemon?”
Deac shook his head. “There was a signal that one of our clients threw to let us know that they were being watched and tracked. That’s what kicked this whole thing off for us in the first place. We still don’t know who was watching Doc.”
“The doctor’s appointment,” I whispered to myself.
“That’s the one,” Gauge said cheekily.
I stood to my feet and cleared my throat.
“Okay, okay, okay. So if we’re assuming she’s behind absolutely all of this, then she’s already proven that her job doesn’t matter.
She killed someone, you guys. She demolished one of your businesses.
Are you sure it’s wise to lift everything and let someone like that back close to your only home? ”
That’s when Deac’s voice finally dropped the last piece into place. “It depends on how you feel about being dangled as bait.”
I slowly looked up at Dallas, but he didn’t look down at me. He kept his eyes locked straight ahead, and I wondered how long they were talking about it. I whipped my head to Gauge, who had the balls to look at me. But the sorrow and worry in his gaze was prevalent.
“You can always say no,” Rat said.
“Always with us,” Deadlock said.
Though, technically, I suppose we were already dangling ourselves as bait. What with Bait’s memorial service, and the phone call Gauge let me place to my mother’s cell number. It wasn’t as if hiding was the main goal. At one point in time, Deac wanted to bait that woman into coming closer.
Maybe this was just the final leg of the race.
“How exactly would I be used as bait?” I asked.
Dallas cleared his throat and slipped his hands into his pockets. “We’d open the bar back up for business as usual.”
“Yeah,” Gauge said as he commanded my attention, causing me to pivot toward him. “We figure if she’s already found you there…”
“And with her watching your place,” Mace added.
Gauge shrugged. “…we figured you’d be safe since you’d be surrounded by us and the general public, but it would also draw her back out to maybe have another conversation with you.”
I nodded slowly as I processed their words. “And what happens once you have her? Once she comes in to speak with me? Are you gonna just… kill a federal officer like that?”
Gauge was the first to wrinkle his nose. “Who said anything about killing?”
Dallas scoffed at my side. “Do you think that’s what we’ll do?”
I looked over at Deac for some support, but he stood there, stiff as stone with that scowl on his face.
“What’s the endgame, Deac?” I asked. “What does this all look like once it’s wrapped up? What’s your final goal? Because I won’t be part of any plan that gets anyone else hurt. Even her.”
“Char?” Rat asked.
“Yeah?” I asked as I turned my attention to him.
He snickered as a smile spread across his face. “You’re a good woman, you know that?”
I smiled back at him. “Thank you.”
His smile then quickly fell. “But that bitch murdered my best friend. Whatever I do to her is none of your fucking business.”
“Hey,” Deac barked, “you watch your language when you’re talking to her.”
I stood to my feet and leaned over the table, planting my palms hard into its surface. Rat’s stare held mine, and I made sure every ounce of determined anger registered on my face.
“It’s my fucking business if you’re gonna use me to draw her in. You hear me?” I glowered.
Rat’s eye twitched as Dallas rubbed my back. “It’s a rough plan that we’re simply spitballing right now. By no means is anything finalized.”
“Good,” I said as I slowly lowered myself back into my chair, refusing to take my eyes off Rat, “because I won’t do it. Not if you’re going to hurt her.”
And all of a sudden, I no longer wanted to be in the room with them.
“If you’ll excuse me,” I said breathlessly.
I got up from my half-eaten plate of food and ventured upstairs.