AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You look good enough to eat,” she whispered in his ear. Then she stepped away from him, smothering a yawn. “You guys are very dedicated.” She padded over to the cupboard and grabbed a mug, poured some coffee, and added half-and-half. She sipped, closed her eyes, and sighed. “There we go.”
“Eggs?” Dean asked once he’d recovered from the sensual volley she’d lobbed at him.
She shook her head. “I’ll just have grapefruit.” A glimmer of sensual teasing appeared in her eyes. He watched her, a peculiar soft feeling filling up his chest.
“That’s not breakfast,” Logan groused. “That’s an appetizer.”
She giggled and got her grapefruit, sauntering over in that loose-hipped way of hers to sit next to them at the counter. She nudged Logan’s shoulder and stole a piece of toast off his plate. “Thanks, don’t mind if I do.”
“This is what you have to put up with, Dean?”
“Yeah, ain’t it grand?”
“She’s pretty cute, so I will allow the theft of my toast.” He nudged her back with a grin.
“A quarter piece at best,” she said, taking a bite.
There was another knock on his door and this time O went to open it. Jessica came in, still dressed in yesterday’s clothes, looking disheveled and exhausted.
“Guys, we discovered something important.”
“Are you all right?”
Looking startled, Jessica turned to O. “Yes, I’m fine. Is that coffee? God, I could use some.”
Dean poured her a cup, adding the sugar and cream. She gave him an appreciative smile as she took a sip.
“Who is thiswewe’re talking about, MIT?” Gage asked.
“Greg—um, Gregor Marovala. Forensic scientist.” She took another sip and didn’t seem to notice the tender look in Gage’s eyes or the way he frowned. “Anyway, it was C4 that destroyed your building, Logan. We were able to match up the samples LAPD took directly to the C4 that was stolen. We’re dealing with the felons who planned and implemented the heist.”
“Bastards. They’re going to pay,” Gage growled. He looked over to Logan.
“They wanted us all out of the picture,” O said.
“And Dean…General Harkness is a little…”
“Pissed. He called.” Truth be told, Dean knew he should have called the general himself, but he’d had his mind on other things.
“Geez, could I use your shower, Dean? And borrow some clothes, Ophelia?”
After Jessica had showered, changed, and gotten something to eat, they all piled back into Logan’s van and headed to Metro. The meeting with O’s commander went off without a hitch. He was all for the undercover operation, just as desperate as the rest of them to get those weapons off the street and eliminate the threat to the citizens of LA. The mayor was breathing down his neck. Dean learned she was the one who had talked to the Feds about the explosion, and word had gotten to Harkness. They traded the black van for an LAPD one with all the surveillance bells and whistles. Jessica took to it like she was born in it. Then it was on to the shop to gear up for the op. Dean had to dress the part and act the part. He messed up his hair, found some threadbare jeans, a pair of low motorcycle boots, a white tank top, and in a box he’d been meaning to go through, he found a leather vest. But his biggest and most expensive prop was Stella, his dad’s Softail Classic.
The older members of The Black Hearts would definitely remember this motorcycle, and it would give prestige to the man who road it. His dad was a legend in that club, and by association, so was his son. He was prepared for hostility and suspicion. He could handle any one of the members.
“Although this is a good idea, and I think will net us what we need to know,” Gage said, turning to O. “Do any members know your face, Ophelia? Have you had any run-ins with them?”
“Just at the warehouse when we raided The National Boys. All of them are dead. They don’t know me. If I have to get involved, it’ll be fine. But I expect to spend most of my time in the van.”
“How about during the op? You two will be hanging out.”
“I can just tell anyone who happens across us that she’s my old lady.”
She elbowed Dean in the ribs. “Who you calling old?”
“You’ll need to stay away from Metro until we wrap this up. I’d ditch your cell phone too. Get a burner just in case. If they have any reason to believe you aren’t who you say you are, it could be bad, really bad for Dean. We can’t take that chance,” Jessica waited until O nodded before handing Dean a small bag. “He said you were expecting this.”
He glanced in the bag before pulling out a set of earbuds for each of them. “These come courtesy of Harkness.”
