Jake’s nose twitched. He wasn’t exactly distancing himself.
“Yeah. I know. It’s a tough job. Right?”
“It might be more complicated than you think.”
“Why? Didn’t you stay with her last night?”
“I’m not using her.”
“I’m not asking you to use her, but I’m asking you to pick her brain, get some information for us. You know, in case things go sour with her old man.”
“What kind of information?”
Devon’s eyes shifted and Jake had seen that look before. He studied Victory for a few passing moments before he said, “We need to find out where her father’s compound is located. If we know where he resides now, we can easily prepare for any unexpected problems in the future.”
“If they’re unexpected, then why bother?”
“Morris Lake isn’t exactly an honorable man. I’m not sure why he’s dealing with us but I recently ran across some of Dad’s old journals. He didn’t like dealing with Morris and he hated his right-hand man.”
“Got a name?”
“Cav something another. I think he was the one driving Autumn at the first meet.”
Jake didn’t tell him he was wrong. The man Autumn had called out as Cav was an older fellow. He had been at the meet. He’d been right on Autumn’s heels.
“How dangerous is this Cav fella?” Jake asked.
“He’s nothing but a cold blooded killer.”
“Why would Autumn’s father have him hanging around her?”
“Word is, he’ll kill for Autumn or her dad.” Devon leaned forward and dropped his voice. “And get this. The other rumor is one I can’t even begin to fathom. He killed Autumn’s brother about nine years ago. Her kid brother disappointed the old man and Cav was the one to take him out.”
“So you’re saying he could possibly do the same to Autumn?”
“There ain’t no possibly to it, brother. If the old man disapproves of something his little girl does? She’s out. Cav is in position as her guardian unless she crosses her father.”
Jake gritted his teeth. He had to bite his tongue to keep from telling Devon what he knew.
“I take it you like this chick?”
“She’s all right.” She was more than all right. Jake was already trying to figure out a way to see her later on that day.
“Cool. We’re grilling out tonight. Invite her over. Let the old ladies and broads get to know her.”
“Is it a homecoming?”
Devon laughed and slapped him on the back. “Don’t worry. You don’t have to fuck her in front of anyone. And to answer your question, no homecoming. As far as I know, none of our guys are coming up for release anytime soon.”
Jake walked to the door. “I’ll see what she has planned.”
“Make sure you do,” Devon said, his voice dropping an octave. “It wasn’t a request, Jake. We need to get to know her and I want you to keep her close.”
Hell, the keeping her close wasn’t a problem. The problem he had was being around her in front of the club. They’d take one look at him and know he was sunk. And that wasn’t the worst of it. He wasn’t sure he could take her out in public. After having his cock inside her, all he could think about was fucking her. Unlike Devon and the others, he didn’t want everyone to watch.
He wanted to keep Autumn Lake to himself, at least for a little while. Then he’d find the strength to let her go.
****
Before he left the clubhouse to go fetch his girl, Jake walked up and casually announced Victory was pregnant. He never broke his stride and he didn’t await a reaction. He just mentioned it in passing, boarded his bike, and left the yard.
“What do you think that was all about?” Summer asked, handing off a platter of meat.
“I don’t know,” Logan replied. “But it won’t be a moment too soon when we have another handler in place.”
“Tell me about it,” Summer said, searching the parking lot.“Anyone heard from Tigger?”
“Devon said he wouldn’t be back before the weekend.” Logan grabbed the spatula and started planting burgers on the grill. “If I were you, I’d use the time and decide how you want to play this thing out.”
“I haven’t decided.”
Logan shrugged, closed the grill, and set the platter aside. “Sassy is worried about you and I am, too. Take it from someone who knows these guys better than anyone, this isn’t going down the way you might think.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Summer, he will kill you. Tigger is Heroes and Rogues through and through. If I’d thought for one minute I could’ve saved him, I would’ve asked the Feds to pull him out a long time ago. Thing is, if we bust this place wide open and we leave him out? He’ll come after us.”
“He won’t,” Summer said, grabbing hold of Logan’s forearm. “With a new handler in place, you can change your story. He doesn’t have to take a fall, Logan. You can claim Gaylord and Sampson lied, made up shit, or whatever. Please. Do this for me.”
Logan jerked his arm free and tilted his head at Devon who was walking their way. “There’s the man you need to talk to.” He was actually glad to see him. He didn’t want to discuss Tigger with Summer now. She’d crossed the line when she’d asked him for favors that could damage his reputation and his future. He popped open a beer and spun around, searching the yard for Sassy before he called out to Devon. “Get over here and handle Tigger’s old lady. She misses her man and I can’t give her the answers she wants.”
“Jerk,” she grumbled under her breath.
“Yeah well there are a lot of those around here,” he muttered, taking off to find his woman. He hated that Summer couldn’t see the way the cards would soon fall, but she needed to realize two things. One, where Tigger was concerned, she wasn’t playing with a full deck. And two, when this bust finally went down, there wouldn’t be any winners walking around. The only people who would be left standing were the Feds and even they wouldn’t feel like the victors.
They all had friends there. They’d gotten too close to the club and while Logan knew he hadn’t gone rogue, he’d played his role almost too well. He was trusted. Hell, he was the treasurer. If the club later removed Devon, Logan stood next in line for the VP position.
He was in a hell of a predicament for sure. Still, he wouldn’t trade places with Summer.
She had more to lose than anyone.
Chapter Twelve
“Agent Lake.” Chief Malory looked over the top of his menu and smiled. “You look like shit.”
“I had a late night.”
“Looking over documents, I imagine.”
“Really?” She shook her head, motioned for the waitress, and quickly said, “Let’s always shoot straight with one another, Sir. I saw your guy last night. He was there until around nine this morning. I ran his plates and guess what I discovered?”
“Same rental agency we used when we rented your sports coup?”
“Exactly.” She smiled at the server. “Can I get a large coffee to go, please?”
“Are you in a hurry, Agent Lake?”
“Actually, yes. I have a date tonight.”
“With the same young gun that stayed at your place last night?” He perused his menu. “I hope I don’t have to worry about another Summer Pain situation. Agent Pain ended up in bed with a real winner you know.”
“I’m doing my job.”
“And we all have moments in our careers when we have to take a step back and ask ourselves if we’re doing those jobs a little too well, Agent Lake.”
The waitress set her coffee in front of her. “A buck ninety-nine.”
“Put it on my tab and bring me the daily special,” Malory said.
“You got it.” She sashayed away.
“Tell me something, Chief.”
“If I can.”
“Who’s my other agent?”
“You aren’t in the position to handle ‘your’ agents yet.”
“When will I know who’s on my team?”
“You’re already privy to more than Sampson ever was.”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel all warm and cozy inside?” She glared back at her boss, wishing he’d trust her enough to finger her fourth guy.
Malory sipped his soda. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“A lot can happen in twelve days.”
“We’ve moved up the first meet.” He cleared his throat. “You’ll meet me here tomorrow afternoon and I’ll introduce you to Gaylord.”
“And what about the others?”
“Gaylord was told we accepted Summer Pain’s resignation. He’ll hold that over her head and I need you to be ready for him when he does. In the meantime, understand this. I don’t want Logan Marcs or Summer Pain to know about the other agent. You’ll protect his cover. Am I clear about this, Agent Lake?”
“Of course.”
Malory took another drink of his soda. “You’d better get going then. God forbid if you keep one of the Heroes and Rogues waiting.”
She rose from the table and stopped short of taking her first step. “Why did we meet exactly?”
“I like to keep a watch over my agents. As long as you keep your appointments and keep looking me in the eye, I can trust you. If that changes, I’ll replace you without a second thought.” He pulled out his phone and fiddled with the settings. When she didn’t leave, he glanced up and added, “Have a good night, Agent Lake. See you tomorrow at five o’clock.”
****
The drive home had been short and sweet. She’d thought of Jake and the way he’d loved her throughout the night. They’d had a wild evening of good sex, great conversation, and a lot of laughs. She’d enjoyed him and apparently, he’d enjoyed her as well.
She smiled to herself as she thought of how many times he’d tried to leave her the night before. He’d even told her in the wee hours of the morning that he had a busy day ahead of him and he wouldn’t be able to call her.
Apparently his busy day had been shot to hell. He’d called her up and given her short notice. The club was having a cookout and he wanted her to go.
She was definitely in position to make her father proud. And she was also in position to do her job. How she’d keep her heart out of the equation was the problem.
Her phone rang and she glanced at the caller ID. Fucking perfect.
“Hello?”
“Darling girl. I hear you have plans tonight.”
“Word travels fast, I guess.”
“Hmm. Interesting. Why would you say that?”
“Never mind,” she muttered, realizing her slip wouldn’t be ignored. Her father wouldn’t press either, but he would later have his men all over her trying to find out who else had been interested in her plans.
He was a paranoid son-of-an-ass. Her grandfather had lived his life looking over his shoulder and apparently it was an inherited habit.
“I’ve been doing some digging.”
“For the sake of conversation, should I ask who you dug up?”
“Jake Covington.”
“Hmm. Find anything interesting?”
“No.”
“Well then what do I owe this pleasure?”
“I want to meet him.”
“You want to meet him.” She couldn’t imagine why.
“Yes, I think it’s important for a father to know the man in his daughter’s bed. Don’t you?”
“I’ve been in town for two days. It’s a casual relationship.”
“There are no casual relationships in our line of work.”
“I’m not seeing Jake for longer than a minute.”
“Really?”
“There’s no reason to, Daddy. I know how you conduct business. I’ll be here maybe a month, possibly two, and then you’ll send me somewhere else and the Heroes and Rogues will be all but forgotten.”
“Not this one.”
“Why?”
“Because you see, Autumn, I’m interested in meeting Mr. Jake Covington so I can ask him man to man why he doesn’t have a birth certificate on file, a social security number, nothing at all to suggest he is who he says he is.”
“Daddy, I don’t care who he is.”
“Unfortunately, hon. I do. I’ll be in touch tomorrow.”
Autumn pulled in her apartment and sat in the parking lot. She gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles were white and might have sat there for a while longer if she hadn’t heard the roar of that massive Harley heading her way.
Grabbing her purse, she left her car in a rush, hoping to top the stairs before Jake pulled in behind her. She wanted to make sure she hadn’t left anything out in the open.
She unlocked the door and walked inside her living room. It was pretty apparent someone had already beaten her home.
Chapter Thirteen
Jake entered cautiously. The door had been left open. Her place was trashed. Reaching behind his back for his piece, he was thankful he’d thought to grab a weapon before he left the clubhouse.
Walking softly across the floor, he cocked his head and listened. “Autumn!”
“Jake, don’t come in here.”
“I walk in here and find this place ransacked. I’m not goin’ anywhere, baby.”
“Please. Just…just wait outside for me.” Shuffled papers made an unmistakable noise. She was either trying to hide something or someone was holding her at gunpoint while they searched through her personal belongings.
“Can’t do it, hon. Let me know you’re okay.” He eased down her short hallway and peered around her bedroom door.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted her in the floor, gathering a bunch of papers. “You scared me to death. I thought whoever tossed your place might still be here.” He returned his gun to his belt.
“It was Dad,” she said, hurriedly stuffing a bunch of documents in her bedside table.
“Your dad?” He looked around at the mess that had been made. Picture frames were broken. The bedside table was tossed. Lamps were shattered. Her curtains had been slashed and her bathroom door was off the hinges. “What kind of father does this to his daughter?”
“One who’s disappointed in his daughter’s choices,” she snapped, glaring at him.
His heart clenched. He’d been on the receiving end of some hateful looks but he’d never really cared. Now, he knew why. None of those women had mattered. Only one woman apparently reserved the power to make him hurt, make him bleed.
“Your father found out I was here last night?”
“He’s upset.”
“Because I stayed here last night?” He needed clarification.