* * *
We had just checked into our room when we were greeted by one faceIrecognized and one faceIdidn’t.
CaptainKerrigan—who had aged sinceIlast saw him in person—along with a man namedCoreyColeman.HewasSara’scontact inVegasand would be assisting us with our plans.
Kerrigan informed us that they’d had a couple of men over the years go undercover with thePaganos, but one died, one went missing, and the third hadn’t reported in to his handler in over two weeks.
That could either mean he had also gone missing or the situation got too dangerous for him to check in regularly.
“There’s no safe way to reach out to him?”Acehad asked.
“Technically, he no longer reports toLVPD,”Kerriganinformed us. “Becausethis family commits a lot of suspected crimes across state lines, theFBItook jurisdiction, so the officer was temporarily given the status of agent, which would allow him more legal cover.Butit also means he reports to them now and not us.”
We ran down the two scenarios that we had come up with and got input from both men as to how we should proceed.Itook the lead in answering whatIthought would be best, especially sinceIknewVegaswell, having worked the streets here for years.
I heardAcehuff beside me and turned to look at her.
“I can answer for myself,Archer,”Acedeclared, clearly a bit agitated.
I was answering for her, but it was becauseIknew the captain better than she did, andIwasn’t going to take a chance on someone hurting her.
“I know you can, butI’vegot this,”Ireplied.
I continued to make a few suggestions toCaptainKerrigan, whenVinceinterrupted.
“What’s that look on your face for?”Vinceasked.
Was he talking to me?
“Oh shit,”Sarasaid, staring right atAce, who had a weird grin on her face whenIlooked up.
“What?”Iasked.
“I know that look,”Saraadded, continuing to stare atAce.
“She’s just sitting there quietly smiling,”Vincepointed out, clearly not comprehending whatSarawas saying.
“The deadliest mammal on the planet is a silent, smiling woman,”Sarasaid with a growing grin, and then her voice dipped quieter as though she was simply voicing her inner thoughts out loud. “Oh, to be a fly on the wall when they’re alone tonight.”
She clapped her hands together and made her voice loud enough for all to hear. “C’mon, boys.Ithink we’ve done enough for today.Let’sleave the angsty lovebird newlyweds alone.”
Everyone stood to leave, andAcespoke up. “Sara…”
“Nope,”Sarainterrupted her. “Youtwo talk and figure things out.Yoursecond wedding is set to take place in three hours.Thisplan only works if you two look like you actually like each other.Figureit out.I’llmeet you back here in one hour to go dress shopping.”
Sara walked away, chuckling to herself, as the men followed her out, leavingAceand me alone in the hotel room.
I had dreamt about havingAcealone in a hotel room with me, andIfinally had my chance.ButnowI’dchanged my mind.Iwasn’t sureIwanted to be anywhere near her with that look on her face andSara’scryptic words.
18
ANNA
I was pissed.IknewSaracould tell, andIwas thankful for the reprieve when everyone left.Atthe same time, that just left me alone withArcher, who was the reason for my irritation.
Prior to a few days ago,Archerhad made most of our safety plans.Ihadn’t fought him on most of them because this was his specialty, but also because he hadn’t known thatIwas working with theFBI.ButIhad hoped that now that he was aware, he would include me on more of the planning and decision-making.Instead, he just continued planning without allowing me any input into the matter, and that pissed me off.Imay not be a security expert, butIwasn’t some damsel in distress who needed to be sidelined.Ihad skillsIcould offer and deserved a say.
As soon as the group left our room,Iwent into the bathroom to shower.Ineeded time alone to think and calm down, and there wasn’t a lot of room to think in a shared hotel room.Wehad an executive suite with a small living space and two queen beds, one for each of us, but it was still weird being this close to him.
