James’s heart pounded. This was it. The break he had been waiting for. The DEU would be able to take down the inner circle and probably a large contingent of full-patch members. With the wiretap evidence he had collected over the last two years, they should have enough to shut down Hades for good.
It would all be over.
Until then, he just had to keep Lana away. And he had to stay focused. Keep his thoughts on the assignment and not on the beautiful woman with liquid green eyes, kick-ass curves and sass to match.
Simple.
Chapter Five
“Chip?”
Jackie held out the chip bowl and Lana shook her head. Jackie knew better than to bring fattening junk food to Lana’s apartment, especially when Lana was emotionally distraught. She was the one who had pulled Lana out of her James-induced doldrums by suggesting they start working out and go into business together. The work involved in merging their PI practices had given Lana the kick she needed to get out of bed and into Jackie’s morning strategy sessions at the local gym.
“I lost over twenty pounds pining for Heartless Bastard over the last two years,” she said. “I’m not about to gain it back now that he’s seen the new, svelte me. I want him to suffer. I want him to regret the day he walked out my door.”
“Chip?”
Lana grabbed the bowl. “Did you bring any dip?”
Jackie shook her head. “I was trying to be sensitive to your new healthy-eating regime when I picked up the snacks on my way over here. Chips, yes. Dip, no. Soda, diet. Oreos, mini.”
“Very thoughtful.” Not that Jackie ever had to worry about what she ate. Utterly gorgeous, tall and tan, Jackie could have held her own on any runway or movie screen. Her hair was a sleek, smooth black curtain that had never seen a tangle. Irritatingly and perpetually slim, she had all the right curves in all the right places and a metabolism that meant her svelte figure could not be destroyed by multiple packages of Oreos or weekly chip binges. Lana did not begrudge Jackie her beauty because her striking blue eyes hid a kindred wild child and thrash enthusiast, and more secrets than Lana had curls.
Lana delicately nibbled her chip. Only one. She would eat only one chip and give the bowl back to Jackie. “Now, if only I could find a boyfriend who cared as much.”
A curious expression crossed Jackie’s face—part longing, part regret—but it disappeared so quickly Lana wondered if she had imagined it.
“From what you told me on the phone earlier, sounds like you found not one, but two, at the sex club the other night,” Jackie said.
“I don’t consider evil, scary biker dudes who threaten to kidnap me and take me back to the clubhouse to do God knows what, to be particularly thoughtful.”
Stretching out on Lana’s worn velvet couch, Jackie sighed. “I think you should call Angel, give her back the deposit and move on. Rex saw you. If he is after you, then not only are you compromised, you also have a professional conflict.”
Lana finished her chip and then ate another, and another, and another. Damn addictive chips. She shoved the empty bowl in Jackie’s direction. “I can’t leave Angel in the lurch. She wants out of the biker world and she wants to protect her daughter. Rex threatened to fight her every step of the way if she ever tried to divorce him, so she needs to get her evidence together before she files her divorce papers. I just need one picture of him doing something wrong—infidelity, drugs—anything that makes him look like a bad father and a bad husband. Problem is, I’ve been following him for a week and he’s been squeaky clean.”
Jackie refilled the bowl from the bag of chips on her lap and handed it back to Lana. “Well, if you won’t drop the case, you need to get closer, maybe even into the clubhouse.”
“As a matter of fact, I have an invitation.” Lana shoved a chip in her mouth and savored the crisp saltiness on her tongue. “From the high king himself.”
“So what’s the problem?”
Lana sighed. “I might have acted a bit rashly.”
“You?” Jackie widened her eyes and grabbed at her heart. “Rash? I can’t believe it.”
“Sarcasm is the weapon of the weak.” Lana glared, but Jackie just laughed her off.
“So is self-delusion.”
Lana’s shoulders sagged. “Heartless Bastard does it to me every time. He makes my blood boil faster than anyone I’ve ever met. I really don’t want to go to the clubhouse. But Rex invited me to the barbeque and almost immediately Heartless Bastard said no. Then Heartless Bastard called me this morning—he still has my number, although his showed up as unlisted—to warn me away. That just got my back up. I mean, it’s the perfect way for me to get the evidence I need, and he didn’t even open it up for discussion.”