Barely Undercover: Legal Heat Book 2(36)

They took turns following Rex whenever he left the table. Lana remarked on his unusually small bladder on her third trip back from the restrooms and Jackie pointed out the correlation between the size of a man’s bladder and the size of…other things. When Rex left the table for a fourth time, Lana groaned. “You want to take this one?”

Jackie shook her head. “I was just at the bar watching him drink shooters from some poor girl’s cleavage. Plus my new friend Hans promised to teach me the words to the famous Oktoberfest song. Maybe I’ll get lucky tonight.” She pointed to a tall, skinny blond in green lederhosen. Lana snorted a laugh as she slid out of her chair.

“You’re scraping the bottom of the barrel. There is nothing remotely attractive about a man in short pants and suspenders.” She skirted through the tables, slapping away the stray hands that seemed to take her short skirt as an invitation to cop a feel, and turned down the corridor to the restrooms. Just as she took up her position against the wall, she caught a glimpse of Rex heading through the exit door leading to the parking lot.

Lana’s heart pounded and she pulled out her new minicam. Easing open the door, she peeked around the corner and spotted Rex engaged in a heated discussion with Bones and a familiar-looking man in a dark suit. No milkmaids or frisky fräuleins in sight.

Disappointing.

She was about to go back inside when she heard Bones mutter, “It’s Ice.”

Curious, she dashed over to a blue Ford Focus and crouched behind the vehicle to eavesdrop.

“You sure your source hasn’t made a mistake?” Rex growled. “How could a rat get into Hades? I vetted every prospect personally. I know everything about every full-patch brother. There’s no fucking way one of them is a rat, unless he was turned.”

“The source is good,” the man snapped. “He works in the DEU. If you want a name or a picture of your rat, it will cost you extra.”

“Don’t pay him,” Bones growled. “I’m telling you I know who it is. That fucking Ice is always sneaking around, disappearing for hours at a time, losing weapons. Who hooks up with an old lady—especially a hot tamale like Roxie—and keeps her a fucking secret?”

Hot tamale? And she thought she’d heard all the redhead jokes.

Lana peeked over the hood of the car just as the man in the suit stepped into the light. She recognized him instantly. Rex had met him before. Once at the pizza shop. Another time in an alley downtown. She’d thought it strange someone in a suit would be having clandestine meetings with Rex, but now she knew why. She snapped a few quick photos, hoping there was enough light for her cheap replacement surveillance camera. When she heard the crunch of gravel, she ducked down and pressed herself against the vehicle’s wheel.

“I think you’re wrong about Ice,” Rex said to Bones as they walked past Lana. “But I think we should set a trap wide enough to catch our rat, whether he’s in the inner circle, full patch or a prospect.”

“What do you have in mind?” Bones pulled open the door and polka music blasted into the parking lot.

“We’ll have an opportunity at Kirkland Island two or three weeks from now. I’ve set up…”

Lana strained to hear but a loud accordion riff cut off Rex’s words and then the door slammed shut behind him.

Damn.

Lana pushed herself to her feet. She had no way of contacting James. On their way out of her apartment, he’d told her his phone had been bugged by the DEU so he used it only for Hades business. Undercover procedures meant he couldn’t have a personal phone.

She drummed her fingers on the hood of the vehicle. Option #1: Tip off the DEU. She could head down to the local DEU office in the morning and give them an anonymous tip that James’s cover was about to be blown. Bad option. If there was a leak in the DEU, she might put James at risk. Option #2: Airplane watching. She could go airplane watching outside the clubhouse and hope James would see her vehicle and storm out to yell at her. Another bad option. What if it was Rex who found her this time? Option #3: Naughty behavior. She could disobey James’s orders and go to the clubhouse.

Again.

Her stomach clenched, but an illicit visit to the clubhouse seemed to offer the highest chance of success. No one would be surprised to see her, except maybe James. And he wouldn’t really be surprised. Infuriated, maybe. Enraged, possibly. Apoplectic, likely.

Lana sighed. No doubt he would shout and stomp around, but in the end he was all bark and no bite. Although, when he found out she was trying to help him, maybe some biting would be involved—the hickey-leaving kind. Maybe he would want to finish what they’d started the night of the barbeque…