“I have a bad feeling about this,” Ryder said quietly.
James had had a bad feeling since he’d walked into the clubhouse. The feeling had become worse when Rex insisted they go to the storage locker where James said he’d hidden the weapons. And he’d had to fight the overpowering instinct to run when he opened the staged locker to reveal empty gun cabinets, broken locks and a fake letter from the DEU inviting Hades to the police station to retrieve their lost property. Best ruse he could come up with, given the time. Rex had said nothing and James still didn’t know if he’d bought the story or not.
Despite his misgivings, he had to stay with the group as they headed out to the island. Not only would his abrupt departure have aroused their suspicions, the DEU needed him here. After leaving Jackie’s apartment, assured of Lana’s safety, he’d made the call. His handler had promised the raid was finally going to happen. In a dual attack, one team would raid Hades and the second would raid the Kirkland drop site. He could only hope they got there before Rex shot him in the head.
Gravel crunched underfoot as they walked single file on the path through the marshy swamp. As he followed Ryder’s broad back, James wondered if his friend would try to defend him if Rex called him out as a rat. Even together, they wouldn’t have a chance against five armed men. He had given Ryder’s description to his handler, with instructions that he shouldn’t be arrested but, now, considering both risks, it might be better to get Ryder out of the way.
He waited until they were out of earshot of both groups and then clasped Ryder’s shoulder. “Maybe you should go back and keep watch.”
“Fuck that.”
“Seriously. You should go watch the bikes. Keep an eye out for the police. We don’t all need to be on the beach.”
Ryder rolled his eyes. “Seriously. Fuck that.”
They reached the sand and picked their way through stones and washed-up logs, giant pieces of sea kelp and the remnants of picnic lunches. The air was cool and crisp and thick with the scent of brine. James reached behind himself and checked for his weapon. Ryder did the same.
Rex stopped near an outcropping. Together with Punch and Dawg he turned to face James and Ryder. James glanced quickly over his shoulder, taking note of where Bones and Diesel were positioned. He would have cover if he could make it back to the thicket of trees they’d passed on their way down. But he would have to be fast.
For the longest time nobody moved. Blood pumping hot and fast, James’s every muscle tensed for flight. He licked his lips and imagined he tasted Lana, sweet and sensual. He pictured her laughing, her green eyes dancing and her hair a wild tumble around her face. He felt her soft curves beneath his palms, heard her moans of pleasure in his ears, breathed in her scent of wild flowers.
His heart squeezed and ached. What the hell had he been thinking when he told Jackie he wouldn’t go after her? If he made it off this beach alive, he would find her, and when he did, he would never let her go.
Rex’s gaze stayed on him. James caught the glitter of anticipation in the black depths of his eyes, and something else. Something deadly. He took a deep breath and reached for his weapon.
The thudding of helicopter blades cut through the stillness.
“Here they are.” Rex broke their connection and looked up into the sky. “Bones. Diesel. Get the money ready. They’ll drop a bag and half the load. Empty it out. Put in half the cash. They’ll send down the rest of the kilos and we’ll send up the rest of the money.”
James staggered backward as his breath whooshed from his lungs. Maybe it wasn’t a hit after all.
At a shout from Rex, he joined the others to help with the switch. Suddenly an air siren wailed and the roar of a motor cut through the sound of the helicopter’s blades.
Anticipation ratcheted through him. This was it. The beginning of the end.
“Fuck. Coast Guard. Pack it up,” Rex yelled.
Coast Guard? James turned to the water and startled at the glare of headlights as a boat raced toward them. Who the hell had called the Coast Guard? Where was the DEU?
Bones and Diesel grabbed the packs, and they raced up the beach as the helicopter disappeared into the night.
James took a last glance over his shoulder as they dove into the bushes. He caught the sweep of the Coast Guard’s searchlight and the blare of a siren. What the hell was going on? Why would they send the Coast Guard, knowing the bikers would easily be able to flee by land?
Something didn’t add up.
Again.
Chapter Nineteen
“Ice. You got a call.”
Ryder held out his phone and James frowned. Who the hell would be calling him at Hades’s clubhouse on Ryder’s phone? Not for the first time that evening did he curse himself for breaking his cell. He couldn’t call the DEU to find out why the raid hadn’t happened, and he couldn’t meet his handler because Rex had instituted a lockdown until he figured out who had ratted them out to the Coast Guard.