I run a hand through my hair, trying to tamp down the anger that's always simmering just below the surface these days. "And if he leads you to his family?"
"Then we'll have what we need." He pauses. "The Clarks are careful. They've been operating under the radar for a long time. But Logan? He's young, he's reckless, and he's not as smart as he thinks he is. He'll slip up."
"He better." I kick at a rock on the ground. "Because this shit is poison, and it's killing kids."
"I know." Harrison's expression softens slightly. "How's your teacher friend doing?"
My teacher friend. That's what we call Allison in these meetings, like giving her a label instead of a name will somehow keep her separate from all this. But she's not separate. She's right in the middle of it, whether either of us like it or not.
"She's hanging in there. Stronger than she thinks she is."
"Good. We're going to need her to be strong." He shifts his weight, studying me. "Speaking of which, are you okay to still be undercover?"
The question catches me off guard. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you've got a civilian involved now. Someone you care about. That changes things, makes you vulnerable in ways you weren't before." His eyes are sharp, assessing. "If this blows up, if the Rebels or the Clarks figure out who you really are, Allison becomes a target. You ready for that?"
I meet his gaze head-on. "I've been ready for whatever comes since the day I agreed to this assignment. Nothing's changed."
"Everything's changed," he counters. "You've got skin in the game now. Real skin, not just a job."
He's right, but I'm not about to admit it. "I can handle it."
"Can you?" He pushes off from the SUV, taking a step closer. "Because from where I'm standing, you're in deep with this woman. And that's fine, hell, it's good that you've got something real in your life. But it also means you've got something to lose."
My hands curl into fists at my sides. "I know what I'm doing."
"Do you? Because I've seen good cops go down this road before. They get attached, they start making decisions based on emotion instead of logic, and people get hurt." He pauses. "I need to know you're still thinking clearly."
"I am." The words come out as firm as I can make them. "Allison knows I'm undercover."
Harrison's eyebrows shoot up. "You told her?"
I can't tell him about Dani and Devil, so I tell him as much as I'm willing to. "I think she's figured it out. She hasn't said anything directly, but she's smart. She knows I'm hiding something, and she trusts me anyway." I take a breath. "And yeah, I'm okay with that."
"You sure about that? Because once civilians know…"
"I'm sure." I cut him off. "I plan on spending the rest of my life with Allison if she'll have me. Which means at some point, she's going to know everything. Better she knows now and can make an informed decision about whether she wants to be with me."
Chief Harrison is quiet for a long moment, just watching me. Then he nods slowly. "Alright. But you need to be sure you can trust the people around you. All of the people around you."
"I trust them." I say it without hesitation. "Devil and I trust each other. We have to. The rest of the club? They're good people. They want the Rebels gone as much as we do."
"Good people can still make bad choices when they're backed into a corner."
"I know that. But I also know that Devil would die before he let anything happen to me or Allison. Same with Storm, same with the rest of them." I square my shoulders. "I trust them with my life. More importantly, I trust them with hers."
Harrison studies me for another moment, then sighs. "Just be careful, Grant."
The sound of my real name hits me like a punch to the chest. Grant Swain. I haven't heard it spoken out loud in so long that it almost sounds foreign. For the last few years, I've been Dime. Just Dime. No last name, no history, nothing but the patch on my back and the role I'm playing.
But hearing Chief Harrison say my real name reminds me that somewhere under all the leather and lies, I'm still that guy. Still the cop who signed up for this assignment because he wanted to make a difference. Still the man who believes in justice and doing the right thing.
And now I'm also the man who's falling in love with a woman who deserves better than all this secrecy and danger.
"I will be," I tell him. "Careful, I mean." But then I stop for a second. "And I'm going to be honest with you, even though my gut is screaming at me not to. Some days I feel more like I'm an outlaw than a cop, and I like that feeling. I feel more at home here than I did in my everyday life, but I promise you, that's not affecting my ability to do my job."
"Good.Thank you for being honest with me." He pulls out his phone, checking something. "I'll keep you updated on what we find with the Clarks. In the meantime, keep your eyes open. The Rebels are getting bolder, and if they're working with a local family, that means they've got resources we didn't anticipate."
