Yeah. Not long enough. Ben was a floater. He went wherever there was a need, and there was something about him that piqued Zach’s senses. It was tough to look at these people now and reconcile that they were never his friends and now he’d placed himself as an enemy. He’d chosen to stand against them. That meant one day he could be testifying in their trials and putting a big red target on his back.
Every word Ben said was sharp. Cuss word after cuss word. Zach was hyperaware of Lauren behind him and the things she would hear tonight. These men could put sailors to shame, and Zach had once been among them.
Tonight, he had to turn it on again. Anything less than his old self would tip them off. Gage had been right. Reverting back to his old ways in front of Lauren had him walking a fine line. The things he would have said before tastedsour now.
As soon as Ben walked away, Zach turned around to face Lauren. “Can we go now?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, scratching her fingernails into his hair as she whispered, “He’s talking to someone else now.”
He couldn’t turn around and look without making it obvious. Instead, he shifted to the side and leaned down to press a kiss on Lauren’s neck. “What are they doing?”
“He looks frustrated. The guy he’s talking to looks to be about forty years old. He has a short beard and is probably just under six feet tall.”
Zach slid his lips over her neck as he tried to visualize who she was describing. “What color hair?”
“Dark. Almost black.” Her voice was breathy as she added, “Zach, I’m going to lose my focus if you keep doing that.”
He chuckled and pressed a quick kiss to her temple before turning and picking up their cups from a nearby shelf. “Let’s go get a refill. I’ll get a look at who he’s talking to, and you let me know when it’s a good time to cut in and introduce myself.”
Lauren wrapped her hands around his arm as he risked a quick glance at Eric. His steps faltered when he caught sight of the familiar man.
“Shoot.”
“What?” she whispered.
“That’s Nick.”
“The one you booted out of the top spot in Blackwater when you got out of prison?” she asked.
“Yeah.” If Nick was here, that wasn’t a good sign. Had he met Eric before today? Were they both invited to the party at the same time for a reason? And why hadn’t Nick told Zach where he was going? This was something they should have discussed.
They’d walked three steps before Zach put their drinks down on a table and changed course. “We’re breaking in.”
“What? Now?” Lauren asked in a high-pitched whisper.
“Now.” He couldn’t tiptoe around while Nick was here talking to Eric. Someone needed to remember who was in charge.
Stopping a few feet away from Eric and Nick, Zach turned to Lauren. “Stand right here and listen to everything.”
She nodded vigorously before giving him a little shove toward the conversation he was about to ambush. This was why they’d come, and he had to do everything he could to make Eric think they were on the same team.
40
Lauren
There was an invisible force field around Zach as he approached Eric and Nick. He had an intimidating presence that made everyone in his path scatter on instinct.
Zach was a different person tonight. Gone were the caring eyes she’d come to love. They’d been replaced by a cold, callous look that made her want to shrink into a corner and hide.
Lauren wrapped her arms around her middle a moment before she remembered to relax and leaned against the wall. She needed that drink back in her hand. How odd that she felt like she fit in when she had something like a red, plastic cup to carry around.
Not much was going to make her actually fit in at this party. There were all kinds of people here. Older men with white hair and leather vests on, young women wearing little to nothing, and even some men who looked like they’d come straight fromthe office.
Slowly scanning from one side of the room to the other, she took note of everything, starting with people she’d seen during the briefing earlier in the week. Familiar faces with an invisible list of charges to go along with them filled the room. As soon as she could speak without drawing attention, she could report all of it to the authorities listening in.
“I think I need to introduce myself,” Zach said as he approached Eric and Nick.
Eric was the mastermind that had evaded the authorities for decades, but Nick was the one that had Lauren listening closely. Seeing him with the big boss had the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Zach said Nick wasn’t happy to see him out of prison, and the guy had plenty of reasons to feel that way.
