“I’m sorry you have to do this,” Raider allowed, driving the vehicle onto the main road, which was empty of traffic. “It isn’t fun lying to people you care about, but you have to trust your partner in the mission. I trust you, so just trust me to make sure everything is okay.”
“Okay,” she murmured, watching rolling hills speed by outside. This sucked. She couldn’t tell him the full truth, and he definitely wasn’t going to like that. Maybe he’d never find out. Right.
“Run me through your most recent arrest,” Raider said, settling in his seat. “I want your take on it and not the recording officer’s.”
Okay. What was her cover? “Well, I had a record for helping a boyfriend steal money from rival criminals, and that was definitely wrong. But then I was trying to do some good. I was working with a nonprofit that combatted child pornography, and I hacked into one of the pervert’s computers.” She shook her head. “Turned out the guy was a low-level employee at the Pentagon, and I hacked into a federally owned system. Should’ve known better.”
Raider’s hands remained steady on the wheel. “Tell me they arrested the guy.”
She nodded. “That was part of the plea deal.” Of course, that had been part of it. No way would she let that guy go free. In fact, his arrest had led to several more arrests, which was why she hadn’t had to spend much jail time. “I’m really trying to make up for my past mistakes.” Which was the absolute truth. But the why of the crimes didn’t matter, just that she’d committed them.
“I understand,” Raider said, speeding up on the quiet roadway. “We’re all trying to make up for things in the past. Honesty is what matters.”
Irritation swept over her skin like a rash. “Oh yeah? Like you’ve been so honest.” She partially turned on her leather seat to face him. “You were working this Irish mob case from the beginning, and you knew you’d have to maybe take down my father, if you’re right about him and his mob connections. Which you’re not, by the way.”
His lips compressed. She could almost see the squirrel running in his head. Finally, he sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Whoa. An apology? From a man? Her mouth gaped open.
He sent her a sideways glance and then grinned. “Seriously?”
Yeah. Wow. “Are you manipulating me right now?” She had to ask. “Since we’re going undercover soon?”
He focused back on the road. “No. I was wrong to use you and expect you to tell me everything and trust me. I am sorry.”
Wow. As an apology, it was darn good. “How about we don’t lie to each other from now on?” she asked.
His chin lowered. “That’s not the same as being honest with each other.”
Yeah, she knew that. But if there was a chance her father was in trouble, she’d do what she had to do to protect him. She thought back to those pictures of his foster family Raider kept in his bedroom. “If Miss A was in trouble, what would you do to save her?”
Raider was quiet for a moment. “Absolutely anything and everything I had to do.”
“Then you understand,” she said.
He shook his head. “Miss A would never do anything illegal. Her past is pure.”
“As far as you know,” Brigid countered. “And I think my dad’s past is pure. You have to be wrong about him.”
Raider slid his glasses up on his head as clouds began to cover the sun. “So long as you understand, I’m very good at my job, Brigid.”
“Is that a threat?” she muttered.
“No.” He sighed, and his large chest filled. “But it is a fact.”
* * *
Raider kept the car steady as they sped down the narrow road. Night shrouded the landscape, but the headlights picked out alfalfa on one side of the road and hay on the other. The silhouettes of mountains rose in the far distance, but they were definitely in farm country. He’d never been this north in New York before. “How big is your dad’s farm?” he asked, breathing in the smell of hay.
“About two hundred acres, with one hundred acres of farmland under a lower-pressure pivot system,” she said, her gaze on the dark fields outside the window. “Fifty acres for cattle.”
It was hard to reconcile the computer hacker with a farm girl. “Bet you were cute in overalls.”
She didn’t turn his way, her hands plucking at her jeans. Her anxiety was strong enough to ratchet up the tension in the car. “Thanks.”
He tightened his hold on the steering wheel to keep from reaching for her hand. They were colleagues, and his one mission, his only mission, was to take down the people who’d killed his friend. And now, if Force’s connecting the dots was accurate, he had to save a bunch of girls being trafficked in a way he couldn’t find. The ticking clock of that increased his blood pressure.
He felt a little guilty keeping that part of the op from Brigid, even though he was under orders.
