Chapter Twenty-One
He didn’t thinkshe’d answer. He’d been trying to get her to talk for days and she wouldn’t. How could he fix anything if he didn’t know the underlying problem?
“You could have been killed,” she said after a long, intense moment.
“But I wasn’t.”
She began pacing the room. “My job, the job that I left when I moved here—I was an undercover agent.”
He started to laugh but sobered abruptly when he realized she wasn’t joking. “Oh, God, you’re serious.”
“Yes. My partner and I went undercover. On our last mission we infiltrated a biker gang.”
Light dawned. “Which is why you were worried when you thought BFK was a gang at first.”
She nodded. “Yes, that was my experience. Intellectually I knew all gangs weren’t bad, but emotionally—” She shook her head.
“Were you an undercover cop?”
“No. Not exactly. We were part of another government organization but we operated under the radar.”
“Can I ask which organization?”
“Hell, I’ve already told you enough to get me thrown in prison if anyone finds out. So why not?”
“God, Jedidiah. You’re freaking me out.”
“DEA. I was with them almost since I left home. They recruited me not long after I graduated high school. At first I liked it. They taught me a lot. I was young. I didn’t mind taking risks. You know at that age you think you’re indestructible.”
She was still pacing, growing more tense by the minute.
“Do you want to sit down?”
“I can’t sit still and talk about this. The gang my partner Noah and I infiltrated was suspected of distributing fentanyl across the southwest. Eventually we were able to prove it and take them down. But not until Noah was murdered and I only got out because of Noah’s insistence that I leave just before it all went to hell.”
“A biker babe. I can’t visualize you in that role.”
“You’d be surprised. I was good. And Noah was the best mentor I could have had.”
“It sounds like you and your partner were close.”
She gave him a wry smile. “If you call being in love close. Noah was my fiancé.”
At this point he wasn’t surprised. In fact it made perfect sense. “Your fiancé didn’t just die. He was murdered.”
“Executed.”
God, even worse. “I’m so sorry, Jedidiah.”
“I don’t know that we’d have made it together even if he hadn’t died. I could envision a future without the danger and excitement. Noah never could.”
He got up and gathered her in his arms. At first she held herself stiffly. But he kept holding her, just holding her. Finally, she broke. Her arms went around him and he felt her shaking and knew she was crying. He didn’t speak because what could he say? But he held her and patted her and simply let her cry.
She didn’t cry for long. She drew in a shuddering breath and stepped away from him. “I need a tissue,” she said, and left the room.
He was relieved when she returned. He’d been afraid she might take off. He still had a hard time believing she’d told him her story.
“Sorry,” she said. “I swore I wouldn’t cry.” She smiled weakly.
