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Joelle stopped mid-sentence. Not because she was through with speculation, but because her phone was buzzing in her pocket, alerting her to the fact that one of her trackers was on the move.
Pish-poor timing.
“Sorry. I have to look at this,” she told the team.
Doing a quick security unlock, she immediately saw it was the drug-filled semi that was hitting the road. Which meant she had to, as well.
“My target is in motion, folks. I have to go.” She pocketed her phone and stood up. “Thanks for the food, and the conversation. I really enjoyed myself.” Looking down at Mike, still sitting, she grinned. “Certain parts more than others,” she allowed, which got the laugh she was looking for from everyone but Mike.
“You want me to come with you?” he asked solemnly as he slowly stood.
Sweetest thing, ever.
“Thanks, but I’ve got this. Simple reconnaissance, remember?”
“Then at least let me give you my number.”
She didn’t hesitate. Joe withdrew her device again, hit her contacts list and handed the thing to him.
“This is me,” his fingers flew, “and these are…,” he continued tapping, “Kyle, Cisco, and Doug’s numbers.” He handed her back her phone. “Just in case.”
Mason had been looking at her astutely while she tucked the phone back in her pocket, waiting for Mike to finish speaking. Then he imparted something of his own. “Listen. I don’t know what you’re doing in Maine or who you work for, but I like you, and obviously so does everyone else here.”
People around her nodded, and Mike reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze of solidarity.
Joe, clenched back, waiting to hear where Mason was going with this.
He didn’t mince words.
“That means we’re your back up from this point forward. If you need help. Of any kind. You call us and we’re there.”
Joe let go of Mike, nodded her head, and swallowed hard before grunting her acknowledgment and turning away.
She gave an affirmative wave over her shoulder as she hit the trail back to the parking lot because…
If she’d tried to respond, she would have cried.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
As soon as Joelle was out of sight, Mike felt…empty. The woman was so much larger than life. She filled the space around him with all kinds of fun, and joy, and sexual tension. He wasn’t sure if he’d done the right thing, letting her go.
“Mase? What do you think? Should I tail her?” he asked his boss.
Mason gave him a mocking grin. “If you want to get your ass handed to you, then go for it,” he cautioned. “That woman is a force to be reckoned with, and has been taking care of herself for a long time, my friend. The best thing you can do if you’re really interested—and none of us doubt that because we can all see your tongue hanging out like a dog—is to give her space. If she needs you, she’ll call.”
Mike grumbled under his breath. He wished he could be sure of that. Joe wore her independence like a cloak, hiding all her doubts and insecurities under bluster and bravado. The glimpses she’d given him of the woman beneath the swagger when she’d talked about not having a team, showed him a highly capable operative who would welcome support if offered in the right way. Mike wanted to be that support, in or out of the field. But he had to be careful not to overstep.
Joe’s actual balls-to-the-wall frankness? He already craved it. He’d come to prize the people in his life who didn’t mince words, probably because he’d been fed so much bullshit by his ex. Joe took honesty a step further than anyone, though. Mike knew, instinctively, she would always be a straight shooter.
It didn’t bother him at all anymore that she’d hidden her real first name from him for a short period of time, nor that she had yet to reveal her true surname. It was her job, after all, to move under the radar.
On that same front, he wondered if he’d ever find out what agency she worked for. Funny, pondering it, that omission also didn’t seem to rattle him. Because it might not be her reality too much longer. Once Joe wrapped up her current case, if her dissatisfaction with her current job was any indication, she might be pondering a different vocation. In the same kind of arena of expertise, he was sure, because Mike couldn’t see her as anything but a kick-ass operative. Just with a more tolerant boss.
Maybe Mason could find something?—
The motion sensor alert on Mike’s truck vibrated in his pocket.
What the fuck? He waited for it to stop, but grinned when it didn’t. It seemed that someone was purposely rocking his vehicle, and he knew exactly who that scamp was.