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“I think I might have found the head of the snake on this job.” As distractions went, that one was sure to refocus Nick.

“Who is it?”

“Maria.” Just like him, Nick knew all the players in the Wild Wolves MC.

He started his truck and pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road, headed toward Willow Fork. He’d double back down a side road once he knew he wasn’t being followed.

“That’s... unexpected. Are you sure?”

He filled Nick in on the conversation he’d had earlier with her and Spike.

“So Spike and some others want you on the crew who is working for Maria.”

“That’s my interpretation, but I still have no idea how the operation is run and if Lobo is in on it, or if his sister is running this out the back door.”

“And what about tonight? Does Spike want you in on the murder?”

“No. I’ll be with you and the team, making sure everything goes to plan.”

“You’re taking a risk.”

“The last thing I want is someone to get hurt.”

“I don’t want your cover blown,” Nick bit out, worried Viper would get hurt or killed.

He didn’t want to risk it either, because then the last six months would be a waste of time and they’d have little to show for it. But it was his job. “We pick all the players up at the same time. I think Spike will talk. He likes to talk. This could finally be over.” He wasn’t being followed, so he took the shortcut back toward Blackrock Falls and headed to the meeting place where the FBI team would be getting ready for the arrests tonight.

“It’s only over when we get them all,” Nick reminded him.

“Working on it. Did you look up the cases Spike told me about earlier?”

Nick paused for a moment. Papers rustled in the background. “I’ve got someone looking into them. Since we have Spike recorded confessing to the crimes, it should be easy to open the cases back up, verify his story and how his victims died, and charge him.”

“You’ll want to hold off bringing up those cases until we have the other players in custody.”

“I know. Not my first rodeo.”

“I just want everything to go right.” So it would be done, and he’d be free.

“It will. When will you be here?”

“I’m thirty minutes out.”

“Did you get me some food, too?”

“I didn’t expect to get this. She made it for me.”

“Are you going to save me any?”

Viper bit into the second drumstick. “No. She made it for me.”

“Asshole.”

“Love you, too, bro. See you soon. We’ll take down some bad guys, and you’ll feel better.”

“Is she worth leaving all this?”

“Who said I’m leaving?” He wasn’t sure what he wanted, except for her. But he knew he didn’t want to keep doing this and put her and his relationship with her at risk. Because he wouldn’t like being away from her for months on end. He’d asked her to take a lot on faith already. He couldn’t expect her to do it every time he went on an undercover assignment.