Page 6

“Every diamond has the ability to shine when there is someone to recognize its good facets and inhibit its flaws.”

–Wes Fesler

Jameson

I didn’t know exactly what changed, but after the two friends came back from the bathroom, I could see that the caution that Rayne had before was completely gone.

She easily leaned against my shoulder now as she laughed and joked with her friends.

It wasn’t hard for me to drop most of the pretense that I had around them. After all, it had been such a long time that I felt comfortable just listening to a group of people telling stories and hanging out.

I had to keep glancing around the place to ensure that none of the other gang members were there. I had convinced myself that the entire night could be written off as me trying to get laid if I was spotted.

Besides, I’d earned Felix’s trust after the last few months. The smaller drug runs weren’t the first I’d done while undercover. Over the past few months, Felix had trusted me with more than a dozen. I wasn’t in this deep for a few ounces here or there.

I knew the hard-hitting truth. If it wasn’t me making the drops, then it was going to be someone else. The fact that I worked at the gym opened doors to the entire operation. Which is why it was picked as my cover from the start.

Also, it was a job that allowed me the freedom to come and go while watching everyone I needed to. Most of the Reapers were members of the gym. Almost every member had a job around town. A few of them were plumbers for the same company, and two brothers worked at a landscape company. Declan worked in an auto parts store. Felix and Ben didn’t have full-time jobs. They seemed to spend most of their time watching over the other members.

They had a huge house on the very outskirts of town. The massive six-bedroom place backed a bayou.

I’d staked the place out as much as I could, but Ben had three rottweilers named Larry, Curly, and Moe that alerted him anytime I got too close.

The first time I’d been invited out to the place, I knew I had to play it cool if I wanted to be invited back.

It was three months before I finally had a chance to look around. Ben had hosted a large crawfish boil as a birthday party for Felix.

There were almost a hundred people going in and out of the home, which had given me plenty of time to look around. I’d even dragged a very drunk Izzy with me, knowing if I got caught looking around, I could always pretend we’d been looking for a quiet place.

Maybe that’s why Izzy kept trying to get with me. I hated stringing women on.

Damn it. Wasn’t that what I was doing now with Rayne?

I knew the truth. There was no way that anything could come out of tonight. I didn’t even know why she continued to hang out with me at this point. She knew I was one of the Reapers and from how she was acting earlier, she knew that the Reapers were trouble.

When Aria dragged Tobias to the dance floor again and Charlotte disappeared somewhere, leaving me alone with Rayne, I figured I’d ask her. Only I didn’t get a chance to.

“Don’t bullshit me,” she said the moment we were alone.

“I won’t,” I said, figuring to play along with whatever happened next.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Ex-military?”

I paused for a heartbeat before nodding slowly. Okay, so Felix and the rest knew that about me too.

“What branch?” she asked.

“Marines,” I answered quickly. Another truth.

She shifted. “Which accounts for the mixture of accents I hear behind that fake Louisiana drawl you’ve convinced everyone else around here you have. How long?”

I was thankful she didn’t dwell on the accent.

“Four years.”

“Where, exactly, up north are you from? I’d wager…” She held up a finger when I opened my mouth. Honestly, the lies I’d been telling over the past years rolled off my tongue so easily, I didn’t even know what I was going to say. “Chicago,” she finished.

My eyebrows jumped just the slightest, giving the answer away.

“Okay, so…” She shifted again, leaning her back against the wall as she ran her eyes over me once more. “What in the hell is a boy from Chicago, turned marine, turned biker slash drug gang, doing in my town trying to convince everyone he’s nothing but a good ol’ boy?” She smiled slowly. “You thought I was dumb, like the rest of them?” She nudged her chin towards the back door.

I couldn’t help it, my appreciation for the woman tripled instantly.

Then she leaned closer to me and whispered, “Like I said, you can’t fool me.”

I nodded slowly and once again opened my mouth. But before I could say anything, my entire body was yanked out of the booth.

One minute I was sitting there looking into the most beautiful brown eyes I’d ever seen, ready to reveal all my secrets, the next I hit the opposite wall with a thud and saw stars.

Shit.

“Quincy!” I heard Rayne yell through the haze.

Biting the insides of my mouth, I steadied myself and prepared for a fight. Only, the blow didn’t come.

Instead, I saw Rayne jump on the back of a man roughly my size and build. His long jet-black hair hung low over his eyes. The man was wearing a leather vest, showcasing far more tattoos than I had.

My hearing had yet to come back so most of what I understood next was from reading lips in the dark, smoky bar. I watched them struggle for a few moments before the man stilled and Rayne pushed her way in front of him.

“Quincy! Leave him alone,” Rayne was shouting as she held the man away from me.

“Why in the hell are you hanging around a Reaper?” Quincy asked Rayne, who was now standing nose to nose with the man.

“That’s none of your…”—this is when my hearing came back—“damned business,” Rayne said as she shoved the man in the chest. The guy didn’t even budge.

“He’s a Reaper.” Quincy pointed at me.

“And you’re a cop,” Rayne threw back at the man.

Shit. Another cop? Okay, one cop I could explain away with my heightened libido. Two? Nope. No way.

From the way the two were talking to one another, it was obvious they were currently or had recently been an item. Which, I suppose, accounted for the man attacking me from behind. “Starting a bar fight is illegal. I could haul your butt down to the station now…” Rayne was saying.

“Don’t bother. We both know it won’t do either of us any good.” Quincy turned to me. “Go on, get out of here,” the man said as if he was shooing away a fly.

I couldn’t help it. I arched my eyebrows at the guy.

“Only if the lady wants me to,” I replied, knowing full well that whatever happened now, the rest of the Reapers would get wind of what went down. If I didn’t stand up now, then I’d look like a wimp. Even if I was standing up to a cop.

Sure, Felix had dragged Declan out of the bar earlier when Rayne had pinned him against the wall. But that was Felix.

I squared my shoulders and waited.

“Quincy, just go.” Rayne shoved the man again. I noticed her efforts didn’t even make the man budge this second time.

Thankfully, at that moment, Tobias and Aria returned. Aria instantly got in Quincy’s face and started yelling at him while Tobias walked over and helped me.

“Sorry about this,” Tobias said quietly.

“Sure.” I rolled my shoulders. “Ex?”

Tobias nodded. “She broke things off after she found out he had hooked up with one of the waitresses here.”

Stupid, I thought as I watched the two women face off with the other man.

“I’ll go,” I told Tobias.

“Naw.” Tobias took my arm. “That’ll just piss her off more. Trust me, you don’t want to be on Rayne’s bad side,” he said with a chuckle.

I nodded since it was something I’d already figured out.

When Rayne and Aria had finally convinced Quincy to leave, the man pushed past me, shoving his shoulder into mine and trying to topple me over. I’d been ready for the move and didn’t budge.

“Are you okay?” Rayne asked as Tobias and Aria returned to the booth.

“Yeah, you?” I asked, running my eyes over her once more. Yeah, she would be worth fighting over. Any man who cheated on her deserved what she gave them.

“I’m good.” She sighed and glanced around. “Come on, let’s get some air.” She took my hand and pulled me towards the door.

When we stepped out into the muggy summer night, she stopped. “Which one is yours?” She motioned to the row of bikes still parked at the bar. I noticed all of the bikes owned by the Reapers were missing. Thankfully.

“What makes you think I own a bike?” I asked with a smile. “That could be my car.” I pointed to a Mini Cooper and she laughed.

“First off, that’s Aria’s. She bought it for herself for her twenty-fifth birthday.” She nudged my shoulder. “Second off, everyone in town knows one of the requirements to join the Reapers is you have to have a bike. So…” She moved a little closer to me until she was only a breath away. “I’ll ask again, which one is yours?”

Damn. Just the sexy scent of her had me pointing to my bike. Yeah, mine. All mine. Even if I didn’t have to pretend to be in a drug dealing, backwater gang, I’d ride her.

“Nice,” she said, walking over to the bike. Then, to my surprise, she pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of my plates.

“Cop move,” I joked and had her smiling. “Gonna run me?”

“You know it.” She put her phone back in the pocket of her jacket. “Now, how about a walk?” She motioned and, stupidly, I fell in step beside her. We made our way down the sidewalk to a small parking lot where a green bench sat under a very dim streetlight.

When she sat down, I sat next to her.

“I have a serious addiction,” she said softly, causing me to tense for a split second.

“Oh?” I asked, waiting, and counting my heartbeats.

She turned her face towards mine and I instantly got lost in exploring her face with my eyes.

“I tend to fall for guys like you,” she finished.

“Which is?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes. “Bad-boy types. Pretty on the outside and jerks on the inside.”

“Do you think I’m a jerk?” I asked with a smile.

She chuckled. “I don’t know you all that well. But, if you’re part of the Reapers, something tells me you don’t rescue kittens from trees in your spare time.”

“I like kittens,” I said, shifting closer to her while my gaze was locked on her lips. I couldn’t stop myself from wondering what she’d taste like. What she’d feel like.

“See, right there.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “At first, all men will say or do anything to get what they want.”

“And what is that?” I asked, falling for her bait.

“I’d wager the same thing I want at this point. To get into your pants.” She smiled.

I leaned in, totally prepared to take her lips but she leaned back and slapped a hand to my chest.

“Nice try, Yank.” She sighed and shook her head. “I don’t kiss until the plates come back clean.”

I chuckled. “They’re clean. I’m clean.”

“We’ll see about that.” She cocked her head slightly. “You’re not what you want everyone to think.” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re lying. That’s a fact.” When I opened my mouth to deny it, she added, “I’ll get to the bottom of it. One way or another.” She shifted and then stood up suddenly. “I’ll see you around town, Jameson Lorenzo.” She walked backward towards the bar.

Damn.

Suddenly, I wished it was winter and it was one of those freezing Chicago snow days I’d hated so much growing up. Everything was too hot. My body was on fire and, for the first time in years, I knew there wouldn’t be any relief until I had just a sample of Detective Rayne.

I climbed on my hog and rode the few blocks to the apartment I’d been set up in. The massive loft fit the profile I needed along with my needs for the time being. The fact that there was a safe room that held my guns, computers, and a secure phone was a huge bonus.

The massive two thousand square foot, two-bedroom loft was open concept, and my bedroom overlooked the kitchen and living space. I’d turned the second bedroom into a gym to prevent any of the Reapers who just needed a place to crash from doing so.

Most of the furniture in the place was secondhand, but I didn’t care. I hardly spent time there except when I needed to reset, eat, or sleep.

The loft sat directly above a café and next to a theater in the old part of town.

Not wasting any time, I let myself into my safe room, which was hidden behind the fireplace in the brick wall that ran on either side of the loft, and sat down at my unregistered computer. Logging into the VPN, I searched for Rayne’s information in every database I had access to.

After half an hour, I grew very frustrated at the lack of information. I hadn’t even turned up a birth certificate or a social security number. So, I turned to social media sites to see if I could learn details about her personal life.

She had a basic presence there. A photo of her and Aria laughing at what appeared to be a local water hole. The friends sitting on top of a tree branch with a rope swing in hand as if they were ready to jump in. Sure enough, a few photos later, the duo were flying through the air, laughing as they hit the water.

Her profile stated she worked for the local PD. Investigations lieutenant.

Impressive. From what I could tell, she’d held the job for a few years now. Before that, she appeared to be a beat cop in town.

The further back I went on her profiles, the less there was. One thing was obvious, the woman didn’t like telling the world every little detail about herself.

But I’d already figured out that she didn’t like talking about herself.

Since it had been a few months since I’d checked in, I pulled out my business phone, turned it on, and called Jasmine.

She answered on the second ring. “Hey. Updates?”

“None so far,” I answered, leaning back in the chair.

“Why the call?” she asked.

“I need you to pull some info on someone,” I said.

“Shoot,” Jasmine said, and I heard her shifting around.

“Rayne.” Then I spelled the name out.

“First or last name?” Jasmine asked.

“No last name. Just Rayne. She’s the investigations lieutenant for Gemsville,” I said as my eyes ran over the attractive picture of her smiling into the camera. This picture was of her and Aria at the local gun range. Aria had a bright pink gun in her hands, while Rayne held a black 35.

“Think she’s dirty?” Jasmine asked.

“No, this one’s… personal,” I added.

“Ohh.” Jasmine chuckled. “Damn, Jameson does have a libido.”

“Shut up.” I groaned. “Just let me know what you can find on her, will you?”

“Sure, just as long as it doesn’t interfere with why you’re there. I doubt the Reapers will take too kindly to you shaking up with a cop. One they probably know and avoid themselves.”

“Yeah, I know,” I admitted. “Still, there’s something…” I dropped off.

“She got under your skin?” Jasmine said with a sigh. “Jameson, you know the story of how I met my husband Stephen,”

“Yeah,” I said quickly, remembering how she’d arrested Stephen for solicitation only to discover he’d been undercover himself to snag her.

“Good, then let that be a warning.” She laughed. “Now, get me real names. Real progress. We aren’t paying you to shack up with some lieutenant.”

“Right,” I said and hung up.

I shut everything down and headed in to take a very cold shower and try to get some sleep.