Page 40 of Rescued By the Operative

“Minor detail.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Very much so,” I say.

“Even if I agree to all of this, there’s no guarantee the special agent is going to want to work with you. There’s a high chance I could get fired for even fraternizing with you.”

“We always have work to do around the ranch,” I say. “If you need work.”

Blondie studies me for a moment. “What was in the back of your truck?”

“That’s classified information, Blondie.”

“I’ll go on that date with you.”

I think for a moment and consider how much she’s already told me.

“Told you. I’m irresistible.”

She shakes her head. “I ought to have my head examined.”

I smile up at her. “And yet, your hands on my belt buckle again.”

Chapter Seventeen

Nelly

“You want to do what? With who? No.”

Well, at least Carl didn’t fire me on the spot. Can he get me fired? Probably. He has enough pull with the powers-that-be.

“These local cowboys are the only people actively working against the Kinship cult. They want to work with us. They have maps. They know where everything is. They have more information than I’ve been able to get out of the sister-wives. They have information that I want, Special Agent.”

Carl looks out at the landscape as we drive along the highway. Ranch land for miles, until the mountains jut up like a knife, without much in the way of foothills. Not at all like my home in Appalachia with its evergreen hills, rolling forests, and winding roads. A grid? What’s a grid? Montana is beautiful in its own way, but I miss the Blue Ridge Mountains. I want to go back there for an extended break when this assignment is over.

“Good work, Nelly.”

Um, did I hear that correctly?

“Thanks, I think?”

“Now, I’m going to have to warn you. When we meet with the Wiley Gang, they’re going to recognize me.”

“How? What did you do, Carl?”

He sighs.

“Carl? You’d better explain exactly what that means, or I’m calling the whole assignment off.”

He scoffs. “You do not have the power to do that, Agent.”

I dig my phone out of my bag and unlock the screen. I’ll call the Bureau right now and tell him you have a conflict of interest, and then we’re both completely fucked.”

“OK, OK!” Carl exclaims, laughing. It’s weird. This is the first belly laugh I’ve heard from him. “I’ll tell you.”

“Good!” I chirp with a smile and put my phone back in my bag. “What in the ever-loving honey-nut fuck is going on, Agent Williams?”

Finally, he explains everything.