by Brook Wilder
Someone snickered, but I didn’t care. I was going to do this by the books, or I wasn’t going to do it at all.
“You can cover me,” I continued. “Two flanks on either side of the building, and one crew straight up the middle. I need guys behind those buildings there, and a few in the tree line, in case he decides to run.”
Seth’s gaze narrowed and I held my breath, challenging him to deny me. He had asked, so I was telling him what I needed, what I wanted to do.
“Fine,” he said before turning back to the group. “Where’s Chains?”
Someone in the group pointed toward the tree line. “He’s over there, waiting.”
“Come on,” Seth said, motioning for me to follow him. “This is Jester business and when the president is on site, he’s the only one who can make the call.”
“I know that,” I muttered, traipsing through the woods behind him. “You forget where I came from.”
“Oh no, I haven’t,” Seth chuckled. “But sometimes I think you do.”
I didn’t like the surliness of his tone. I didn’t want to fight with Seth, but I was scared to death that after this was all over with, he would be going to prison. He had escaped federal custody and unless we got Lopez alive, I couldn’t help him. Reaching out, I grabbed his arm and spun him around.
“What?” he asked, his jaw tight.
I reached up to cup that jawline, feeling the prickliness of his unshaven face in my hand. “I’m scared.”
Seth’s expression softened and he leaned into my touch. “Don’t be scared. This will all be over with soon, I promise.”
“Just don’t get yourself killed, alright?” I said, leaning in to brush my lips over his. “We got a lot to talk about.”
His grin was quick. “Same to you, Alisha.”
I dropped my hand and continued on, my grin hard to hide. It faded pretty quickly when I spied the president of the Jesters hiding amongst the trees, his wife at his side. Seth pushed past me, the mere brush of his arm against mine causing me to shiver inwardly.
“Chuckler,” Chains acknowledged. “Agent Poole.”
“Alisha,” I said, giving him a nod. “Good to see you.”
Kristina walked toward me, a grim smile on her face. “Alisha. It’s nice to meet you, even under the circumstances. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
I knew who she was. I had a file on my desk back at the office on the Widow Maker, aka Kristina Harper. She had killed a Jester member in cold blood before she was ever the president of Hell’s Bitches, that one move giving her the nickname and vaulting her reign over the all-women bike club.
I envied her just a little. “You too.”
“What’s the plan, Agent Poole?” Chains asked. “This is your call, not the Jesters.”
I eyed him, surprised he was going to let me call the shots. “Is this because you are all considered fugitives of the law right now?”
He grinned. “Maybe. We are hoping to throw ourselves at the mercy of the court, ma’am.”
I rolled my eyes. Some things never changed with the Jesters club. “I do have a plan.”
“Then let’s hear it,” Kristina said, glaring at her husband. “Before I beg you to take him back to jail.”
The president of the Jesters blew a kiss to his wife and I nearly laughed. No wonder Seth thought these people to be his family. They were your family once too. A voice whispered in the back of my head.
Seth sidled a glance in my direction, and I sucked in a breath. Right. I was Agent Poole right now, not Alisha Poole.
“So here it is.” Quickly I told them about the plan I had, watching for any sign of disagreement. “I have to take him in alive to help you. If he’s dead, he’s a horrible bargaining chip.”
“Alive it is,” Kristina stated, looking at her husband. “I can’t have you locked up for twenty years.”
“I don’t want to be,” he said softly, something passing between them that was hard not to see. It was the same way I felt about Seth, the mere thought of him behind those bars for years upon years making me sick to my stomach.
He didn’t deserve to be there and neither did these people. Even with all the things they had done wrong in their lives, it didn’t compare to Lopez and the cartel.
Besides, capturing a cartel liaison would be far more valuable to the ATF than a bunch of bikers.
“Alright then,” Chains finally said. “We got our marching orders. Go and tell the other teams to get ready.”
A few bikers walked off in the other direction as I turned to Seth. “I need a gun.”
“Alisha,” he started before Kristina stepped in front of him, a gun in her hand. “Here’s mine. You will have all the cartel arrested before he will agree to give you a gun.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking the Glock and checking the clip. “I hope not to use it.”
She winked and walked off, leaving me to face the compound. Mentally I was prepared to take on Lopez. It was my job to take on criminals like this.
What I wasn’t ready for was Seth coming up behind me, so close I could fall back against his chest. “I will be right behind you,” he said in my ear. “On your six. Don’t shoot me.”
I laughed, because it was the only thing that felt good at the moment. “I think I can miss your big ass.”
“That’s the second time you’ve mentioned my ass since you’ve been back,” he chuckled. “Either you’ve missed it, or I’ve really got to lay off the squats.”
I smirked. “I’ve missed it.”
His chuckle followed me as I stepped into the clearing, nodding to the gathering groups around the building. My gun at the ready, I walked toward the building.
“Gilberto Lopez! ATF agent Poole! I need for you to come on out of there with your hands up!”
Silence. I took another few steps forward, my body tense and ready to spring at any moment if the bullets started to fly. I was taking a huge risk without any kind of protection, at least a vest, but I was hoping Lopez knew the gig was up.
“If you don’t, we will be coming in!”
“Movement on the left,” Seth said as he ran past me. I followed, my heart pounding in my ears as I ran, catching up with him and passing him in a matter of seconds. Sure enough, I spotted Lopez zig zagging through the tree line, his white t-shirt not hard to pick out amongst the green.
He wasn’t going to get away this time.
My blood racing, I ran parallel to him, my lungs nearly bursting with exertion. At the moment he ducked out of the trees, I launched myself at him, catching him in his side and knocking him sideways into the dirt. Instantly I was up and scrambling, Lopez letting out a shout of anger as he kicked my legs from under me and sent me flying into the dirt.
My body jarred on impact, and then I was pinned down by a leering Lopez.
“You don’t ever fucking go away, do you?”
“You only wish I would,” I said, fighting against him. “You killed my sister!”
“You’re damn right I did,” he said as I pushed against his strength. “And it should have been you, you bitch.”
Bringing my knee up, I caught him between the legs and was able to roll him over, landing a punch to his jaw, my hand stinging on contact. His head snapped back just about the time I was yanked off him, strong hands under my armpits.
“Whoa, Agent,” Seth said, setting me on my feet. “We got to take him in alive, remember?”
I blew out a breath, wiping my hands on my pants. “Yeah, I got it. Get some zip ties and cuff him, will you?”
“Yes ma’am.”
Faster than I could blink, Lopez was cuffed and standing before me, his lip cut and bleeding. “Gilberto Lopez,” I said, my voice unwavering. “You are under arrest for the murder of Jamie Poole.”
He spat in my direction, but I didn’t give him anything but cool indifference so he’d know he didn’t get under my skin anymore.
Because he didn’t. I had just given my sister the peace she needed in the afterlife.
/> I got the fucker who murdered her.
Chapter 22
Seth
I rode all the way back to Castillo with a dark cloud over my head. We had Lopez and Jon both, but my freedom was still up in the air.
The entire Jester council was still up in the air and we were riding right back into the fray, back to the damn fed office where we would all be arrested.
We were all fucking crazy.
At least I had Alisha holding onto me one last time. It would get me through the long nights in prison, hoping that when I was released, she would be waiting for me.
It seemed we couldn’t be apart no matter how hard we tried.
I pulled the bike up to the office and shut it off, not wanting to get off the damn thing. “You know I will be handcuffed on the spot.”
Alisha let out a sigh, tightening her hold on me. “I know, but I will put up a good fight for you, for all the Jesters. The feds aren’t going to like that one of their own went rogue with the cartel, so I think the ball is in our court.”
I leaned back into her arms, trying to remember what it felt like just in case. “How’s your hand?”
“It hurts,” she laughed, pressing a kiss to my bare shoulder. “Thank you for today. I wanted to kill him.”
“I know,” I said, remembering how good it felt to punch her asshole partner over and over. “But it wasn’t the right thing for you to do.”
“It’s going to be okay, Seth.”
I couldn’t echo her sentiment. While I knew Alisha would have some pull, she was going up against the government, not just the local jurisdiction. We had broken out of a government transport. That wasn’t going to go over well.
“Can I ask you one question?”
“Sure.”
“Do you love me, Seth?”
Hell yeah, I loved her. I loved her like a fish loved water. I craved Alisha when she was present and missed the hell out of her when she wasn’t.
But that wasn’t the answer she was looking for. “I love you enough to let you do your thing, Alisha.” She wanted to hear that I would let her go again, and while it would kill me, I would let her go if it meant she’d be happy.
That’s what people did when they were in love.
She released me and climbed off the bike, walking up to the office without looking back. I didn’t know if I had given her the right answer or the wrong one, but when the agents started pouring out of the office, their guns drawn, I knew I had already anticipated it.
Slowly, I held up my hands. “I’m giving up.”
***
It took three days for Alisha to straighten out our terms of surrender. I had to hand it to her, she didn’t give up, not one time. More than once a day she would come by and keep us updated, making sure they were taking good care of us, and bringing little things like cigarettes and chocolate to keep up our spirits. Rex had already warned us not to complain, to be model prisoners, and it might actually work in our favor.
So, we didn’t. We didn’t do shit other than sit around and look bored, though inside it was killing me. Just seeing Alisha’s hopeful face day in and day out made me want to reach out of those bars and pull her close to feel her in my arms again. She looked well, but there were shadows around her eyes I didn’t like.
On the third day, Alisha came back to the jail with a deputy. “I got you all out,” she stated as he turned the key in the lock. “On a few terms. You won’t leave the county for thirty days until they can process and move their other prisoners. You won’t actively engage the Aztecas until Lopez has made it to Dallas for trial. You will agree to wear trackers for thirty days to prove you aren’t violating your terms, and if all goes well, you will all be put on probation for up to two years, depending on how you act.”
I looked over at Rex and Corey, who shrugged. This wasn’t anything new to us. Hell, we had all been on probation a time or two in our pasts.
“Alright,” Rex said, standing. “But we can’t say much for Chuckler here. He’s the one who will give you the most trouble.”
I chuckled, catching Alisha’s eye. “I might behave this time around.”
Her breath hitched but that was the only reaction I got out of her, watching as she walked away, her badge gleaming on her hip.
God, she drove me wild.
The deputy opened the door and we filed out, on our way to collect our bags full of our shit and walk out of here semi-free men.
“What are you going to do when you walk out?” Rex asked softly as we walked down the hall.
“I’m going to beg and plead for her to stay,” I answered. I knew what I wanted and if she could put up with the fact that I was a criminal, I could put up with her being ATF.
Rex clapped me on the back. “Good luck, man. Been there, done that, don’t want to do it again.”
I grinned. “I hope this is the last time.” I would be willing to do just about anything to keep Alisha with me.
I dressed quickly and after a few signatures agreeing to their terms, we were allowed to walk outside. It was already nighttime, the sky filled with thousands of stars, and I took in a deep breath, glad to be on this side of the wall. Kris and Jessie were waiting out front when we all walked out, running to their husbands nearly immediately to smother them with kisses and a few tears.
I looked around, my grin fading when I didn’t see Alisha waiting on me like I had hoped she would.
“Don’t worry,” Damian said next to me. “I don’t have anyone waiting to fuck me either.”
“See, there’s a difference between you and me,” I laughed, slapping him on the back. “I do, she’s just not right where I hoped her to be.”
“Damn,” Damian swore. “You’re right. So I am the only fucking loser out here.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I answered, looking around one more time. “Sometimes it’s better to be the loser.”
“You fucking asshole,” he laughed, shaking his head. “Go on. I know you are chasing after some tail, too. I’ll be the lone cowboy.”
I grinned. I knew exactly where to find her.
After locating my bike, I took off to the country, glad to see Alisha’s car in the driveway of her parents’ home.
This was where she wanted me to come. Back to the one place that made me very nervous.
I was willing to do it for her.
With no hesitation, I walked up to the front door and knocked. It opened immediately, and Paula stood there.
“I figured you were the reason she flew into this house like that.”
“I’ve come to tell her I love her,” I stated, no beating around the bush.
Paula moved aside. “Then you better come inside. She’s in her bedroom, which I’m sure you know the way to.”
I did, but not through the house. I knew it through the window. “Thank you.”
Taking a guess, I found the bedroom and pushed the door open, finding Alisha seated on the bed, looking at me.
“You came.”
I stepped inside, shutting the door behind me before leaning against it. “I did.”
She clasped her hands together. “You think you will be able to meet the agreement?”
I nodded. “I think so. That is, unless you are going to run back to Virginia. Then we might have an issue.”
Alisha drew in a breath. “I quit my job.”
I stared at her. “What? What the hell did you go and do that for?”
“Because,” she said softly, looking down at her hands. “I can’t work for the agency anymore. They want me to, but I’m done with the ATF.”
“Does this have to do with Jon?”
“A little,” she admitted. “They are going to prosecute him for letting Lopez walk and for what he did to me. I’m going to testify against him.”
“Good,” I answered. “He deserves to rot in prison for what he did to you.”
Alisha tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “I know. There’s something else I haven’t told you.”
I stood
up a bit straighter, a thousand things running through my tortured mind. “What?”
“I’ve been offered the position of chief of police here in Castillo.”
I burst into laughter. Kris had killed the former chief of police, Brad Walker, a corrupt cartel follower who had tried to kill her. Ever since, there had been no replacement.
She arched a brow at my laughter. “I’m assuming you aren’t laughing at me?”