Author: Jaci Burton

“I’ll get my guys to come back for your bike,” Crush said.

Spence gave a curt nod, exchanged looks with Diaz, and they started up, Crush leading the way. They took it deliberately slow on Spence’s behalf, not wanting to jar his wound into bleeding any more than it already was.

By the time they got back into camp, there was a handful of people already waiting at the lodge. Crush must have gotten on his cell while he was riding to alert folks that they were on the way. Good. That meant plenty of hands to help pull Spence off the bike and carry him inside the lodge.

They took him into one of the bedrooms and laid him on a twin bed. Some guy named Mark who appeared to be in his late forties came in with a black bag in his hand. Diaz supposed he was the doc since he dug in and started cutting away the rest of Spence’s pants while asking him a million questions.

“Cut the Q and A, Mark, and just stick to the medical, okay?” Crush said.

So Crush didn’t want an interrogation of Spence any more than Diaz did. Good. The last thing they needed was someone calling the cops or asking a lot of questions Spence wasn’t prepared to answer. This was a critical time and they couldn’t handle having their cover blown.

Mark asked everyone to leave except for Crush, Diaz, Jessie, and a woman named Laura who was also a nurse. Nothing like bikers who made a living doing other things. Laura positioned herself on the other side of Spence, assisting Mark with cleaning the wound and numbing it so they could probe for the bullet.

“Bullet’s lodged in the meaty part of his thigh, just on the surface,” Mark said.

Diaz watched Mark drag the slug out with forceps and drop it into a bowl. They’d have to keep the bullet just in case they’d need it later for evidence.

“I’ll take that for a souvenir, doc,” Spence said.

“Sure. I’ll bag it for you.”

Good job, Spence.

“You’re lucky it didn’t go in any deeper and sever some arteries.”

“Yeah, I feel real lucky,” Spence said, rolling his eyes.

“So that’s it? It’s out now?” Jessie asked, peering around Diaz.

“Yeah. That was it. I’m going to stitch him up. He lost some blood and he’ll be weak. I’ll shoot him up with an antibiotic to ward off infection. Otherwise, he should heal up just fine.”

“Thanks, Mark.” Diaz blew out a relieved breath. It could have been a lot worse. He was glad Spence wasn’t severely injured, and doubly glad they wouldn’t have to blow their cover by taking Spence to a hospital. The guy was tough—he’d mend fast.

Once Mark finished up, he and Laura left the room with strict orders that Spence not move at all. Stephanie hovered near the doorway, but Diaz said she could come in later, after they talked to him. Then he closed the door. Unfortunately, Crush insisted on staying, and since this was his gang and they were allegedly part of it, there was no way Diaz could object.

“Okay, what the hell happened out there?” Crush said, his face twisted in an angry frown.

Spence looked to Diaz, then shrugged. “I was out riding by myself after Steph and I had that blowup. I heard bikes, so I thought it was Rex and the others who’d ridden out before me. I figured I’d catch up and ride with them. I was getting close, heading down that trail, when a shot rang out. I flew off the damn bike and that’s the last thing I remember until you all showed up.”

“Did you see anyone else around?”

“There wasn’t anyone else on that trail, Crush,” Spence said. “No one I could see, anyway.”

Spence’s statement hung in the air, his meaning clear. Had someone in Rex’s group shot him?

“Crush, how did you know to take that road?” Diaz asked. “That path could easily have been missed. You had to know it was there.”

“I’ve been to this area lots of times, taken that road before. We all have. I saw bike tracks so figured maybe Spence had gone that way.”

Plausible enough, Diaz supposed.

“Rex could have taken that road with his friends, too,” Diaz said, his meaning clear. He wanted to throw down the gauntlet and see what Crush did with it.

Crush dragged his hand through his hair. “That can’t be. It had to be hunters or something.”

“It’s not hunting season,” Diaz said.

“Fuck.” Crush paced the small bedroom. “I need to go find Rex.”

He left the room without another word to them.

Jessie sat on the cushioned chair in the room. “That was interesting. Crush seemed surprised. Upset. Like he had no idea what was going on.”

Diaz shook his head. “I’m not buying it. He’s covering up by pretending to be unaware of all this.”

“Maybe he was surprised I was shot,” Spence said, shifting up on the pillow.

“That might be. He sure as hell wouldn’t want attention drawn to that area if there’s an arms deal about to go down. But I’ll bet he knows something.”

“Why would he have taken us down that road at all if Rex and the others were dealing with the survivalists there?” Jessie countered.

“Good point. He’d have led us away from there,” Diaz said. “None of this makes any sense. Who’s the bad guy here?”

“I don’t know, Diaz,” Spence said. “I didn’t see signs of anyone, but I thought I heard Rex and the others and couldn’t get close enough to find out. They could have been out riding and nothing more. They might not have anything to do with the arms deal. Then again, maybe they do, and Crush isn’t involved.”

“And it could be just Crush involved in this. Or Crush and someone else,” Diaz suggested.

“Or it could actually be Rex and that group, and Crush knows nothing about it,” Jessie argued.

“I don’t think so.”

Jessie turned to him. “Why not, Diaz? Why are you so convinced Crush is the guilty one?”

“Because he’s been our focus since day one. He’s who we targeted and he’s who we’ve been assigned to watch over. He leads this group.”

“Which doesn’t mean that someone else within his gang couldn’t be selling those arms.”

“She has a point, Diaz. It’s worth considering,” Spence said.

Could he be wrong? Had he been targeting Crush, singling him out instead of looking at someone else? “I’ll check it out, start keeping an eye on Rex. If he goes riding with his buddies again, it’s my turn.”

“And I’ll go with you,” Jessie said.

That was the last thing he needed. He couldn’t handle the case and worry about someone taking a shot at Jessie. “I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

Diaz pointed to Spencer.

Jessie shrugged. “I’ll be careful, and I’ll be with you. Plus, forewarned is forearmed, right?”

“No, Jess. You won’t be going, and that’s final.”

“Bullshit.” Her gaze narrowing on him, Jessie said, “I don’t think I need to remind you that we’re on assignment. Look what happened to Spence. First, we should ride as a couple, and second, it’s not safe for any of us to go off alone, including you. Quit trying to act as my protector. I’m a Wild Rider, too. Start treating me like one.”

Spence snorted. Diaz shot him a look.

“Sorry, but she has a point.”

Diaz felt his control unraveling. He couldn’t do this—couldn’t be Jessie’s lover and her boss. His blood boiled with the need to lash out. He had to get out of here. He turned to Jessie, his hands clenched into fists.

“This situation is exactly why this . . . we . . . are not going to work.”

He turned and walked out of the room before he did something incredibly stupid, like admitting how much he cared for her.

JESSIE STARED OPENMOUTHED AT THE DOOR DIAZ HAD JUST exited. She walked over to it, watching him stride with purposeful anger through the lodge and out the front door. She shut the bedroom door and went back to Spence’s bedside.

Spencer wore a cockeyed grin on his face.

“What the hell are you smiling about? Did you just see that?”

“Yeah.” Spence laced his fingers behind his head. “Damned entertaining, too.”

Jess fell into the chair and shook her head. “I don’t get it. He was pissed. Really angry. At me.”

“Yeah.”

She glanced at up at Spence. “Why?”

“Because he’s in love with you, dork.”

“In love . . .” She rocketed out of the chair. “Are you insane? He is not!”

Spence’s grin widened. “Yeah, he is. And he has no fucking idea how to handle it, so he’s dealing with it in typical Diaz fashion. He’s angry, confused, and fucking it up.”

She looked at the door, back at Spence, then sat again. Her heart did a little flip. Diaz was in love with her? Could that be true?

No. Spence was way off base. “He’s been telling me in a hundred different ways why the two of us could never work.”

Spence gave her a lopsided grin. “Honey, he’s trying to convince himself, not you. He’s scared.”

“Of what?”

“Of you. Of commitment. Of a relationship. Mainly, he’s afraid of loving someone and ending up hurting them.”

“Like his father did to his mother.”

“Yeah. A few of us came from abusive families, so we know the drill. It’s hard to step out of that circle of violence untainted, hard to feel like that evil doesn’t follow you. Diaz thinks he’s going to end up like his dad, just because he has a temper, too.”

“He would never hurt me. He doesn’t have it in him. I push his buttons all the time. Aggravate him, irritate him, drive him right to the edge. I’ve never seen any signs of him lashing out at me. He’s been amazingly patient with me.”

“I don’t think he’s anything like his dad. But try and tell him that and he’ll disagree.”

“So what do I do?”

Spence shrugged. “I’m the last guy to give love advice, sweet pea. It’s not really my thing. But I say if you care about him, you’ll just have to convince him that the two of you belong together.”

Wasn’t that what she’d been trying to do all this time? She cared about him. She always had. But this time they’d spent together, having the chance to get to know him—really get to know the person he was, the way he treated her—she knew she wanted him in her life.

But Diaz was one hardheaded male. Trying to talk him into having an honest to God relationship with her—actually staying together beyond this assignment—was going to be tougher than the mission.

Apparently he’d decided sex was just fine between them, at least as long as the mission lasted. She had a feeling as soon as this case was over, he was going to give her “the talk.” The one about how they worked together and couldn’t have a relationship. Or how his past tainted him somehow, and he didn’t want to hurt her.

She was going to have to be prepared for that conversation, because she was just as stubborn as he was, and she’d already decided that Diaz wasn’t going to get rid of her.

She was going to keep him, whether he liked it or not.

And she might as well start right now, by tracking him down and figuring out what bug crawled up his ass, then doing her best to calm him down.

“Are you going to be okay?” she asked Spence.

“Yeah.” He yawned. “I’m beat. I need to sleep this all off and I’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”

“Yeah, right. You’ll be going nowhere tomorrow.”

“We’ll see, won’t we?” He winked.

She shook her head, kissed his forehead, and turned out the light, closing the door behind her. She asked Mark to keep everyone out of his room—meaning Stephanie, who Jessie was certain would keep Spence up all night either talking his ear off or wanting to have sex. Mark said he’d make sure no one got in.