Mine To Protect (Mine #6)(31)

“Ow! Fuck! Sonofabitch—let me go!”

At that scream, Victor tensed even more. He risked a quick glance around the giant garbage bin near him—his current cover—and saw that the guy in the scarf was on the ground. He was the one doing the screaming. Mostly because the big, hulking bouncer they’d seen before—the guy with tats on the side of his neck who’d been slouched with such unconcern at Dice—that fellow had his foot on the shooter’s neck. The bouncer also had a gun out and aimed at the fellow on the ground.

“Stop your screaming,” the bouncer ordered. “Or I’ll stop it.”

The guy wisely clamped his lips shut.

Victor took aim at the bouncer.

The bouncer looked up at him. “See what twenty bucks can get you?” His voice was mocking. “I’ve got to be the cheapest protection you’ve ever bought.”

Zoe was dead silent near Victor. He didn’t risk looking at her. He was afraid to take his eyes off the two men.

Were they both his enemies?

Or…

“I’m a federal agent,” Victor called out. “So you really want to lower your gun right now and let me take over this situation.”

Laughter answered him. “Right. Like you think I didn’t tag you for a fed the first time I saw you?”

“And you think I didn’t tag you?” Victor threw back. “Like I’m going to walk into a place like Dice and not realize what the hell is going on.”

“Victor…” Zoe’s voice was hushed, barely reaching his ears. “What is going on?”

As he watched, the bouncer tucked the gun into the waistband of his jeans. He lifted his hands, holding them toward Victor, palms up, but he did keep his foot firmly planted at the back of the shooter’s head.

“The bouncer is on our side,” Victor said. But a heavy weight had settled onto his chest. Yes, he’d looked at the bouncer and hesitated. Tagged you, too.

“Our side?” She inched closer. “What the hell does that even mean? That he’s not a hitman?”

“Not a hitman.” Not if his suspicions were right. “A cop.” Hell, and if the bouncer was a cop…if that whole place was a front, like he suspected…

Zoe is about to be in for even more betrayal.





Chapter Nine


The building was non-descript. Two-story, brick. The windows were covered. There was only one main entrance and…

The place was some kind of safe house for cops. Cops.

Zoe’s palms were sweaty as she glanced around the little room. An interrogation room, if she guessed right. With cops. She’d never gotten along so well with them. In her general ranking of law enforcement personnel to avoid, well, cops were at the top of the list.

FBI Agents were immediately ranked second beneath them.

She sat in a slightly wobbly wooden chair. A square table was in front of her. One of the cops—the bouncer, actually—had poured her a glass of water and put in on the table.

The bouncer didn’t look like a cop. He was far too dangerous for that. But he’d shown her his badge. Victor had called Russell and vetted the guy.

Cain Blair. Undercover cop extraordinaire.

Only he wasn’t the only undercover cop in the room. Her gaze slid to the left.

Roy Duncan stood there, frowning. Michelle’s Roy. Roy the missing bartender.

Only he wasn’t missing any longer.

Because when Cain had delivered her and Victor to this place, Roy had been waiting there for them. Roy, with his sun-streaked blond hair and his icy blue gaze. Roy who’d pulled out his own badge and ID when Zoe had just stared at him in shock.

He was a cop. All along. Did Michelle know?

“I’ll want the prisoner,” Victor said. He wasn’t sitting at the little table. He was pacing to the right and looking very much like some kind of angry predator.

“Sorry, not happening,” Cain told him, sounding not the least bit apologetic. “The Vegas PD has dibs on him.”

“He tried to shoot me!” Victor snarled.

“No, he tried to shoot her.” Cain pointed at Zoe. “And really, she should have known better than to come back to this town again. Seriously, what do you have, lady, a death wish?”

Victor lunged toward him.

“Stop it!” Zoe leapt to her feet. “Just—stop!”

All eyes were suddenly on her.

Don’t fall apart in front of them. Don’t. “Dice is…what, exactly? Some kind of cop front?” That didn’t sound right. There had to be another term for the joint but…

“It’s a relay space,” Victor told her. He was at her side now. Looking enraged. Looking strong. Looking as if he really wanted to rip someone apart. “When undercover cops need to deliver information, they head to spots like that one. Usually, they’ll have a teammate there. Someone who can make sure the intel gets into the right hands, without the undercover agent blowing his cover.”

His cover…

Her cover?

Don’t fall apart. Zoe turned her attention to Roy. “I’ve been looking for Michelle,” she said.

He met her gaze, unflinchingly. “I know.”

“She…we had a system in place. A way for us to stay in touch.” Because she was my friend. “I’ve been making my calls, but she isn’t answering. Her place is empty and—” She stopped because his expression had altered, for just a moment. There had been the briefest of cracks in his visage.