Page 43 of Ghost

When Gavin came back down the hall, Jacqueline let out a low whistle. “Dang, he looks like he’s ready to get back to whatever you two were doing before the interruption.”

“He sure does,” Bex agreed.

The women stood and flashed Gavin quick smiles before giving us some privacy. He sat beside me with a sigh and filled me in on what he could share.

“The key and the burner from the road point at an isolated storage property. We think the outside crew may be sitting on stolen Bellamy stock there. Brothers are already watching the roads and property from a distance. We’ll confirm who uses the site, how many men, and whether anything’s moving.”

“When do you go in?” I asked, hating the possibility that he could get hurt again but appreciating that this whole ordeal may soon come to an end.

“When we know what’s waiting.”

I knew him well enough now to spot the cold intent under his relaxed expression. “You want to go after them now.”

“Yeah.” His hand closed over my knee. “But I can’t be careless because I plan to be here when you wake up every day for the rest of your life.”

His answer gave me the reassurance I needed.

He squeezed my knee. “Which is why we’re staying here tonight.”

I wasn’t going to argue about the change in plans when he’d already gotten injured tonight. “Fine. But I didn’t pack a bag.”

“Got extra shirts.” He stood with a grin and pressed his palm against the small of my back. “You’ve already proven you look better in mine.”

I winked. “But I look the best out of them.”

“That you do,” he agreed, the unfinished heat from earlier starting to rise again.

Once the door shut, he finished what he’d started before we were interrupted. I didn’t last long after two mind-blowing orgasms, quickly falling asleep with his arm around me and his breath hot against my hair.

17

GHOST

It was a few minutes after midnight when I eased out from beneath Tamsin’s arm and sat on the edge of my bed. She slept sprawled across the mattress, and a sleepy sound escaped her lips as she reached across the warm space I had left, dragging my pillow against her chest before curling around it. When the sheet slipped low over one rounded hip, the sight nearly convinced me that the storage property could survive another hour without my personal attention. I kissed her temple and breathed in the warm scent of her skin before forcing myself upright.

“Be back, pretty girl,” I murmured.

Then I dragged myself away, because the sooner we handled the crew threatening her, the sooner every hour of my night could belong exactly where I wanted it. After one last look, I trudged toward the shower before staying became more appealing than doing my damn job.

My injured side pulled when I dressed and secured my weapon beneath my cut, but the stitches held.

Nomad waited in the back lot with Wraith, Smoke, and two other brothers beside an unmarked truck old enough to disappear among the ranch vehicles scattered through the canyon. Smoke looked at the faint bite marks above the collar of my shirt, then grinned.

“Thought we were dragging you away from sleep,” he razzed as I approached. “Looks like you were busy.”

“You can stare, or you can keep your teeth,” I threatened, pulling open the passenger door.

Wraith shoved Smoke toward the far side of the back seat. “He’s offering choices now. Must’ve had a hell of a night.”

Nomad drove us west without turning on the cab light, taking two county roads before cutting onto an old ranch track a half mile from the storage property. The key and address recovered from the road ambush had led to a fenced parcel tucked between low ridges, far enough from neighboring homes that engines and gunfire would not draw immediate attention. We left the truck behind a stand of scrub oak and covered the remaining distance on foot, using the broken terrain to stay out of view of the exterior cameras.

I took the first approach because explosives had already become the crew’s favorite solution whenever their plans went bad. Nothing obvious waited along the dry wash or the narrow path leading toward the fence, but I found a motion sensor wired into one of the outer lights and a camera aimed at the main drive. Whoever used the place had protected the obvious approaches while treating the steep southern slope like no one would bother climbing it.

“Lazy bastards,” Smoke muttered as he crouched beside me.

“Be grateful.” I studied the building through a compact pair of binoculars. “Competent criminals ruin everybody’s night.”

A truck connected to the warehouse theft rolled through the gate less than thirty minutes after we settled into position. Two men opened the storage building while a third backed the vehicle close, and all three carried sidearms. They unloaded four equipment cases, including one with Bellamy-style markings partially covered by black tape, then moved the truck beside two other vehicles positioned nose-out for a fast departure.