ONE
DALLAS, TEXAS
TO SAY JESSIE MATTHEW’S PULSE WAS JACKED WAS AN understatement. The Wild Riders were all assembled downstairs in General Grange Lee’s office. An assignment was forthcoming, and Jessie was excited. No matter how much convincing it took, she was going to be in on this one. She was, after all, one of the guys. Even if she was female.
Her friend and Mac’s girlfriend Lily was a Wild Rider now, and she’d been given assignments. Just because Lily was older and a former cop and private investigator didn’t mean squat. So what if Jessie was only twenty-three and didn’t have beaucoup years of formal training? She had street experience, and that was way more useful in the jobs they did. Besides, the Wild Riders had trained her. Former thieves, hard-core bikers and now government agents, the Wild Riders were the best at what they did—undercover work. And Grange had trained her. She’d been in training one way or another for this since she was fifteen years old. She was ready.
Jessie slid into one of the chairs at the front of the room. The rest of the guys straggled in, some looking haggard and tired. She’d heard bikes roar in late into the night. Since she lived at Wild Riders’ headquarters, along with General Lee, being called in for assignment would be easy for her. Mac used to live here, too, until he hooked up with Lily. Now the two of them shared an apartment in Dallas so they could have some privacy. Totally understandable. Most of the guys lived elsewhere and only came in when there was an assignment, like now. Typically, they dragged themselves in at the last possible minute, too, which meant wee hours of the morning. She grinned at all the yawns.
“Okay,” Grange said, dressed as usual in his military camos and combat boots, his gray hair buzz cut was typical military style. “Grab some coffee and wake the hell up. We’ve got several jobs to work on, so you’ve got five minutes to infuse caffeine, and I want you sharp.”
Excitement coupled with nervousness had woken Jessie before dawn. Giving up on going back to sleep, she’d showered, dressed, and had breakfast. Now she eagerly awaited an assignment, certain this time she wouldn’t be left out. Grange had promised the “next time” would be her turn. This was the next time, dammit. She wasn’t going to let him forget.
“Do you think he’ll put you on a mission this time?”
Lily slid into the chair next to her, cupping a steaming mug of coffee between her hands.
“He’d better.”
“He did promise the last time he doled out assignments,” Mac said, taking a seat on Lily’s other side.
The two of them were perfect together. Jessie’s heart squeezed each time she saw them. They were so obviously in love it was adorable to see them interact. And since they cared so much about each other, Grange never assigned them to the same case. He said it would affect their judgment. He was probably right. Too much emotion could wreck an assignment. Too bad. But work was work. Fun was for after work.
Not that Jessie knew about either.
“All right.” Grange stood and started talking. There was a lot going on, and he started splitting up teams. Mac, AJ, and Pax were heading to Las Vegas. Lily would be working with Rick in D.C.
“Vegas?” Lily asked, turning to Mac.
Mac just grinned.
“You suck,” Lily mumbled. “Don’t spend the rent money gambling.”
“Want me to hold his wallet for him?” AJ asked.
“Bite me,” Mac replied.
Pax snorted. “I’ll keep good watch over your boy, Lily. Don’t worry.”
“I don’t trust any of you,” she said, then grinned. It was obvious she cared about them all.
Just like Jessie did. These guys were her family.
“Diaz and Spence, you’re on assignment in Arkansas,” Grange said. “There’s a biker gang suspected of selling arms to a dangerous survivalist group up there. And we aren’t talking your run-of-the-mill type of survivalists who avoid government interference and want to be left alone. These are extremists. Dangerous. The kind that could easily start a war if they had the weaponry to do it with.”
“Oh, great,” Spence said.
Diaz stood and grabbed the packet Grange handed him. “Who’s the gang?”
“The Devil’s Skulls, led by Crush Daniels.”
Jessie’s ears perked up at the name. “I know him.”
Grange frowned. “You know Crush Daniels?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve heard of him,” Spence said. “And the Skulls. Rough group of bikers.”
She shrugged. “They seemed nice enough.”
Diaz leaned back in his chair and scowled at her. “How the hell did you get mixed up with them?”
“I was out riding in Louisiana several months back before I got my new bike. You know how the old one kept cutting out on me? It died by the side of the road. They came by, helped me get it started again, asked me if I wanted to ride into the nearest town with them. So I did. I spent some time with him and his gang, riding around.”
“Jesus,” Diaz mumbled. “You were alone.”
She kept her gaze on Diaz. “Well, yeah. But it’s not like I just rode with one person. And there are other women in his group. We all had fun.”
Diaz ran his fingers through his thick, dark hair. Jessie swallowed, watching the movement and clasping her hands together.
“Are you out of your mind, Jess? How many times have we told you to ride with someone?”
“I’m not a child, Diaz. I can take care of myself. And there wasn’t more than twenty miles between towns on that ride anyway.”
“On a beat-up, piece of shit bike. You know better.”
Her ire rising by the second, Jessie tapped her foot. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve grown up in the past few years. I’m an adult now. I don’t have a curfew. I can ride when I want and where I want. It gives me something to do while I’m waiting for an assignment.” She finished off the last sentence by slanting a look at Grange.
Grange cleared his throat. “Yes, about that . . .”
“You promised.”
He inhaled, sighed. “I did, didn’t I?”
“If Jessie knows this Crush Daniels, she’d be a perfect addition to Diaz and Spencer’s assignment,” Lily said.
“No.”
Jessie glared at Diaz. “Why the hell not?”