Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 132031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Seemed simple enough.
Not the rocket science smarts his superiors thought he used to identify those on the take.
Add to the mix that the Dallas area law enforcement didn’t have a reputation for being on the up and up on any government level, from local to federal. He had to assume everyone working in Dallas was rogue until they proved themselves otherwise.
In the hushed briefing he’d had with the attorney general himself, Cash had learned every member of his new undercover team posed as a healthcare professional in one way or another. Methodist Hospital had a long-standing agreement with the federal government to give a safe harbor to undercover operatives.
The agents were never identified to the hospital.
The agreement still remained an utter secret which was quite remarkable in this day and time. Another point Cash had a hard time believing.
Hiding in plain sight only went so far.
His most consequential question of the day was why have this cream of the crop team, with agents from both the FBI and DEA, working on the sideline, inside a hospital the Disciple brothers never used?
It made no sense unless the hospital somehow aided in the theft. And there was zero evidence to support that claim.
The stress in his shoulders grew. Safety was always an issue, but that outlaw biker gang brought its own set of security issues. He didn’t have the privilege of shooting from the hip on this case. He needed facts, not assumptions.
The truths had to present themselves.
This assignment was fluid at best. A constantly moving target. The pieces of the puzzle shifting with no rhyme or reason.
Cash stretched his neck and let the worry building there slide down his tailored-suit-covered arms. He aimed for a passive confidence, aware of all the surveillance tracking his every step through these halls. He didn’t allow himself a moment before he turned another corner and spotted the room he was looking for.
The door unlatched on his approach without him having to use his identification badge to enter. He lifted a hand, pushed through the door, and entered an older waiting room that had been turned into the team’s temporary conference center.
All heads snapped his direction. Four people sat at a table in the middle of the open space. Two wore scrubs, the others were in the usual attire of the DOJ—Men in Black came to mind.
“Special Agent Ryan?” the point person at the head of the table asked, using his undercover name, Cash Ryan. He lowered his laser pointer from an overhead screen.
Cash nodded. “Call me, Cash.”
“Take a seat. We haven’t been here long. We’ll catch you up.”
He pulled a chair from the corner, dragging it over to the small table. He sized up the agents. One in particular hit his heart like a sledgehammer. He was so unprepared to see her that he dropped the chair, causing it to scrap loudly against the floor.
All eyes shifted back to him, including hers.
“Excuse me,” he murmured and righted the chair. His fixed gaze never left her extraordinary face.
She and her brother were nearly identical. It didn’t matter that he’d only seen her once over sixteen years ago. He’d know her anywhere.
“You’re Shanna Fox.”
She narrowed her gaze as she assessed him, her face becoming fiercely formidable. She didn’t say a single word.
Of course he knew Devin Fox’s involvement with the Disciples of Havoc. Had even spent a small amount of time soul searching his past and how it would impact his present objectives. He eventually decided he could, if push came to shove, arrest the man he owed his life to.
What he hadn’t expected was to see Dev’s younger sister at this meeting. Surely the government had fully vetted her before putting her on this team.
Jesus. After everything he’d seen so far, how could he be sure?
Why hadn’t he had this crucial bit of intelligence before walking into this meeting?
“You two know each other?” one agent asked, nonchalance dripping from his tone, but curiosity blazing in his eyes.
“Not that I know,” Shanna replied, instantly on guard.
Cash decided against responding. He didn’t trust his voice.
Could Shanna remember him?
The attorney general’s office knew of Cash’s past. They’d all agreed there was little chance Dev ‘Devilman’ Fox would remember Cash as a boy from their onetime interaction all those years ago.
“Cash is joining our team from the mothership in DC,” the man clearly in charge explained, skirting around the sudden confusion in the room. “I’m Malik.” His hand swept to the right. “Joe is an internet specialist and will be your handler. You apparently know Shanna. Emma is her handler.”
A fist came across the table from Joe, along with a good-natured grin. He met the fist bump.
“She can regularly bring you to your knees,” Joe teased, hooking his head toward Shanna.
Emma groaned and made a dramatic show of rolling her eyes.