Secret Maneuvers by Jessie Lane Read Free Book Online

was already on the phone with 911 dispatch. Charlie and Deputy Walters arrived moments later while I stood there with my foot in the middle of the whining robber’s back, my gun aimed at him.
    At first, Charlie and Walters felt entitled to give me a rash of shit for taking on an armed suspect all by my little ol’ self. I was a woman, he was a man twice my size. What in the world had I been thinking? About a minute into their lecture, I got bored, lost my patience, flashed them my ATF badge, told them that they could shove their lecture where the sun didn’t shine, grabbed my gallon of milk, and walked out of the shop. I made it as far as my truck before Charlie chased me down to apologize. That night led to a friendship between me and Charlie. Eventually, it led to a drunken night between the sheets, which also led to a particularly awkward moment when Charlie caught me sneaking out of those sheets in the middle of the night. Our friendship had been strained for a while, but eventually, Charlie accepted that I didn’t have it in me to give more than just physical release. He wasn’t exactly happy about it, but he was still here.
    My first thoughts at seeing Charlie standing there, waiting for me, were happy ones. The past 24 hours had cracked open a vault of emotions I’d never thought to experience again, so the sight of him standing there as the plane came to a stop was like a fresh breath of air. 
    The next thought was pure unadulterated panic. He could blab explosive personal information out in front of a particular person who needed to be left in the dark as much as possible. Grabbing my bag, I made a beeline for the door to be the first one out, then practically ran down the stairs to throw myself into Charlie’s waiting arms. His bear hug spun me in a circle before setting me on my feet.
    Pulling his head down, I placed my mouth next to his ear and whispered, “Charlie, I need a favor. I need you to not mention Seth and tell Walters to do the same. Can you do that for me, please?”
    Pulling back I saw the confusion on his face, but shook my head when he started to ask why. Glancing behind, to the men disembarking from the plane, he looked back down to me, still confused, yet he ultimately only shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t worry about it, darlin’. It’s not a problem.” Giving him a grateful smile, I let go of him to turn around and face Boyd and the EX Ops team. Deputy Walters sidled up next to me and threw an arm over my shoulders to squeeze.
    “Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to my good friends, Sheriff Jenkins and Deputy Walters. Deputy Walters here is kind enough to drive you to the hotel I’ve reserved for you. By the time you get there you should also have two rental SUV’s waiting with the keys at the front desk. Boyd and I have some errands to run, but we’ll meet you back at the hotel in a few hours to prep for tonight. We’ll be doing undercover surveillance at the Big Bull Bar to see if we can find any further activity. Commander Wall, you have our numbers if you need to reach us. If you need anything at all just give us a ring.” Charlie leaned behind my back to whisper briefly in Deputy Walter’s ear while I was telling everyone to pile in the vehicles.
    Boyd piled in with me into Charlie’s SUV while the EX Ops team piled into the back of Deputy Walter’s black van. The two vehicles took off in different directions, which made me feel more than just a tad relieved to be putting a little distance between myself and the man that caused too many memories to creep up after I thought they’d been long since buried.
    There had been a number of times that I’d seen Bobby out of the corner of my eye, staring at me from across the plane. Desire, mixed with determination, written plain as day on his face for the world to see. The shadows of regret that were visible in those beautiful eyes of his were what had gotten to me the most. Did he actually regret leaving me? The thought