Radclyffe - Code of Honor

*

The redhead wanted her to believe she was Skylar Dunbar.

Loren hadn’t stayed alive by trusting other people. She’d survived in Iraq and Afghanistan and with the Renegades by never believing what people said. Instead, she watched their eyes, searched for physical tells, hunted for the little inconsistencies that marked their words as false. She had no reason to believe this woman. What bothered her, what gnawed at the animal part of her brain, was that she wanted to trust her. She could still feel the heat of the redhead’s fingertip tracing down the center of her T-shirt, as if the woman had stroked bare skin.

Loren wasn’t easily seduced, even though she was no stranger to the casual touch of a woman. She didn’t indulge often, and she didn’t give sex much thought. When she’d been deployed, there hadn’t been all that much opportunity, and even when there had been, stealing a private moment when the slightest lapse in concentration might get you dead sapped the pleasure from a casual encounter. She’d decided when she’d arrived in Silver Lake and the first members of the Renegades had sauntered into her garage for a look-see that she’d play things as close to the truth as she could. So when the opportunity’d arisen, she’d let it be known she liked women. In some strange way that bought her credibility, made her more like them. Still, she was careful. Careful not to get in between any of them and a woman. She didn’t want to compete, not that way, and there hadn’t been anyone she was willing to risk her standing in the club for. If she trusted this stranger, she’d be risking a lot more than just her position in the club. She risked her life every day, but that was for a purpose, a goal. Not for pleasure.

“Let’s just say I believe you,” Loren said, “and you know something about me. What are you doing here?”

“Look, I don’t know about you, but it was a short night for me and I could use some coffee.” Sky pulled her thick hair back and twisted it into a knot, a quick unconscious move Loren found unexpectedly sexy. “There’s a diner a couple miles down the road. Why don’t we go there and talk.”

Loren couldn’t see any downside to the suggestion, and the room was starting to feel stifling. Not from the trickle of warmth from the pinging baseboard heater, but from the closeness of the redhead who, even clothed, sent off waves of sexual heat. “So what do you want me to call you in public?”

Sky smiled. “How about baby?”

Loren laughed. “Not before the first date.”

Sky’s eyes widened a little, and her lips parted as if she was about to say something and then thought better of it. “Why don’t you call me Red. Not very original, but I’ve heard it a lot.”

“Okay. Red. Let’s get coffee.” Loren pulled on her jacket while Sky put on boots—low-heeled riding boots, not the biker-chick ones from the night before—and shrugged on the fitted black leather jacket.

Outside, the emerging sun filled the deserted parking lot with thin gray light. Loren glanced up at the blanket of clouds. “Snow’s coming.”

“There’s a news flash.” Sky grimaced. “Does it do anything else here?”

“Not between November and May.” Loren nodded to the bike. “Extra helmet’s hooked on the back there. Where you from?”

Sky hesitated as she pulled the skull cap off the rack and strapped it on. “I move around a lot.”

“How about originally?”

“Texas,” Sky said, surprising herself when she answered with the truth. Now, why would she do that? She never gave out personal info, even in personal situations, and for sure not when on the job.

Loren straddled the bike and Sky climbed on behind her, wrapping her arms around Loren’s waist. Loren was lean and solid. Sky ducked her head down against Loren’s back to keep the wind out of her face. Loren’s body was hot despite the cold winter air, but that had to be her imagination. Sky closed her eyes.

“Hold on.” Loren kicked up the stand and started the engine. Sky’s arms tightened around her waist, and Sky’s cheek pressed to the back of her shoulder. Ignoring the wave of heat that pulsed through her belly, she pulled out onto the highway and headed to the diner.

A few trucks dotted the unpaved lot, framed in dirty piles of snow. Condensation painted the inside of the plate-glass windows of the low-slung metal structure and ran down the streaked glass in uneven trails. Inside, the hot air hung heavy with the scent of cooking grease, fried meat, and eggs. Loren pulled off her jacket and slung it over her shoulder as she strode down the narrow aisle between the red-vinyl-topped stools on one side of the diner and the Formica tabletops in the booths lining the opposite wall. None of the booths were occupied, and she picked one well away from the men at the counter hunched over cups of coffee and white crockery plates heaped with bacon, eggs, and potatoes. A minute after they slid onto the stiff seats, a brunette in tight black jeans, a frilly white nylon blouse cut low and tight across her generous breasts, and a short black apron approached. She had a pad in one hand and a pen in the other. “What can I get you?”

“Coffee, scrambled eggs, and toast,” Loren said.

“Make that two,” Sky said.

The waitress scribbled and left without comment.

Loren eased back in the seat and stretched her left arm out along the top. “So, you were about to tell me what you’re doing here.”

Sky had the uneasy feeling she was being handled, and she didn’t like it. McElroy was a smart, seasoned operative, and she’d been under a long time. Sometimes an operative lost sight of their objective and became so integrated into the culture of the world they had infiltrated they had a hard time getting out. It was a matter of pride for her that she’d never lost an agent, physically or psychologically. This one wasn’t going to be the first, but she wasn’t entirely sure how far she could trust her. “I’ve already told you who I am.”

“So you said. If you’re here under one false identity, why not two?”

Sky smiled. “Not a bad idea. A double-double.”

Loren nodded.

“But there is the little fact that I’ve got your number.” Sky smiled.

The heat in Loren’s belly tightened. It was just a line, and not even true. No one had her number. No one knew her. Being known could get her killed. “Both of us being here is dangerous.”

“Only if we make a mistake. I don’t know about you, but I don’t make mistakes.”

“What do you think you can accomplish?”

“Look—” Sky waited while the waitress slid their coffee cups in front of them. Once alone, she leaned forward. “If you go deeper, then you need someone closer in case you need extraction.”

“I’ve never needed to be retrieved. I won’t now.”

“We wouldn’t send an unarmed soldier into the mountains without backup. This isn’t any different.”

“And you think you’d be enough to get me out?”

“Me and everyone at my disposal.”

Loren blew out a breath. “Things are heating up here. We can’t afford to raise suspicions.”

“Then we won’t. My cover is good. And if you get friendly-like, we’ll have all the more reason to be seen together.”

“Friendly,” Loren said. The heat spiked up into her chest.

“The club members know you’re interested in women.” Sky smiled. “So go ahead and be interested.”

“There might be a problem there. Ramsey is interested too.”

Sky’s eyes hardened. “Not happening.”

“Maybe not, but there’s no way I’m getting in his road.”

“I’ll handle him. You just do your part.”

“And you’ll be playing a part with me too?” Loren didn’t know why she’d asked. She knew the answer.