Rising at the butt crack of dawn and stretching to wake up she looked around the room. She'd tossed and turned all night and the reason was two doors down from her. Tall, broad, strong, and mind-bogglingly handsome.

Inhaling a deep breath and letting it out she pushed the covers back and stepped out of bed. Pulling her braid from the band she finger combed her hair and rubbed her scalp. Damn, that felt good. Making her way to the bathroom to take care of business she finished, washed her hands, and pulled on her jogging shorts and tank. She hadn't washed them out last night as she normally would have, but they'd have to do.

She filled a glass with water to hydrate and drank it down refilling it again and setting it on the dresser to drink as soon as she got her shoes on. She'd drink it down and then go down and stretch before they ran. At only 36 she was beginning to feel the signs of age, though they were subtle, but mornings were the worst. Her joints were stiff and her muscles took a bit of time to loosen up. She needed to stay ahead of Dodge this morning, so she had a bit of motivation to loosen up.

Shoes on, she drank her water, donned her arm band, slipped her phone, key card and a five-dollar bill into the back of it. She'd learned long ago to never be without a little bit of cash. Opening her door to step out into the hall she ran straight into the solid wall of a delicious smelling man.

"Whoa Little Mama, hang on." His rough hands grabbed her upper arms but it was too late, she was chest to chest with him. Well, not really since he was several inches taller than she was, they were more like chest to stomach. And, holy crap her body shivered and her nipples pebbled and her breathing shallowed. WTF?

"Sorry, what are you doing hanging outside my door?" Her voice cracked.

"I wasn't hanging out. I came to tell you we can't run this morning; we have to head to Kingsdale right away. We got word there's a shipment there right now. If we jump into the SUV now we may get there in time to intercept some activity."

He stepped back and she turned to see Josh walking toward them. His jaw was tight and her mind snapped to what this must look like. 4:30 a.m., her hair down, her body all tingly and tight and his hands on her arms. Gawd, it looked bad.

Dodge turned and saw Josh stop. He quickly said, "She's packing now, Ford and I will be ready in five minutes."

He walked past Josh and to his room. Smiling at Josh she turned and entered her room, closing the door behind her. It was none of her brother's business what she was doing especially since she wasn't doing anything inappropriate. And, even if she and Dodge did have sex, it wouldn't be his business or inappropriate. They were both single adults. Lord knew Josh had his fair share of one-nighters.

Quickly tossing her things into her bag she made short work of packing, she didn't want to be last. Flying into the hallway no one was there and she was met with a slight indecision, wait here or go to the lobby and wait. That was probably the safer bet, since if they'd already gone down she'd have to buy breakfast, so she walked the few steps to the elevator and jabbed the button.

The doors slid open and as she stepped in she heard Dodge call out, "Wait for us, Jax."

She hesitated only a moment before holding the doors open, needing to be a team player and all. That was the only reason.

The two men stepped into the elevator with her and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't hyper aware, she had to change the direction of her thoughts. This was dangerous.

They rode down in complete silence, which was nice. Still trying to wake up and feeling the sensations of moments ago, she didn't want to have to think. The elevator doors opened and she was relieved to see neither Josh nor Wyatt were down here. Since Josh had the keys to the Beast she walked to the water station alongside the front desk and filled her water bottle with the iced water in the container. When she turned around, Dodge was watching her. Then she remembered she was still wearing her smelly running clothes from last night. She grabbed her bag and said to Dodge, "I'm hitting the bathroom, I'll be right back. But for the record, I'm here, right?"

Dodge chuckled, "Yes, ma'am."

Tossing her bag over her shoulder she ducked into the women's restroom at the far corner of the lobby. The instant the door closed she rummaged through her bag and found her jeans and a clean t-shirt. Doing as Mrs. James had taught her, she rolled her shorts and tank and tucked them into the baggy with the fabric softener sheet in case she didn't get the chance to wash them out and so they wouldn't make the rest of her clothes smell. Picking her bag up she left the bathroom with a mental note to braid her hair when they stopped for breakfast.

Walking across the lobby she was just a couple of steps ahead of Wyatt and Josh as they exited the elevator. Smiling at them she teased, "Breakfast is going to be delicious." And continued out the door to the SUV.

The sun still hadn't risen in the sky but the pink glow from the east was on the horizon, it'd be a beautiful ride for a while. Wyatt stopped at the front desk to check them out and the rest of them walked to the Beast and tossed their bags into the back. Josh looked at Dodge and said, "Why don't you ride shotgun again this morning Dodge, you can learn how to work the messaging system while we drive." Josh's eyes then slid to hers briefly before he hopped into the SUV.

Heaving out a deep breath she jumped into the back, sliding to the middle and Ford jumped in next to her. Josh started the SUV and Wyatt was just a few moments behind them.

The second Wyatt was in the Beast he began. "So we have intel that a shipment entered Kingsdale this morning around 4:00. Our informant said two large white cube vans entered Kingsdale, stopped at Mags’s cafe, and began unloading large wooden boxes of goods. Now if it were food supplies, the boxes wouldn't be wooden and they'd likely be labeled with the names of the product and the company on the side. These were mostly large flat boxes, which could hold paintings, and jewels or anything else meant only Mags."

Josh continued, "So the plan is, we'll get to just outside of town about twenty miles. There's a car rental place there, Gaige is getting someone to get in early to help us out, and Dodge will rent a car. He and Jax will go into the cafe for breakfast, look around. Use the restrooms and walk around outside as if you're having a cigarette. See what you can see. Mic up now. Dodge, the comms are in the console. Report to us on everything you see. We'll be close by, watching and waiting for word. Questions?"

Dodge opened the console and reached in pulling out neatly wrapped microphone units and handing them over to each of them. Their fingers brushed when he handed her unit to her and goose bumps formed on her arms. He looked her in the eye then and she found it hard to look away. The unspoken message was hard to define and she couldn't help but wonder if he felt the same bit of a thrill as she had.

She tucked her earpiece over her ear and ran the cord behind her and into the collar of her t-shirt. Wyatt reached forward, "Let me help Jax, and you can return the favor."

He expertly reached up under the back of her shirt and pulled the wire down and out the bottom. Tucking his into the back of his shirt, he leaned forward allowing her access to do the same. It was a routine that had been completed many times before. She turned to Ford and tapped him on the shoulder to lean forward. He followed along and she gently pulled the wire from under his shirt and handed it to him to plug into the receiver box. When she turned forward she caught Dodge looking back at her. Her heart beat a bit faster but wanting to act professional, she leaned forward and tapped his shoulder. He leaned up from the seat back and she reached into his t-shirt and her fingers skimmed along the warm skin of his back as she pulled the wire down. When she handed him the wire their fingers touched and he squeezed hers before releasing.

Closing her eyes she squeezed her thighs together to squelch the ache she felt there.

They tested their mics, but not the usual “test, test”. Josh said into his, “I’ve never seen so damned many churches lined up on every street in every town we drive through.”

Dodge chuckled, “They don’t call this the Bible Belt for nothing.”

After that, they each sat back and gathered their thoughts. Missions were no laughing matter and they all needed to be in top form. She usually tried to visualize their mission and completing it successfully to put her mind right and push doubt away. This was nothing compared to some of the missions she'd been on, but Dodge and Ford were new to their team and no matter that she knew they had been in situations like this before, they all needed to work together and they'd had so little time to perfect that.

Josh pulled into the lot of the rental agency and Dodge jumped out of the Beast. Josh pushed the button on the dash to lift the hatch and Dodge easily pulled his bag and hers from the back. She saw from the back of the truck that he entered the agency with both bags. She refused to look at Josh in the rearview, so she tapped Wyatt and he jumped out. When she jumped out behind him, he whispered, "Make sure you know what you're doing."

Their eyes met and she whispered, "Stay out of it." Before continuing on into the agency.

Dodge's back was to her when she entered and she drank in the sight. His black t-shirt showed the muscles of his back and that waist of his narrowed into the waistband of his jeans. From there, his fine ass and perfectly rounded cheeks practically made her fingers twitch with want of touching him. He turned and looked at her over his shoulder and those green eyes locked with hers and damn it, her heart raced as if she'd just been running. He grinned and signed the form the clerk slid across the counter to him, her eyes pouring over every inch of him. Jax had to grit her teeth to not go all alpha on that witch.

Dodge smiled at the clerk and she saw the woman, whose glasses made her eyes look larger than they were smile back at him and practically purr. Dodge bent over to pick up their bags and Jax decided enough of this crap; she grabbed her bag from Dodge's hand, slung it over her shoulder, and proceeded out the door ahead of him.

She heard him chuckle next to her and she chose to ignore him. "White Malibu in stall 105." He headed to the right and she switched direction and followed him. Tossing their bags into the trunk, the instant they were in the car her speaker beeped. "I'm here. Can you copy?"

Josh responded. "I copy. Dodge?"

He touched the ear piece, "Copy."

Josh continued. "Okay, head on down Highway 76 to Kingsdale. The town is so small there's no way to get lost. We'll stay about a mile behind you and when you turn into the town square, we'll keep going about a half mile out of town and wait for word from you."

"Roger." Dodge pulled from the parking lot and headed in the direction he was instructed to go. The mission was on.