“The Royal Canadian mint is not missing any coins, at least nothing recent,” Kyle announced at their weekly meeting. “But David had an idea. Remember that heist in upstate New York about five years ago?”

“The armored truck?” Dad asked.

Sheriff Zandt sat up straighter. “That’s right, they were carrying platinum coins from a private collection. You think that’s where these coins are coming from?”

“We’re not even sure this isn’t someone hiring Dax and the guys to help transport a private collection of their own,” Angel said.

“That’s true—it’s why we need you to try and get us more information on this ‘Dan’ person,” Kyle said. Angel found it ironic how her brother was so against her spending so much time with Dax…until it suited his purposes. Kyle aspired to someday being chief of police. Breaking a case like this could propel his career forward faster than anything.

Angel glanced over at Micah. He hadn’t said a word so far and he’d barely even looked at her. Micah was one of those people who always thought long and hard before he said anything, but she knew him well enough to know he had a lot of questions, and tonight she’d probably have to come up with answers to at least some of them.

The evening that Angel’s apartment had been broken into, Micah was the one on watch over her. Angel hadn’t called him. When she called her dad, and he called in the break-in, she hadn’t thought to call him then either. Her dad was the one that had given him a heads up about the Hartford police coming in with the crime scene techs. Micah had sat there and watched all the activity…and he’d seen Dax drive in on his Harley. He’d also seen him leave…the next day. It wasn’t until Angel spoke to him that evening, to make another excuse about not coming home, that she realized any of that. She’d been so focused on Dax that she had completely forgotten about Micah. When she realized that, she felt like hell about it. Her heart literally ached. She’d never felt like such a bad person in her life. Micah was a good man…a great one by most people’s standards. He didn’t deserve to be treated this way. She knew that she had to tell him she didn’t feel the same as she used to…but she also knew that it wouldn’t take much for Micah to figure out how she was feeling about Dax. Micah knew her almost as well as her brothers and her father, and Kyle had already figured it out. Things just kept getting more convoluted, but as much as Angel should want it all to be over, she didn’t. Shamelessly, she just kept thinking that when it was all over, she and Dax would be too…and she wasn’t ready for that to happen.

“So, has anyone run this by the captain?” Dad asked. “It’s going to ultimately be his call when we have to notify the FBI that we have this information.”

“I spoke to him,” Kyle said. “He wanted to make it today but he had a luncheon with the chief and the mayor. He said at this point, while we’re still in the information-gathering stage, we can keep it to ourselves. We haven’t actually seen any signs of the coins and like Angel said, there’s still the possibility that this is just a security-conscious private collector.”

“Oh, so when it suits you, Angel is right.” She mumbled it. She hadn’t even realized she said it out loud. The room was suddenly silent, though, and when Kyle looked at her and said, “Even Angel needs to admit that some of her behavior hasn’t been very ‘cop-like’ lately,” she pushed her chair back from the table and stood up.

“I’m done. I’ll let you all know when I have something else, but I’m not going to sit here and be spoken to like I’m not an important part of this team. I gave up my own life to do this and I get treated now like I made a conscious decision to be a part of a motorcycle club.”

“Angel, no one thinks that,” her dad tried.

“No, Daddy, you don’t think that…but Kyle goes out of his way to imply it every time we talk. Micah has been staring a hole through me since I walked in…and I’m sorry, Sheriff Zandt, I have no idea what you’re thinking. But the bottom line here is that I’m not doing anything different than any one of my male counterparts put in the same position would be doing. These guys are not going to trust an outsider…so I had to become a part of their group, someone that they trusted. Anything less would be putting this job and my own life at risk. I’m sorry that some of you can’t seem to get that.”

She turned on her heel and headed for the door. She heard Micah call out her name but she didn’t stop. She was almost to the elevator when he caught up to her. “Angel, please stop.” She turned around finally to look at him. She had tears of frustration in her eyes. She knew that she was doing what she had to do in order to gain Dax’s and the rest of the club’s trust, but she also knew she’d taken it further than she should have, and far enough that her whole life was about to change because of it. She wished that things didn’t have to be so damned complicated. “We all know that you’re doing your job. We’re already working on closing the arson and murder case, and now we have the opportunity to maybe solve a case that’s been cold for five years…because of you. But everyone in that room, maybe with the exception of Sheriff Zandt, loves you. So of course, we’re worried. Do you know how hard it is for me to watch Dax Marshall arrive in the evening and leave in the morning?”

She felt one of the tears run slowly down her face as she nodded. “I do know that, Micah, and I’m sorry…”

“You don’t have to be sorry. We set you up in that place. We sent you into that club. You were chosen because you’re young and beautiful, and that, coupled with your instincts and your brilliant brain, meant no one had any doubts that Dax Marshall would be drawn to you. We’ve put you in an impossible position and I’m sorry. I will talk to Kyle and try to get him to ease up on you. Just promise me one thing…”

“What’s that?”

“You won’t forget that no matter what happens, I will be here for you when this is all over.” Micah was telling her that he knew. He knew there was no way she was spending all this time with Dax and not having relations with him. Would he really be willing to just go back to what they had when this was all over, knowing that? Angel couldn’t imagine it. But then again, she couldn’t imagine herself going back either. For now, though, it was easier to leave it at that. Micah opened his arms and she moved into them. She let him hug her tightly and she hugged him back. He was a good man. He deserved so much better.

“Thank you, Micah,” she said as she stepped back. He reached out and wiped one of the tears off her cheek.

“I love you, Angel.”

She nodded. “I love you too.” She meant that. It was confusing, but her feelings for Dax hadn’t changed how she felt about Micah. They had just made her realize that while she did love him…that wasn’t the same as being “in love” with him.

“Are we still having dinner tonight?”

She nodded again. She owed him at least that much. “Sure. I’ll meet you at Mama Rosa’s at seven?”

“Okay.” He put his fingers against his lips and pressed them into hers. “Until then.”

She had to struggle to suck in her next breath. The guilt was choking her. She nodded and stepped into the elevator that she had been holding and gave him a little wave. He winked at her as the doors were closing and as he gave her a sad little smile, she realized that she wished he’d get pissed off. Handling anger would be so much easier and a lot less guilt-provoking.

* * *

It was the following Tuesday afternoon before Angel heard any more about “Dan.” She was in the clubhouse with Dax eating pulled pork and coleslaw that one of his MC brothers had spent the afternoon barbecuing and mixing up when his phone rang. He glanced at its screen and then over at her. She took it as a sign that he was beginning to trust her even more when he pressed answer and put the phone to his ear.

“Hey, Dan, I got a crew together for Friday. We still on for five o’clock?” Angel ate her coleslaw and glanced around the room at the activity going on around them in hopes that she wouldn’t appear to be overly interested in his conversation. “Okay, so you don’t want us at the funeral home?” Funeral home? “Got it. Culberson and Main next to the cemetery around five-fifty. Looking forward to it, Dan. Trust me, Grant Benning and his asshole Sinners won’t get anywhere near that car. We’ll see you Friday.”

He ended the call and looked at Angel. “I need to call a meeting for tomorrow morning, baby, so I’m going to have to cancel our ride.” They’d planned to go for a ride through the country. Dax was going to take her on a scenic ride alongside the Pachaug Forest. She’d never been up there and she’d been looking forward to it.

“That’s completely okay,” she said. “I understand.”

“Wanna go today?”

“Really?”

“Why not? You’re not working and I don’t have anything going on. Let’s pack up some of this food for later, grab a bottle of whiskey, and hit the road for a while.”

Angel couldn’t control the smile on her face. She was happy spending time with Dax almost anywhere, but she rarely got him to herself away from the ranch. “Yes, that sounds great.”

“Okay. I have to talk to Mullet. Will you grab the food and whiskey and I’ll meet you out front in like twenty minutes?”

“Absolutely.” She slid off her chair and stood up. Before she could walk away, Dax took her hands in his and pulled her up into a kiss. God, she loved the way he kissed her. He could teach classes on it. He was amazing. He set her back down on her feet and she rocked back and forth for a few seconds, dizzy from lack of oxygen. When she got her wits back, she smiled at him again and went to pack them a lunch. Twenty minutes later, the lunch was packed into the saddlebags and she and Dax were ready to go. Angel smiled again as Dax fired up the bike. Kyle was on watch that afternoon. From what Dax told her about the route they were about to take…there was no way he’d be able to take the van all the way up after them. They would be really and truly alone.