It’s Friday night, the night of the big event. I’m a little nervous, but determined. The three of them have meticulously fitted me with mics, a small camera on my headband, and have drilled me in safety measures. I feel like a Russian spy, but this is kind of fun, being someone else, because my life isn’t full of shits and giggles right now.

“What do you do if he tries to drag you out the back door?” Silas questions me...I roll my eyes, because we’ve been through this at least a hundred times.

“I scream, kick and bring as much attention to us as possible.”

“Good girl,” Jonas gives me praise.

“You’ve got this,” Silas encourages me. “Take deep breaths and you’ll do fine. We have rented a car for you to drive there, it’s in the name of Shonna Milstep. That’s your alias, we also have you an ID in that name as well. Flash it in front of him when you show the bartender. I promise you, he’ll have one of his men run it. You were brought up in foster care, you have no family to speak of. You’re a loner who will do anything for the almighty buck.”

“Got it, I helped come up with it, remember?”

“We can’t take any chances,” Atticus speaks up. He’s been suspiciously silent through most of this, and I catch him watching me with a weird look on his face every time we’re in the same room. I’m not quite sure how to handle him right now, so I merely nod.

“I’ll be careful, I promise. Destiny is the priority and my main goal,” I reply.

“But you’re ours,” he whispers quietly, so quietly that I almost miss what he said...almost. But I did catch it, and it makes me wonder when the coin flipped sides.

“Don’t you boys worry about me,” I saucily reply, trying to lighten the mood.

“Ain’t no boys in this room, darlin’,” Silas says in a southern drawl. It would be perfect if he had on a pair of tight jeans, cowboy boots, and a straw hat. That vision causes me to giggle...giggle!

I don’t giggle...usually.

“You’ve got cash for your drinks, right?” Jonas asks. Duh, he handed it to me thirty minutes ago!

“Are y’all okay? I mean, Jonas, you yourself gave me cash not too long ago. Silas, we’ve been over the plan so many times, I could probably do it blindfolded and half-asleep. And Atticus? I don’t belong to anyone.”

“Give us a break, Piper. This is a first for us, and we’ve all come to care for you...like a sister,” Silas says, and I feel his words in my chest.

“Speak for yourself. She’s not like a sister to me,” Atticus huffs out.

“Well, I should hope not. A brother doesn’t sleep with his sister and possibly knock her up,” Jonas teases. What is it with all the commentary lately? These guys are a phenomenon I can’t seem to keep up with.

Getting back to business, Silas asks me, “What’s your name, darlin’?”

“Shonna, sweetie pie,” I quickly reply.

“Memorize your birthday so you don’t get tripped up.”

“I’ve got it, I’ve been memorizing all of my details for a couple of days now. Trust me, guys, this isn’t my first rodeo,” I plead. I may not have worn the disguises, per se, but I’ve had to change my look to get close to the people those assholes wanted dirt on more times than I can recount. My mind drifts guiltily to Mr. Garza and how I treated him. I’ll have to make amends with him one day.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Atticus states, looking at his watch. “He should be nice and sloshed by now.”

“Let’s do this!” I say, amping myself up.

I follow her to the bar, keeping the taillights of her beat-up Toyota Corolla in my line of sight. We couldn’t get her a newer vehicle, because it would stand out in the crowd of the other patrons. It’s a run-down place and she’s supposed to do anything in order to make a buck.

She can’t look as if she has money, so we bought this one from an individual seller, and put it in her alter ego’s name. Shonna, wonder where the hell she came up with that name? It’s not spelled the way I’ve ever seen it before. I wonder if it has any meaning to her?

I watch as she pulls into the parking lot. I pull over across the street, blending into the shadows. I watch as she sits there for a second, looks like she’s giving herself a pep talk. I begin to worry that she may not be nearly as ready for this as she’s led us to believe.

C’mon, Hellcat, you can do this.

I grab my phone from the passenger seat, ready to call her, but then I see her gather her purse and she opens the door. I put my phone back down and watch as she lifts her skirt up another inch...gritting my teeth because her legs are long, lean and will make any man picture them wrapped around his waist or thrown over his shoulders.

I pull my hair up in a man bun and put a ball cap over my head. The thing that will make me stand out in a crowd is my long hair. I casually get out of my car and walk into the bar. I look around to see where I can sit that still gives me the view of the bar I need, but also be hidden in plain sight. I see several of our guys scattered throughout the room. None of us acknowledge the other, but I’m glad to see they’re already in place.

Moving to a booth in the back, I sit with my back against the wall and motion for the waitress. When she saunters my way and approaches me, I say, “Beer, long neck, Budweiser, keep the top on.” Yeah, I don’t trust anyone not to fuck with my drink. She gives me a strange look but nods before heading to the bar.

I see Piper make her move, so I sit up straighter and laser my eyes on to her. They tune into her every move, her every emotion and her every look. She squares her shoulders and sidles up next to the intended target. I don’t use his name in my head, because then it becomes personal and I need to separate my feelings with business.

I notice that one of the guys has left his table, and is now sitting near her at the bar. He opens his mic so I can hear the conversation.

“You new here?” I hear him ask her.

“New to town, actually.” I see the twinkle in her eye and I don’t like it one bit.

“How long are you in town for?” he questions her.

“For however long I wanna. I have no strings tying me down anywhere.”

“What’s your name?” I don’t hear her answer him because the waitress chooses this time to bring me my beverage.

“Anything else?” she asks me.

“Nope,” I say, shooing her away with my hand. She looks a little hurt that I’m not paying her any more attention than that, but she’s in the way and I need her gone.

“That’s an interesting name.” I pick the conversation back up.

“I’m an interesting type of lady,” she flirts. I grab my beer bottle so hard that I fear it may shatter in my hand. I don’t like her flirting with anyone but me.

“What’s your name, handsome?”

Nope, don’t like this at all!

“Fucker, focus in.” I hear Jonas’ voice in my com and pick my beer up and take a swallow as I look around. Asshole is sitting three seats down from Piper and Douchebag but giving me a death glare.

I notice the target typing something on his phone, and know in my gut that he’s having our girl checked out. I see a smirk take over his face as his phone lights up with an incoming text. Step one, down. Getting his attention focused on her.

“Showtime,” Rex whispers. He’s closer than Jonas and apparently saw the same thing I did. I glance at my phone as if I got a text, then nod my head to indicate I heard him. Can’t be too careful in this place, and a man talking to himself would be a dead giveaway. Rex at least had his beer bottle at his lips when he spoke.

Jonas was looking at the television where some sports game is playing and shaking his fist when he talked. At least he appears to be pissed off at the game itself instead of ready to pummel the fuck out of our man.

“I need to use the restroom,” I hear Piper say. As she gets up from her chair, she looks at me as she passes. Our eyes connect, and I know she has felt me staring at her the entire time. I quickly look over and see that he is also watching her. As soon as she makes it to the hallway where the restrooms are, I see him take a pill bottle out of his pocket and put one in her drink.

“Eyes open, he’s done his thing,” I say, bringing the phone to my ear to where it appears I’m having a conversation.

“Switch her beer bottle,” Silas commands Rex, who swiftly exchanges his bottle for hers when the douchebag turns his head to watch as she enters the bathroom.

“Barkeep! Another beer, this one’s hot,” he says, so it can be disposed of without anyone accidently taking a drink from it.

“Hellcat, you know what to do once you’ve downed some, right?” I ask into my phone.

“Yes, sir,” she replies, as I hear the toilet flush. I nearly chuckle, but decide that it would be out of character for me, so I don’t. I hear the water go on then off, then that god-awful blower going on. “Y’all get ready,” she whispers.

I watch as she walks back out of the bathroom and grabs her beer. “I’m parched,” she says, taking a drink.

“I kept it safe for you,” he says to her. My ass he did! Motherfucker, I wonder how many times he’s used that line on his victims?

“Thank you, a girl never knows who she can trust in these days and times.”

“That’s true, there’s a lot of men who prey on the naivety of women.” Yeah, and you’re one of them, asshole. My inner dialog is pissing me off and I can’t wait for her to feign being dizzy so he makes his move. This motherfucker is going down!

“It’s a little hot in here.” She begins fanning herself.

“We can step out the back door and catch some air if you’d like to.”

“He’s on the move, everyone get in your positions,” I hear Silas say. I get up out of my booth, drop a few bills for my beer, and walk out the front door and stroll around the side. There are a lot of trees back here, so I make use of one and hide behind it.

A couple of minutes later, I hear the back door open as they step out of it. She’s giggling and leaning into him. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m so dizzy all of a sudden,” she gushes, placing her hand on his chest. “I didn’t even drink that much!”

“A little slip of a thing like you? I’m sure you’re not a heavy drinker,” he states, his arm curling around her shoulders.

Must. Remain. Calm.

I clench and unclench my fists, wanting nothing more than to drive them into his face until he resembles a week-old pack of ground up hamburger meat.

He leads her away from the door and off to the side where the lighting is dimmer.

“I’ve got her,” Rex states. I know he’ll ensure she’s safe, but that’s my fucking job. Standing here on the sidelines is slowly driving me crazy.

I watch as she ‘stumbles’ a bit more and worry that maybe he did manage to slip her a roofie. Until she says, “It’s obviously my destiny that you were here tonight, me being such a lightweight and all.”

She’s used her safe word, so we jump into action and rush him. Rex pulls Piper away and ushers her to the front of the building. The plan is for us to secure him, and she’s to head back to the house. I see her throw an evil eye in his direction, but she doesn’t slow down as Rex hurries her along.

“Like to prey on the innocence of women? I get how an ugly fucker like you has to use roofies. Bad mistake on your part, you’re coming with us now,” I say to him. He scowls at me behind his bindings. “You don’t scare me, big shot. I don’t need to hurt women to get my rocks off.”

I help get him into the van that will be escorting him back to our place. I toss Rex his keys. We need to make it look as if he’s left. Hopefully, his men will think he’s grabbed his woman and is now off to do whatever it is he does to secure his victims.

“Make sure there’s no tracking devices on his car, then take it to storage. Someone will meet you there and bring you back.”

“Sounds good,” Rex responds. He rushes over and gets into the vehicle...he’ll drive it around the corner before checking it out.

I go across the street to where my car is waiting for me and jump in. I take a minute to get my bearings, I’ve never been so god damned nervous in my life as I was with Piper in there, within arm’s reach of him.

I start my car and head home. It’s time for Silas and myself to do our thing and extract information, hopefully leading us to Destiny’s whereabouts.