Heroes In Uniform (302 page)

She shook off her shock of seeing Dinny and blue sedan guy—Wait. Cooper’s partner Jack?—crouched in her doorway, pointing guns at her.

“Dinny? What the heck?” she squeaked. Quick as a flash, she lifted the handcuffs off the latch and pulled her shirt closed.

Cooper whipped an uncertain gaze at her. “
That’s
Dinny?”

Nodding, she scooted around on her knees to face her FBI handler. She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. She just couldn’t think of a reasonable explanation for what was going on.

“
FBI?
” Cooper asked accusingly.

Oh, hell
. She was in for it, now. From both sides.

Dinny glared at her from under a dark slash of brow. “What the
hell
is going on here, Maggie?” he demanded. “What is this guy doing to you?”

Jack's lips tugged upward. His gun dipped.

“D-doing?” she stammered. “
Uh
—”

Cooper prodded her in the back with the thing in his hand. “Not a damn word,” he muttered in her ear.

“
Maggie!
” Dinny bellowed, wagging his gun at Cooper.

“Lieutenant Cooper is,
um
, well, interrogating me,” she settled on finally. She lifted an apologetic shoulder, then let it settle against Cooper's bare chest.

“Blue Wolf Cooper?” Dinny demanded, narrow-eyed.

Jack snickered, and holstered his gun.

Cooper tipped his head back and groaned at the ceiling.

“All right, I've had enough of this!” Dinny scowled, his irritation visibly skyrocketing. “Hands over your head, pal, where I can see them.”

Cooper's hands didn't budge, but his body did start to shake against hers. And not from fear.

Dinny pointed his gun at him. “I am
not
saying it again, Lieutenant.”

Maggie squirmed, struggling to control the laughter that threatened to explode. “Are we under arrest, Din?”

“Oh, grow up, Paxton,” said Jack, openly grinning at her.

“It's okay, Jack,” Cooper said. “At least he got the name right this time.” He dropped what he was holding onto the bed and raised his hands.

It started rolling toward the edge of the bed. With hands held high, he did his best to halt its progress with a knee. And failed.

She almost choked as it fell off the bed and rolled across the hardwood planks, halting just in front of Jack.

She gave up, and collapsed on the bed in an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

Cooper shot her a furious look. Then he, too, cracked and succumbed.

Dinny's brows mirrored Jack's as they knitted together in suspicion, their gazes dropping as one to the floor. And saw what Cooper had been threatening her with.

A family-sized aerosol can of whipped cream.

Barely Dangerous: Chapter Eighty-Three

“Of all the ridiculous stunts,” Dinny railed at Maggie over breakfast at the Caf.

“Well, if you ask me, you deserved it,” she scolded back as she slid her hand absently down Cooper's thigh. She wasn't about to take the blame for Dinny and Jack's misguided entry into the cab. “Barging in with guns blazing. Jeez, Din, a few minutes later, and it would have been downright embarrassing.”

“A few minutes later?” Cooper muttered, his face still red.

“Besides,” she continued, “it was all very innocent. Wolf was showing me how he had come up to the lookout tower last night to try to get me to cooperate with his investigation. We just sort of...got carried away.”

Jack snorted. “
Wolf
?”

“Do me a favor, Maggie, and don't explain,” said Cooper, his expression pained.

Jack hadn't stopped snickering since picking up the can of whipped cream. “Hey,
Wolf
. Want to give a workshop on undercover interrogation techniques at the next station meeting? I'm sure the guys would—” Jack halted as Cooper casually tipped a squirt bottle of ketchup at him.

Cooper narrowed one eye, and aimed. “Careful,
amigo
.”

Jack held up his hands in surrender. “I'm just glad the two of you have joined forces. So to speak,” he said, still fnittering. “Dinny and I were plenty worried you guys were going to kill each other by mistake. Between Coop thinking Maggie was a poacher and Maggie thinking Coop was a terrorist, the situation had the potential for a goatfuck of epic proportions.”

Dinny had been uncharacteristically silent over the past hour. She knew he was itching to know how much she’d told Cooper about Whitney.

Lori came by the table with more coffee, breaking the tension. She winked at Maggie. “I’m devastated to see you and Coop are getting along again. So much for our agreement.”

Cooper frowned. “What agreement?”

Maggie tilted her head and grinned. “Lori gave me until the barbecue to come to my senses about you. After that, you were fair game.”

Cooper froze for a second, and gave her an astonished look.

She smiled. “Can I help it if every woman in town thinks you’re hot?”

Lori slanted a coy glance at Dinny and Jack. “Anyway. Who are your handsome friends, Maggie?”

Before she could answer, the bell on the entry-door jingled and two customers wearing expensive-looking fishing gear ambled in.

“I'll bet that's my take-out customers.” Lori leaned over the table conspiratorially, giving Dinny and Jack a glimpse down the front of her powder-blue waitress uniform. “Called in their order from their
Mercedes
.” Swaying her hips, she strolled over to where the men had seated themselves.

Dinny's gaze had never left Maggie. He leaned back in the booth. “So, sweetheart, are you feeling safer...now that we’re sure Lieutenant Cooper is one of the good guys?”

She squeezed Cooper's thigh under the table. “Never a doubt in my mind.” Well, maybe for a minute or two last night. But Dinny didn’t have to know that. “I’m sorry you had to fly all the way up here for nothing.”

Leaning back, Cooper draped his arm over the back of her chair. “I'm still a little unclear why you
did
fly all the way up from L.A.. Jack could have cleared up this name mix-up over the phone.” He looked at Dinny with a neutral expression.

Uh-oh
. She recognized that look. It hid thoughts that were anything but neutral.

Dinny's answering smile didn't quite reach his eyes. “We have a mutual friend. Jane was worried about Maggie, what with all the threats and stories about terrorists.” He flicked her an irritated glance. “Let’s just say, me flying up to check on Maggie was easier than facing the consequences if something had happened to her.”

Okay. His two half-truths nearly added up to a whole.

On the way to town, Dinny had once again ordered her not to spill a word to Cooper or Jack about her true connection with the FBI. She felt sick with guilt keeping it from Cooper. But then she thought about how dangerous Whitney was, and kept her mouth shut. The less Coop knew, the better.

Dinny leaned his elbows on the table. “Listen, Lieutenant. You'd be doing me a big favor if you don’t let Maggie get involved with you. Tracking those poachers, I mean.”

Cooper rubbed a muscle she saw pulsing in his jaw. “I don't know. I haven't had much luck so far telling her what to do.”

She eyed first one, then the other, warily. “I'll be safe with Coop.”

His arm slid off the chair and over her shoulders.

Dinny followed the move with annoyance. “These poachers could be dangerous. I don't want her taking any unnecessary risks.” He nailed Cooper with a hard look.

She could feel his thumb rub tense, nickel-sized circles in her shoulder. She sensed the two men were in the midst of some sort of male territorial battle over her. As uneasy as that made her, she couldn't help but feel a warm glow that Cooper was actually defending his right to her. No one had ever done that before.

“Your concern is noted,” Cooper said, and hoisted his coffee cup. “But you’ve checked on her, she’s fine, and frankly, I don't see that she is any of your business anymore. Yours, or the FBI's.” He put the porcelain to his lips and took a swallow, his eyes narrowing. “Unless there is something going on between you two that I don't know about?” He held the cup poised above the saucer and raised a chilly brow.

Dinny glanced between her and Cooper, anger lurking in his face. “There is nothing personal between Maggie and me. Jane asked me to check on her, and that's what I'm doing.”

“Good.” Cooper nodded. “Then I can take it from here.”

“You haven't done much to convince me you can be trusted with her safety, Lieutenant,” Dinny retorted.

Cooper sprang up, knocking down the chair behind him, and gripped the edge of the table. He looked ready to fly over it. “Listen—”

“
Coop
!”

“Wolf!”

Maggie and Jack both reached out to restrain him.

He snatched the chair up and sat back down, snarling, “I've just about had it up to here with smartass FBI agents shooting off their mouths at me.”

Dinny had the grace to wince. “Look, I had nothing to do with those two other—”

Cooper leaned forward ominously. “I suppose you didn't call them on that Cooper Blue Wolf file, and let them know where I was?”

“Yes, but—”

Cooper gave a disgusted snort. “I rest my case.”

Sarcasm dripped from Dinny's next words. “How was I to know you'd grown up into such a model citizen?”

Cooper pitched off his chair and slammed it back to the table. “I need to get going. I have a case to solve.”

Maggie watched him, her eyes wide.

Stopping at the end of the table he reached over to the hat rack by the wall and retrieved his battered Stetson. The muscle in his jaw was working again. “By the way, where's that evidence Maggie mailed you? I’ll need it.”

From his pocket, Dinny produced a plastic bag that held the battery and a computer printout, and tossed it to Cooper. “You’re welcome.”

Cooper unfolded the printout, and took a good look at it, then wordlessly turned it toward Maggie. Next to the fingerprint image from the battery was a personal data sheet, complete with head shot.

Maggie recognized the woman in the picture immediately. “Sally.”

“Yeah,” Cooper said.

Jack perked up. “Sally Huff? The woman who works for Roland Timmons?”

Everyone looked at him. “What about her?” Cooper asked.

Jack said to her and Dinny, “Coop had me run a check on everyone involved with the bear project.” He turned to Cooper. “She's been receiving regular deposits into her bank account. Just a few hundred at a time, but regular as clockwork.”

“A paycheck?” Dinny asked.

“Nope. Postal orders. But I was able to trace the serial numbers.”

“Let me guess. Local?” Cooper said.

“Right here in Redding. Coincidentally, the very same post office I followed Maggie to yesterday.”

She blinked. Right. She’d almost forgotten.

“You interviewing the postal clerks to see if any them remembers who's been buying the money orders?” Dinny asked.

“Already on it.”

“Let me know what you find. Might just get us a warrant.” Cooper held out his hand to her and said, “Come on, baby. Let's go.”

Maggie took his hand and rose. She glanced at Dinny as Cooper pulled her tight to his side. “Thanks, Din. I really appreciate you checking on me. I'll be okay now. Give Jane a hug.”

“No problem, sweetheart. Don't forget to say hi to Iris for me.” The look on his face was forbidding, but he made no move to stop her. “And if you need me for any reason, you know where I am. See you soon.” His expression dared Cooper to make something of it.

Jack flashed her a conspiratorial grin and jerked his head toward the door. “Better get him outta here before he pulls out his scalpin' knife. Nice to meet ya, Maggie.”

“Likewise, Jack. Din.” She allowed Cooper to haul her along as he stalked toward the door.

“And turn your damned cell phone on!” Jack shouted after them.

When they reached the parking lot, Cooper leaned his back against the driver's side of her truck and pushed up on the brim of his hat with a finger. Hooking his thumbs in his pockets, he closed his eyes and clenched and unclenched his jaw.

Maggie stood by him, unsure of what to say or do.

“Baby, please tell me you're not involved with that man.” Cooper opened his eyes and regarded her.

Her first instinct was to tease him for being jealous. But the stark vulnerability in his dark eyes made her stop before the words were even formed. She reached out and caressed his cheek with her fingertips, then slid her body close to his.

“Oh, Wolf.” She kissed his tight jaw, her fingers soothing the straining muscles of his neck. “You are my only lover. The only man I've wanted in a long, long time.”

And the only one she’d ever want again
.

“What did he mean, see you soon?”

Circling her arms around Cooper, she said, “I live in L.A. and he knows Jane. She’s my best friend.” Before he could quiz her further, she put her lips to his, and kissed away the doubt in his eyes.

She felt him relax in her arms. When their lips finally parted, he let out a long breath. “I'm sorry, pup. The bastard just kept calling you sweetheart, and all I could think about was you and him— Damn, I almost went windigo, right there.”

She smiled at the look of exasperation on his face. “He calls everyone sweetheart. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“I'm not like this,” Cooper said. “Honest to God. I don't have a jealous bone in my body.”

She laughed. “
Uh-huh
. What's windigo? I hope it doesn't have anything to do with a trailer park.”

He swung her around and unlocked the truck. “It's the evil spirit that makes people do bad things they normally wouldn't do.” A devilish look crept over his face as he opened the door for her. “Like killing a rival who’s aggravating them.”

She pulled the brim of his hat over his eyes. “Down, Wolf. He’s not a rival.”

He climbed in after her. “You know, once a wolf scents a kill, it takes a major distraction to change his mind about closing in.” He looked over and waggled his brows. “Anything come to mind?”

She put a considering finger to the smile on her lips. “
Hmm
. Give me a few minutes, and I just might come up with something.”