“I am not your typical criminal.”
He wasn’t getting what she was saying. Her hold tightened on him. “This man may have all the same training that Jinx has—that Odin has. He’s not some street thug.”
“Now you are just insulting me.” His brows rose. “Do I look like some street thug?”
“This man has access to classified intel. Intel on me. On Jinx.”
“And me? Is that what you’re implying?”
She was implying it, yes. Even if her stalker did not know that Jinx and Ramsey were related, he would have been able to access what the government did have on file about Ramsey. “He’ll know your weak spots, just as he knows ours. If you have something that makes you vulnerable, he will go after that.”
His gaze became shuttered. “It’s time for you to go.”
Dammit. “Don’t go after him without me and Jinx! That’s what I’m saying! That’s the point of this visit! Jinx cares about you, and if something happens to you, he’ll be gutted.”
Ramsey backed up a step. “You care about Jinx.”
She’d never denied that. “So do you. Now how about we work together so that everyone can stay safe?”
Silence. Ali held her breath because it seemed that he might be considering her offer—
“I’m not much of a team player.”
He was refusing her. Seriously? “Why not?”
“I don’t play well with others.”
“You are an asshole.”
He smiled, a smile that reminded her far too much of Jinx. “See, I was right. You did come here just because you wanted to call me an asshole to my face.”
Loud knocking shook the front door.
“Ah, looks like Odin is growing impatient,” Ramsey noted. “Better go and find your teammate.”
She started to hurry past him.
The door swung open before she could reach it. Odin was there, all right, but he wasn’t alone. In fact, there seemed to be a whole group of people behind him.
“Um, Odin?” Ali began, nervous.
Ramsey curled his hand over her shoulder and pulled her back.
But the group was already moving in—and the person leading the swarm? It was the bartender that she’d seen at Armageddon the other night. Imari. The bartender with the eyes of a cop.
Only this time, she didn’t just have cop eyes. She was flashing a badge and pointing a gun. A gun that she aimed straight at Ramsey.
“FBI,” she snarled. “Ramsey Hyde, you’re under arrest for murder, conspiracy, racketeering, and—”
“I’m sure you have quite the list,” Ramsey said as he better positioned his body in front of Ali’s. “But my friends here are quite innocent, so how about you let them both go, hmm?”
“If they are friends of yours, I highly doubt they are innocent,” Imari fired back.
“You might be surprised,” he murmured.
But Imari had already given a quick signal to her team. They swarmed, and Ali found herself being handcuffed. No one told her why she was being arrested. No one read her rights to her. Odin appeared to be in the same boat. As Ali was pushed outside, she saw the cuffs around his wrists, too.
“Exactly what am I being charged with?” Ali asked, raising her voice to be heard above the noise. Half of the team had stayed inside. No doubt, they were probably tearing through the bar. Looking for evidence. Or bodies. Or maybe both.
Imari moved to stand right in front of Ali. “Accessory.” The sunlight glinted off the diamonds that circled up her left earlobe.
“Accessory to…what?” Ali tilted her head. “I just stopped here to get directions. I’m new to town. I got lost.”
Imari pointed to a watchful—and silent—Odin. “He’s not new.”
“Um, no, he’s not. But Odin is friends with your boss at Armageddon, and between us…” Ali leaned toward Imari. “I think you are so about to get fired.”
Imari’s lips parted. But before Imari could fire off a retort, her phone rang. Imari’s eyes narrowed. She took a step back from Ali.
Ali glanced around the parking lot. She saw that Ramsey had already been shoved into the back of a black SUV.
A black SUV…how very typical. In her experience, the FBI was always so predictable. When they’d come to haul her away years before, they’d swarmed in similar black SUVs.
She would say one thing for them, though. They certainly knew how to arrive silently at a scene.
Odin moved next to her. No one pushed him next to her. Probably because even cuffed he was super big and scary. He just sort of ambled next to her on his own.
“Didn’t feel like giving a word of warning when they appeared?” Ali muttered.
“Didn’t have time.”
She cut him a hard glance.
“What?” Imari’s furious snarl captured Ali’s attention before she could say anything else to Odin.
“You have got to be joking me.” Imari gripped the phone and held it to her ear. “But we’ve got him. He’s in custody right now. Him and two of his so-called friends…”
“We’re actually not very good friends,” Ali called out. “More like acquaintances.”
Imari’s gaze shot to her.
Frustrated fury burned in the other woman’s stare.
Ali clamped her lips together.
“I understand,” Imari gritted out. “Yes. Doing it now.” She ended the call. Shoved the phone back into her pocket. The bulletproof vest she wore flexed with her movements. “Uncuff them,” she barked. “Now.”
Uncuff them? Ali eagerly lifted her hands. In a moment, she was free. And so was Odin. As for Ramsey…
“Get him out of the SUV.” Rage seethed in Imari’s voice. “And get the crew out of his place. Take nothing. We’re leaving.”
They were leaving? After coming in with guns blazing?
One of the Feds had opened the rear door of the SUV. Ramsey took his time sliding out. He lifted his hands, showing off the cuffs that still bound his wrists. Then, with the cuffs still on, he sauntered toward Imari.
“Change of plans?” he asked her, voice droll.
“Who did you bribe, bastard?” she demanded.
“Bribery is a crime. Do I look like a criminal?” He peered at his cuffs. “Oh, wait…”
No one rushed forward to remove his cuffs. No one had to. With a flourish of his hands that Ali thought would do a magician proud, Ramsey freed himself.
She’d seen Jinx pull sleight of hand tricks like that before. Had the two of them practiced those tricks when they’d been boys? Before life had pulled them apart?
Ramsey dangled the cuffs toward Imari. “Thanks for visiting. I would not recommend that you come back.”
Imari snatched the cuffs. “She’s lucky that she doesn’t remember you.”
Ali sucked in a quick breath. Before coming down to the area, she’d worked a long-distance case for Odin—one that had involved Ramsey in a roundabout way.
Or rather, it had involved the woman that Ramsey had once been involved with—Dr. Whitney Augustine. She’d been thought to be dead. Her killers had even confessed to the crime. They’d hit Whitney over the head. Left her to drown in the Gulf of Mexico.