“None of what?” Hunter asked, narrowing his gaze a little.
She took a sip of coffee while she contemplated her response. She could keep hiding behind her badge or she could come clean. She hadn’t wanted to talk much last night, but now, with these men she’d worked so closely with, she felt an odd sense of acceptance no matter what she divulged.
“Working for an institution that makes me lie to people who matter.”
“Even if it’s for the greater good?” Gauge hedged.
“Who defines that?” She certainly wasn’t qualified.
“The government,” Brody said, crossing his arms.
“Even if you know it’s wrong?”
“But do you know that?” Blade asked.
She shook her head. “I didn’t believe for one second you guys were dirty.”
Roc scoffed.
“Okay. You’re shady as hell, but it still doesn’t make what happened right. It was a major breach of trust, and for that I am sorry. The feds never should’ve sent me here on assignment. Or put Anna on Blade. It was wrong.”
“I don’t see it that way,” Blade said. “It brought me and Anna together. I mean, as a shady-as-hell taxpayer, the folks could’ve spent my dollars a little bit more wisely, but that’s on them.”
Blade had a point. If it hadn’t been for that assignment, he and Anna wouldn’t be together now. He had a bright side to this mess. The other guys didn’t have that perk.
“If we agreed with the feds’ methodology on everything, we wouldn’t be contractors. We’d be employees,” Bear said.
She chuckled self-depreciatively. “Guess that means I should just come work for you guys. At least then I wouldn’t be expected to fuck a suspect.”
Bear gaped at her. Brody’s gaze narrowed. Hunter stood taller. Gauge’s smile flattened. Blade’s mouth opened. Roc looked bored with this conversation already.
“Come again?” Bear asked.
“Oh, I came many times.” She half-smiled. “I shouldn’t be too surprised I also got emotionally attached.” That was putting it lightly.
“You need to start from the beginning,” Bear said.
“I don’t know where the beginning is.” She took another drink. “But it ends with Mason Showalter.”
“Jesus,” Blade said. “I don’t think I want to know.”
“Yeah. The SEC is still digging into his connections, and Rick is determined to see this assignment through no matter the cost. He sold Anna out to get to you. Then he tossed me right into the lion’s den.”
“He put you on Showalter,” Brody said.
“He put me under Showalter.” But she didn’t go into how much she enjoyed that aspect of it. She focused on the facts. Mostly. “He’s part owner of a sex club. The theory was I’d go in as a submissive, hoping he’d agree to introduce me to the lifestyle. Get what information I could on him. See if he was someone we could use as a source, or—”
“Someone to prosecute,” Roc spat.
“Yep, and pimping me out worked. Until Showalter learned the truth. I’m sure Rick is pissed. I didn’t stick around to find out just how irate he is. He’s probably sifting through the remaining team members to decide who he’ll offer up as collateral damage next. Good thing Viola went with me to the club one night, so he can’t use her. Although, that means she’s been made, too.”
“What the fuck?” Gauge whispered heatedly. His neck slowly turned a shade of red not unlike the morning sky. She wasn’t sure if it was because she’d just told him what she’d gone through…or if it was because she’d mentioned Viola. It was common knowledge the two of them had a history, but to what extent she wasn’t sure.
She sure as hell wasn’t asking him.
“So is he dirty?” Bear asked.
She opened her mouth to answer, but Roc snickered.
“I don’t mean like that!” Bear glared at him.
“I don’t know,” she answered. “It doesn’t look good. At all.” She was not going to cry. She looked around the shop, took a drink of her coffee, set the empty cup down, and picked up a wrench, blinking a few times to keep the tears at bay.
“I’m calling Rick,” Bear said.
She gasped and looked at him. Sure enough, he pulled out his cell phone. “Why? He knows where I’m at.” There was no question about that. “And y’all aren’t exactly on speaking terms right now.”
“He needs to know if he doesn’t give you time to decompress, he’ll have us to answer to.”
She opened her mouth to say something, doubting she’d be able to stop the waterworks with whatever she said, but he looked at Brody. “Get her suited up and started on Harvey’s engine.”
“C’mon. We got you something.” Brody motioned for her to walk with him toward the shelves where extra gloves, coveralls, and other gear was stored. As she made her way over there, the other guys in the garage inched their way toward her. She glanced over her shoulder at them, but they gave nothing away.
“Here,” Brody said, drawing her attention to him again. He pulled out a shirt like the ones they all had on. It had a patch on the side with the garage’s logo on it just like theirs, but it also had something else.
Her name.
They had a shirt made just for her.
“Oh my gosh.” She took it into her hands and caressed the stitching. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Just to be clear, we had that made after you left,” Hunter said.
“We were going to give it to you at the engagement party Anna’s planning,” Blade said, and rocked on his heels. “But now we don’t have to wait.”
“You guys,” she said, tears welling. The men all shuffled around, avoiding eye contact. It was almost comical how uncomfortable her emotions were making them. Rather than give in and boo-hoo, she decided to push it down and ease their discomfort. “But it doesn’t match my shoes.”
Roc chuckled and walked away.
The others smiled or shook their heads or rolled their eyes, all walking back to their respective bays.
And just like that, she’d been forgiven.
“So the government pimped you out, huh?” Blade asked as he loosened a lug nut. “How do we spread the word that we’re now a brothel and car shop?” He looked up and winked at her.
Not skipping a beat, Shelby said, “Offer two for one rimjobs.”
“Boom!” Hunter said. “Damn, it’s good to have you back.”
Chapter Twenty
Shelby’s few days off turned into a week. Being with the Bang Shift crew helped her more than she’d ever anticipated. Hanging out at the shop, working on cars, worked so well to distract her during the day, and visiting with Anna, Xan, and Roxie in the evenings had been crucial. Maya and Heather even joined them a couple of times after they’d gotten back in town. They’d been gone the first weekend she got there. Something about a planned weekend with Heather’s old friend, Caitlin Cooper. Shelby remembered the name since she’d seen some of Caitlin’s news reports.