Wyatt removed his hand from A.J.’s shoulder and exchanged a quick look with Harper.
“We need to know what the Feds neglected to include in the files we were provided,” A.J. added. “And find out what Ana was after in Porter’s house.”
“Then we’ll go, too,” Roman firmly stated. “You can’t be twelve hours away from us without any backup if needed. We can stay in Birmingham instead of Atlanta to prevent being noticed, which will also put us closer to your immediate location. Just don’t tell her we’ll be nearby.”
“No more solo ops, remember?” Wyatt’s words had A.J.’s eyes shutting, a memory tugging at his mind.
“Never again. Understood?” Luke had once eyed the guys on the teams, stabbing a finger in the air, emotion choking his words. “No more solo ops. No more falling in love. No weddings. No babies. No more fucking heartbreak. Got it?”
“Marcus should never have gone in alone. We shouldn’t have followed orders,” A.J. had responded and lowered his hat to his chest, his eyes on the ground beneath his boots.
“A.J.?”
A.J.’s eyes flicked open at the sound of Harper’s voice. “Yeah, well, this isn’t an op. It’s just me keeping an eye on someone while we all work to piece this case together.” To see where the hell she needs to be in three days.
“I don’t know if we can get approval for any of this.” Harper faced the SUV and set her palms to it.
“Natasha can,” Wyatt said after the longest few seconds of A.J.’s life. “I’ll talk to her.”
“Thank you.” A.J. stepped forward, grabbed Wyatt’s hand, and leaned in to slap his back twice. “I should get on the road now.” They were going to drive to Roanoke and finish the drive in the morning.
“We’ll head back to the city, put together a plan, then some of us will go to Birmingham,” Wyatt said, his tone low.
“Look at it this way, the sooner we wrap this up, the sooner you can get back to focusing on your wedding.” A.J. smiled, but Wyatt’s lips didn’t budge. He was worried. About a lot, probably.
“Speaking of weddings,” Wyatt said, his tone grim. “Brian didn’t cheat. Gwen pulled the surveillance footage from Vegas.”
A.J.’s stomach tightened at the news. Why did he feel so disappointed? He should’ve been happy Brian hadn’t done anything to break his sister’s heart, but he still didn’t like Perfect Brian, and he truly believed Ella was going to get hurt down the road. “Okay.” He wasn’t sure what else to say. “Thanks.”
“We’ll check in once we get back to the safe house in D.C. Probably wait until tomorrow to head to Alabama,” Harper said. “Well, if some of us get the green light to go, that is.”
“Thank you.” A.J. looked at the bag on the ground by Wyatt’s boots. “Everything in there?”
“Can’t go back to Alabama without your cowboy hat and boots.” A smile crossed Wyatt’s lips. “Gotta blend in and all.”
“To think you just left home and now you’re going back.” Roman lifted the bag and handed it off to him.
“Keep your head down. Stay out of trouble,” Wyatt commanded, and A.J. saluted them with his free hand and started for the SUV.
“You’re not driving?” Wyatt called out in surprise.
“She doesn’t trust me,” he shot back.
“No idea why,” Wyatt replied.
“Hey,” Roman called out.
A.J. stopped just shy of the vehicle to find Roman coming up behind him. “Yeah?”
Roman’s dark eyes studied him. “Watch your back, okay?” He kept his voice low so as not to be heard by Ana inside the SUV. “Every once in a while, you make a bad bet.”
A.J. nodded. “This won’t be one of those times, brother.”
“And you don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Roman reminded him.
“So, then you know everything is good,” A.J. answered, doing his best to ignore the sense of foreboding gnawing in his chest.
Chapter Twelve
“They don’t like that you’re doing this, do they?” And why would they? If A.J.’s teammates were sent to spy on her and her colleagues, surely they would object to A.J. not only helping her leave town but also riding along in the getaway vehicle. So to speak. Although, Ana still refused to call it running away.
“Your phones are off, right?” he deflected.
“Of course.” She knew the second she failed to show up at the office as she’d promised Kyle, he’d be blowing up her phone. And by the fourth time his calls were sent straight to voicemail, he’d go over to check her place. Probably have a team of