“And how will I prove I can be trusted?”
“Time will tell.” She opened the door and held it for him. “You have three hours until morning light and training begins. I suggest you use it to sleep. The training is physically demanding.” She tipped her head toward the interior.
As he stepped into the doorframe, she whispered, “I hope you follow advice better during training than you did in the bar.”
He paused, so close to her he could almost feel the warmth of her breath. So many questions rushed into his mind. Asking them might open him to questions from her that he couldn’t answer without blowing his cover.
Her name was PJ.
If he was right, she was the one who’d freed Liza and Tayla Gray from one of the TCW compounds. Why have mercy on the mother and child and not have mercy on the others?
What was PJ’s story? How had she come to be part of TCW? How long had she been with them? Had she been kidnapped like so many others? Were they holding her hostage and making her do things she didn’t want to by threatening to kill people she loved?
He met her gaze in the starlight. “I look forward to working with you, PJ.”
Her eyes flared for such a brief moment, he almost missed it. She lowered her eyelids slightly, masking whatever thoughts his words invoked. “We’ll see if you feel the same at the end of the day.”
Judge purposely brushed his hand against hers as he stepped past her into the building. A spark of electricity rushed through him, making his pulse beat faster and his groin tighten.
She flinched and moved backward, putting distance between them.
He’d been attracted to her at the bar when he’d thought she was just a waitress. Knowing she was part of TCW didn’t make him any less attracted. In fact, he was even more turned on.
Based on Liza Gray’s account, PJ was like the other recruits and had been trained to be an assassin. Now, she’d been assigned to train him. He could only assume she’d already proven herself as an effective assassin. Whom had she killed, and what methods had she used? Would she turn those methods on him if she knew he was there to shut down TCW?
PJ intrigued him. Hopefully, in the next few days, he’d learn what made her tick, all the while gathering intel on the man in charge and the other leaders remaining amongst the group.
Finding the missing girl, Penny Baker, might be more of a challenge since the recruits weren’t allowed to go by their given names and were punished if they did. It was an effective way of keeping their true identities secret, as they’d discovered when they’d taken the captured recruits into custody for questioning.
He smiled a slow, sexy smile as he stood inside the door. “Sweet dreams, PJ.”
She snorted and closed the door between them. The click of metal on metal indicated she’d locked the door.
He tried the handle, just to be sure.
It was locked.
“I hope this building doesn’t burn down,” he muttered.
“It shouldn’t,” PJ said from the other side of the door. “It’s all metal.”
He grinned.
If she could hear him muttering, she hadn’t left immediately upon locking the door. Had she felt the connection when he’d touched her hand?
With the little bit of starlight shining through a corrugated, semi-clear, fiberglass panel in the roof, Judge made his way around the interior of the small building. He found an army cot in the corner and an old olive-drab, painted wooden World War II Army footlocker at the foot of the bed. Inside the footlocker was a green woolen blanket.
Judge had been stripped of his cell phone, his wallet and all his belongings, except for the clothes on his back. Fortunately, the cell phone had been a burner phone, and he’d erased all the numbers as soon as he’d finished a call. With no way of contacting his team back in Eagle Rock, the Brotherhood Protectors, Hank Patterson or Swede, he was on his own to gain the trust of The Chosen Way and gather all the information he could. When he was ready, he’d have to escape the camp and find his way back from wherever he was.
He'd already accomplished two of his goals. The first being to find the new location of TCW. Well, he sort of knew where they were. He was there. Once he got out, he’d figure out where on a map he was and find his way back with the cavalry.
The second goal he’d accomplished was finding PJ. Whether or not she’d want to escape TCW was another question entirely. If she wanted help getting out, he’d do everything in his power to get her out safely.
He hoped she wanted out when it was time for him to leave. The thought of leaving her behind didn’t feel right. To Judge, PJ was an enigma. A puzzle he hoped to piece together over the next few days.
He dropped onto the cot and lay staring up at the fiberglass panel, comparing images of PJ in her jean shorts and tank top to the black jeans, dark jacket and ball cap she’d worn in the compound.
This mission promised to be interesting and maybe more dangerous than he’d originally anticipated.
If he were found out, the TCW leadership wouldn’t just let him walk out of the compound. Hell, PJ had detonated a propane tank to cause enough of a diversion to get Liza and Tayla out of their compound. These people would be watching him closely.
Because she would be training him, they’d be watching PJ as well. When the time came, getting both of them out would be a challenge.
Assuming PJ wanted out. And if she didn’t want to leave, she could be hurt or killed when the feds came knocking.
For now, he would focus on gathering intelligence and getting to know PJ.
He smiled and closed his eyes. As a Delta Force Operator, he knew the value of rest. He’d learned to go to sleep anywhere and under extremely stressful situations. Letting the drugs they’d given him do their thing, he relaxed and slept...
With one eye open and one foot on the ground.
Chapter 3
PJ lay awake early the next morning, having gotten no sleep whatsoever.
After leaving Judge, she’d been cornered by Wiley.
Augustus wanted them to recruit and train an army of assassins and do it quickly. He hadn’t given them a reason why, just the order to get it done.
What was his hurry?
Was he planning something more than the individual hits he’d tasked the assassins to perform? Was he aiming for more of an actual army that could overrun a government or a subset of the establishment?
All the more reason to uncover his true identity as soon as possible.
PJ had no desire to be one of the TCW’s armed radicals, storming the capital of the United States or even the capital of Montana. TCW was well-armed. They had a stockpile of assault rifles and plenty of ammunition for training practice and to conduct a small war. Innocent people could be harmed.
She lay on her bunk in the building with the other recruits, her thoughts churning on what Augustus had in mind. As far as PJ knew, he didn’t confide in his closest leaders until he had a specific task for them to accomplish. Only then did he let them in on his plans. It ensured secrecy. No one could read his mind. All they could do was guess what he had in mind.
Whatever it was, he seemed to require a lot more trained warriors to accomplish his goal.
Thus, Wiley’s insistence on bringing on board the new guy, who apparently had mad skills with a rifle and handgun.