Page 22 of Raider Unleashed

“But that’s all bullshit,” Piper exploded.

John shrugged. “Yes, but they don’t know that. They’ll believe whatever we tell them. Honestly, I don’t think they care,” he added. “They don’t want to go to jail. We tell them if they help us then we’ll take prison off the table. And would you look at that… they’ll be on board.

That whole scenario made the hair on Piper’s arms stand up. Didn’t sit right at all. There was so much that could go south here. Wells and Baker, although would-be bank robbers, weren’t really bad guys. They kept to themselves and just wanted to make money. Stringing them along with the idea that they’d be dropped into a black site seemed underhanded.

“Let me get this straight… You want to send me in with two guys who could blow my cover at any moment,” she stated baldly. She wanted it on the record that her boss was overriding her worries. Of course it wasn’t really on the record. John and Fielding were acting more like Pete and Re-Pete on this one. Just two peas in the damn pod.

John shook his head. “I think we were clear, Piper. These guys don’t want to go to jail so they won’t say anything. Honestly, I think it’s a bit of a relief for them. Denlo is scary tothem and now they know the ATF is backing them up, so there’s less chance of them getting hurt.”

Piper shook her head. “What if I don’t want to go back in?” she asked, testing the waters.

John glanced at Fielding, who said, “I guess if you really feel that you can’t do it, then we’ll have to live with your decision. But declining this opportunity means you’ll never get justice for Marta. You’ll be walking away from the one chance we have to get these bastards. I, for one, would hate to miss this opportunity. Our fallen colleagues deserve justice.” He looked at her like she was worse than pond scum for even thinking about walking away. Heaving an exaggerated sigh, he frowned. “There’s also the question of your insubordination. I’m sure you’ll have to answer for that at some point but it would go much better if you helped bring down this criminal enterprise.”

Bile filled Piper’s mouth. There it was. The cold unvarnished truth. Do this or you’re going to be drummed out of the ATF. Maybe even face jail time herself, likely in the same prison she’d sent many, many villains to. A blue streak of curses was on repeat in her head.

It was her own fault though. Why the hell had she gotten on that airplane?

“Of course, Raider will have to go with you. Denlo needs an explosives expert, and we can’t just pop a new one in, it would be way too suspicious,” John added.

So not only was she supposed to risk her own life, she would risk Raider’s too. Wells and Baker could open their mouths and Denlo would kill them all. Her heart pounded in her ears as adrenaline hit her veins. What she had here was a really bad hand. And she’d dealt it to herself. Now she was going to have to go back in there and deal it to Raider.

She stood. “It’s not just my decision. I have to talk to Raider and Wells and Baker. I’ll not put Raider in harm’s way if I don’tthink Wells and Baker will keep their mouths shut. Raider is a civilian.”

“Hardly a civilian,” John said. “He’s a Navy SEAL. He’s got more experience at this type of thing than most of the guys in that office combined.”

“But he’s not ATF.” Piper pointed out. “And this is an ATF operation.”

John opened his mouth but Fielding waved him off. “Fine, go talk to him. See what he says. But the clock is ticking. We can’t leave Denlo hanging out there. The longer you’re gone, the harder it will be to get him to believe you when you return.”

Piper glared at John until he moved out of the way and then she left the office. This was bullshit, all of it. Her gut told her something else was going on, but it didn’t matter. She no longer had a choice and now she had to tell Raider he didn’t have one either. This wasn’t going to go well.

She found him sitting where she’d left him. She asked one of the guys to bring them coffee and once they had their cups, she took him outside to the back parking lot and sat down on the bumper of the van.

“They want you to go back in,” Raider said before she’d even had a chance to open her mouth.

She nodded. “They say that this is the tip of a very large weapons dealing ring involving terrorist organizations and our military. Fielding says that the ATF has a man on the inside in a secondary op. The thing Denlo and Snake are after is a thumb drive with a list of the sales, buyers, and sellers, as well as a list of government officials involved.”

Raider whistled. “So a who’s who of corruption and arms deals. Excellent.”

“Yeah.” She took a sip of coffee to stall. “They say this is the only chance they have to get this list.”

Raider stared at her. “You’re going to do it? You’re going to go back in? But Wells and Baker have to go, too.”

“According to John and Fielding, the two are so scared of going to jail that they’ve agreed to keep their mouth shut.”

Raider snorted. “I don’t believe that for a second.”

“Apparently, they’ve been told that this involves terrorist organizations and if they don’t cooperate, they’ll be dropped in a CIA black site.”

“For shit’s sake, what kind of idiot would believe that?” Raider demanded.

Piper glanced up at her ex. “Those two strike you as smart?”

Raider stared at her and then sighed. “I guess not.” He shook his head. “What’s the plan?”

She frowned. “You don’t have to do this. I called you because I was desperate, and I needed help but now John is here and Fielding. We can find another explosives guy.”

“This only works if we all go back. Denlo won’t buy it any other way.” Raider stared into his coffee. “Why don’t they just round Denlo up and then go into the bank and look for themselves?”

---