Page 82 of My Vigilante Valentine

Chris and Luna shared a wary look, then Luna jerked her chin at me and mouthed, “Tell him.”

I lifted my chin, waiting.

Chris scratched his neck. “So, I may or may not have bought an old police surveillance van and tricked it out so we could use it in your missions.”

I closed my eyes.

“And, tomorrow night, I figured we could use it. We need to test our team dynamic on something in the field, but obviously smaller than The Villain. It’d be good to get used to working together before we go after the big bad, right?”

Luna’s eyes lit up. “Like a side quest? I’m in.”

“Hold up,” I cut in. “What kind of smaller field thing are we talking about?”

Chris pulled up another window, this one showing security footage of what looked like a warehouse. “Remember that money laundering operation you were looking into? The one connected to the pawn shop?”

I nodded.

“Well, I did some digging. They’re moving some product tomorrow night. Not sure what it is, but it appears to be a small operation with minimal security.” He glanced between Luna and me. “Perfect for a trial run with the van.”

“And with us in the field for the first time.” Luna bounced in her seat. “What would we need to do?”

I cracked my neck, hating this with a fiery passion. I’d seen Lunain the fieldlast night. It didn’t go well. Not through any fault of hers, but still. I didn’t want her anywhere near some pawn shop money laundering ring, whether she was safely tucked inside a secondhand surveillance van or not.

“You’d be our eyes,” Chris explained. “You’re good at noticing details, patterns. Things most people miss. You’d stay in the van with me and monitor the cameras while I run tech and comms, and Jax will be outside, doing his thing.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but Luna beat me to it.

“Stay in the van?” She wrinkled her nose. “That sounds suspiciously like trying to keep me safe, but in ahere’s a little taste of the actionkind of trickery, and not at all the right place to be if I’m supposed to be youreyes.”

“It is to keep you safe,” I said firmly. “That’s his point.”

She turned those big, bright eyes on me. “Makes sense, but I have a better idea.”

“If your idea is for you to be out on the streets with me, then you don’t even get to be in the van.”

Her jaw dropped. “Rude. And what if you need backup?”

“I don’t need backup.”

“Everyone needs backup sometimes.” She poked my side—mercifully not the injured one, but I got her point. “Even vigilantes with super-speed.”

I caught her hand before she could poke me again, but instead of letting go, I just held it. “Luna.”

“Don’t ‘Luna’ me.” But she was smiling. “I get it, fine. I can help from the van. But... don’t make it weird, okay? Let me actually try. No bubble wrap.”

And there it was—that look that made it impossible to say no to her. The one that had gotten me into this whole mess in the first place.

I sighed. “And you’ll stay in the van? No matter what?”

“Scout’s honor.” She held up her free hand in what was definitely not the scout salute. In fact, it was definitely a gang sign that she absolutely should not throw.

Chris snorted. “You were never a scout.”

“Details.” She waved him off. “So, what else do we need?”

For the next hour, we planned. Chris walked us through the tech he’d use to monitor our operation, and I outlined entry points and potential threats.

And Luna?

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