Page 34 of Burning Secrets

Oh. His did too. “Sorry. I, uh…”

She laughed then. “Still undercover?”

Please, yes. “Maybe. Hard not to look over my shoulder every second.”

She set down the menu as a waitress came over, delivered their sodas. “Fries are on their way. What’ll ya have?”

They ordered ribs, and he appreciated a girl with an appetite.

“So, is this your first ‘undercover’ gig?” She finger quoted the word. The music covered up her voice.

“No. I embedded into a motorcycle gang in Anchorage, helped Rio take down some drug smugglers.”

“So you two are partners.”

“I wouldn’t say that. I owe Rio a lot.”

“Feels like he owes you a lot.” She took a sip of her soda. Raised an eyebrow.

Huh, he’d never thought of it that way.

“Well, maybe after this, I’m done.”

The waitress delivered the fries. JoJo took one. “Delish. And why?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. I really want to get into law enforcement—work for the DEA or maybe the local police. But my felony record disqualifies me. I thought about the military, but I’d have to get a waiver. It feels like this is my only option, but…” He shook his head.

“Tired of hanging out with evil.”

He looked at her, nodded. Sighed. “When my dad came back from Iraq, it was…well, my mom was so happy, and he got discharged, and we rented this house outside Anchorage, and I had a dog, and he worked as a car mechanic for a while. It was good.”

“Is that where you learned how to hot-wire cars?”

She said it without judgment, just a question, and it didn’t hurt.

“And overhaul engines. I can replace a head gasket, even rebuild a transmission in record time. I was planning on being a mechanic when I…Anyway. I’m not sure I can go back to that either, given my record.”

She nodded. “What do you want to do?”

He looked up. Met her eyes. “Something that matters.”

She held his gaze, nodded, then reached out and touched his hand. Softly, then with a firmer grip. “You do, Crew. You do.”

He stared at her and then turned his hand around and threaded her fingers through his. Squeezed.

Met her eyes. Wow, he wanted to hold on to her. And the urge to run swept through him again.

“I thought that was you.”

He stilled, looked up, and everything inside him emptied.

Jer stood at the table, hands in his pockets, looking at him, then back to JoJo.

And he knew, right then, he had to change his answer to Deke’s question.

Yes. Yes, they were onto him.

She could nearly feel his worry radiating off him as Crew drove her north, to the Midnight Sun base.

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