Page 86 of A Very Un-Shakespeare Romance
Yeah, Robbie had noted that as well. Extra backup and additional surveillance were standard, but he really liked that Tyler knew the two undercover agents the Charlotte FBI office was sending down. He’d vouched for them, which had alleviated some of Robbie’s ongoing stress.
Right now, he was floundering a little, treading water in the deep end of an FBI pool. Not his comfort zone. He missed his own partner, Mickey, and the other officers he usually went through doors with. But Lily’s boss was working with Roland and Internal Affairs on the money laundering and the arson case in a joint task force, as they were linked, and they were seeding the story about Robbie laying low protecting his cousin and the girls, hoping the dirty cops would slip up and hang themselves.
Once the videos of Tara and her new boy toy went out tomorrow—which would coincide with another FBI agent driving his cousin to the safe house where they were taking the girls and his brothers today—all hell was supposed to break loose according to Lily’s plan.
They would be ground zero for the bad guys.
He couldn’t wait to get his hands on them. “Make sure the agents change the code on the back door after they arrive.” Maybe he was being extra thorough, but he wanted everything tight. Who knew if the Kellys would think to rent a nearby beach house to watch their house too? And whether they’d interrogate the landlady to obtain the code…
Everyone turned to look at him, and for a moment, he wondered if he’d grown horns.
“That’s standard protocol, Robbie,” Tyler assured him. “No one wants a neighbor to wander in to check on the houseplants.”
Robbie raised his brow, knowing Tyler had supplied that reasoning for Tara. Right. He needed to remember she didn’t have the same longstanding experience with the dark side of crime that the rest of them did. His stupid criminal videos didn’t show any of that. He lifted his chin at the acknowledgment. Their professional rapport was developing. If the other cops in his precinct could only see him now. Liking not just one but three Feds out of the Boston office. “Good to know. So where are we starting today?”
Sheila rubbed her hands together. “Lily, do you want to kick things off with the boating trip?”
“Maybe a little fun and speed will help everyone fall into character,” Tyler agreed.
“That sounds good,” Lily broke in. “Tara? What do you think? We can start there and then maybe take a few videos of you getting some sun with Tyler on the beach before we head into town for cocktails and dinner.”
They had to stage a story of Tara meeting a new guy on social media, starting with posts dropping the moment Tara left tomorrow morning. Lily wasn’t going to chance the Kellys coming straightaway while she was still on-site.
Lily had accounted for a few possible means of travel by the Kellys’ guys. She’d ruled out the possibility of them taking a private plane since no one had ever known them to fork out that kind of money. If they went by car, it would take twelve-plus hours, but they could shorten that by flying into a local airport and renting a car. If they went that route, however, they wouldn’t be able to bring their weapons and would have to either buy local or rely on a local network. They wouldn’t want traceable weapons for what they planned.
That fact kept him focused.
Not only for Tara’s sake, but for everyone else around him, Lily most of all. He’d been a cop for nearly twenty years but caring about her had him worrying more about something going wrong.
“I’m good with starting on the water and getting some sun.” Tara cupped her arms as if chilled. “I’ll just change into my new bikini.”
“Let’s keep the diamond earrings on,” Lily said thoughtfully, putting her finger to her lips as she studied his cousin. “I want you to show off as much of the bling as possible.”
Tara flicked her ears, the diamond drop earrings winking in the sunlight. “Trust me. These babies are going to sparkle. I still can’t believe you have an agreement with jewelry stores for cases like this.”
“We have to make the stage believable,” Lily told her. “Cars, houses, clothes, jewelry. You name it. We bring it.”
“Don’t forget the yachts.” Sheila gave a gusty sigh. “That yacht party the Colombian drug lord threw two years ago would have been pretty spectacular if I hadn’t needed to spend the whole thing evading that CI’s tongue. He took our undercover a little too seriously.”
Robbie was a ball of tension. He hadn’t thought about these women having to pretend to be some scumbag’s girlfriend. He turned to Lily, who only raised a brow in his direction. Right. Better not to ask. Put it in the box labeledthe joband don’t act like a jealous boyfriend.
Boyfriend.
Jesus, he supposed that’s what he was now. Was he too old to be someone’s boyfriend? He shook himself. “I’ll let you change while I check in with the office.” Focusing on the job was going to get him through this. Plus, it helped him feel more in control.
He touched Lily’s elbow before heading inside, Tara on his heels.
“Don’t go all older cousin routine with me, please.” She sped up and planted herself in front of him. “I’m working extra hard to put steel into my backbone.”
Wanting to curse, he clenched his eyes shut for a moment. “I know, and I’m sorry.”
“Just saying, especially since I know you’re worrying about your new lady friend as much as me.” She touched his arm, her face a combination of motherly softness and Southie toughness. “Robbie O’Connor, I love you with all my heart, so I’m going to speak plainly even though it might piss you off. If you don’t put a ring on that woman’s finger, I’m going to have a mass said for you and your love life. Publicly.”
He cringed. They both knew what that meant. He’d have every busybody mother and desperate single woman in Southie on his ass, thinking he wanted to settle down. Women would be ringing his doorbell with pies and cakes and stalking him at the grocery store in high heels, full makeup, wafting extra hair spray. “Come on. It’s early yet, Tara.”
“We’re Irish.” She gave a comic jig. “We know when something is strong and true. And if you bring Scotty up right now, I will belt you.”
Yeah, they hadn’t talked about her at-large, soon-to-be ex-husband. There’d been no sightings of Scotty and his side piece, and no one knew if they were even still together. Of course, that made divorcing him more complicated.
