Page 6 of Wyoming Cowboy Undercover

“No.” She shook her head. “‘Through pain comes atonement. Only through the crucible can one find enlightenment.’ Those are a couple of their tenets. He’d feel justified in hurting her if necessary.”

Rocco clenched his jaw right along with his fist under the table. “Because of that and the fact that Becca’s right that Mercy isn’t ready to turn on her father, I want to use her to gain access to the compound instead.”

Becca choked on her water as the other two men stared at him in disbelief.

“You want to go undercover?” Nash asked. “Inside the Shining Light?”

Rocco shrugged. “I do it all the time.” It came with the territory of working for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. There was even a term for their elite undercover agents—Rat Snakes.

In the pioneer days, rat snakes were kept in jars and unleashed to kill the enemy—eliminating rodents—and then retrieved and put out of sight until the next infestation. The bureau used their covert operatives in the same way to rid the world of the worst criminals.

Only those clever and strong enough got inside and survived. Rocco was still standing. But he’d had to do things that most couldn’t and wouldn’t stomach.

“My cover is solid,” Rocco said. Constantly changing every time that he relocated for a new assignment, this one he’d built around his cousin Charlie. The best cover had elements of truth. So, he was using his mother’s maiden name, Sharp, and kept his military record with some alterations that hinted at a walk on the dark side. Threw in civilian gigs that wouldn’t raise any eyebrows, including a stint at a private security firm that a friend of his owned up north. He’d made sure any check run on him wouldn’t break his cover.

“You’ve infiltrated every kind of scumbag group out there from organized crime to notorious outlaw motorcycle gangs,” Brian said. “But not a cult.”

“I thought tapping Mercy as an asset was the worst idea,” Becca said. “Until you suggested going inside the compound.” She shook her head, not liking the idea.

“What if you two sat down with Mercy together?” Brian suggested. “Impressed upon her the urgency, that lives are on the line. Is it possible you two might be able to persuade her?”

“Possible,” Becca said, hitching up a shoulder. “Not probable. She doesn’t see the Shining Light movement as a potential threat and may never. But I prefer the idea of talking to her, trying to work her as an informant, instead of you jumping into the lion’s den, Rocco.”

The image of Percy’s car going through the guardrail came back to him. His bloody face, his abdomen bleeding, his life slipping away in Rocco’s arms. All because Rocco had pushed him to be an informant when he’d learned Percy’s son was part of the cult.

This was a cold, hard business that required them to make ruthless decisions in order to catch the bad guys. But this was the first time he’d been rattled to the core.

Usually, his informants were criminals who’d been coerced. People who had already put their own lives at risk, and he was merely making it count for something good.

Percy had been an affable vet, healing animals and keeping them alive.

Mercy was even more innocent.

“And if you’re wrong?” Rocco asked. “Then not only have I lost an asset but also my one way inside the compound.” He turned to Nash. This was the head honcho’s call to make and no one else’s. “We have five days. I don’t want any more blood on my hands.” And the one life he was willing to risk this time was his own. “Give me the green light on this.”

If Nash didn’t, Rocco would go forward with the plan anyway. Even if it meant he had to surrender his badge when it was all said and done. Saving his career didn’t matter.

Only doing everything in his power to stop whatever was in the works for the nineteenth.

“When’s the next time you see Mercy?” Nash asked.

“I’m supposed to be with her right now.” They had training sessions every Tuesday and Thursday. This was their last class for the week. The next time he saw her would be too late.

“Do you really think you can convince her that you want to join her father’s religious movement after months of planting the seeds of all the things that might be amiss with the Shining Light?” Nash asked.

There was no denying that it would be a gigantic stretch. Like leaping across the Grand Canyon.

“Maybe if you had a week, a couple of opportunities to warm her up to the idea,” Becca said before he responded. “But out of the blue? Blindsiding her?” She shook her head.

Frustration welled in Rocco’s chest. Becca was usually the impulsive one, willing to take long-shot chances. He thought he’d have her support on this. “We don’t have a week,” he snapped. “I don’t even have two more minutes to spare discussing this. I need to leave.”

Becca sighed. “Broach the subject tonight carefully. You’ll have to ease her into the idea. Their movement only accepts novices during the new moon. I don’t think that’s for a couple of weeks.” She picked up her phone and swiped through a screen. “One angle you might want to try is that by letting you into her community she would be helping you in some way on a personal level. One of their core beliefs centers around selflessly aiding those in need. That might work with her father.”

The clock was ticking. He’d try anything.

Becca swore and looked up from her phone. “The nineteenth, this Tuesday, falls on a full moon...during an eclipse. I don’t know what that means. If it’s better or worse. Everything that they do is based on the lunar cycle.”

“What does a regular full moon mean for them?” Nash asked.

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