Caroline dropped her hand, gave him an evil glare, her face red with anger as she passed him to lean against her car.
“What?” Jax growled into his phone. “Yeah. No, she’s fine. Just take the Nissan back to the compound for me, okay, Sid. Yeah, that’s it on the median. Dammit, I said she’s fine.” He hung up.
“Why can’t I have my keys, Jax?” Caroline gave him a sideways glance.
“Because I want to talk to you…” Jax swallowed, looking away, “about my sister.”
Chapter 15
“Oh, shit’s gonna hit the fan.” Jared glanced at Slade with a grimace as Jill and Dillon walked into Sloan’s office, laughing.
Leaning against the wall, Slade glanced up then away.
“You get his feet and I’ll take his arms.” Sid acted like he was ready to pounce.
Slade closed his eyes briefly, keeping control; he had to keep control. Sid and Jared weren’t making it easy, the fuckers.
“Do you have a fucking phone?” Sloan’s voice boomed, making Jill jump.
“Ah, who me?” When Sloan just stared at her and Dillon, Jill nodded. “But I was driving and didn’t get the group message until we were almost here.”
“I sent the message an hour ago.” Sloan still stared between the two.
“Well, I was driving and, ah…” Jill’s eyes went to Dillon for help.
“And we stopped for some pizza,” he added, nodding toward Jill.
“Pizza?” Steve frowned. “Well, thanks a lot for asking, assholes. I want pizza.”
Sloan rubbed his forehead as if trying to scrub his frustration away.
“Just makes you want to scream, don’t it?” Sid leaned toward Sloan, but was shaking his head at Jill and Dillon.
“I’m going to remove my hand, and when I do, you better be away from me, Sid,” Sloan warned.
“Done.” Sid nodded, straightened up and moved a step away.
Sloan did remove his hand, but his eyes zeroed in on Jill. “You stripper ready?”
“Ah, that’s an odd way to…” Jill stopped, nodded and cleared her throat when he sneered at her. “Yes, I think so.”
“What the fuck do you mean, ‘you think so’? Either you’re ready or you’re not.” Sloan looked at Slade. “Is she ready?”
“Yes, she’s ready.” Slade did his best to keep the growl out of his voice and sneer off his face.
“Well, she better be. Tomorrow night is the night.” Sloan rummaged around his desk. Finally finding what he was looking for, he handed Slade a picture. “This is the mark. His name is George Groper.”
Sid opened his mouth, shook his head and looked at Sloan. “Seriously?” Sid ignored Sloan’s glare. “I’m sorry, but how classic is that. I mean, we are doing a sting in a strip club and the mark’s name is George Groper. Nobody could write this shit.”
“You done?” Sloan looked up at Sid, his eyes narrowed.
“Yes.” Sid thought for a moment and nodded. “Yes, I am.”
Slade grabbed the picture out of Sloan’s hand, and then passed it around. “What if he doesn’t show?”
“Then we go back until he does,” Sloan responded. “Me, Slade and Duncan will be in the surveillance van.”
“Why am I in the van?” Slade’s head snapped up.
“Because I said so,” Sloan replied with his ‘no budging on this’ tone. “Jax and Damon will be inside, so you two make sure you have your suits. This is a high-class club. Sid and Jared will be stationed outside the building, ready for assistance if needed.”
“What about us?” Steve frowned, looking around. “What do we do?”
“Take the night off.” Sloan didn’t even look Steve’s way. Reaching in his desk drawer, he pulled out a box. “Jill, you will wear this at all times. It has a small camera and microphone. We will be able to see what you see and hear what you hear.”
Jill took the box and opened it, pulling out a beautiful studded choker with a pendent. “Okay.” Jill nodded, putting the choker back in the box, then lifted something else out. “What’s this?”
“It will go with the outfit the women picked out for you, and that is your earpiece so we can tell you what to do. It’s small enough that it won’t be detected by anyone, no matter how close they get.” Sloan looked up at her. “You won’t be alone in this, Jill.”
“I know.” Jill smiled, putting on a brave front.
Slade watched Jill and knew she was nervous, even as hard as she was trying to hide it. His protective instincts kicked in and he wanted to assure her she would be fine. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her, but that was going to be damn hard when he was in the fucking van. Yeah, he and Sloan would have a talk about that after everyone left.
“Any questions?” Sloan looked around, then frowned. “Where the hell is Jax?”
“He had car trouble,” Sid answered with no more information. “We’ll fill him in,” he told Slade.
“I have a question.” Jill’s voice shook. “How am I supposed to get there? I don’t test for my license until Monday.”
“Shit.” Sloan frowned, tossing down his pen.