Riding Danger (BBW Biker Romance) by Adriana Hunter Page B

here?” Ron asked, his focus now on Piper. He held out a hand to her as if he expected her to shake it.
    Before she could introduce herself, Jace cut in, “This is my step-sister, Elaine. She came in from Atlanta for a week to visit me.” He caught the flash in Piper’s eye as she realized he wasn’t sure if he could trust Ron and nodded.
    With a quick smile, Piper shook Ron’s hand. “Good to meet you. Any friend of Jace’s is a friend of mine.”
    Eager to get back to the safety of her apartment, Piper returned to her food, ignoring Ron until he and Jace finished talking. Then they quickly slipped out of the restaurant and disappeared into the night.

Chapter Eleven
    “I just got off the phone with the ATF,” Sergeant Tomas Alvarez stood outside Lieutenant Dian Hargrove’s office, looking anxious. She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow in anticipation of his announcement. “Those guys got a call from Dawson a couple of hours ago. He’s offering information on a bust, and they’re offering to cooperate if they can use our resources to bring in whoever he implicates.”
    Hargrove was out of her seat in a flash. “When are we supposed to meet this guy?”
    “That’s the problem. They don’t know where he is. They’ve been following the motorcycle clubs but haven’t caught wind of him anywhere. It looks like he went underground. I would imagine he’s got a contract out on him, especially if he’s getting ready to rat out his guys. I wouldn’t blame him for burying himself. But they’re planning to get back on the phone with him and set something up. We’ll be invited.” Alvarez wanted something more solid, but he wasn’t going to complain. It was difficult to get the Feds to offer any kind of respect or cooperation in something like this, so he’d take what they could get.
    With a sigh, Hargrove sat on the corner of her desk and crossed her arms. “I want to meet with these agents right away. I want to know exactly what it is they’re looking for and who they’re hunting. If they have a specific agenda, that’s fantastic and they can have their jurisdiction, but we still have a right to throw the book at anyone small-time who gets caught in the net. I want to know how wide that net will be cast.”
    “You got it, boss. I’ll give Morris a call back in about 30 minutes. I’m going to wait long enough that he has a chance to try to get in touch with Jace Dawson.” He headed back toward his desk, feeling satisfied that he’d managed to pull this together. At the same time, he felt a bit guilty about not giving his partner all the details. He’d learned a great deal about this gun-running operation the ATF wanted to take down, and he was more than willing to help the Feds do it. The more he could assist, the more likely he’d find himself a place out at Quantico. But that wasn’t the only reason he hadn’t shared the information with Hargrove.
    His partner had a tendency to jump first and ask questions later, and if she knew the extent of the operation they were after, she’d try to work this out on her own and get the glory for the department. That wasn’t the way this needed to go down. The Dallas PD may have significant resources, but they didn’t have the same power, authority, and guns that the ATF did. It meant people in the department could get hurt or killed, whereas if they cooperated with the federal agents, they would get the use of all the cool toys those guys had at their disposal. Not only would it be more fun; it would be safer and much more professional.
    For his part, Alvarez did have one other lead he wanted to follow up, but he wasn’t going to share that idea with anyone. If he could find Jace Dawson, he’d be the golden boy and none of them would have to wait for Jace to set his own terms. Picking up the phone on his desk, he called Parkland Hospital. It was time to see if a certain nurse was on duty.
    * * *
    J ames sat around a back table at Stroker’s with