Prologue
Wyatt
I look around at all my friends gathered here to wish me well... tell me goodbye. Fuck, I'm going to miss them. The whole crazy lot of them. I have no clue when I'll be able to return.
The back deck of Gavin and Savannah's beach mansion in Duck, North Carolina is monstrous, large enough to hold our ever-growing crew plus about two hundred others. They're hosting my farewell party because let's face it... who doesn't want to party at a mega-mansion on the beach.
For early April, it turned out to be a relatively warm day... as long as the wind doesn't kick up. Every once in a while, a westerly breeze comes off the Atlantic, causing the women to huddle in closer to their men to ward off the spring chill.
Almost everyone in our group has fallen to that miraculous emotion known as love. First it was Hunter, my best friend in the world. We've known each other our entire lives and I knew when he finally fell, he'd go crashing hard. It just happened to be with Gabby, his little sister's best friend, and I honestly didn't think it would happen. Gabby had some misplaced rage toward Hunter for the longest time but he finally wore her down. Now she wears his engagement ring on a necklace around her neck, because she works in construction and doesn't want to damage the ring. I wonder when they'll get married but they don't seem to be a in rush. Hunter owns a bar... The Last Call and Gabby is a general contractor, and both of them are so focused on their careers, I doubt I'll be hearing the wedding bells anytime soon. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they just trotted off to the local judge on their lunch hour or something to get the deed done.
Just as Hunter's identical twin brother, Brody had done when he married Alyssa.
Brody and Hunter got engaged at the same time while vacationing with their girls together and I suppose that's a twin thing. I just assumed they'd have a joint wedding ceremony, but Alyssa put a kink in that plan by getting knocked up. It wasn't planned but that baby was no less wanted at that time. Brody just hauled Alyssa off to the courthouse and got married, proclaiming they could have a ceremony after the birth if she still wanted.
Looking at her now, with Brody's arm around her back as she cuddles their son, Trey, I don't think a ceremony will be forthcoming. I'd say they have everything they need right there.
A baby cries and my eyes slide over to Gavin and Savannah. Their daughter Clare was born almost a month ago, exactly ten days before Trey was born. There's apparently already talk of betrothing the two of them or something.
Gavin takes Clare from Savannah's arms, rocking her back and forth. She immediately quiets and I hope that when I have a child one day, I'm as good with him or her as my friends are with theirs. Gavin and Savannah have yet to get married. Yet to get engaged for that matter but that doesn't seem to matter to them. I asked Gavin about it one night when we had a guy's night out and he said he wanted to marry her like yesterday, but that they always seemed to get caught up in life and raising a baby. It's coming though... I guarantee it.
"You nursing mothers are putting a serious crimp in my ability to party with my girls," Casey complains as she reaches a finger out to stroke along Clare's tiny nose.
My lips quirk upward as I look at the stunningly beautiful Casey Markham. She's Hunter and Brody's little sister, and by little, I mean she's four years younger than us but yet larger than life at the tender age of twenty-five. In addition to me, she remains steadfastly single.
But she is unlike me in that she likes it that way. She burns through men the way my grandma used to burn through copper at the penny slots in Atlantic City.
I'm a bit different.
I'm ready to settle down.
I've seen Hunter and Brody never look more peaceful or happy in their lives. I've only come to know Gavin over the past year, but I watched a self-proclaimed prick turn into a mushy teddy bear because of his woman.
Yeah, I want that shit too.
But it doesn't look like it's going to come anytime soon. Not with me leaving and all.
"Going to miss you dude," Hunter says as he steps over to me and leans against the deck railing.
I hold my bottle of Sam Adams up and he clinks his beer against mine. "Going to miss you too, man."
"So you really have no idea how long it will be?" he asks genially as we look out over the ocean.
"Nah... they've told me to be prepared for several months probably. I'm going in cold to an established operation and it's going to take a while to build trust."
"And you can't tell me a hint of where you're going or what you'll be doing?" he asks with a grin, nudging my shoulder with his. "Come on... I'm your best friend for Christ’s sake."
"Dude... you know that's not how it works. You've seen me do this before and you know I can't tell you."
"Fine," Hunter says as he raises his hands up in capitulation, then swigging down the rest of his beer. "You just better not get your ass shot and you better fucking come back in one piece."
Reaching out, I give him a playful punch in his stomach which causes him to issue a slight oomph and tip my bottle up to finish my beer as well. I need to head out. I have to get an early start tomorrow and the last thing I need is a hangover.
This is my second time going undercover as a cop. I used to work in narcotics back when I first started with the Nags Head PD and went undercover to bust up a small heroin ring here on the island. It was a short operation because the ring was small and that's testament to the fact that we're a fairly small community.
This is different though.
I'm being loaned out to a joint task force of the Raleigh Police Department and the FBI. What they have planned for me is much bigger. I haven't been given many details but I do know that it involves a suspected sex slave ring that covers the entire southeastern region of the United States and happens to be based in Raleigh. The FBI is involved because it crossed state lines when one of the victims escaped and was found in Denver, but was originally abducted in Raleigh.
Tomorrow I start a new life. I'll be debriefed for a few days and immersed in my new identity. Then begins the work of getting my foot in the door.
It could take months... maybe a year, who knows. It's all about gaining trust and building a case from the inside.
My life is going to be put on hold, and that warm and fuzzy desire I get when I look at my friends in love is going to have to chill out for a while. I volunteered for this, knowing that a successful bust will pretty much make my career going forward. It was too good of a chance to pass up, so until then... love is just going to have to wait for me.
