This was the Hammer she knew and loved.
“I’m in good hands.” Ginny laid her head down on his shoulder, drawing his strength into her body. She was terrified at getting her way, terrified that she wouldn’t be the only one hurt by her actions.
Hammer must have felt her shiver in his arms because he told her, “You’re the bravest woman I know.”
“Killyama would kick you in your balls for saying that.” Ginny gave a small laugh against his shoulder.
“Prove me right.”
“I’ll try.”
Hammer released her from his hold. “Trying won’t get the job done. You’ve been wanting to do this for a while, and I held you back until I was sure you could handle this yourself. You’ve got this, kid. You do what needs to be done. Reaper will make sure you come out alive.”
Gavin didn’t acknowledge Hammer’s confidence in him, his attention on the FBI agents standing at the doors.
“I served with him on a couple of missions before he left the service. No one is better than him with his particular skill.”
Ginny gave Gavin a considering look at Hammer’s statement. “What’s his skill?” she asked quietly, not wanting to give a forewarning to anyone listening.
“Kicking ass.” Hammer held out his fist to Gavin. “Watch your back, brother.”
Gavin didn’t give him a fist bump back. “Will do. And Hammer, when I come home, we’re going to have a talk.”
“Brother, when you and Ginny make it back okay, you can have the first punch.”
It took a good fifteen minutes for Agent Collins to get the okay from his director in letting Gavin switch places with Hammer. Ginny remained a silent spectator as Gavin and Agent Collins argued back and forth. When Gavin gave the agent an envelope filled with documents, Ginny looked interestedly at the marriage certificate, amazed at the signature written on the bottom. She was going to have a long talk with Gavin about the perils of forgery. She hadn’t done the deal with the FBI to get him out of his legal problems for him to spend five to ten in prison for lying to a federal agent.
A phone call to Collins’ boss settled the matter, and Gavin was given the okay to board the plane with her. As they walked toward their plane, Ginny saw Train’s head buried in the plane’s engine before he said something to the pilot before walking over to them.
“Any problems?” Gavin asked as Train neared.
“No, not as far as I can see.” Killyama’s husband shoved his hands into his flight suit. “Any chance they’ll let me tag along?”
“None.” Agent Collins motioned her toward the waiting plane. “Mrs. James.”
Ginny ignored him.
“Did you see Trudy?” she asked Train instead.
“Yes,” Train’s answer was short.
“How was she?”
“How do you think she fucking was?”
Wincing from the stinging dart of anger from Train had her going onto the plane without another word. Taking a seat at the back, Ginny stared out the window, fighting back tears. She had known Trudy would be hurt with her decision to return to Clindale Island, yet from Train’s short reply, her sister must have been more upset than she expected.
When Gavin took the seat next to hers, she refused to show him how emotional she was. With legs snuggly fit against the seat in front of him, he didn’t show any commiseration with Train’s displeasure with her.
“Buckle your seat belt.”
She numbly fastened her seat belt, keeping her eyes pointed forward. If Train was as angry as he sounded, Ginny was willing to bet it wasn’t a quarter of what Gavin was feeling.
“I should have told you,” Ginny whispered under her breath as the airplane taxied forward.
Drawing to the side of her seat, away from Gavin, Ginny clung to the armrest under the window as Gavin planted his face in front of hers, so close that she couldn’t glance away.
“That’s the understatement of the century.” His low voice had shivers going up her back.
“I was trying to help everyone.”
“You should have stayed out of it. Didn’t it fucking dawn on you that you could make it worse for us?”
Her own anger came to her rescue. “No, it didn’t,” she hissed sharply. “It was damned bad enough that all The Last Riders were about to get arrested for three deaths.”
“Who told you that?”
“Hammer, when I asked him to look into Slate being a confidential informant. I didn’t want to see you arrested.”
“You should have minded your own business.”
Ginny quit shrinking away. He wasn’t going to hurt her. She was just being silly. Gavin might look like he could crush a can with one of his pinkies, but she was certain he would never lay a hurtful hand on her.
“Anything that could hurt you is my business.”
Gavin gave her an astonished look. “You didn’t consider that not telling me the truth about who you are and making a deal with the FBI—where you deliberately placed yourself in danger—is hurtful to me?”