Chapter 53

Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States

Jack Lane knew Los Angeles better than he did his hometown of Seattle, Washington. That's because when his dragon, Voltar, appeared in the waters of Puget Sound, he knew that his destiny had arrived and would take him to great places. When they arrived at the Rogue Riders, having been classified as demon dragonriders, Jack's life finally started to make sense.

For as long as he could remember, Jack's father had told him that he couldn't do anything right or well enough. Conversely, his mother only ever told him that he did everything perfectly and had no room for improvement. There seemed to be something missing between those two extremes.

Then Jack learned about the Rogue Riders and realized that there was gray in the world and that's exactly where he thrived. He wasn't the perfect saint that his mother thought he was. And he wasn't the evil failure that his father believed he was doomed to be. Jack was in the middle and meant to police small criminals, keeping those in the gray area in check. There was merit in allowing people to be imperfect. There was something critical about using the flaws in humanity to keep the balance in the world.

Since learning all this and taking on his mission with his dragon, Voltar, Jack had felt happiness for the first time in his whole life. It wasn't like the kind of joy that makes people dance in the street and sing out loud, but it was enough to not wake him up at night from discontentment. Still, he longed to find out what true, unadulterated happiness felt like—the kind that those who fell in love bragged about. Lately, he thought feeling such things might be a possibility for him, all because a girl showed up in his life who was pure trouble and full of heart unlike anyone he'd ever known.

"You ready man?" Jack's best friend asked, slapping him on the arm, breaking him out of his reverie. "Gen just gave the command, right? Captain Neal's team is in place."

Jack nodded, looking out the alleyway at the road where the two unmarked, armored trucks idled, their lights off, but their engines at the ready. "Yeah, I'll go start the conversation."

"And I'll have your back," Sully called as Jack started forward.

He glanced over his shoulder, looking back at the other man. "I know who really has my back."

"Yeah, she gets all the credit, always," Sully said with a sigh, glancing up at the rooftops overhead.

Jack stepped out of the alleyway, where he seemed to spend the majority of his work hours. It was like his office was the dank and dirty alleys of Los Angeles and his coworkers were the low level criminals, but he also wouldn't have it any other way.

He knew his sudden presence would make the driver in the first vehicle tense, but this guy had an important mission ahead and didn't want to blow it by starting a problem. And Jack knew that his face signaled trouble. He'd had a few dealings with the guy in the driver's seat and that should make what happened next a bit more interesting.

Pretending to be checking out the souped-up armored truck, Jack strode in front of it, unhurried. He glanced at the identical vehicle with a skeptical expression before stepping up next to the driver's side window. Clearly seeing the man inside, he knocked on the surface of the glass, enjoying this way too much.

The guy named Officer Taylor rolled down the window, looking down at Jack with an annoyed expression. "What are you doing here, Rogue Rider? Don't you have some insurance fraud salesman to chase or some pickpocket to harass?"

Jack held out his hand, a terse expression on his face. "License and registration."

Officer Taylor laughed, shaking his head. "That's my line."

"Usually," Jack replied. "Which is the reason I'm wondering why you and one of your other cop buddies are driving unmarked armored trucks that appear to have had some serious makeovers."

"Well, what have I told you about minding your own business in the past?" Taylor fired back.

"Minding my business would make your job a lot harder since I pretty much do it for you," Jack countered. "But you don't do any policing these days, do you? You decided to subscribe to the motto, if you can't beat the criminals then join them, huh?"

Taylor slapped the steering wheel. "What the hell do you want, Jack? I'm busy. And what I'm doing doesn't fall under Rogue Rider jurisdiction."

"The thing is, I think it does," Jack argued. "You see, one of my guys, Tesla, informed me that he got a big order for parts. But it wasn't as much an order as a demand, followed by some pretty serious threats. And it got me thinking, what would someone with souped-up vehicles be moving and why?"

Stepping back, Jack surveyed the armored truck. "Funny, because these two vehicles seem to be sporting the kind of parts that Tesla was forced to supply. So, that leads me to only one conclusion."

"Which is?" Taylor asked, pursing his lips at him.

"That you're the meathead who roughed up my guy," Jack answered, bitterly, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" Taylor shot back. "Arrest me?" He laughed coldly.

Sully stepped out of the alleyway, standing in front of the armored truck in a bold move. "Yes. And you have the right to remain something or another…" He cut his eyes to Jack, a look of confusion on his face. "How does it go?"

Jack laughed. "All those damn investigative dramas and you don't know the Miranda rights. Dude, I'll be teaching it to everyone."

Taylor slammed his hands on the steering wheel again, looking in his rearview mirror. "Look, get out of here. Or otherwise, me and my partner are going to run you over."

Jack nodded. "I figured you'd resort to such extremes. That's why we brought backup."