Buried With You

Chapter Eighteen

Lucy looked out the car window. Neon lights from the strip showed bright as they drove to the hotel they were staying at.

Her body had been on high alert the moment they left the station. She knew Tim was worried too, it was obvious. She had been cleared physically and by psych but her being shot had really scared him. Lucy thought about the plane ride over, Tim had kept her on his lap with an arm around her waist the entire time. Even now as they sat in the car he never took his eyes off of her.

Their car pulled into the hotel drop-off, Tim pulled her across the bench seat towards him and then helped her out of the SUV.

Once in the lobby, Lyon turned towards them. "Room keys. Wisco and I are on either side of you. Sway's across the hall. We have some time, so rest up."

"Aww, where's the fun in that? Who wants to sleep in Sin City?" Lucy grabbed Lyon's jacket and met his gaze.

Lyon placed a hand on her hip, she felt Tim tense behind her. "I'll make a deal with you sweetheart, you get a good night's sleep tonight, and then tomorrow after the job we can have all the fun you want." His eyes held a hunger that made her uncomfortable. The tension was broken by a feminine shriek.

"Jake!" Lucy's attention was pulled from Lyon to a dark-haired woman wearing a casino uniform and fake ponytail walking angrily toward Tim.

Tim looked shocked, he had been so focused on Lucy he didn't notice the woman until she was right in front of him. "H-hey, girl." He stuttered out.

"Oh no, do not even try. I called you and you ignored me, just like you were going to ignore me tonight."

"I-" Shock and unease filled Tim's face and demeanor.

"Stop, you may have lost weight and somehow gotten hotter but there's no way in hell I'll come crawling back." She grabbed Tim's collar. "Though I would love to see you try and convince me." She whispered in his ear.

Jealousy shot through Lucy. "Wow, hey. Back off." She yanked her hand off Tim's collar.

The woman, Melanie her name tag read looked at her with belittling amusement and laughed. "Aww, you must be the new skank. Cute."

Jealousy turned to anger, Lucy grabbed Melanie's hair and pulled her back, bringing her down a few inches. Lucy looked harshly into the girl's eyes. "Listen here," Lucy whispered so only Melanie could hear her. "Leave my man alone or so help me I will yank out those janky ass hair extensions. Do you understand?"

Unease filled Melanie's eyes. "Y-yes."

"Good." Lucy released her and watched as the woman ran away, mumbling something about her being a psycho.

Lyon grabbed her arm and yanked her towards him. "You dumb bitch, if you bring any more attention our way I will slit your throat. I don't care how hot you are."

Tim moved closer to her. He gently grabbed her other arm and pulled her away from Lyon. "We'll be on our best behavior, promise."

Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy spotted Angela and Aaron. They needed to get over there. "Yeah, right after we go play the table." Lucy grabbed Tim's hand and pulled him towards their friends before Lyon could protest.

Tim sat down at the table next to Angela, Lucy stood behind him and put an arm around his shoulder. She was shaking, a mix of adrenaline and unease was starting to overwhelm her. Lucy knew she couldn't show that, however. She took a deep breath.  "The target is Leonard Madris, he keeps all of the intel for Roman Krupka's operation."

"Damn," Lopez whispered under her breath. "Do you know where he is? I can have LVPD grab him right now."

"They haven't told us anything," Tim spoke with an annoyed tone. "We're on a strict need-to-know basis. What we do know is that they plan on acting early in the morning."

Angela slid a burner phone into Tim's hand under the table. "Keep us posted as best you can."

Tim nodded. "Will do. Make sure you get in contact with LVPD and see if there's anything you can do now." Tim then got up and led Lucy to the elevator. He kept his hand on her lower back until they reached their room.

Once inside Lucy released a heavy sigh and collapsed onto the bed. "I'm glad they put us in the same room. I don't think I'd be able to relax if we were separated."

Tim smirked at her. "Luce, I don't think you'll be able to relax anyway."

Panic filled her chest. "You know I've been cleared, I'm good."

Tim sat next to her and grabbed her hand. "I know. I know you were cleared and I know you're good. You just proved that downstairs. All I mean is that undercover is stressful and puts everything in you on high alert. You're good at this, the whole undercover stuff, but it's still nerve-racking." His voice was so comforting.

Lucy felt a smile cross her face. As much as Tim disliked sappy emotional conversations he always excelled at them. "Thanks."

The two continued to stare at each other. Lucy allowed herself to be swept into his deep blue eyes, they were full of support and what she hoped was love. Lucy knew she loved him, she had known for a while but never wanted to admit it. However, at this moment all she wanted to do was kiss him and tell him she loved him.

"Tim I-"

A loud forceful banging on the door pulled her attention from Tim. They both shot up. If either of them had managed to relax it was for nothing. Lucy looked at Tim, he was serious and ready for a fight, all of the reassurance she had just seen on his face was gone.

"It had to be Hajek's crew." Lucy could hear the seriousness in her own voice. The only reason someone would be knocking on their door was if their cover had been blown.

"We're on the 40th floor, there's no way to get out of here." Lucy watched as Tim's frantic eyes shot everywhere, looking for anything that could help them. They were both armed but wanted to avoid a shootout.

An idea crossed Lucy's mind. She grabbed Tim's hand. "Do you trust me?"