Steele frowned and Donovan held up his hand. “Let me finish.”
Cole didn’t sit back and P.J. glared holes through him. The last thing she needed was him embarrassing her in front of her team.
“We want you to get close to Gregory Nelson at the party. Be friendly. Smile a lot. Wait for the invitation. Once you get him alone, try to get as much information out of him as possible.”
P.J. blinked and stared back at Donovan, not at all sure what to say.
Cole didn’t suffer any such problem, however. He was on his feet, his fists down at his sides clenched into balls.
“What the f**k, Van? You want her to prostitute herself for information?”
The other guys didn’t look thrilled with the idea either.
“Why don’t we just go into the party, take down Carter Brumley and rid the world of his filth?” Cole demanded.
“I don’t like the idea any more than you do,” Steele said in a terse voice. “But we can’t just go in and take him down. For one, he’s guarded to the teeth. We’d need a hell of a lot more manpower than one team or even Rio’s team with us. Two, us taking him out doesn’t help us free those girls. This mission requires finesse and patience.”
“And where the f**k are we going to be while P.J.’s working Nelson over?” Cole demanded.
“We’ll be close,” Donovan said. “We aren’t leaving her on her own and we’ll provide the hotel room for their rendezvous. We’ll take the room next door so if anything goes wrong, we’ll be there in five seconds.”
“I don’t like it,” Cole said stubbornly.
P.J. shot to her feet, determined to shut Cole up. “Hey, can everyone shut up a minute and let the person this actually involves ask a few questions?”
Cole reluctantly snapped his lips shut and then retook his seat, but he continued to stare belligerently at Donovan.
“This all sounds good on paper,” P.J. said balefully. “But there are a damn lot of holes in this scheme. I’m not a party girl. I’m not some temptress or seductress. I can’t walk three steps in heels and I damn sure don’t have killer legs.”
Cole’s lips tightened further, and she could positively see the denial in his eyes. She shot daggers at him, a promise that if he so much as opened his mouth she’d remove his testicles. He seemed to get the hint because he remained silent.
“You clean up good, P.J.,” Donovan said.
“And how the hell would you know this?”
He smiled. “I can see past all the camo and the bullshit. You’ll look stunning in the right dress and the right shoes and with the right hair and makeup. I bet your own team won’t recognize you when I’m done.”
“Uh, Van? You’re going to be my wardrobe advisor?”
He lifted a brow. “Why not? I know what looks good on a woman. I won’t be much help with hair and makeup, but I’ll make sure we have someone who can help with that. The important part is that you believe you can carry it off. You have the attitude and confidence. No doubt about that.”
“And I’m going into this party alone?”
“I can procure invitations for you and myself. We’ll go in together, but you’ll need to drop me once we get inside so you can make contact with Nelson. Once the flirting is done and you have him on the hook, you tell him where you’re staying and that you wouldn’t be opposed to company. If everything works out the way we hope, he’ll be putty in your hand.”
She looked at Steele, her team leader, the man she put all her trust in.
“What do you think?” she asked softly.
She didn’t care if it offended Donovan that she’d seek the opinion of Steele when in actuality Donovan signed all their paychecks. Donovan wasn’t her team leader. Steele was. Donovan had been on plenty of missions with them. He had her respect. But Steele was the one she took orders from and no one else.
Steele was silent for a long time as if grappling with his thoughts. Then he glanced her way, meeting her gaze.
“I think it’s probably our best option. I don’t like it, but I think we can make it happen and make sure you’re safe.”
“This is f**king insane!” Cole exploded. “Since when do we pimp out our teammates for a mission? Do you even understand what could happen to her if the slightest thing goes wrong? She’ll be helpless.”
“That’s enough, Cole,” she said through her teeth. “You need to shut the f**k up and stand down. I’m not f**king helpless. I can defend myself and my team won’t let me down.”
Not like her last one had. It was left unspoken but she knew Cole got the meaning. She trusted her teammates. They weren’t Derek, Jimmy and Mike.
“No, we won’t,” Baker said, his voice strained with utter seriousness.
Renshaw nodded his agreement.
“She has to go in wired,” Dolphin said. “We have to know what’s going on every step of the way so if things get out of hand, we can pull the plug damn fast.”
Donovan made a sound of exasperation. “We aren’t hanging her out to dry. This is a mission just like any other mission. We work as a team. We plan for any eventuality.”
Then he turned to P.J.
“This mission isn’t mandatory. It’s completely your choice and it won’t be held against you if you opt out. I’ll understand entirely if you don’t want to assume this kind of risk.”