by Brook Wilder
“Yeah,” I finally said, feeling a bit queasy from the question. “I have.”
“Who?”
Shit. I was hoping that would be enough.
“Does it matter?”
Grant nodded, a gleam in his eye.
“It does. We need to make sure you aren’t lying. Surely you can remember her name. Could it be Sydney Warren? Rumor is that you have been seen with her.”
I wanted to hang my head. I would be giving away her own personal secret.
I didn’t have to. Grant laughed as he stood.
“So, it was her. Get him up. Let’s begin.”
***
I shook out of the memory, feeling my stomach roll. I hadn’t said her name, but it had been written all over my face. The initiation had consisted of cutting me over and over to see my tolerance for pain, getting me drunk, and letting the club women have their way with me. I didn’t even remember that night for the most part, but when I woke the next morning I had the customary DHMC tattoo on my chest and a feeling of accomplishment that had lasted all of five minutes.
The rumors started nearly immediately, and the good girl I had known had been drug through the mud, labeled as a Horseman slut before the sun could come up. She had refused to even see me, and her dad had threatened to shoot me, Horseman or not.
I had walked away, not even attending the graduation or having the opportunity to apologize to her.
And it still was a rift between us. Though we had only dated two months, I had started to think of Sydney as my future, that I could meld both worlds together and be the happiest man in all of Cibolo.
I had been dead wrong on all accounts. Seeing her now, it made me remember what I had and what I had lost because I had been too blind to think it mattered.
My cell vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out, my mood sour as I hit the button.
“Yeah.”
“Zack,” came Sydney’s breathless voice. “Are you available right now?”
I was available whenever she needed me. Ignoring the rapid beat of my heart, I started toward the door.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said. “I-I captured a Muertos for speeding. I haven’t brought him to the station yet, but I was wondering if you could help me interrogate him before I do.”
She was brilliant.
“Where are you?”
She rattled off the address, the excitement in her voice making me think this could work between us.
In more ways than one.
“Hurry up,” she said before ending the call. “I can’t be gone much longer.”
I shoved the phone back in my pocket and walked out of the door, choosing the truck over the bike this time. If I needed to take this fucker into the back woods, I would need something that could hold more than one person.
As I started the engine, a grin slid across my face. It had been some time since I had beat the truth out of someone, and I was in a mood to do so.
I just hoped Syd agreed and let me at him.
Chapter Nine
Sydney
I was nervous.
I watched the driveway to the warehouse, hearing the Muertos curse loudly and bang the metal chair against the floor, as if he could get the zip ties to loosen. I had tied him up tightly, holding the gun to his temple and threatening him within an inch of his life if he moved.
Everything that was against protocol, against what I should be doing.
But when he had flown past me in the jeep, I had pulled him over with the intention of telling him to slow down. Ten miles over the speed limit could warrant a ticket or an arrest, depending on the cop, and I had been feeling generous given that he checked out.
But when the flag had popped up about his involvement with the cartel, a thrill had run through me like a bolt of lightning. This was my chance. This was the big break we needed to find Hayley.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, a truck barreled down the driveway, and I knew it was Zack. My heart leapt into my throat as I recognized that truck, the same one that had been such a major part of our relationship.
He had kept the truck. I couldn’t believe it. In the two months we had ‘dated’, I had ridden in that cab more times than I cared to count, done things toward the latter part, when it all fell apart, that would surprise everyone who had known me before the rumor spread.
And in that bed… well, I had lost everything, though at the time I had thought it was the beginning of something wonderful.
Zack pulled the truck to a stop and hopped out, jogging over to meet me.
“Are you alright?” he asked immediately, giving me a once over.
“I’m fine,” I answered, snapping back to the present. “He didn’t give me any trouble, honestly. Surprising what you will do if someone has a gun to your temple.”
Zack grinned and my knees buckled slightly.
“Good girl. What do you want your plan to be?”
I looked at him.
“I-I thought I would take your lead.”
He shook his head, that damn grin still on his lips.
“You’re the cop. I’m the civilian you are pulling into your evil deeds. It’s your call, Syd.”
I was surprised. Not at his joke. Zack was horrible at jokes. He was deferring to my lead, letting me make the calls. He was taking me seriously as a cop, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry about it.
“Alright,” I said instead, thinking for minute.
He was going to be hard to crack. The cartel knew what happened to those who spilled the beans on their operations, and no jail cell would protect him from what they were going to do to him. The cartel had so many people on their payroll it made Grant Travis’s look like a grocery list.
You couldn’t trust anyone with a cartel member. I had heard of too many being killed under lock and key, when they should have been protected the most.
“Do you think he will recognize you?”
“I doubt it,” Zack said slowly. “Why?”
I pulled the gun out of my holster, handing it to him.
“Don’t fire it or I will have to answer a lot of questions. You are the bad cop.”
“You are letting me be a cop?” he asked, surprised. “Do I look like a cop?”
I looked him over, letting my eyes linger on his body just a little too long. God, he was sexy. How far did those tattoos go? So many years had come and gone. It would be like learning a whole new body for me.
What was I thinking? I wasn’t going to see Zack naked or be touching him otherwise.
“An undercover one,” I forced out, not failing to notice the slight grin that he was giving me.
He knew what I was doing, and I should be ashamed.
I wasn’t, in case you were wondering.
“I’ll give it my best shot then,” he said, checking the weapon. “Don’t worry, Syd. I have no intentions of ruining your career. I know how hard you have worked for this.”
“I… thanks,” I said, stripping off my holster and undoing the top three buttons of my shirt. If I was to be the good cop, I wanted to look the part.
Zack watched every movement, my skin flushing under his intense stare as I let down my hair, fluffing it so that it fell over my shoulder. Normally when I was working, I kept it in a bun, too prideful to cut it yet.
The way that Zack was watching me, I was glad I hadn’t.
“You ready?”
He swallowed.
“Damn Syd. You’re gorgeous.”
I rolled my eyes, though secretly I was thrilled he thought so. Maybe I still had some hold over him. There was a time I thought I had tamed the bad boy, showing him that good girls could be good for him as well.
Gah, I had to stop thinking like that! There was nothing between Zack and me anymore. I didn’t care about him. I didn’t love him.
“Come on,” I said harshly, turning my back on him.
I didn’t want these feelings.
He had broken my heart and I
didn’t think I could survive him doing it again.
The cartel member hadn’t made much progress with his ties. The chair was several feet away from where I had put him, but nothing that would make me concerned. The warehouse was often used to store police raid gear, and the room I had put him in literally had nothing in it.
“You will die for this, cop!” he yelled, straining against his ties. “I will gut you myself.”
“Now, now,” I said in a soothing voice. “There’s no need for that. Didn’t I tell you I would let you go if you played nice with me?”
“Give me a knife,” he growled, his eyes wild with rage. “I will play with you and make you scream.”
His words had no impact on me. He was young, and what I knew about the cartel was that they marked their members with a brand, just above the collarbone. He didn’t have the brand, which made me think he was a runner, nothing more.
Still, he would be easier to garner information out of. Runners were typically overlooked in a room when others were talking business, which made him far more valuable than pulling a top-ranking member. I pulled up a chair and took a seat in front of him, close enough for him to see that I meant business, but not close enough for him to head butt me.
“I need some information.”
He spat on the floor, cursing me in Spanish.
“I will give you no information.”
“The lady asked you for information,” Zack said from somewhere behind me.
Even though I had given him a gun, I still felt safe having him here. In my heart of hearts, I wanted to believe Zack would never hurt me physically.
Emotionally, that was a different story.
“The Devil’s Horseman,” the cartel member cooed, a gruesome smile on his face.
So much for trying to pass Zack off as a cop.
“Working with the pigs.”
“Damn right,” Zack came over, holding the gun level to the cartel’s face. “And I have no qualms about blowing off your greasy head.”
“Now, let’s just think about this,” I said quickly, seeing the flash of panic in my prisoner’s eyes.
Good. He was scared. It was my turn.
“I’m sure I can talk him down if you give me what I want.”
“I won’t give you shit,” he said, his eyes on Zack and not me. “I hope you rot in hell, Devil.”
Zack jammed the barrel of the gun so hard against the man’s forehead that I winced. That was going to leave a mark.
“Tell her what she wants to know, or your brains will be splattered all over that wall behind you.”
“I-I’m not afraid to die,” he stammered.
I noticed he was sweating and grinned inwardly. We had him right where we wanted him.
“Give me something,” I pleaded, leaning forward so he got a healthy look at my breasts. “Whatever you want to tell me. I know you are a smart man and don’t want to die today.”
His eyes flickered down the front of my shirt, and Zack swore under his breath.
“Anything?”
“Anything,” I said, twirling a chunk of my hair with my finger. “I will be forever grateful.”
“He’s wasting our time,” Zack cut in, pressing the gun into his forehead. “Let me off him so we can go.”
I fought against rolling my eyes. No one said ‘off’.
“Don’t.”
I looked up, seeing the man looking up at Zack with pleading eyes.
“I-I know about a hot package.”
I scooted closer.
“What kind of package.”
His eyes flickered between us, apparently trying to figure out which one he wanted to please the most.
“I don’t know. A hot package is all I heard. Something important.”
“Where?” Zack asked softly, not lowering the gun yet. “Do you have a location?”
The man swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.
“I do. Uvalde. Today.”
I sat back. Uvalde was an hour’s drive from here.
“What time?”
He shrugged, careful not to move his head from the gun lest Zack got an itch.
“This afternoon. Nothing moves until the afternoon. Too hot for anyone to care.”
He had that right. Zack lowered the gun and I stood, looking down at him.
“Thank you. He hasn’t killed anyone in the last twelve hours. It’s a record.”
Zack didn’t even flinch, though I saw a glint of humor in his eyes.
“Let’s go.”
I knew what he was thinking. The package could be Hayley. I looked at my captive.
“Don’t go anywhere.”
“You said you were going to let me go!” he whined as we walked away. “We had a deal!”
I kept walking. He would be alright until I got back. Then I would book him for the rest of the station to interrogate him. A cartel member, no matter their ranking, was vital to us stopping their trade. The chief would love to have him for a few hours.
Zack handed over my gun, and I picked up my holster just outside the door.
“We can take the truck.”
I swallowed, looking over at the vehicle.
“I would rather take my jeep.”
“What do you have against my truck?” he asked, his gaze narrowing. “It rides better.”
That was the last thing I needed to hear.
“I’m the cop. We take the jeep.”
He eyed me, finally blowing out a breath.
“Yeah, fine. Whatever.”
I walked to my jeep and climbed in, firing the engine as Zack climbed in. This was our big break. If the hot package was Hayley, then we could potentially close this case today. The thought made me crazy with need to get there in a hurry. I wanted this over with and soon. The longer it drew out, the more I was going to have to be around Zack.
It wasn’t good for my psyche.
Pulling out onto the main highway, I let the hot breeze blow through my hair.
“You did good back there.”
He chuckled.
“It was fun being on the right side of the gun this time. You were great Syd. I-I didn’t know how you would handle that situation.”
I laughed. He had fully expected me to buckle under the strain.
“They don’t teach you that in the police academy, that’s for sure.”
“I imagine not,” he remarked, stretching out his legs. “I would have never thought you had that in you.”
There was a time I would have thought the same thing.
“I’ve changed.”
“I’ve noticed.”
A warm flush spread through me as I heard his undertone, the sexy way he said those words. He wasn’t just talking about my demeanor.
“What do you think the package is?” I asked, changing the subject.
“I’m hoping it’s Hayley,” he said with a sigh. “We need something solid for Grant.”
I nodded, agreeing. I needed something to jumpstart this case in the right direction. I was tired of hitting those brick walls, and until that morning I hadn’t been sure I was ever going to catch a break. After the attempt on my life the previous night, I hadn’t slept well.
That, and dreaming of Zack and how it used to be. It was like my memories had decided to overwhelm me all at once, reminding me of what I had felt, what I had dreamed about when all was well and good between us. I had been that naïve girl, drawing hearts around our names, and pairing my name with his in my diary. I had dreams of the white picket fence and the two point five kids in the yard, with Zack by my side the entire time.
I had thought I could change him.
But it had all been just dreams. I hadn’t changed the bad boy in him. I hadn’t tamed him with my good-girl qualities and the way that I had fallen in love with him. I hadn’t made him feel special, made him want to be with me.
All I had done was give him the ammunition he had needed to get into that damn clubhouse.
It irked me to know
he had used me in that manner.
“What’s the plan?”