by Brook Wilder
“I… you need to watch your own back,” Jason wheezed, his voice cracking. “Money will turn anyone, man.”
I thought over Jason’s words. Could there be a traitor in DHMC? It would make sense.
But I couldn’t think about that right now. My hand started to cramp, but I held the gun tight. I wasn’t going to shoot him, nor did I think I could ever shoot Zack. But if I had to pull rank on him, I would.
“Come on, let him go.”
Zack let out a frustrated sound and dropped the kid, who crumpled to the ground with a groan. I lowered my weapon immediately, placing it back in the holster.
But when Zack turned toward me, I didn’t recognize him. A shiver of fear snaked down my spine as I saw the wild look in his eyes, the anger that was radiating off him.
“Zack,” I said softly, showing him my hands. “Let’s go.”
“Shit man! I think you broke my throat!”
Zack turned back to the kid, kicking him hard in the ribs.
“Tell me something useful and I might not kill you.”
“Zack,” I warned. “Leave him alone.”
“You wanted information, right?” he sneered, reaching for the kid. “We need to know, Sydney.”
I watched helplessly as he landed a few punches, the kid whimpering and not attempting to block Zack’s shots. I didn’t know what to do.
“S-she’s at the auto shop,” the kid choked out, spitting out blood at Zack’s feet. “Damn man, you broke a rib!”
I reached out and gripped Zack’s arm as he attempted to go for him again, my heart pounding in my chest. This was a solid lead.
“Come on Zack, let’s go.”
Zack looked at me and, for a moment, I was scared at what I saw reflected in his eyes. This was not the loving Zack at all.
***
Zack’s hand curled around mine as we walked out of the movie theater. The movie had sucked, but just being near him had been enough for me. I loved spending time with my complete polar opposite, the tender way he treated me when it was just the two of us. He made me feel like I was the most beautiful girl in the world, and I felt a measure of pride when others saw us together, including the other girls in town. I could see it in their eyes, that they wanted him, and I had him.
It was unbelievable.
“What are you smiling about?”
I looked up to find him grinning down at me.
“I’m just happy, that’s all.”
“Good,” he said as we rounded the corner, where he had parked the truck. “Because that movie blew ass.”
I laughed, my laughter dying as I saw the truck. There was a guy there, lounging against it as if he had all the time in the world.
“What the fuck man?” Zack shouted, letting go of my hand. “Get the hell off my truck!”
The man grinned, flicking his cigarette onto the sidewalk.
“I’ve been waiting for you, Hale. We have a score to settle.”
“You’re damn right we do,” Zack answered, peeling off his jacket.
I watched, dumbfounded as Zack landed a punch, looking excited to be doing so. I was rooted on the spot, torn between running for help and running toward Zack to get him to stop.
Zack landed a few more punches, and the man fell to the ground, where he picked up kicking as well as punching the man, who was now barely fighting back.
“Zack!” I shouted, running over. “Stop!”
It was like he couldn’t hear me at all. I reached in and grabbed at his arm, succeeding in getting him to stop.
“Stop! You’re going to kill him!”
Zack pushed away from me, his eyes wild, and for the first time I was scared of him.
“Don’t ever fucking touch me while I’m kicking someone’s ass, Syd,” he growled, shoving his bleeding knuckles through his hair. “Don’t interfere.”
I bit my lip, angry tears springing to my eyes.
“This isn’t you.”
He smiled grimly.
“This is me.”
I gave a look at the man on the ground, broken and bleeding, and turned away, walking quickly back to the theatre.
This was not Zack, not my Zack.
***
I shook out of the memory, dropping my hand on his arm as I remembered his warnings from way back when.
“Come on,” I tried again. “We have to go.”
Some of the wildness died in his eyes, and he stepped back, not apologizing as he moved past me, rounding the corner of the building. I took one look at the bleeding kid, knowing I should call in some medical for him. But if I did, that would lead to questions I wasn’t ready to answer.
“Go inside,” I told him. “Get some help.”
He stared at me, but I managed to get a small nod from him before I followed Zack’s path, finding him already firing up the bike. Wordlessly, I climbed on the death trap again, gripping the back of his pants this time instead of wrapping my arms around his waist.
That memory had come out of nowhere, triggered by the fight, and I could remember even then the despair I had felt as I had gotten a ride home. The silence the next few days had nearly killed me, but he had been the first to apologize. I had forgiven him, and until now I had never seen him fight anyone else, though I was sure he had done it without me around. That was part of who he was, the fighter in him, either with his father or with the club.
What was I going to do?
Chapter Sixteen
Zack
I had lost control.
I gripped the handles tighter as I tore down the highway, fully aware that Sydney was gripping the back of my pants as if I was going to throw her off.
I would die before I let that happen.
But after what she had just witnessed, no doubt she was trying to figure out what to do about it. I had lost control, which was something rare for me nowadays. Sure, I still got into scrapes and fights, but never to the point where I wanted to kill someone. The informant had been just a kid, but I was tired of the jerking around. I wanted to take Syd and go find a place to hole up in, escape this damn reality that brought out the worst in me.
Sydney had pulled a gun on me. I still couldn’t believe it. Her arm had been steady enough to pull the trigger, though the look in her eyes… it had been devastating. I didn’t know if she would shoot me or not.
And now there might be a traitor in our midst. What the hell was that about? The Horsemen were supposed to be brothers, looking out for each other when no one else would. Not kidnapping the leader’s daughter.
No, the informant had to have that information wrong. Everyone was as loyal as fuck in that clubhouse.
I turned the bike to the right and pulled over, shutting off the engine.
“What are you doing?” Sydney asked as I climbed off, raking my hands through my hair.
“I’m getting my shit together,” I answered hoarsely, my nerves on edge.
I was fucking falling apart on the inside, partly because of her.
She tucked her hair behind her ears, looking past me.
“What do you think about this traitor?”
I blew out a breath.
“That can’t possibly be true. No one would fucking cross Grant.”
“Why?” she asked with a little laugh. “Because he’s some god in that clubhouse? He’s just a man, like everyone else, in a very high position.”
“Because…” I bit out. “We are a family, unlike your little police station.”
She looked at me and I saw the fire burning in her eyes.
“What does that mean?”
“Whatever you want it to,” I muttered, rubbing my face. “They don’t give a shit about anything else but putting us under the microscope. That’s why your precious chief let you work with me. So, he could have an inside scoop on what we do.”
Her mouth opened.
“You’re not serious.”
I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Then tell me why, Sydney.”
She st
arted at me, still straddling the bike. There could have been a time I would be turned on by the sight, but right now I was pissed at her, the world, this shit we were in.
“I can’t believe you are saying that to me,” she finally said. “I wasn’t the one losing my cool back there.”
“You pulled a fucking gun on me,” I forced out. “Me Syd, not anyone else. What am I supposed to think?”
“You almost killed him!” she shouted back. “If I hadn’t interfered.”
“We wouldn’t have gotten anything!” I shouted, throwing up my hands. “Sometimes you got to bend the rules. Not everything fits into your perfect little world, Syd.”
She let out a bitter laugh.
“My perfect world? Are you forgetting who you are talking to?”
I stared at her, some of my anger draining as I saw the hurt in her eyes. She was right. She hadn’t had the perfect world. Neither had I. But I had wanted to give it to her. Back then, I hadn’t known how I was going to do so, but I had wanted to.
Sydney broke her gaze, swallowing hard.
“Listen, I don’t want to fight with you. We need to find Harley, so we can get out of this mess.”
“Agreed,” I answered. “I need to call this into Grant.”
“No,” Sydney said quickly as I reached for my phone “You can’t do that.”
I arched a brow. The hell I couldn’t. If the cartel was involved, we would need backup. The last time had been too close of a call for us, for Sydney, and I wanted nothing like that to happen again.
“Why not?”
She looked down at the bike.
“What if the kid was right? Wouldn’t that be tipping off the mole?”
“There is no mole,” I said angrily. “He was lying.”
She looked up, concern written all over her face.
“But what if he wasn’t?”
I didn’t want to think about that. To have someone on the inside attempting to blow up the clubhouse… it was unthinkable. I had given up everything, including the woman before me, to be part of that brotherhood.
I knew I wasn’t the only one.
Sydney pulled out her cell and I frowned.
“What are you doing?”
“Letting Roger know what’s going on,” she answered, not looking up. “About Harley, nothing else.”
I knew she had a different reason for doing so. It was her job. I wanted to warn the club because it was my duty. While we thought we were the same, we were the complete opposites. I had a loyalty, she had a job to protect. Though she hadn’t said anything, I felt as if she had gone through hell today to even get to this point.
So, I let it go. I trusted Syd. She might have some questions about me, but I knew her. I knew the girl that had stolen my fucking heart would never hurt me intentionally. She would stick to her protocols and do what she thought was right every single time.
It was one of the things I had loved about her, that I still loved about her.
She tucked her phone back into her pocket and looked up.
“So, what’s the plan?”
That I did not know.
“Nothing like last time?”
That got a small smile out of her, and I felt some of the heaviness leave my chest. What a fucking bad day.
“No, nothing like last time. If Harley is really there, we will have to make sure that she doesn’t get hurt.”
“Agreed,” I said, walking back to the bike. “And you can’t either.”
“Zack, it’s my job,” she said.
I stopped in my tracks, looking at her. She was right. She was a cop and it was her job to protect and serve.
But she was mine, and I wanted nothing to happen to what was mine. Her eyes widened as I approached her, my hand cupping her cheek roughly before I crashed my lips against hers. I swallowed her gasp, all of my frustration and need channeling into this one kiss. Sydney melted against me as I wrapped my arm around her waist, savoring this one moment between us. All hell was going to break loose soon, but I wanted nothing more than to kiss her.
Her hands landed on my chest, and I forced myself to step back before I fucked her on this bike, out in the open. One day, one day we were going to have sex in a bed. Her eyes were alight with heat, the same heat that was coursing in my veins.
“Zack,” she breathed. “What is happening to us?”
“I don’t know,” I answered hoarsely, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I don’t know how to fix this.”
I didn’t. This was all screwed up, me and her against each other, but it was who we were now as adults.
She nodded.
“Let just… let’s get this over with.”
I clenched my jaw as I swung my leg over the bike, firing the engine. Sydney pressed against my back, and for a moment I just sat there, savoring the fact that we were just two people caught in two different worlds.
And those two worlds were about to collide.
***
We arrived at the auto shop less than an hour later. I parked the bike off to the side, away from the shop, in case of a quick exit. The auto shop was known to be a staging area for drugs and car theft, the shop just a front for tax purposes, I guessed. Grant owned a piece of the property, which was surprising that the cartel would be using it to hold Harley. It was ballsy.
“I’ll go around back,” Sydney said as she checked her gun. “Back up should be here soon.”
“Make sure they don’t shoot me instead,” I grumbled, pulling out my own Glock.
Sydney eyed my gun but said nothing, and I knew what she was thinking. She was thinking about the Muertos that she thought I had killed. I should correct her, but would she believe me?
Sydney straightened her shoulders, rolling her neck before giving me a look.
“Just, don’t die; okay, Zack?”
I wanted to tell her to stay here, let me handle it, and that way I wouldn’t have that ball of fear growing in my chest at the thought of her in the line of fire. If anything happened to her, I would lose it. There was so much to say to her, so much time to make up.
“If I do, don’t put me in one of those damn suits. Bury me in my vest.”
“That’s not funny,” she said in a tiny voice. “I don’t… I won’t be burying you any time soon.”
I winked at her, attempting to ease her concern.
“If you get into trouble, don’t wait on me. Get Harley out of here.”
She nodded. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Seventeen
Sydney
I blew out a breath as I crept behind the auto shop, my gun at my side. I was a bundle of nerves over what we might get into here, what we might find, but also what I was going to do about Zack.
And my feelings.
I wished he had never kissed me. I wished we had never crossed paths. My heart was heavy with what was to come, what I had seen him do, and what he would likely do in the future. There was no way we could be together.
Emotion clouded my vision, and I blinked it away, focusing on the task at hand. If we found Harley today, then our partnership would be no more. I couldn’t pretend that we were the same people any more. We weren’t, and it hurt. Oh, it hurt to know that I was going to have to walk away from the only man that had captured my heart.
Clearing my throat, I found a door to the shop, trying the knob. It turned easily under my touch, and I pushed it open, sticking my gun in the open space first before easing inside.
The room was empty, the smell of oil and dank assaulting my senses. I straightened and looked around, seeing nothing but a vast space that hadn’t been used in quite a while. Harley wasn’t here.
Stepping back out of the shop, I eyed the warehouse behind it. There were tire tracks in the dirt leading to the building, which wasn’t surprising. I knew, along with everyone else in the county, that this area was used for trafficking of all kinds. While we had busted quite a few deals here, we hadn’t been able to shut it down completely, so the activity continued.