Pulling on her riding outfit, Kara marched down through the rest of the house, not even pausing when her nostrils caught the alluring odor of freshly brewed coffee. She could get coffee at the diner, she told herself.
Briefly, as she hurried past the living room, Kara caught a glimpse of Cross, sitting inside on one of the couches and deep in conversation with a couple others. He glanced up when she went past, and she wondered whether he actually saw her, but she didn’t stop. She didn’t need anything from the man, she told herself.
Outside, she fired up her bike, pulling away from the house. It didn’t take long for her to make her way to the diner, and she still had a good half hour upon arriving. Picking out a booth, Kara settled in to wait.
Fortunately, when Alicia arrived, there was no way that Kara could miss her. Cross never gave her a description, but when a tall, dark-haired, imperiously confident looking woman strolled in with five minutes until noon, Kara had no doubt that this was the woman she was here to meet.
In the moment before Alicia spotted her, Kara sized up this other woman. Alicia was also tall, and when she stepped forward, Kara heard the click of heels on her knee-high leather boots. Her cheekbones were high and prominent in her face, giving her a royal look, and the severity was accented by her tightly pulled back jet-black hair. She wore a form-fitting black leather jacket and looked as though she could confidently handle half a dozen opponents in a fight.
Alicia’s eyes ran over Kara, and she nodded in recognition. The diner was fairly empty, so it wasn’t hard for her to spot the person most likely to be her contact. She strode over, heels clicking on the tiled floor, and dropped down into the seat opposite Kara.
“So.” Alicia’s voice was clipped but sultry, deep for a woman. She raised an eyebrow as she looked across the table, sizing Kara up. “You’re Cross’s new flame.”
“And you’re his ex,” Kara guessed, not breaking eye contact.
The woman nodded, but her gaze remained challenging, filled with fire. “He got to me through one of my friends,” she said. “I deleted the bastard’s number, but he said that this was important. ‘Bigger than us,’ he said. So?”
The woman didn’t sound as though she was on good terms with Cross, but the way she talked about him still gave Kara the impression that there was emotion there. Alicia, it seemed, had not yet let go of her ex. That felt dangerous. But Kara hoped that it wouldn’t cause trouble, and she pressed ahead.
“The Hellraisers are bringing in weapon shipments, and they’re bringing down too much heat,” she said, trying to step away from talk of ex-boyfriends. “If I can find out where they’re keeping the guns, I can pass the information on, shut them down. If we don’t stop them, they’ll end up killing everyone else who could be a competitor.”
Alicia nodded, but she didn’t look convinced. “So you got Cross to call me as an in to the Hellraisers?” she asked. “Hell, that’s a risky move, using an ex like that.”
“It was the only avenue we had left.” Kara leaned forward, hoping to impress upon this other woman the seriousness of this meeting. “You’re the only lead that we have.”
She hoped that this would convince the woman, or at least break that challenging stare. But Alicia merely leaned back in her chair across the table, crossing her arms as she considered Kara for a long minute.
“Sure, I could help get you in,” she finally remarked, shrugging. “Girl like you, body like that? Wouldn’t be hard. They party just as hard as any other club.”
Kara knew that this woman wasn’t done. She held her tongue and waited.
Not provoking a response didn’t seem to bother Alicia at all. “Of course, I have a price,” she continued, and then waited.
“I don’t have money,” Kara said, although she doubted that this woman needed cash.
“I’m not after money.” Alicia kept on waiting.
“Okay. Then what’s the price?”
At that question, the damn woman actually smirked! The grin was crooked on her face, making her look even less trustworthy to Kara. “Easy,” she said through that slippery smile. “I want Cross.”
Kara shook her head, more from incomprehension than from rejection. “What?” she sputtered, caught off guard. “I thought you hated him!”
“Hated him? Hell, he’s the best guy I’ve ever managed to get!” Alicia fired back, her eyes narrowing as the grin left her face. “Man’s a rogue, but hell, no one else ever truly cared like he did. Plus, he’s next in line for the Iron Brotherhood, and that’s a hell of a good spot to hold. And I know that he’s still got a torch for me - but he’s too proud, so instead he dallies around with whores like you.”
The words stang, but Kara barely noticed the insult. “Yeah, but he’s a criminal! He doesn’t do anything!” she burst out, the words coming out without any conscious thought behind them.
“Bitch, I’m a fucking criminal,” Alicia laughed back. “And trust me, we belong together. With him, I’ll practically run the Iron Brotherhood.”
Alicia raised an eyebrow at Kara. “Besides, it sounds like maybe you and he aren’t on such good terms right now. Should be easy to give him up then, especially for getting you in with the Hellraisers.”
Kara knew that she ought to walk away. Cross wasn’t hers to give away, to throw into the deal - but even more than that, she felt wrong about the whole concept of letting this sharp, prickly woman get her claws into the man. Cross didn’t belong with someone like Alicia, someone who wanted him as little more than a chess piece, an object to possess.
But she knew that she had no other leads, no other opportunities to find a way into the Hellraisers.
So, casting her eyes down, Kara held out her hand. She didn’t need any acting to show that she was conflicted about the deal, but she played it up anyway. “Okay,” she said, her voice sounding small.
Alicia’s grin as she shook the offered hand looked positively reptilian.
CHAPTER 6
After Kara agreed to give up Cross to this evil, manipulative woman in exchange for her help, Alicia seemed to relax, shedding some of the tension she’d directed towards the undercover FBI agent.
“Well, fortunately, you’re actually more attractive than I expected,” she commented, leaning away from the table a little so that she could run her eyes down over Kara’s body. She didn’t show any hesitation in frankly assessing Kara like this, although Kara couldn’t help feeling a bit like a piece of meat being measured. “Shouldn’t be too hard to get you into one of the parties, long as you’re willing to sell it.”
“Sell it?” Kara repeated, not wanting to miss any details. She didn’t trust Alicia as far as she could throw her. In fact, at that thought, her hands actually itched at the idea of grabbing this woman and twisting her body to hurl her over a shoulder and down to the ground.
“Well, yeah, you know.” Alicia raised an eyebrow. “Listen, the only girls who get through the door of the Hellraisers’ clubhouse are whores - or girls willing to party in exchange for booze and drugs, which is essentially the same thing but without cash exchanging hands. If you don’t come off as one of those two, you’re not getting in. Simple as that.”
Kara had expected that this would be necessary, but she still wasn’t thrilled to hear it. “Okay. I can do that,” she said. “So when’s the party?”
“When isn’t there a party?” Alicia replied with a shrug. “Listen, these guys are seriously crazy. I mean, I think you’re crazy too, for wanting anything to do with them, but at least I see what you mean when you say they need to be taken down a peg. They’re going wild just about every night.”
“So tonight will work?” The sooner the better, Kara thought. The faster she moved, the quicker she’d be able to wrap this case up, getting back to her normal life.
“Oh yeah. I’ll call up a couple other girls I know, tell the Hellraisers that we’re coming over, and they’ll all be slavering for us to get there.” Alicia cocked her head slightly to the side, looking at Kara as i
f trying to measure her up. “How’s your alcohol tolerance?”
What did that have to do with anything? Kara shrugged, not sure how to answer.
“Can you handle a few shots, at least?”
Unbidden, Kara felt her stomach lurch slightly at the memory of the last time she’d had a few drinks. She’d ended up in bed with Cross, she remembered, letting the man kiss her in many different, totally inappropriate places. That had really been the start of her problem with the man, she reflected.
“Sure, I can handle a few,” she replied, trying to sound more confident than she felt.
“Okay. Good. Here, gimme your number, and I’ll text you the address of the Hellraisers’ clubhouse.” Alicia stood up from her seat, pulling her phone out of a pocket in her jeans that looked far too tight to hold the electronic device.
“Oh, and one more thing,” she added, after Kara had called out her digits for her to take down. “Before you show up tonight, you better talk to Cross about our deal.” Alicia gave Kara an exaggerated wink. “I’ll be swinging by after the party tonight to claim my prize, if you know what I mean.”
Kara felt her mouth drop open. For a moment, she wrestled with a sudden blindingly hot rage, surging up through her mind and scrambling desperately to take control of her mouth, to tell off this arrogant bitch. Cross was not some piece to be traded away, bargained off like a commodity!
And like hell if Kara would let him end up in this bitch’s hands!
For a split second, she felt as if this wave of vitriol was going to all come pouring out of her mouth, sinking any chance she had with this case. But in a Herculean effort, she managed to just barely bite it back, instead putting on a sick, strangled looking smile. “Of course,” she replied through gritted teeth.
Alicia nodded, her grin making it look as if she knew exactly how torn Kara was feeling, how much this hurt her. “Great,” she said.
And with that, the woman turned and sauntered away, swinging her pronounced denim-covered hips in a manner that made her look as though she belonged out on a street corner late at night.
For several minutes after Alicia had left, Kara simply sat at that table, staring down at the empty space in front of her. Her thoughts felt like a twisting maelstrom; no matter how many times she tried to get control of everything and sort out how she felt, everything would just shift and twist, slipping through her grasp like she was trying to grab ribbons of smoke.
This was a good thing, she insisted to herself. This was the break that she needed in her case, her opportunity to infiltrate the Hellraisers, to confirm that they were the gun smugglers she was after. All she needed to find was evidence of illegal weaponry, or even just to hear them talking about their illegal pursuits. With that information, she could call in her reinforcements, close this case.
As for Cross, he was just an informant, nothing more. He had been welcoming to her needs, but he’d gotten his own quid pro quo from their deal. Kara was leaving the Iron Brotherhood out of her write-up, and that was more than what they deserved.
Clearly, Cross and Alicia already had a past together. Even if Kara hadn’t ever met the man, he might have ended up back together with her. And Kara had no claim to him. She wasn’t giving anything up, and was coming out ahead in this play.
And yet, no matter how many times she proved this to herself, she couldn’t bring herself to accept it, to truly believe that this was a good move.
It just felt wrong.
Eventually, despairing of her ability to convince her emotional side that her choice made logical sense, Kara gave up. She would go back to the Iron Brotherhood’s house, change for tonight, and talk to Cross, she decided. She’d explain things to him, and he would see the sense of things.
Even if she couldn’t accept this course of events, Kara knew that it was just because of her annoying, frustrating crush on the biker. But for him, with a past with Alicia, he would be happy to have a woman willing to go all the way.
And once Cross agreed that this was the best choice, maybe she could convince herself.
#
But when Kara arrived back at the clubhouse of the Iron Brotherhood, she noticed that Cross’s big black Harley wasn’t parked out in the lot in front. And when she stepped inside, she saw no sign of the man - not in any of the common areas, and not up in his bedroom, even though it was unlocked.
Returning back down the stairs, Kara spotted Pete - no, wait, that wasn’t his name after all, was it? Jimmy? - sitting on the couch in the living room. “Hey, have you seen Cross?” she called out to him.
Jimmy glanced up at her, shrugging his shoulders. “Nah, he’s been out for a couple hours now,” he said, after a second’s thought. “Think he said something about clearing his head. I offered him some advice, since he always helps me out, but he just said he had to think through it on his own.”
Kara guessed that the man was struggling with whether to give up on helping her out, immunity agreement for the Iron Brotherhood be damned. “Any idea when he might be back?” she asked.
All she got from Jimmy was another shrug. “Great, thanks,” she said, not bothering to tone down her sarcasm.
This wasn’t helping. Kara pulled out her phone and tried giving Cross a call, but she didn’t expect him to pick up, especially if he was riding. Sure enough, the phone rang until, eventually, the voicemail kicked in. Did Kara wish to leave a message?
She hung up, but then, as she wandered back upstairs to the bedrooms, she reconsidered and redialed the number. “Cross, it’s me,” she said, still trying to decide on the right words to say. “Listen, we need to talk. I had to make an agreement with Alicia to get her to invite me into the Hellraisers’ party this evening, but I had to make a deal with her to get her to say yes. And I agreed-”
For a moment, Kara’s voice stalled as her breath caught in her throat, as she remembered the deal. Already, she had shifted over almost entirely to regret. She could have found another way into the Hellraisers, she was now certain, one that didn’t involve selling out Cross, her…
Her what? Friend? Lover? Contact? Criminal informant? Crush? There were too many labels, all of them blending together inside her mind.
With an effort, Kara pulled herself back together. “I might have made a stupid, nearsighted deal that I didn’t properly think out,” she finally said to the waiting answering machine. “Call me back as soon as you get this - even if you’re mad at me. Please.”
For a moment longer, Kara held up the phone, but she could think of nothing else to say. She slowly lowered the electronic device from her ear, ending the call.
In Cross’s bedroom, Kara sat down on the bed, feeling it dip a bit as she landed on the well-used mattress. She stayed upright for a minute, but then let herself flop back, landing with her head on the pillow. She rolled over, pressing her face down into the soft cotton pillowcase.
For a moment, she just lay there. Whenever she breathed in, Kara caught the faintest whiff of Cross’s scent, that faint but unmistakable manly musk that seemed to be an integral part of the man’s persona. The smell was surprisingly comforting, and Kara pushed her face in deeper, sucking in a bit more of that smell.
Her eyes closed as she focused on the smell. It was actually quite comfortable, calming her down ever so slightly…
Kara didn’t open her eyes until she was jarred by the buzzing of her phone, still held in one hand, tucked underneath her pillow. With a groan, she lifted herself up out of the soft pillow where she’d been resting, blinking her eyes as they struggled to open. Had she fallen asleep?
The phone was still buzzing. Was it Cross? Kara’s heart leapt up in her chest as she blinked several more times, struggling to clear the fogginess from her eyes.
But when she looked down at the buzzing rectangle in her hand, she saw that it was Alicia, not Cross. Ignoring the pang that shot through her chest, disappointment so keen that she could feel it like a literal punch, Kara hit “answer.”
“Hello?”
; “Kara, it’s me,” Alicia said, without any other preamble. “I’ve got the location of tonight’s party. Got a pen handy?”
Kara fiddled around on the small desk pushed up against one wall of Cross’s bedroom until she dug out a ballpoint pen and some paper with a blank space to write, and then jotted down the address that Alicia read off to her.
“I’ll see you there, probably around nine or so,” the woman said, once Kara had repeated back the address. “No way you can miss it - big place, lots of lights, full of bikers fucking girls in public. Bring a handle of booze with you, challenge a couple dudes to shots, and you’ll have no problem getting in.”
“Great,” Kara replied, feeling anything but great.
“Oh, and one more thing,” the woman added, before she hung up. “After we talked, I gave Cross a call, told him about our deal.” Kara could feel the other woman taking her time with this comment, savoring the words, as if she knew that each one was another sharp little dagger plunging into the undercover FBI agent. “So don’t worry about having to explain things to him - he understands you perfectly.”
And with that, the insufferable woman hung up. Probably a good thing she disconnected when she did - Kara was struggling for words filled with enough rage to express her hatred and frustration for her.
What a raging bitch!
But she had to focus on the mission. It was most important. Kara took a deep breath as she stood up, heading over to her small bag of clothes to find something that might be seen as slutty enough to get her into this party. Taking a breath and focusing on her mission, on her career, always helped keep her calm and focused.
As she got dressed, however, she couldn’t help but notice that it wasn’t working quite as well as it usually did.
CHAPTER 7
A few hours later, Agent Kara Sybil was very quickly coming to understand why female bikers never wore skirts - not even tiny little mini skirts.
Guns & Burning Rubber: The Iron Brotherhood series Page 4