by A. M. Myers
I nod. “I know, Tawny. We’re here because we need to talk to you.”
“Why?” she asks, opening the door a little wider but not enough to let us into her place. Rowan takes a step forward and offers her a warm smile. It’s actually impressive given how disgusted she was by Tawny’s behavior on the way over here.
“Hi, Tawny. I’m Rowan, Kodiak’s sister, and we really need your help with something. Do you think we could come in and talk for a little bit?”
Tawny eyes her skeptically before glancing at me. “You really need my help?”
“We do,” I answer with a nod and she pulls the door open, allowing us to step into her apartment as she takes a deep breath. Rowan releases my hand as we walk into Tawny’s living room and I miss it more than I should. As Rowan and I sit next to each other on the couch, Tawny perches on the edge of a bar stool.
“I don’t know how I can help you…”
“I need to know about the guy you met in the bar… the one who punched you and tried to get you to blame it on the club.”
She sighs. “I’ve already told you everything I know about him.”
“Actually,” I say, trying to keep my voice soft and understanding so she’ll open up to me. “I wasn’t there when you showed up and I’d like to hear everything in your words.”
After studying me for a second, she sighs and nods. “Okay. Where would you like me to start?”
I pull my phone out of my pocket, pulling up the voice memo app and starting a new recording before I set it down on the coffee table. When I look up at her again, I notice that her hands are shaking but I can’t understand why. When she showed up at the clubhouse and got into it with Moose, Blaze threatened to take evidence of her drug use to the cops but none of us have ever done anything to make her feel like we would hurt her. At least, I don’t think we have…
“How about his name?” Rowan asks, pulling me out of my thoughts and I glance up at Tawny. She sighs.
She sighs. “Shit, I don’t know… I was so drunk… oh, wait. I remember. He said his name was Warren because his dad loved the book, War and Peace.”
“Okay,” I reply, ignoring her commentary. Warren can’t be all that common of a name and maybe if I search through the receipts at the bar, I might have a chance of finding him. Would he really be that careless, though? Turning back to her, I ask the one question that I’m pretty sure I already know the answer to. “What about what he looked like?”
She shrugs. “Average? I don’t know… he has brown hair and brown eyes. He was a little taller than me and slim but kind of unmemorable if he hadn’t socked me in the face.”
Her description matches every other one we’ve ever gotten from anyone who had an interaction with him and I nod in irritation. “What about what happened that night?”
“What about it?”
Gritting my teeth, I fight back my irritation and Rowan lays her hand on my leg, forcing me to take a deep breath before turning back to Tawny. “Like did he approach you or did you approach him?”
“Oh, it was all him. I went to the bar to drown my sorrows after Moose dumped me. I was already a couple drinks in when he came up to me and offered to buy me the next one. We started talking and I told him all about you guys and that I had just been dumped.”
I nod, remembering the way Moose told the story after she had stopped by the clubhouse to explain herself. “And framing Moose was all his idea?”
“Yeah. He said you guys weren’t as clean cut as you like to pretend you were and he wanted to expose you. When I said I didn’t want anything to do with y’all anymore, he brought up how funny it would be if a member got arrested for hitting a woman.”
“Right, and then he lured you out behind the bar and punched you?”
She nods. “That part gets a little fuzzy. He was plying me with drinks for most of the night and I was very drunk by then. He took advantage of that.”
“Do you remember anything else?” Rowan asks. “Anything that might help us find out who this guy is?”
“Well…”
I arch a brow. “What is it?”
“I don’t really know if it will help but I clearly remember thinking that right before he hit me, his face changed and he hit me way harder than he needed to…”
Rowan scowls. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, he hit me so fucking hard that he fractured my cheekbone and he seemed so angry in that moment but the rest of the night, he was perfectly charming and nice… I don’t know... It was like he became a different person,” she sighs and shakes her head. “I’m sorry I can’t be more help.”
I stand up and grab my phone off of the coffee table as I shake my head. “No, it’s okay. We’re all kind of spinning our wheels here but I knew this was a long shot. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me, though.”
“If I think of anything else, I’ll let you know. I want to help.”
“That would be great,” I tell her, pulling one of the club’s business cards out of my back pocket and writing my cell number on the back before handing it to her. “You can reach me at that number.”
She takes it and nods, before frowning. “I am sorry about all of this… and I’m sorry again that I couldn’t be more help. If I could fix what I did, I would.”
“Look,” I say, sighing. “What you did was fucked up but you were also a pawn in this guy’s game and I don’t really think you would have done this if he hadn’t been buying you alcohol all night and coercing you into it.”
“Thank you for saying that,” she whispers and I nod as Rowan stands. Tawny hops off of the bar stool and walks us to the door, promising again to call if she thinks of anything before we leave. As soon as we’re outside, Rowan slips her hand into mine again and I glance down at her.
“You okay?”
I nod. “Yeah… just fucking frustrated.”
“Let’s go get some food. I always think better after I eat something,” she says and there is no room for argument in her tone but oddly, I don’t give a shit.
“Yes, ma’am.” I laugh as I release her hand and throw my arm over her shoulders, pulling her into my body. My stomach growls, as if on cue, but even if I wasn’t starving, there is no way in hell I would turn down an opportunity to spend a little more time with her. Not when she makes me feel like maybe I actually have a chance of solving this and saving my club.
Chapter Seven
Rowan
“Here are your pancakes and bacon,” the waitress says as she sets a heaping plate of food in front of me with a smile. After she’s pulled a container of syrup out of her apron and set it on the table next to my plate, she turns to Travis and sets his plate in front of him. “And the hash brown scrambler with sausage and gravy for you. Is there anything else y’all need right now?”
Her gaze flicks between the two of us as I inspect the table for a moment and when I look up at her, I shake my head. She glances over at Travis as he does the same, flashing her a friendly smile. “Naw, I think we’re good. Thanks, Mia.”
“No problem, Streak. Just holler if you need anything else.” She returns his smile before walking away from the table and after she disappears into the kitchen, I turn to back to Travis.
“You come here often?”
He smirks. “Is that your best line?”
“Shut up,” I shoot back, rolling my eyes as I resist the urge to pick up one of the jelly packets and throw it at him. “I just meant because you two obviously know each other.”
“We don’t really know each other, if that’s what you mean, but Tate used to work here before she married your brother and Mia is a friend of hers.”
“Oh, I see.”
“But, listen,” he whispers, lowering his voice as he leans in and flashes me a devilish grin. “If you want to fuck again, all you gotta do is ask, sweetheart.”
I arch a brow. “I thought we had already agreed that it definitely would be happening again. And again and again…”
“Maybe I j
ust want to hear you beg for it,” he answers with a grin that makes my belly do a little flip and my mind jumps back to last night when he had me pressed up against the window… and on all fours on the bed… and pressed up against the wall. Jesus Christ, how the hell am I even walking this morning? Lifting my chin in an act of defiance, I cross my arms over my chest and meet his gaze.
“And what if I want to hear you beg for it?”
He laughs. “Never going to happen.”
“Don’t underestimate me, Travis. I have tricks you haven’t seen yet,” I tell him and his eyes snap up to meet mine as a slow smile stretches across his face and he shakes his head.
“Fuck. That turns me on.”
Smiling, I grab my fork and cut into my pancakes, feeling pretty damn pleased with myself as Travis subtly tries to adjust himself under the table. My breath hitches as I remember what it felt like when he slid inside me last night and my skin tingles with need.
How in the hell am I still ready for more?
“So,” I whisper before clearing my throat and glancing up at him. We definitely need a new subject before we end up slipping into the bathroom for a quickie or fucking in his sexy car. He arches a brow, watching me with a knowing look in his eye.
“So?”
“Why don’t you tell me what’s been going on with the club and this threat that everyone keeps talking about?”
His mood darkens in an instant and he shakes his head. “Sorry, can’t. It’s club business.”
“I see…”
I don’t see.
Not at all.
“But shouldn’t I know since I’m technically involved now? I mean, I’m living there with you all and my brother is one of this guy’s targets, right? I have a right to know what’s going on.”
He shakes his head. “Nope.”
“Fine,” I answer with a huff but my mind is still spinning, trying to find an angle to use against him that he can’t argue with. Another idea hits me and I brace my elbows on the table. “But what if me not knowing gets someone hurt? Or it gets me hurt? Isn’t it better that I have all the information so I can make smart, informed decisions?”
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” he asks, studying me and I shake my head. His gaze narrows and he glares at me for a second before he sighs. “All right but if Blaze asks, I didn’t tell you shit.”
“Deal.”
Scowling, he stares down at the table, deep in thought, and I watch him for a second before clearing my throat.
“Uh, Travis?”
He shakes his head. “Sorry… it’s just hard to know where to even start.”
“The beginning sounds like a good place,” I offer, half sarcastically, and he scoffs, shaking his head.
“This is going to sound stupid but I’m not really sure when it all really began. It’s hard to keep track of everything now and remember when shit went down. Plus, each time I learn something new, I’ve got to figure out how it fits into everything.”
“Have you ever watched those true crime shows or CSI?” I ask and he shakes his head as he leans back in his seat and takes a sip of coffee.
“No. I don’t watch a lot of TV.”
“Okay, well, in those shows, you always see a big fucking board with all the evidence laid out in a timeline and I think maybe that’s what you need. Besides, if you can see it in front of you, all at once, maybe you’ll notice something you didn’t notice before.”
He studies me for a second. “Huh… I can’t believe I never thought of that before.”
“So, I only did like two semesters in college before I dropped out but I was super interested in psychology and took a class on it where we learned that when people are too close to a problem, like you are, it’s like being in the middle of a thick forest. You can see what’s right in front of you but you can’t see very far into the distance or anticipate what is up ahead.”
His scowl is etched into his face as he crosses his arms over his chest and I can practically see the wheels in his head turning. “I need to step back, then?”
“Or just get an outside perspective,” I reply, motioning to myself and he laughs, staring at me for a second before he nods.
“Okay, I’ll give it a shot.”
I smile. “For now, just give me the CliffsNotes.”
“Has your brother told you anything? Or Tate?” he asks and I shake my head, my mind drifting back to the party last night. They mentioned talking to me about it later but I don’t know if they meant it or if they were just stalling in the hope that I would forget about it. If that’s the case, I’m sure they think they’re protecting me by not telling me but I fully believe what I said to Travis. There is no way I could possibly make the right decisions and keep myself safe without knowing the facts. He sighs. “Right, okay… For the last two or so years, someone has been targeting the club but at first, we didn’t know anything was going on…”
“What do you mean?”
He runs a hand through his hair. “Well, in the work we do, sometimes the women we rescue go back to their abusers so when the first girl was killed, that’s what we thought happened.”
“Oh,” I whisper, staring at him with wide eyes. When people kept mentioning this threat, never in my wildest dreams did I think that people had died and that things were this serious. Now it makes perfect sense why Lincoln wanted me at the clubhouse instead of at his cabin.
“I’m sorry,” he says, reaching across the table and grabbing my hand. “You said you wanted to know.”
I nod. “I do… I just never…”
“It’s bad, Rowan. Really, really bad and that’s why we’re all so fucking stressed and at each other’s throats.”
Squeezing his hand, I nod. “Keep going.”
“The first girl that was killed, her name was Dina and we all assumed her piece of shit ex had been the one to kill her.”
I nod. It makes sense with the work the club does and it probably would have been my first assumption as well. “So what changed?”
“For a long time, nothing. We lost another girl but the case was so different that we didn’t even connect them until later and then we lost someone that made us all wake up.”
“In what way?” I ask, my food abandoned as I soak up every word he says.
“The man we rescued her from was dead so he couldn’t have come back to kill her and when someone found her, our business card was right on top of her body like someone placed it there.”
I blink as my mind races. “Jesus.”
“Yeah,” he breathes with a nod. “And then just a few weeks ago, this girl walked into the club. The thing was, though, it was a girl that had been missing for close to a year and we had been investigating her case.”
“I’m guessing it wasn’t a coincidence, then.”
He shakes his head. “The man who had abducted her dropped her off at our front door and he had a message for us.”
“What was the message?” My heart is pounding in my chest and I am hanging on his every damn word, somewhere between fascinated and terrified.
“I am just getting started…”
Christ.
I pull my hand from his and we both fall back into our seats as silence descends over our table and my mind races. Travis is right, this is so much bigger than anything I ever imagined and just thinking about the planning and patience it must have taken this person to put all of this together is astounding. Shaking my head, I meet his eyes across the table.
“Do you know anything else?”
He shakes his head. “Nothing concrete. That’s why we were going to talk to Tawny today.”
“Right,” I whisper. God, that feels like it was days ago and we literally just left her apartment. “So did she tell you anything that you didn’t already know?”
“Yes and no… She gave me a name which is something but that doesn’t mean I’ll find any information on him and she said the thing about how angry he was but that’s one of the things that doesn’t real
ly help my investigation.”
Sighing, I nod. “True, but I guess it’s good to know who you’re dealing with because there is a difference between someone who is in control of their rage and someone who isn’t.”
“And what would that be?”
“Someone who isn’t in control of their anger makes mistakes.”
He nods, turning to look out of the large window next to our table as he sighs, stress lining his face, and my heart breaks for him. “Then I’d say this guy is very much in control of his rage.”
I want to tell him it’s going to be okay but I don’t know that it will and there is no part of me that wants to lie to him so instead, I turn back to my food and take a bite of pancakes. It’s tasteless now and my mind can’t stop going over everything he told me. Maybe I should have stayed in Alaska. It would have been lonely but at least I’d be safe. Then again, I’m glad I’m here with my brother… even if we’re technically in the trenches right now.
“You regretting that move from Alaska right about now?” Travis asks and my head whips up, my gaze meeting his as I shake my head.
“How in the hell do you do that?”
He arches a brow. “Do what?”
“Read my fucking mind,” I answer, pushing the food around on my plate aimlessly with my fork and he laughs.
“Well, in this particular instance, it was all over your face.”
I sigh. “Oh… well, just so you know, I’m not sure if I regret it yet. I love Alaska and it’s where I grew up but it was quickly becoming hell so in that sense, I’m happy to be here.”
“What made you leave?”
“What didn’t?” I shoot back with a dry laugh as tears sting my eyes. God, how is it that even just the mention of my home state can bring back all of the awful memories I’ve been trying so hard to forget since I got here? “My mom died a month ago and I didn’t have any family left there…”
“So you came to Baton Rouge for Kodiak?”
I shake my head. “No, I came for me. I needed something… different and new. Plus, after I walked in on my ex-boyfriend banging this girl I worked with, there was nothing keeping me there.”