by Eve R. Hart
Headlights lit up the SUV from behind. I craned my neck to try and see but the lights were too bright. Whoever it was, they were parked behind me. I waited but they didn’t cut the lights or exit the vehicle. So I waited some more, my eyes now in the side rearview so I wasn’t so blinded.
“What the fuck. Come on asshole, do something,” I mumbled.
Finally, the door opened but the lights remained on. Someone stepped out and headed my direction with that walk of authority.
Great.
Just what I needed. Sure I wasn’t doing anything wrong but it was still a fucking hassle to deal with cops, especially in a foreign city. Good thing I’d already talked to that detective yesterday.
What the hell was his name?
Fuck, I couldn’t remember. I had his card in my bag but I was smart enough not to go rooting around for it right now.
I hit the button to roll down the window then set my hands on top of the steering wheel. I knew it was hard being a cop and very dangerous. So it was always my thought to make it known that I wasn’t a threat. I mean, it was also for my safety as well, I didn’t want to get shot.
“Got a complaint about a suspicious car parked on this road.”
I turned to see the detective whose name I had forgotten. I wasn’t sure if seeing him was a good thing or a bad one. It seemed a little odd that he would be the one to come out and check on a call like this. It was more something beat cops would have to do. Wasn’t the whole point of stepping up not having to do the shit jobs anymore? Hmmm. Something didn’t sit right with me.
“Hello, Detective.” I tried to hide the strain from my voice. “Just me. And I’m working. Like I told you about.” I was going for playful but he didn’t seem like he was one for jokes.
“Mind if I sit?” he asked as his eyes flicked to the empty passenger’s seat. Since I didn’t have anything to hide, I just shrugged.
I popped the locks as he rounded the front of the SUV.
I took note of how he opened the door with authority. And how he took a seat next to me a little too casually. This was a seasoned detective on a mission.
While others might not be able to see it, I was good at reading people. At seeing the little things that they tried to hide or the way that they overcompensated certain things to hide what was going on in their heads.
What could I tell from him at the moment?
He wasn’t just here to check out a random car parked on the side of a dead street. But I could also tell that he wasn’t going to hurt me.
“Any luck with your case?” he asked once he shut the door.
“Not much. I’m waiting for my partner to call me with an update. I think this is a dead end.”
I had a thought.
He knew this city better than me so maybe he could help me out a little. It wasn’t like there was some invisible line that I was crossing by asking him for some general information. We’d worked with the police department back home a few times. But then again, I wasn’t sure how things worked in this city.
“Is there even anyone living in these buildings?” I asked.
“Here?” he asked.
“Yeah. That one.” I pointed to the one I’d been watching.
“Maybe some squatters. Most of these have been vacant for some time now.”
So… then why would he get a call about a suspicious vehicle? I mean, if there wasn’t anyone around to see me then…
Something wasn’t adding up but I was smart enough to know that I should keep my mouth shut about it.
“I could help you with your case, if you could help me out with something,” he said, his eyes still looking out the front windshield.
I didn’t like where this was going.
“And what’s that Detective?”
Mullins! That was his last name. Wasn’t sure why it just popped up in my head now but I would bet I wouldn’t forget it again though.
“I noticed this car is registered to a Mason Thorne.”
“Yeah, okay. He’s letting me borrow it.”
“Did you know that Mr. Thorne is the Vice President for a motorcycle gang here in town?”
I did my best not to scoff at his words and his tone of disgust.
It seemed I had found myself in the middle of some shit I wanted nothing to do with.
I cared about the club only because they had shown me kindness. Not just that, but Lake was fixing my car and had given up his bed for me. All of this without asking for a single thing from me. I hadn’t felt any sort of threat from anyone that I met that belonged to the club and I didn’t have a reason to get involved in this shit.
“Yes,” I answered with a shortness in my tone. I wasn’t going to give him any more information than he needed.
Yes, I knew who Mason was. I’d sort of met him briefly. He had kind eyes and thought I was a little funny. Or maybe he was laughing at me instead of with me. Either way, he hadn’t been rude or outright mean so that counted as a plus in my book.
“Where was it you said you are staying?”
“A place near the river.” I hadn’t specifically said before when I’d talked to him. I was smart enough to catch onto his game.
“This place, it wouldn’t happen to be a converted motel, would it? One owned by the Steel Paragons Motorcycle Club?”
And I had a feeling that I didn’t have to tell him because he already knew.
“Can we just stop playing games here, please. I’m sure you have a point to make so make it, Detective Mullins.”
“I’ll help you with information that you need if you can be my eyes and ears inside that club. Get close to them, find out what they are into. Maybe even get me a location where they do their business deals.”
“It’s very kind of you to offer your help, Detective, but I know nothing of what you speak about. And I don’t want to know either,” I said with that overly sweet tone that was obviously faked. “Quite frankly, I’m a little shocked that you would put an innocent like me in danger just so you can gather information. As you know, I’m new here and I don’t know these people at all. Asking me to push my way into their… brotherhood so quickly would send up red flags. Which, might I point out, would put me in danger if they are as bad as you are insinuating they are. But I’m sure you already knew all that.”
I paused, letting my words sink in but that didn’t mean I was done yet.
“I question this city’s safety if the police department does things this way. It doesn’t seem very by the book, Detective, and I would hate to think that a man in your position would do something so shady.”
“It would seem as if we have a misunderstanding here, Ms. Atwater,” he stated coolly though I got the feeling he was pissed.
“I would think so.” I could tell there was more to his story. I’d seen it before and while I didn’t really care to know, I also knew that it ran deeper than this club. “Either you are not that great at your job or there is nothing there to find.”
He didn’t seem to like my response.
“Maybe you should step away and look at it with new eyes. Sometimes the fight is worse than the situation. And in my short life, I’ve come to realize that sometimes it’s easier to win the war with collected enemies on your side. It just depends on which one you see as the bigger evil.”
He didn’t say anything for a long moment and I could tell that my words were rolling around in his head. This wasn’t something I wanted to get in between and I sure as hell didn’t want to know anything about it.
“Now, if you aren’t going to arrest me, I would like you to kindly fuck off.”
I was out of patience and didn’t want this fuckwad around me anymore. Sure it wasn’t smart mouthing off to a man with a badge like that but I had a feeling he wasn’t going to arrest me.
“Have a good night, Ms. Atwater,” he said reaching for the handle. The pause was just a power move. Jackass just had to have the last word. “You’d do well to move your vehicle. I wouldn’t want to get another call.”
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I let him go. My balls were big enough that I didn’t need to bark like a tiny dog.
He got in his car and drove off without even waiting for me to move. That alone told me he didn’t care what I did after he made his exit.
I seriously wondered how he knew I was there though.
Had someone called?
I looked around and saw no signs of life. The building I was parked in front of looked like it had some sort of thick, frosted coating on all the windows and the main door looked more like a rear fire exit. While the metal door looked newer than the buildings around it had, it also didn’t have the wear of a door that was used often.
Shrugging, I turned my attention back to the street.
There wasn’t anything here, I felt it. So with a sigh, I started the SUV up and drove away. I circled the block a few times but still came up empty.
The sun wouldn’t be up for hours but I wasn’t ready to head back to the MC clubhouse just yet. I had a lot to think about and sort out.
I found my way to a small diner and took a seat at a booth in the back. I ordered a coffee, of course, and two scrambled eggs. I wasn’t a huge egg fan, but they were one of the cheaper things on the menu and I couldn’t argue that I needed the protein.
I wasn’t the healthiest eater. Most of the time I had to do it quickly or while I was trying to do a million other things. And while I knew how to cook the basics, I rarely took the time.
I supposed I should have slowed down. I was so busy trying to keep the business afloat. And yeah, maybe I wanted to make my dad proud even if he wasn’t around to see it.
I didn’t want to think about what I could be missing with Lake and his club. I really didn’t. But I also wasn’t stupid and I was far too wise to fall for all of their charms.
What could I do but look at what I’d seen so far?
Which wasn’t anything that set me on edge or made me think there was shady illegal shit going on. I’d seen their paperwork for the garage. And while I wasn’t sure if it was a club owned business or something that just happened to be right there in front of their clubhouse and employed mostly club members from what I’d seen, I hadn’t noticed anything that stuck out as shady.
I mean, come on. I knew what a front was and I didn’t get the vibe that the garage was that. As far as I could tell, it was a legitimate business. But then again, I didn’t really dig into it.
Those receipts were real. And the customers too. I was sure the work that Ky did brought in a pretty penny, as well.
Ugh, why did my brain have to go there?
Whatever, it wasn’t like I planned to stick around any longer than I had to. I was here for a job. Not to make friends. Not to get into the club shit they had going on. Maybe one day, I would look back on this as just one of many adventures.
But for now, I was stuck and I feared that meant that if the asshole detective wanted to make my life hell, then he would.
Why did it seem like everything had gone wrong in the matter of a couple of days?
I sat in the diner a little longer and around midnight I felt like I’d overstayed my welcome. I looked out to the the night sky through the big windows that surrounded the diner. Dark gray clouds began to roll in. The rain began to sprinkle its gloom on the world around me only solidifying my mood.
I drove back to the clubhouse knowing full well that I couldn’t keep the detective’s visit all to myself. I had no clue why, but I felt like they needed to know that he was out there— that was, if they already didn’t.
But did I really need to warn them?
For some reason, that kind of clued me into the fact that my brain knew more than I was willing to admit. Because if they weren’t doing anything wrong or illegal, then it shouldn’t matter if Detective Mullins had it out for them.
I climbed the stairs but the moment I stepped into Lake’s room, I almost didn’t want to be there. My bag went flying in the direction of the bed and I turned on my heels.
I felt like I was choking and just wanted to breathe some fresh air and clear my head.
The case.
My broke as fuck car.
The visit from the detective.
And the fact that I was stuck miles away from home.
It all filled my head weighing me down because I felt like the more I tried to climb myself out, the more shit got thrown on top of me.
CHAPTER TEN
Lake
“You okay?” I asked Bridget as I neared my room.
She was sitting on the hard concrete slab of the walkway with her back leaning against the wall. Her legs crossed in front of her while her hands rested casually in her lap. She had that hundred-mile stare thing going on and I could tell that something was wearing on her.
She inhaled a deep breath, blinked, and then looked up at me.
“One of those days, you know?” She shrugged like it wasn’t really a big deal.
“I got just the thing,” I said then dashed into the room only to return a moment later with two beers and a bar of dark chocolate.
She gave me a small smile as I settled down beside her and handed her one of the bottles.
“Cheers,” she said as she tapped the neck of her bottle against mine.
“Sláinte,” I replied then took a sip. My head fell back against the wall as I looked out and watched the rain come down in sheets.
“Irish?”
“Little bit,” I said with a smile. “On my mom’s side.”
She hummed but neither one of us took our eyes off of the gloomy gray sky and the tears she was crying down on the world.
“You ever feel like something is off but you can’t put your finger on it?” she asked as she pulled the wrapper off the bar of chocolate and took a bite. She held it out to me and I couldn’t resist taking a bite of my own before handing it back to her.
“Yeah,” I answered with a huffed-out laugh. “Story of my life.”
“I feel like I’m chasing empty leads.”
My head lulled to the side and I gave her my eyes, only she didn’t turn to look at me. I took another long pull of my beer as I waited for her to elaborate.
“I came here looking for someone but I seem to have gotten myself into a world of mess and I can’t even track down one single lead for my case.”
“What are you talking about?” My brows pinched together as I tried to follow along.
“Your club’s into some shit.” It wasn’t a question and I wondered how she’d figured it out. “I don’t want to have anything to do with it but it seems that I’ve found myself at the pinnacle of it all.”
That got my attention and I sat up straight.
“What the hell are you talking about?!”
“Detective Mullins.”
A chill ran down my spine and it wasn’t from the freezing cold weather.
“What have you done?” I felt a sting in my chest.
Her eyes slid over to meet mine as her head turned slowly.
“What I felt was right in my heart,” she answered with a cocked brow and a coolness in her tone that made me feel uneasy.
“Which was? Dammit, Bridget! I didn’t peg you as one to play games, don’t fucking prove me wrong now.” I was ready to jump and bolt if I needed to. Iron needed to know about this but I had to find out just what this was first.
“Told that asshole to fuck off,” she said with a smirk. “That was only after I said that if he had anything on you that the club would already be buried, so either there must not be anything to find or he must suck at his job.”
I couldn’t help it, I laughed. I relaxed back against the building knowing there was nothing to worry about right at this moment.
“He didn’t like that much, did he?”
“No.” She shook her head and took a sip of her beer. “Not even a little.”
She moved her gaze back to the rain. We said nothing for a long time. I knew I had to bring this to Iron, he had to know that the good ole detective was still out there trying to bring u
s down. I half feared what he would do about Bridget.
And that was the moment I had to admit to myself that I wasn’t ready for her to go away just yet.
“Bridge,” I whispered unsure of what I was going to follow that with.
“Not now, Lake. Just… not now.”
I nodded even though she wasn’t looking at me.
“Get me another beer,” she said then tilted the bottle up and drained the damn thing.
I hopped to my feet, fetching her beer like a good boy. I grabbed a couple extra feeling like we were going to need them.
We sat outside for a while, until we had enough of the wet mist that began to soak through our clothes and caused a chill that forced us inside. At that point, we were maybe a bit tipsy, having both downed three beers in a short amount of time.
“Okay, I feel it now,” she said her teeth chattering a little. “I need something warm— like now.”
She dropped to her knees and started pulling out things from her bag, tossing them over her shoulder as she searched for something warm.
“Here.” I pulled out a thick pair of sweatpants and a hoodie.
“Perfect,” she said standing up like a shot and then swayed a little. She closed her eyes tight, then blinked a few times.
“You alright?” I grabbed her elbow just to make sure she wasn’t going to fall down.
“Yep,” she said with a bobbing nod. “Stood up too fast.”
“Or maybe you’re a little drunk.”
She snorted and rolled her eyes at me like that was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard.
“I’m fine. Just frozen.”
I expected her to grab the clothes and walk into the bathroom. But before I could even register what she was doing, her shirt was flying across the room and her pants were pushed down to her ankles.
I think I wheezed out a breath.
“It’s not like you’ve never seen a naked woman before,” she said coolly as she bent over to pull her shoes and socks off so she could then be free of her pants.
She stood tall again, her braided hair whipping wildly about.