As I laid down in bed, I drew in a deep breath. On the outside, I was as cool as a cucumber. But on the inside I was practically shaking in my boots. I hadn’t been able to think about anything else except her, even though we had only spoken or met one another today. Yet, despite that issue, she had taken up space in my mind rent-free.
And I loved every second of it.
I mean, I’d never thought about a woman like this before. I’d never had her consume my waking mind or infiltrate my daydreams the way she did. For the first time in a very long time, my daydreams were pleasant instead of filled with gunfire and blood spatter. For once, my daydreams had been palatable.
And I wondered if that meant a night well rested for myself.
“Thank God, I see her tomorrow,” I murmured to myself.
As my eyes closed, Opie crashed into bed with me. He leapt into the air and landed directly between my legs, nestling his head against my stomach. I chuckled as I scratched behind his ear, listening to him whimper and yawn before he closed his eyes and sighed.
But just as I got my pillow exactly the way I wanted it, my phone rang.
Molly.
I rolled over in a flash, disturbing Opie and making him growl as I slapped my hand against my phone. My heart skipped a beat as I held it in front of me, eager to hear her voice once more in my ear. But instead of Molly’s number scrolling across the screen, it was Tanner’s.
So, I braced myself as I answered. “Yep?”
“Get up. I spotted Chops at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.”
I shot up in bed. “Are you sure about that?”
“I’m about ninety percent positive, yes.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why would Chops be there, though? It’s a giant… tourist…oh, shit.”
“Yeah, now you’re getting it.”
I closed my eyes. “It would be easy for him to be out and about and get lost in the crowds of people if he needed to.”
“Plus, none of us frequent that area because of the constant police patrolling.”
“Yeah, well, we all but know those Black Asshats have men in the department paid off.”
“Hence why he’s walking around as freely as he is.”
I swung my legs over the edge of my bed as my eyes opened. “How did you find out? What made you go there and pursue him?”
“Honestly? Just a hunch. We’ve exhausted everywhere else in our searches, and I wondered if Chops might try to hide in the open since it was practically the last thing we thought he’d do, anyway. So, I started looking in all of the popular tourist places around here instead of his normal haunts.”
I stood to my feet. “I’ll meet you there. Give me half an hour. Just gotta throw on some pants and get out the door.”
“Give Opie kisses for me.”
I felt him nestle his nose against my lower back. “I will.”
“Thanks. See you soon.”
“See you soon.”
I hung up the phone and tossed it onto the bed before I cupped Opie’s face. I raised his head to mine before nuzzling my cheek against the top of his head, not wanting to say goodbye. I hated it when the club did this to me. When they called me just as I had gotten comfortable in bed.
Then again, having something to do meant passing the time quicker.
Which meant seeing Molly sooner.
“I’ll be back soon, boy. I promise,” I whispered.
He licked my face as I smiled. “There’s a good boy. You get some rest, though. Okay?”
He bumped my chin with his nose. “Good boy.”
After pulling some pants on and checking to make sure I had everything, I grabbed a slice of cold pizza out of the fridge. I wolfed it down, barely chewing it before I swallowed the hunk of carb-loaded goodness down my throat. I chugged an energy drink to wake my ass up and push the food down into my stomach because God only knew what this would turn into.
Then, I made my way out to my bike and struck up the engine.
I tore out of my neighborhood and headed straight for the boardwalk, and it didn’t take me long to find where Tanner sat. He straddled his bike in the parking lot in front of a string of beachside joints that housed everything from coffee to puka-shell necklaces to surf and turf steak lunches. I eased into the space next to him and cut the engine to my bike, watching as he quickly swung his leg over his bike.
And after I did the same, Tanner practically dragged me over to the sidewalk.
“This is where I saw him,” he said.
He pointed to a blue concrete table with a salmon-colored umbrella that only sat half-open instead of fully-opened like the ones around it.
“All right, but he’s not here anymore. So, where’d he go?” I asked.
Tanner pointed to the surf and turf place. “In there. My guess is to get some food since he walked in about fifteen minutes ago.”
“And he hasn’t come out yet?”
He shook his head. “Nope.”
“So, what makes you think he hasn’t—”
Tanner continued to drag me toward the small restaurants before we perched ourselves at a window. And when he pointed, it was almost glorious, the kind of karma that was about to come down on that man’s head. There he sat with a stiff drink in his hand at the bar, bellied up like the asshole he was and flirting with the bartender serving him alcohol. I felt sorry for the woman, having to entertain someone like him for tips. The thought made me sick simply thinking about it.
Especially with his stance on women in the first place.
“That’s him, all right,” I murmured. “Looks like he got his arm patched up.”
“Yeah, I know,” Tanner said.
I peeked over at him. “Did you call anyone else?”
He nodded. “Already called Brooks. He told me to lay low, even when you got here, and not to make a move until he arrived.”
“And when did he say that would be?”
“He’s about twenty minutes behind you.”
I sighed as I looked back through the window. “Let him stay – oh, boy.”
“What?”
I watched as Chops’ eyes locked with mine. “He sees us.”
Tanner peered through the window at my side. “Fuck.”
“He’s gonna run. Watch him.”
“I’ll swing around back and try to—”
I watched Chops leap off his stool. “He’s making a break for it! Inside, now!”
The two of us slammed through the restaurant doors as Chops knocked over people to get to the emergency exit. People squealed and screamed. Glasses dropped and shattered with every step we took. I shoved men out of the way and kindly pivoted women as gently as I could. And with Tanner hot on my heels, I pointed toward the wall and peered at him over my shoulder.
“Skirt the outside. I’ll tear through the middle!” I exclaimed.
Tanner nodded, and without another word he took off like a bat out of hell toward the left side of the restaurant.
I kept my eyes on Chops the entire time and not once did I draw my gun. If I had, I risked shooting at him and possibly hurting an innocent civilian in the process. I knew I had good aim, but when I was this worked up? With this many people around?
I could control my actions, but not theirs.
And for all I knew, someone would step in front of that fucking bullet.
“He’s out the door!” Tanner exclaimed.
“Shit,” I hissed.
I leapt over a table with food on it as the couple shrieked. I jumped onto an empty booth seat and launched myself over the divide between one part of the restaurant and the other. I met Tanner at the emergency exit Chops had torn through, which caused a massive, ear-piercing scream of an alarm to fill the restaurant.
And as people were ushered out of all orifices because of the alarm, I had a sinking feeling slap me across the face.
“Crowds. That was his plan,” I murmured.
“Where is he? Do you have eyes on him!?” Tanner exclaimed.
I raked my hands through my hair as my eyes darted around. I pushed through people, not caring who I knocked over as I tried to locate that absolute asshole. This had been our one chance; our one lucky break. And if we screwed this up, we risked never getting our hands on that treasonous bastard.
But as the crowds continued to gather, rushing out of the restaurant and gawking at the scene unfolding, neither of us could get our eyes back on Chops.
And the anger that filled my gut muted every other sound around me.
