I heard them all giggling outside like nothing was happening and I turned up the video game I was playing. Everyone else was either on the porch or taking a dip in the ocean and it made me sick. We were in the middle of the fight of our lives and we were doing dumb shit like swimming and talking with cops.
But, when the door opened, I lost my boss fight because I couldn’t pull my eyes away.
Tanner was the first to talk in with Summer right behind him. The woman that came behind both of them, however, was absolutely breathtaking. Her warm brown skin glistened in the lights of my childhood home and her big curly hair hung down just past her shoulders. She had high cheekbones and sat on top of a chiseled jawline, and the slope of her waist told me she kept herself up in the gym quite a bit. She had strong legs that walked tall with pride, straightening her back and making her look as if she were gazing down at the world from beyond the tip of her nose.
And when she turned to face me, her eyes glistened with an almost yellow color that I couldn’t pull away from.
“Someone call for a cop?” she asked.
My attraction to her dissipated almost immediately, and I turned back to my video game. “I didn’t, no.”
The woman chuckled. “Cop hater. They’re a dime a dozen. Suit yourself, then.”
“Finn,” Tanner said.
I saluted him while still playing my game. “Sir, yes sir!”
I heard a beautiful little giggle and turned my head just enough to see the cop–Sloane, I think her name was–giggling. Her smile lit up her yellow eyes and her skin seemed flushed with the color of happiness. It seemed so foreign and out of place, especially with what we had been dealing with for the past few months.
I would have found it welcoming had it not been attached to the one woman that would eventually take us all down. Hell, for all I knew, she was here to find a way to pin all of this shit on us.
I had experience telling me that cops were good at that sort of thing.
“Hey, you guys!” Tanner bellowed. “She’s here!”
But, when no one came running, he looked back over at me. “Where the hell is everyone?”
I shrugged. “Scattered. Some are swimming. Some are eating. Pretty sure Brooks is the one snoring upstairs.”
“He’ll go get the guys so we can introduce you,” Summer said. “Won’t you, Tanner?”
I made a whip-like sound as my fingers pressed the buttons on my game controller wildly, and if looks could have killed the entire block would’ve been leveled. It was worth it, though. These guys were pussy-whipped more than they’d ever admit, and it was hysterical to watch these big, bad, muscly guys take orders from people a third of their fucking size.
But, as the cop walked by, she murmured something only I could hear. “All the best family men are.”
I looked up at her. “Good thing I’m not one, then, huh?”
She giggled and made her way into the kitchen, not bothering to look back at me. And as Tanner went to round up the guys, I went back to my game. They all congregated in the living room, looming over me as I worked my way through another boss fight. But, as Brooks walked up to the television, I paused my game.
“If you so much as even think about it, I’m done. Got it?” I asked.
He stared at me. “We need to be a team right now.”
I scoffed as I stood up. “Says the guy who doesn’t give a shit about what anyone says if they don’t agree with him. You’re no better than Chops most days.”
“Hey!” Tanner barked.
“Enough!” Summer exclaimed.
The room fell silent and I drew in a deep breath. I hated this. I hated all of it. And now, I was stuck babysitting some half-wit-woman who claimed to be a detective. Whatever. Figures that I’d have to do their dirty work while they all slept soundly and got their dicks wet every night.
Do you know how annoying it is to listen to multiple couples grunting and groaning in the middle of the night?
I’d rather gouge my ears off the sides of my head.
“Now that we’re all here, I’d like to introduce you to my sister, Detective Sloane Riley,” Summer said.
Sloane waved. “Pleasure.”
Brooks stepped forward and held out his hand. “The name’s Brooks. I’m the President of the crew.”
She shook his hand. “So, you’re the one making the shit decisions. Good to know.”
I would have died laughing if I didn’t have such a disdain for her already.
Brooks cleared his throat. “Right, well, thank you for agreeing to help us.”
She dropped his hand. “Make no mistake: I’m not here to help you. I’m here to weed out dirty cops who seem to not want to do their job when it comes to this issue you guys have gotten yourselves wrapped up in.”
Tanner looked over at me and I simply shrugged. They were the ones who wanted to bring this uptight bitch into the circle, so they’d have to deal with the consequences. All I had to do was make sure she didn’t get killed or take us down in the process.
Brooks cleared his throat. “Right, well, if you’ll follow me upstairs, Porter and I have been working on a presentation to run down all of what has happened and all of the evidence we’ve gathered so far.”
I grinned. “That what all that snoring was?”
Porter growled at me. “You better shut your fucking–.”
Sloane interjected, though. “He’s right. I heard you all the way down the stairs when we first stepped inside. Don’t get upset with him because he called you out. I don’t play that game, either.”
The room fell silent and I saw Tanner practically sweating bullets over in the corner. But, as Brooks led us all up the stairs, we found ourselves piled into the room him and Raven decided to occupy.
Which just happened to be my parents’ old bedroom.
I hung back and leaned against the wall while Porter flicked through some bullshit powerpoint cast on a bare wall. I gazed out the window while Brooks and everyone else filled her in on all of the bullshit that had gone down up until this point while cautiously sidestepping the bullshit that would easily implicate us along with the Black Flags.
Until Tanner opened his fat fucking mouth.
“One thing you need to know about the operation we ran in The Body Shop is the fact that I didn’t know Summer worked there.”
Sloane slowly looked over at him. “What?”
Tanner nodded. “Yeah. I ran into her after all those years, but I had no idea she worked there. That’s how Summer and I reconnected, if you’re wondering.”
“Tanner,” Brooks warned.
Sloane placed her hand on her hip. “So, let me get this straight: you ran an illegal operation with firearms you probably didn’t purchase legally either, and you just so happened to run into my sister so you decided to rope her in on all of this?”
Tanner went to go speak, but I jumped in to try and salvage the fucking conversation.
“I’m not sure how much you know, but one of our own was beaten pretty badly by these guys. So much so that it put them in the hospital.”
Sloane turned to face me. “You gonna give me a name so I can get their account of what happened?”
I shook my head. “No, because it isn’t important. What’s important to know is that we knew what the crew was up to because of this person, so we went in and did what we could to get as much information to pass onto the police as possible.”
She scoffed. “So, I’m just supposed to believe that you’re working with the police in the area that just so happens to be dirty, according to what Summer’s told me?”
All of the guys looked around at each other as I nodded. “Yes, because that’s what happened. Believe it or not, cops like you use people like us all the time to do their dirty work. The local police wanted more info without blowing their own operation because they know that there are dirty rats involved. So, they circumvent the rats by using people like us so that when charges are brought forth, they can implicate these assholes as well as the dirty cops.”
I was lying through my fucking teeth, but I’d always had a hell of a poker face. It was how I kept the secret of Melody’s murder after all these years, and I knew I could sway any pig of a cop to my side so long as I kept eye contact.
Like my father always said, if you say something with confidence…
Sloane pointed at me before turning back to Summer. “I like him. Keep him on my detail.”
I rolled my eyes. “Great.”
Sloane continued. “I need to get hooked up with the local police so that I can get permission to operate within Santa Cruz borders. I’ve already been in contact with the chief, and I’m supposed to meet him in an hour. Got anywhere I can grab a quick bite before I head out?”
I shrugged. “There’s a kitchen downstairs, but don’t ask me to make you a sandwich.”
Sloane made her way for the door. “Someone email me that presentation. Thanks.”
“Well?” Tanner asked.
I looked over at him. “What?”
He nodded his head. “Go with her. It’s your job to look after her.”
“She’s going to get a sandwich.”
He nodded. “And then she’s leaving this house, which means you need to be with her.”
I rolled my eyes and pushed off of the wall. “Whatever.”
I jogged out after Sloane and followed her all the way to the kitchen. I watched as she opened cabinets and found what she needed to put together a basic ham and cheese sandwich, then she grabbed a soda from the cooler on top of the table. She cracked open the can and chugged it back, and I couldn’t help but watch as her throat bobbed with every swallow she took.
And after she crushed the can in her hand, she tossed it into the trash.
“I take it you’re my babysitter?” she asked.
I nodded. “Pretty much.”
“I take it you tried to tell them that I wouldn’t need one?”
I shrugged. “Pretty much.”
Her eyes looked me up and down. “And you know I don’t need anyone to go with me, right? Especially a prospect?”
I snickered. “Trust me, I don’t want to be here anymore than you want to be, but here I am, so let’s make the best of it. Wait, you know what a prospect is?”
She nodded before heading toward the front door. “I’m driving. Let’s go.”
I followed quickly after her. “You know that me being a prospect doesn’t mean I’m not capable of protecting you, right?”
She ripped the door open. “What are you protecting me from? You guys have nothing to do with this, right?”
Shit. “Summer wants me on your ass. She’s worried something will happen to you, and I don’t blame her. These Black Flags fuckers are ruthless.”
“They usually are, yep.”
She unlocked her car. “Do they know about this place?”
I shook my head as I got into the passenger seat of her car. “Nope.”
She dropped down into her own seat. “And you’re sure about that?”
I nodded. “Very sure.”
She jammed her keys into the ignition. “As sure as you were about the warehouse?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Just crank the damn engine and let’s get this over with.”
She did as I asked, but then she turned to face me. “I know more than you think I do. I know you guys aren’t sure what you do and don’t know. I know you’re not really working with the police, but I’m letting it slide for now because I don’t want my sister to watch some guy she had a kid with be carted off to jail. But, I need you to understand that whatever gatekeeping shit they’ve put you up to, it won’t work. If you guys are in over your head, I will figure it out. If you guys have done anything worth being arrested for, I will arrest you. All of you. Even if it pisses my sister off.”
I stared into her eyes. “And just so you know, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you alive. Even if it means compromising your job in the process.”
Her eyes danced between mine before she started backing the car out of the driveway. “At least we understand one another, then.”
No, we didn’t understand each other at all.
And I had no plans on changing that anytime soon.
