I wanted to punch something. Anything.
I glanced to my right. Knox was still wearing the fading remains of the shiner I’d given him. Lucian was on my left, legs braced, arms crossed. In all our years of friendship, I’d never thrown a punch at him. I’d also never seen him get physical. I knew he was capable of it. I’d seen the aftermath of it. But I’d never witnessed him in action.
These days, he preferred to unleash that pent-up boyhood fury in other ways.
But for me, I knew there was only one way to get this out of my system.
“Here they come,” Knox said.
The half circle of grizzled bikers in front of us parted as a bike roared into the lot. I recognized Grim immediately, but it was his passenger that had me curling my hands into fists.
The bike came to a stop directly in front of me. Lina released her arms from the biker’s waist and swung one long leg over in a graceful dismount.
She had barely pulled off the helmet before I was yanking her into my side, then pushing her behind my back.
“Nash—”
“Don’t start,” I ordered.
Knox, Lucian, and Nolan closed ranks, and together we formed a wall between her and Grim.
The seconds ticked by as I stared him down.
“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t arrest you right now,” I growled.
“Saved your girl from getting her ass kicked for one,” Grim said smugly.
The first check-in she’d missed had Nolan and me heading for my vehicle. We hadn’t even made it out of the parking lot before Grave alerted me to the 911 call in Arlington. I was on the road by the time Lina called me…from Grim’s phone.
Knox and Lucian showed up at the biker’s headquarters about five minutes after we did.
“Gentlemen, I hate to break up this thrilling staring contest,” Lina said. “But I really have to pee and Grim has information he’s graciously willing to share.”
“Let’s do this inside,” Grim said. “Except for him.” All eyes turned to Nolan. “One cop is bad enough. I don’t need two of you stinking up the place.”
Nolan didn’t look like he liked that idea.
“It’s fine,” I assured him.
“Don’t do anything stupid in there,” he muttered.
I nodded.
“So, boys and girls, what do we do while we wait? Shoot some hoops? Play some Scrabble?” Nolan asked the remaining bikers as we followed Grim inside.
Knox grabbed my arm. “Try not to be a law-abiding dick in there, okay? You don’t want Grim as an enemy.”
I jerked free of his grasp. “Try not to be an asshole in there.”
“Both of you behave,” Lina hissed.
I took her hand and anchored her to me. No one was getting near her.
I had to admit, this wasn’t what I’d expected from a motorcycle club headquarters. Instead of smoke-stained drywall and beer-soaked floors, the interior of the one-story block building resembled more of a club and gallery. The floors were stained concrete. The walls alternated between stark white and dark gray with large, chaotic canvases adding brilliant pops of color.
Grim pointed Lina in the direction of the restroom and I stood guard outside while the others entered what appeared to be some sort of conference room.
When the bathroom door opened and Lina stepped out, I straightened away from the wall.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I swear. Grim and his biker minions are actually pretty nice. And before you even say it, none of this was my fault.”
Every time I looked at her, her beauty struck me like a hammer. Every time my eyes found her, something inside me lit up. I wanted to touch her, to back her into the wall, cage her in, and run my hands over every inch of her body. But if I did that, I didn’t know if I would have the strength to stop. So I kept my hands at my sides.
“Nash?” she prodded.
“I know,” I said.
She went still, then shook her head in disbelief. “You know? What do you know?”
I gritted my teeth. “That it wasn’t your fault.”
“Gonna be honest. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Doesn’t mean I’m fuckin’ happy about you being in that situation in the first place. Even though I get to say I told you so. Because I fucking told you so. And it sure as hell doesn’t mean I enjoyed having no fuckin’ clue what happened to you after you called 911. And you can bet every expensive pair of shoes you own that I was the opposite of thrilled to find you were pulled out of that situation by men in ski masks.”
“Actually, the driver was a woman,” she pointed out.
But I wasn’t finished. “And I’m definitely havin’ issues with seeing you ride up to a goddamn motorcycle club on the back of a goddamn known criminal’s bike.”
“Look at the bright side, hotshot. Remember how you hated the numbness? Look at the colorful range of emotions you’re experiencing right now.”
I started to rub my thumb between my eyebrows, then stopped. “Think I wanna go back to numb.”
“No, you don’t.” Her soft smile disappeared and her eyes went serious. “You need to hear Grim out. I called you for a reason.”
She’d called me this time. And that counted for something.
“I’ll hear him out, but I can’t guarantee I won’t take a swing at him or slap cuffs on him.”
“Pretty sure a motorcycle club president willingly inviting an officer of the law into his lair is a big deal. Maybe leave the cuffs out of it,” she suggested.
We found the others in what was indeed a conference room seated at a long wood table with raw edges and black metal legs.
Grim sat at the head with two of his crew at his back, a short, tatted white guy with a barrel chest and a tall, willowy Black woman with bloodred nails.
Lina waved to the woman and she nodded back.
Knox and Lucian were seated across the table on Grim’s left. I claimed the seat to his right and pulled out the chair next to me for Lina.
“Let’s get this over with. Don’t much care for cops in my house,” Grim announced.
“It’s not exactly a picnic for me either,” I said.
Knox rolled his eyes and Lina kicked me under the table.
I gave her thigh a warning squeeze.
“What Nash means to say is he appreciates you sharing this information,” Lina said pointedly.
Grim grunted.
“What have you got?” I asked in a marginally more polite tone.
“My club has had an interest in Duncan Hugo’s operations since his split from the family business. We keep our ears to the ground and keep our eyes on wild cards like that little prick,” Grim began.
“Especially after he decided to set up a chop shop in your territory,” Knox pointed out.
Hugo’s original shop had been raided. He’d set up another in the warehouse where Naomi and Waylay had been taken and terrorized. Grim had been the one to alert Knox to where they were being held.
That combined with the fact that Lina was unharmed were the only two reasons my fist hadn’t met the man’s face.
“That was a factor,” Grim admitted. “Our interest remained even after he disappeared. And when a certain persistent insurance investigator made it clear she wanted to chat about Hugo, our interest deepened and we started listening to the whispers.”
I didn’t have the patience for this tap dance. “What whispers?”
Grim put his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers. “The official word on the street is that Duncan Hugo left town immediately after the shit that went down and bought a one-way ticket to Mexico.”
“What’s the unofficial word?” Lucian spoke for the first time.
“He never left. He went to ground and started thinking.”
“That would be a real stupid move on his part,” Knox said.
“The feds are still looking for him. I’ve got a U.S. marshal up my ass, and Hugo decides to stick around?” I prompted. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“It does if he’s planning to move on the family business,” Grim said.
Lucian and Knox exchanged glances.
Lina’s hand found mine on her leg and squeezed.
“You’re talking about an organized crime war. You can’t raise an army without someone running their mouth. No one makes moves that quiet,” I said.
“Not necessarily,” Lina cut in. All eyes went to her. “All Duncan needs to do is sit tight until the feds move on his father. He doesn’t need an army for that. Just a few loyal soldiers to ease the organization through the transition of power.”
Fuck.
“Do the feds know about this?” I asked.
“According to my sources, they’ve been receiving anonymous information that’s helping build their case against Anthony Hugo,” Lucian said.
I didn’t want to think about how Lucian had sources in the FBI.
“That information could be coming directly from Duncan,” Lina pointed out.
“Fuck.” My brother combed a hand through his beard. “So he feeds the feds info on Daddy’s operation, and when they lock him up, Duncan steps into Daddy’s shoes?”
“That’s what it looks like.”
“Why wouldn’t the feds just move on both assholes?” Knox asked.
“Anthony Hugo has been running a criminal empire for decades. His son is small change by comparison,” Grim pointed out.
“He tried to kill my brother,” Knox barked.
“The feds cut deals all the time to get what they want. They’ve had a hard-on for Hugo Senior for years. They’re not gonna waste resources on a small-time car thief, especially not if he’s a valuable enough asset to them,” Grim said.
“So what the hell am I supposed to do with this information?” I demanded.
“You’re supposed to watch your fuckin’ back,” Grim said. “If Duncan Hugo decides he wants to step in as head of the family, all he has to do is clean up a few loose ends.”
Lina’s leg tensed under my grip.
“And those would be?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
Grim looked at me. “You.” Then he shifted his gaze to my brother. “And your girls.”
Knox growled.
“Awful hard to build a case if none of the witnesses can talk,” Grim said ominously.
