Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 76881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Poe nods. He looks fucking beat. “Listen to them. If your uncle’s smart, he’s gonna try and hide the fact that he lost the money for as long as possible, so whoever gave it to him might not know yet. That’s the best possible scenario. Worst case, they know and they have eyes on the house.”
“Alright, I get it. I’m a liability. Go on.” She sits down on the grass under a tree. “But I’m going to have to talk to him sooner or later, and what am I supposed to do in the meantime? Move into your club?”
Crank grins. “Exactly.”
I squat down on my heels and put my hands on her knees. “I know today’s been a lot to take in, and you’re feeling useless right now, but trust us to do the job you hired us to do. Go with Poe. He’ll make sure you have a safe place to get cleaned up and sleep. We’ll meet you there in the morning.”
Crank steps over and pushes me out of the way. “You owe me something, by the way. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”
Paige looks confused. “Huh?”
“They.” Crank points at me and Poe. “Got kissed earlier. I was too far away to get in on the fun so I’m here to collect now before I'm stuck on fucking observation duty all night.”
She blushes. “It was just a tiny peck.”
“Doesn’t matter. I saw. Pay up.”
Paige shakes her head, but there's a smile fighting to get out. “Fine.”
She leans in to give him a little peck on the cheek, but he turns his head and catches her mouth on his. His hand slides up her neck and into her hair as he kisses her so hard it makes my mouth water. She puts her hands on his chest and makes a little noise in her throat, but doesn't push him away.
Finally, Crank pulls back, looking very satisfied with himself. “I had to wait, so it seemed fair to charge interest.”
“Is this a biker thing?” she asks. “Some kind of superstition?”
“N—” Poe starts to answer.
I cut him off. “It’s tradition. Now get out of here. It’ll be easier for us to work if we know you’re safe. Don't fuck around. Take her straight to the club, got it? Anything else is up to you guys. We’re gonna go see how good old uncle Walter is doing.” I throw my leg over my bike and start it. “See ya there.”
Paige climbs up behind Poe and wraps her arms around him, pressing herself up against his back. Crank and I watch them go before starting in the other direction.
“Tradition?” he asks with a laugh. “Not that I’m gonna argue, but making shit up is more my thing.”
I shrug. Truth is, I have no idea why I said that giving a kiss for luck was a tradition. Maybe I just want to make sure I get another shot at those lips without being blindsided by it.
When we get to the house, it's dark. Not even a fucking nightlight. We drive past slowly. “According to Paige, he’s home every night.”
“In bed already?” Crank looks it up and down. “It’s a little early, but I suppose some people are like that.”
It’s a cookie cutter middle class neighborhood from before the era of McMansions. The houses are decently spaced apart, but not so far that they can’t yell to each other from their driveways. Walter’s house isn’t the only one that’s dark, but most people still have at least a few lights on and there’s the blue flickering of a TV in quite a few windows.
“Garbage bin is out,” I point out. It’s the only house on the street where a massive blue plastic bin is still standing at the curb.
“Fuck.” Crank rubs his head. “You want to check it out? If the mob's coming down on him, he might've decided to get the fuck outta Dodge.”
“Yeah. He could've run and he's waiting to see if the bounty goes anywhere. I’m going to call the number he listed and see what happens.” I pull out my phone.
“And if he answers?”
“I’ll tell him we located the girl and see how he reacts.”
It goes straight to voicemail. “You've reached Walter Holland. Leave your name, number, and the reason you called. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.” No nonsense, dryer than a throat in the desert. That's fine. We’re not here to make friends.
“Name's Savage. My team’s found your girl. It’ll take a couple days to get her back to you, but imagine our surprise when we found she overpacked for her trip. This luggage looks awfully rich for a junkie. I bet you’re interested in getting it back. Call me if you want to make sure the whole package arrives safe and sound.” I leave my number and hang up. “We'll see what happens.”