“I didn’t mean to butt in,” Raul said. “Seems like she has a secret or two, that’s all. But then again, don’t we all?”
I frowned. I didn’t want to doubt Claire, but my curiosity got the better of me. If I was blinded by lust, I wanted someone else to point out what I couldn’t see.
“How do you know?” I asked. “That she has a secret?”
Raul shrugged. “It’s in the eyes. They move too much.”
I stared at the ground. Raul did have a habit of being a bit dramatic, but he was smart. I wasn’t about to dismiss him.
“I’m not saying she’s bad,” Raul said. “Truly, I like her. I just know you don’t trust easy.”
“That’s for sure,” I said. “And thanks, I’ll be careful.”
Raul nodded and drifted away. I turned back to Claire. The caution that had crept into my stomach while I talked to Raul evaporated in a millisecond as she tipped her head and made some sly comment to Kim.
Maybe Claire had secrets, but so did I. We all had baggage. But for the first time in my entire life, I was ready to take someone on despite any obstacles. I was ready to let her in.
If she hadn’t looked so happy, surrounded by the most important people in my life, I would have hesitated. If my brothers hadn’t liked her so much and made it clear that they thought she was right for me, I would have questioned everything.
But none of that had happened. Claire seemed to appreciate and respect the Outlaw Souls, and they adored her. I could already tell that Kim was plotting more ways to hang out with Claire while I could tell that all the guys thought she was cool. I would have been jealous if I didn’t know that a brother would never try and poach another Outlaw Soul’s girl.
For the first time in a long time, everything was making sense. I finally felt permission to be happy. Not just happy for one night. Not just happy when I was working or riding with my brothers but lonely the rest of the time. Truly and fully happy.
There was no doubt in my mind: I was falling for Claire.
Eighteen
Claire
Nothing made sense. Up was down, left was right. I felt like I was Alice, and I had just tumbled down the rabbit hole or through the looking glass or whatever other mess that silly girl got into.
The Outlaw Souls were a little rough around the edges, that was true. They liked to throw back some beers and tell raunchy jokes, and, as bikers, they clearly liked a little danger. But there was no older guy dragging around a manipulated teen. There was no drug activity or even references to drugs. Not even tension among the brothers. To be honest, it was all pretty wholesome.
Yes, they had dirty mouths, a lot of them had tattoos, and I heard one of the older guys mention his time in jail, but none of that was criminal or even out of the ordinary.
I had known that I wasn’t going to walk into that barbecue and find Zoe by the hot dogs, wailing about how her one-time cool and sophisticated boyfriend made her sell cocaine, but I also knew that fires give off smoke. You can’t hide everything. Illicit activity leaves signs, and I was pretty good at reading those signs. I had figured that there would be at least a whiff of smoke at the party.
But there was nothing. Every instinct in my body was screaming that the brothers of the Outlaw Souls were exactly what they said they were: hardscrabble guys from the wrong side of the track who took care of each other and stuck to a strong moral code of values. If anything, they were way more Robin Hood than Al Capone.
Hell, Moves had even ran through their most recent gigs. Security for big events and helping out on construction sites. A few of the guys did a lot of auto work at a shop I knew was the most trustworthy in La Playa. The Outlaw Souls, despite their name and leathers, were upstanding pillars of the community.
Or they were very, very good liars. I couldn’t deny that the possibility that they were duping me rubbed me the wrong way. I like to think that I can spot a liar.
I smiled at Pin and told him I was going to run to the restroom. I couldn’t imagine we were going to stay at the party much longer since it was already pretty late, so I wanted a moment alone to take stock.
I sat in the stall of the women’s restroom of Blue Dog Saloon and stared at the graffiti on the bathroom door. This case didn’t make sense. If this party had all the members of the Outlaw Souls, then not one of them was an obvious choice for coercion of a minor and/or drug-dealing.
Granted, I had not shared soul-searching conversation with every single brother, but I had met most of them and observed the rest. I knew criminals can wear the appearance of goodness like a second skin, but there still would have been signs. No one even had the physical traits of a drug-addict. None of them said creepy things or even looked at me cross-eyed.
I huffed in frustration as I yanked out my notebook and started to write down every name I could remember. I would research the members of the club later. Our office didn’t have access to all the files at the police department, but private investigators have ways. I could find out who had done time for what.
I tried to write fast since, if I was gone too long, Pin would come looking for me.
That was the other thorn in my side with this case. The more time I spent with Pin, the more I was inclined to believe that he didn’t deserve to be used like this. I didn’t want to use him. I just wanted to be with him. But that thought was way too scary to explore at the moment.
Maybe I should have stuck to the cheating husbands after all. At least I was good at that stuff. At least trailing scumbags didn’t make me question my every action.
Maybe I just wasn’t cut out for the big cases.
