If I hadn’t already seen a group of leather-clad men huddled in the corner booth, I would have turned around and walked right out. But I was too close to give up. I walked up to the bar and hopped on a stool. I didn’t keep my head down or try to be subtle. The bar was slow, so there was no use trying to hide.
“Haven’t seen you before, sweetheart,” the bartender said.
His voice was slick and oily, and he stared at my cleavage without shame. I gave him a small shrug and pouted my lips. As if I had a really rough day, and maybe I was slightly ashamed that I had a taste for bad guys.
“Just thought I’d try someplace new,” I said. “Is that a problem?”
He snorted. “No problem at all. What can I get you?”
“Gin and tonic, please,” I said. I was going to take one sip, that was all. Then I would pretend to get a text from an ex.
While the creep of a bartender went to make my drink, I glanced around the room. A few of the bikers had clocked me, but they didn’t seem that interested.
No one resembles Zoe. No Hector, either.
But there was one young woman. I recognized her at once. Grace Vasquez. The older girl who had played volleyball with Zoe before getting involved with a biker and running away a year before. She was eighteen by now, so not really my problem, but Zoe’s parents had suspected she had introduced her daughter to the bikers.
It was definitely her. She had bleached the ends of her dark hair, and her skin looked a lot more sallow than it had in her yearbook photo, but it was Grace alright. And she had been using. I would bet the contents of my wallet on it. I didn’t think she was high just that moment, but her addiction was evident in the dark circles beneath her eyes that no amount of concealer could hide and the puffiness of her cheeks. I knew if she were to roll up her sleeves, I would probably see puncture marks on her arms.
I looked back down at the table. I had what I had come for. Grace was here, which meant that Zoe was tied up with Las Balas. Hector too most likely. I would need backup to start trailing them, but now I knew where I could start.
The bartender placed the gin and tonic down, and I paid as fast as I could. I was pulling out my phone, all ready to do a small fake reaction to a booty call, when my neck prickled. There was someone behind me.
I told myself to remain calm and turned. It was a tall guy with messy brown hair. He gave me a smile that made my blood curdle. He wasn’t bad-looking, quite attractive even. But I could tell whatever he wanted with me wasn’t anything good.
“Hey Claire,” he said.
I froze. I flicked my eyes around the room and saw that now all the bikers were regarding me from their side of the room. The three other customers had their heads down while the bartender was still smirking on the other side of the bar.
He knew my name. It was time to run.
I scooted off the chair and turned for the door, but the man grabbed my arm. In a matter of seconds, he had ripped my purse over my head. I started breathing heavy. This was bad, really bad. No one in this bar was going to help me, and he had just acquired my phone, my wallet, and my taser. All I had was my pepper spray in my pocket, but if I whipped that out now, one of the other bikers was going to yank it off me before I could get to the door.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. How the hell did they know who I was?
“Oh no, you’re not leaving so soon,” the man said. “We’ve been wondering when you would show up here.”
I looked up and froze. He had a scar on his cheek. Liz had said Zoe’s older boyfriend had a scar. Fuck, this was bad. This was really bad.
He reached up and placed a finger in the middle of my forehead, where my brow was creased. I flinched away, but he only smiled.
“Oh Claire, we’ve heard all about you,” he said. “Sniffing around asking questions about Zoe and Hector.”
“How do you know my name?” I snapped.
My voice came out somewhat steady, much to my relief. I was desperate to know how they knew me. It was also dawning on me that the only way I was getting out of this was by keeping them calm and waiting for an opportunity.
“You really thought you could run around asking Hector’s old friends about himandstart fucking an Outlaw Soul, and we wouldn’t notice?” he asked. “How dumb do you think we are?”
My heart sank. He knew a lot. Hector must have still been in contact with one of his stupid friends who was probably about to run away to deal drugs as well.
“By the way,” the man said, his hand still gripping my arm as he pulled me across the room. “I was impressed by how quickly you hopped in bed with Pin, he’s notoriously hard to get.”
The whole time his voice remained low and steady, almost as if he was commenting on nothing more serious than the weather, but I wasn’t fooled. This man was a predator. He opened a back door and dragged me through, his buddies following behind. We entered a small and dingy room. I was in so much trouble.
The man let me go and pointed at a chair. I sat down. Not like I had a chance of fighting them off. Besides, they needed to think I was terrified. I let my fear show on my face. If they thought I had given up, they would be more lax.
“I am sorry you had to suck Pin’s dick, and it was all for nothing,” he said.
