It also meant she was in trouble.
“I told her to stay out of it,” I hissed, even as I grabbed my helmet from Moves and headed for the door.
“Look, I don’t know what went down between you two,” Kim said. “But the way I see it, you just let your woman wander into the lion’s den unprotected.”
We all headed to the door. Kim could lecture me all she wanted, but we knew we were going to move as a unit. We had no choice.
“Hey, Kim, back off,” Moves said. “He’s hurting.”
“Whatever,” Kim snapped. “All I know is Claire had my back, now I need to have hers.”
We jumped onto our bikes and were roaring across town. We had to get to Fisherman’s Wharf before something bad happened. Although if Claire hadn’t texted Veronica back, something bad might have already happened. Claire had explained how she and Veronica had a system during cases. They always told each other where they were and agreed to stay in constant contact.
I revved my engine and urged my bike to go faster. I didn’t know why Claire had gone to Fisherman’s Wharf. She must have been telling the truth when she said that she no longer suspected Outlaw Souls. Then she must have done some more digging and put two and two together. Somehow she had figured out their headquarters. And, of course, she had waltzed right in. Because she was Claire, and she would do whatever it took to solve a case.
And I had only pushed her in that direction when I accused her of being bad at her job. When I had refused to listen to her. I should have at least listened. She had hurt me, and I knew what she had done was wrong, but I hadn’t been faking anything. My feelings for her were real, and I couldn’t stop caring about her. So I should have made sure she was ok.
But now I could pay the ultimate price.
Las Balas were unpredictable. They were led by Wreck, a biker with a dark past and a cruel sense of humor. If they somehow figured out who Claire was, they would be ruthless.
They must have figured it out. That was the only explanation for why she had not responded to Veronica’s messages.
I ground my teeth underneath my helmet as we sped closer and closer to Fisherman’s Wharf. I didn’t have the time to dwell over what had happened this morning. I could only think about one thing, and it was making sure Claire was safe.
And if she wasn’t, I was going to tear Las Balas limb from limb until she was.
Twenty-Six
Claire
“I wanna make a deal,” I said.
Wreck had returned to the back room after about twenty minutes. I didn’t know what he had been doing, but I prayed he hadn’t reached out to Pin yet.
Pin was good. Too good for me, that was for sure. No matter how much Pin hated me, he wouldn’t stand by if he knew Las Balas had me. He would do the honorable thing, no matter the cost. I couldn’t live with that. So I had to negotiate myself out of this before Pin was sucked into the mess.
Wreck raised his brow and looked down at where I sat, arms and legs crossed. “Honey, you don’t exactly have a winning hand right now.”
I bit back a retort. If he called me “honey” or “sweetheart” one more time, I was going to whip out my mace. “I have information on Outlaw Souls. And you’re more likely to get it from me than from Pin.”
Wreck paused. He grabbed a chair and dragged it across the floor until it was right across from me. He had three other bikers in the room, all men. Grace Vasquez had vanished.
Wreck sat down and leaned forward, his knees almost touching mine. I kept eye contact with him. I didn’t need him to bite on this deal. I just needed him to listen long enough for Veronica to call in the cavalry. It had been long enough, she would be concerned. I just hoped she didn’t show up alone. This situation required back-up.
“Pin pretty much hates me,” I said with a shrug. “He figured out I was using him, although he doesn’t know the details of the case.”
“That’s a funny turn of events,” Wreck said. “Because I heard from my sources that he was positively smitten with you.”
I frowned. How much did Wreck know? What had he seen? And who were his sources? If I got out of this, I would have to let Outlaw Souls know they had a mole.
Instead of letting my questions show on my face, I gave Wreck a wry smile. “After barely a week? I’m good, but I’m not that good.”
Wreck tipped back his head and laughed. The sound made my stomach curdle, but I had to play along. I had to make him believe that I didn’t care about Pin or the Outlaw Souls at all. I was just out for myself.
“So tell me, sweetheart,” Wreck said. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
I shrugged and studied my fingernails. I needed to take my time with this discussion, but not dilly-dally so much as to make Wreck suspicious. He had my phone after all. Texts from Veronica wouldn’t show on my lock screen, but if he decided to make me log in so he could double-check, I was in trouble. He could make me text a fake message saying I was fine.
