It was because of Moves that I’d started to change my mind, and for a moment he’d made me believe that there was something more to him than just being a biker. I’d heard stories and rumors all my life about how they operated, about their disregard for basic human connections, and I was starting to think that Moves was just another one of them. I wondered what he really wanted to get out of life, and for a moment I began to think that there was a possibility he just didn’t know how to face his emotions like the rest of us did.
I wanted to believe that there was a part of him that felt something other than my body last night, that there was a part of him that cared for me, but at this point, I had a feeling that was just wishful thinking.
I headed out into the kitchen to fix myself something to eat, and I had the house to myself for a little while until Mona got home from work. I was supposed to be out finding incriminating evidence, but after last night I just couldn’t seem to think straight anymore. It was all too much for me to handle, and I was starting to think that maybe it was time I threw in the towel on this one.
The day passed by incredibly quickly, and it wasn’t long before I heard the front door unlock, revealing a giddy Mona, who wore the happiest expression on her face until she got one good look at how I was doing. She stopped right in her tracks, tossing her things onto the floor and rushed over to me to ask what was wrong.
“Lacey? Are you okay?” she asked, but she knew the answer to that question. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been this distraught, and it made me feel terrible that I couldn’t pull it together even though I knew I should’ve known better.
“I slept with Moves, Mona.”
“Oh, I knew that you two had quite the connection, but I didn’t think…”
“And when I woke up this morning, he was gone. He didn’t tell me that he was leaving, and I’m starting to think that I wasn’t even owed an explanation, but I guess that’s what I deserve for getting involved with someone like him.” I glanced down at the floor while Mona threw her hands around me, pulling me in for a tight embrace to make me feel a little better.
“I am going to find him, and I’m going to kill him for this,” she said.
“No, it’s my fault. I should’ve known we were just hooking up, but there was something about all of it that felt different, that made me believe even if just for a second that he actually cared about me,” I confessed, and she nodded.
“Let me get in touch with Hawk and see what he can do,” she said, and I wanted to stop her, but I knew she was going to do everything in her power to crack down on Moves for hurting me, even if I should’ve been more aware of what was going on.
My heart hurt more than it had in a very long time, and I didn’t know how to make any of it feel better.
I spent the afternoon curled up on the couch, trying to calm my nerves while Mona brought me over a cup of tea. She stayed with me to watch a movie so I could try to get my mind off of things, but it didn’t help. I felt like a failure in both my budding relationship and my job. I didn’t know how I was going to face the DA without so much as a sliver of evidence that could tie Ortega’s to the chop shop allegations, and I was going to have to watch while he told me exactly why he put me on the job, possibly firing me for not being able to do the one thing he asked of me.
I was feeling so down about everything that happened, but it felt good to let it out for a little while. Mona dragged me to bed, tossing the covers over my legs so I could try to get some sleep, and I thanked her for always being there for me. There wasn’t a moment that I didn’t appreciate having her around, and it was now that I realized that I needed her more than ever.
I was just about to drift off to sleep when I heard my cell phone buzz on my nightstand. I truly wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, so I let it ring, waiting for it to cut out, but the minute it did, it started to ring again. I realized that if I didn’t answer, whoever was calling just wasn’t going to give up, so I looked at the number. I didn’t recognize it, but I answered anyway.
“Hello?”
“Lacey? This is Moves,” he said, and just like that my heart sank into my stomach.
“What do you want?” I asked, trying to lessen my firm tone, but I just couldn’t help myself.
“I know that I’m probably the last person that you want to hear from right now, but there’s something I need to show you, and it’s urgent. I’m going to need you to meet me at the pier,” he said, and he sounded serious, but I really wasn’t in the mood to engage with any of this, especially after leaving me at the pier alone that very morning.
“I think that whatever it is, Moves, you’re probably fully capable of handling it on your own. Okay? I don’t want to meet you at the pier when that was the very place I had to leave from this morning, all alone I might add,” I said, sounding as bitter as I felt, and I could tell that he was desperate because he was still hanging on.
It was at that moment that I realized whatever he was going to tell me was of the utmost importance, and if I didn’t meet him, I was probably never going to know what he had to say.
“Lacey, please. I know that I messed things up between us, but I promise that I will explain everything once you get here. This unfortunately isn’t about us, and I’m going to need you to trust me on this,” he said, and I could hear it in his voice that he was being genuine. I tossed the covers from my legs, pulling out a few pieces of clothes to change into, and decided that there was no better time than the present to figure out what he was talking about.
“Fine, I’ll be there.”
I hoped that I wasn’t going to regret meeting up with Moves, especially knowing that he was going to try to fix things any way he knew how, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear any of those words from him. I didn’t know what I wanted or if I even cared for him. I wished he could have been more like Hawk.
I decided not to hold out hope, because there was a chance that he wasn’t going to tell me what I wanted to hear anyway.
Twenty-Five
Moves
Can I trust her with this? How will I know for sure if this is going to be the right thing to do? What if I show her this video and she goes running back to the DA to tell him what’s been going on? I know she’s not going to do that, but the thought still scares me, especially after I hurt her so badly.
I was trying to tell myself that everything was going to be okay, that we were finally closer to getting to the bottom of this, but we needed someone on the inside that would be able to help us.
The DA had El Diablo doing anything he asked, and the thought of that made me sick, because after everything we’d done to avoid the LPPD over the years, they came knocking on our door to take one of ours away on account of a bribe. That was the dirtiest thing I’d ever heard, and I wanted nothing more than to prove to everyone that we weren’t the ones that deserved to be behind bars right now. We deserved better than that, and I could only hope that Lacey was going to help us expose the DA for being nothing more than a dirty cop with a superiority complex.
