“It’s no problem, Lacey. I hope you have a nice evening.” He let me head inside and then waved goodbye before taking off. I collapsed onto the couch, basking in the moment of meeting an extraordinarily handsome man, who I’d probably never be able to face again because he’d certainly seen me at my worst.
I thought about how willing he was to come to my rescue, and how nice he had been to me after we had just met. I lay there, outstretching my legs on the couch, realizing that this was probably the first time I’d ever felt a spark between me and another person. I felt my stomach flutter and my cheeks flush, and it was then that I began to see that there may have been a bit of chemistry between us.It doesn’t matter, though, because I doubt I’ll ever be seeing him again.There was something about him, though, that I couldn’t quite fathom.
Five
Moves
I was overseeing weapons shipments in the warehouse, making sure we weren’t missing any key pieces of inventory when I heard my phone buzz. I looked down at the number to see that it was Ryder, and I could feel it in my gut that he had news about what was happening to Chalupa. I answered, waiting for him to give me whatever information he could.
“Ryder.”
“Hey, Moves. I need to talk to you about Chalupa getting picked up by the LPPD. He’s probably already told you that he had nothing to do with that stolen car, and if he did we would definitely know about it. It’s all bullshit, man, and I think I know why.” My heart started beating in my chest at the thought of what could be causing all of this.
“What’s that, Ryder?”
“I think someone is trying to frame Ortega’s Autos as a chop shop.” There was an element of anger and urgency in Ryder’s voice. “Whoever is doing this has to have had enough inside information to lead the police down there. We need to find out what’s going on before another one of our own is picked up.”
“I’m working on it,” I said. “I think I can convince Hawk to help me get to the bottom of this. I should probably let you know ahead of time that Chalupa doesn’t have enough money on his own to hire a good attorney for his defense, so we’re all gonna vote on taking some club funds to get the job done.”
“We protect our own,” Ryder agreed.
“Yes, we do. Chalupa is going to be just fine as long as we’re able to keep him from going to jail. Hey, Ryder, do you think we’re dealing with a rival gang situation here? Do you think they’re trying to get the police on our tail so they could take us out for good?” I asked, wanting to hear his opinion before I jumped into an investigation.
“I think it’s definitely possible, but something seems different this time. It feels a lot more personal than I’d like to admit, but I’m keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity and I suggest you do the same,” he said.
“Be careful out there. I’ll get in touch if Hawk and I find anything,” I said before hanging up.
I sighed, trying to decide how best to go about this because we couldn’t risk getting the police back on our tail again. If they managed to get an inside look at our operations, it would only be a matter of time before everything we’d ever built came crumbling down.
I worried about Chalupa, about what was going to happen if we got him the right attorney but he still went to jail anyway. I knew very well how these things worked, and there was no telling whether the odds were really in our favor or not. I still needed to find out what kind of evidence they had on Chalupa to even arrest him in the first place, especially because he never so much as got near the car they’d supposedly picked him up for.
I thought for a moment about the possibility of someone tipping off the cops, getting them to take any course of action to infiltrate the Outlaw Souls on a hunch, and every thought only made me angrier. We’d already done so much to protect ourselves and this threat seemed to come at a time when we were still trying to find our footing again. I certainly was, and it was still a struggle every day to get up and remember that I had responsibilities to the Outlaw Souls. I couldn’t take a step back, not when everyone needed me. Now, Chalupa needed me, and I had to find a way to get him out of this mess.
I remembered overhearing at the party last night that the girl Lily and Bailey invited over was a prosecuting attorney. She’d seemed nice, and certainly wasn’t what I was expecting for that job title, but I had to believe that she was a different woman when she was at work. I wondered if she’d be able to shed some light on a good attorney for Chalupa—that is, if she wasn’t involved with all of this herself.
I did think it was quite strange that she was the only one among us that wasn’t part of the Outlaw Souls, or directly related to it. She was the only stranger in our den, and while it could just be that Lily and Bailey wanted to extend a polite invitation, there was something strange about that girl. Something that gave me a gut feeling that I’d probably see her again.
I have to focus. If what Ryder said is true, and that someone is trying to frame Ortega’s as a chop shop, then I don’t have very much time to figure out what’s going on. I need to call Hawk, and we need to start our search as quickly as possible.
I pulled out my phone again to give him a call, so we could finally discuss what we were going to do about our threat, all while trying to protect one of our own from facing any jail time.
I knew Chalupa was scared, and I knew the news of all of this had left everyone confused, but I was determined to put an end to these threats so we could go back to living our lives with a sense of normality. We were all left at a standstill, trying to make the best of a terrible situation, but we had to have each other’s backs.
We have no choice but to pull through for him.
Six
Lacey
My head was splitting with the most excruciating headache, and I truly felt like I was back in college again. I didn’t even know how I’d managed to drag myself back to work, but there I was mulling over my lukewarm coffee trying to focus on the paperwork I needed to get done. My mind kept going back to the night prior, to how much fun I’d had, and all the amazing people I’d met. Part of me felt fulfilled that I’d managed to step outside of my comfort zone, but the other part felt stressed and frustrated that I’d let the work pile up.
I felt a familiar flutter in my stomach every time I thought of the man I’d met, who had a nickname I’d never heard before.Moves, huh?I thought, completely drowning out any sounds in the office around me, but it wasn’t long before I had one of the receptionists hovering over my desk trying to get my attention.
“Lacey? Lacey?”
I snapped out of my daydream. Nobody had seen me with a hangover before. No wonder she sounded a little concerned.
“Yes, sorry. What is it?”
