“Anything for you, babe.”Dammit. Why does he have to be so accommodating?
“Wait, before you agree, I need you to understand. Nothing has changed. We’re friends, okay?” I feel bad for taking advantage of him but if I don’t lay my hands on cash soon, I’ll be living on the streets.
My ex sighs, sounding much like the train whistle in the background. “It’s not okay, but I’ll still do you the favor. What do you need?”
“Let me start at the beginning.” As best I can, I explain the reward, the murder, and my involvement. “The last place Chandler was seen alive was in Angel’s, outside Atlantic City.
“I know the place. What the hell was he doing there?”
“That’s what I need to find out.”
“Works for me. I’ll pick you up at nine. Come dressed to ride.” After he hangs up, I Google the distance from Brooklyn to the bar. By my calculation, we’ll arrive by eleven, at worst midnight.
Later, waiting at the curb in front of my apartment building, I turn off my phone and take out the SIM card. I don’t need Dash worrying about me. I’ve been doing fine without him for years.
While I ponder why men are so difficult, Kade arrives. I wave and hop on. Then, he weaves through the stop and go traffic until we hit the parkway.
Looking back, he shouts, “We’re being followed.”
As he makes his own lane, I hold on for my dear life, wrap my arms around his waist, and wonder which of my new enemies is after me. When he slows, I figure we’re safe, and try to enjoy the ride.
We make a pit stop a mile past the Driscoll bridge and by the time we hit Angel’s, my butt is sound asleep. Swinging one numb leg over the seat, then the other, I hop until the feeling returns to my lower extremities.
Kade laughs. “You need to spend more time on my bike… as a friend, I mean.”
Ignoring the heat in his eyes, I point to the door. “Let’s do this.”
With his hand on my butt, he keeps me close as we walk in the bar. Covered in leather, my ex is every woman’s wet dream. My girly parts, however, yawn ho-hum.
“What’ll you have?” The same pierced, bearded man as last time, stands in front of the amber bottles, eyeing Kade’s club badges.
“Two local ales, on tap.” As two foamy glasses are placed on the sticky bar, the club’s boss plods across the scratched, stained, plank floor.
The bikers grip each other’s forearms, then the one I invited scowls. “I heard what she did, and I’ve set her straight. It won’t happen again. Say it, stupid. Apologize to Grizz.”
I’m about to tell the two bikers to shove it where the sun don’t shine until I’m kicked under the table.
“Do it.” Pinching my chin, Kade lifts my head and turns it toward the old fart who wanted sex last week, simply because Sam and I had the audacity to walk into his fine establishment.
“I’m sorry.”Motherfucking douchebag.
The big dude eyes me up and down. “You’re not to come in here again without your man, understood?”
And this is why I can never be in the life. As I unclench my jaw, Grizz slaps my butt and laughs. “She is feisty. I can see why you keep her around.”
Kade shrugs. “Whatever.” He hands the large man his phone, the screen opened to the widow’s reward webpage.
“Yeah, I seen this. Way too many outsiders coming in and asking about it. They’re ruining the neighborhood, if you get my drift.” Watching my reaction, the obnoxious biker reaches down his pants and scratches his balls.
“Can you believe she thought she could solve the guy’s murder and collect the fee?” Kade’s laugh sounds too fucking real and the sting of it hits me like a blast of artic air.
“Got to piss. Be right back.” Swallowing back words that could get me killed, I make a beeline for the only close refuge, the ladies room.
An older woman follows and once the door swings closed, she opens her purse and begins the process of reapplying her makeup. “Where you from, honey?”
“Small town. Upstate New York. You probably never heard of it.” I study her out of the corner of my eyes.
Her blond hair’s graying at the roots and her mouth has lines from years of smoking. “Your old man is hot. I don’t suppose he’s got a brother?”
