“Whoever’s selling that shit at Leather & Chrome is a fucking ghost.” He shook his head, pointing at his bike.
“Where are we going?” I was already backtracking to my own bike, revving the engine to life.
Rocky stopped beside me and smiled. “We’re going to see Asian Mike.” He laughed at the annoyed growl I let out. “Come on, he’s not so bad.”
“He’s a know-it-all asshole.” And he was the best black market chemist in all of Nevada.
“That’s exactly what we need right now. Let’s go.”
Asian Mike lived over in Henderson, which was around thirty minutes away, and I enjoyed the ride even though my thoughts were full of a curly-haired Latina with a big mouth and a bigger heart, at least where my daughter was concerned. The fucking woman stirred something in me I didn’t want to think about too closely but fuck me I didn’t want to stop feeling it either.
We stopped in a residential neighborhood with well-manicured lawns and discarded toys on porches and driveways. “He liveshere?”
“Yeah. Around back.”
I followed Rocky around the side of the house to a free-standing building that looked like a really small house. The dooropened and Asian Mike smiled. “Hey man, come on in.” He ran a hand through his shoulder-length black hair and stepped back.
“This place is a lot bigger than it looks.”
Mike laughed. “This is just the customer area. The lab takes up most of the space.” He pointed to the brown leather stools. “I’m still running tests on the sample you dropped off,” he said to Rocky, “but I can tell you without a doubt that shit is spiked. On purpose.”
“Fuck, I was worried about that.”
My brows knitted. “You were?”
Rocky nodded. “Too many ODs at once for it to be coincidence. That’s why we can’t find the fuckers.” He scrubbed a hand down his face and groaned. “What’s it spiked with?”
Asian Mike’s expression said it before his mouth did. “Fentanyl.”
“Fuck.” The expletive fell from my lips and Rocky’s at the same time.
“Yeah.” He nodded solemnly. “I’m working now to see whose coke it’s being cut into. That ought to help you find out who’s targeting you.”
Rocky slid an envelope of cash across the table and stood. “Thanks, man. Let us know what you find.”
“You’ll know as soon as I do,” he promised.
I sighed heavily as we made our way back to the bikes. “So this isn’t just some asshole selling on our territory. We were chosen on purpose.”
Rocky nodded. “Now we just have to figure out why.”
I scoffed. “Does it matter?”
“Fuck yeah, it does. If we know why then we know who and we can make them pay.”
“Yeah.” I nodded slowly and got back on my bike. The hot sun felt good on my back as the tires ate up the road. We didn’t head back to the clubhouse immediately, instead stopping to pick up cash at other MC businesses first.
***
Night had fallen by the time we got back to the clubhouse, and I knew I needed to get home to Zoya.
The house was quiet. I kicked off my boots and spotted a drawing on the coffee table. The drawing came into focus and I couldn’t help but smile when I took in the details. There were two figures holding hands, a large man with drawings on his arms and a black vest—me—and a little girl decked out in head to toe pink and purple. On the edge of the page was another figure, with dark curly hair and a shirt the same color as the sun at the top of the page.
Something twisted in my gut at the drawing. Zoya was growing attached to Eliana and it had only been a week, but I couldn’t deny the progress she was making even if she still didn’t talk much.
When I made my way upstairs, I found Zoya asleep in bed and Eliana was curled up in the corner on the small purple beanbag chair, e-reader perched on her lap.
“Hey.”
