He raps his knuckles once against the countertop. “Text me if anything changes. And I mean anything.” He turns to leave, giving me one final look over his shoulder. Then as silently as he came, Griffin slips out into the daylight and disappears.
A subtle tension creeps up my spine in his absence. With him here, I felt safe—now that he’s gone... I shake my head. Nope, Seriph. Don’t do that. I’m not getting attached. There is no universe where I let myself get used to the idea of him being around. Just because being near him is comfortable and reassuring does not mean I’ll let myself want it that way. He isn’t serious about helping me with this anyway. He will be around a few days until he thinks he’s done enough and then he will disappear. This kind of thing could take weeks, maybe months, to get the information I would need to take them all down at once. I turn the sign to ‘Open’ and return back to my stool with my tea and my book. I can't stop glancing at the door. Not for themen who came in yesterday. But for a tall, broad, gray-eyed man who I wish could see me like I see him.
~ Griffin Colson ~
I SET A BRUTAL PACE, the muscles flexing in my legs as I push myself through town. After taking my jeep back to my motel and changing clothes, I decide to jog to the Miller Hotel. I hope running can help alleviate some of the burning frustration I feel at not having my hands on the fuckers that left Seriph bleeding and used in that alley last night. Not to mention the added frustration of not having my hands on her.
As I run, my mind keeps going back to her. Her quaint little store, the tea smell, the candles. I keep my eyes trained to the street, a habit picked up from years of watching my own back. I work alone, live alone, survive... Well, alone. But now? Now, I can’t stop thinking about big ocean eyes and small trembling hands. She’s fucking scared in her own goddamn store. Her own home. The memory of her blood on the tiles, the bruises on her arms and thighs has my fists clenching hard enough to make my knuckles crack. My pace kicks up a notch like I can somehow outrun the blood boiling under my skin.
The Miller Hotel looms in front of me. The building is as high end as you can get in a small town off the interstate. Of course, it’s probably not up to the pretentious asshole’sstandards but he’s in hiding so he probably thinks he’s making do. Alexei Sokolov, arms dealer, human trafficker, and gun-for-hire organizer, a paranoid Russian mob piece of shit who fucked with the wrong crystal shop owner. He has no idea the reign of terror I plan to bring down on him and everyone who kisses his motherfucking toes.
I jog slowly up to the building and I stroll inside like a guest who got back from their morning run. Two guards lounge by the side entrance. Their posture is slack and their eyes glazed while playing on their phones. I guess even Sokolov has trouble finding good help these days. I take the stairs two at a time to the top floor. Before I open the door, I hear voices.
“That bitch better not be lying about letting us use her shop.”
“She’ll cooperate or we make her regret it again.”
The sound of dark laughter almost drowns out the next comment.
“Fuck, now I hope she doesn't.”
A white-hot rage ignites beneath my ribs. I have to stop myself from bursting through the stairwell door and beating them until the light leaves their eyes. I inhale through my nose, slow and controlled, until I can unclench my fingers. It would be bad to blow my cover before I’ve confirmed Sokolov is actually here. As much as I want to paint the walls with whoever threatened her again, I have to hold back. Not yet. I will make them pay but recon first.
They move away from the door and disappear into a room down the hall. I creep out of the stairwell and slip a card key from the housekeeper's cart. I dip inside the room across the hallway. Luckily for me, it’s unoccupied like I suspected. Sokolov wouldn’t want regular guests coming and going on the same floor as his suite. He rented the entire thing.
Through the peephole I watch men come and go, nondescript packages delivered, quiet exchanges of cash, girls ushered inand out. It only takes about an hour before I get what I came for. Sokolov steps into the hallway to bark orders down the hall in Russian. I try to get a read on which of these pricks were involved in what happened to Seriph yesterday. But it’s impossible to tell. They all look capable of that kind of violence. I’m going to have to come up with a different way to get names.
I wait for the hallway to clear and then I slip from the room, leaving the key card on the bed, exiting the building the same way I came in. Taking off at a jog, I head back downtown. Every instinct in me is screaming to go back and make them pay for putting her store on their list. I need more than a quick revenge kill though. I have to dismantle the entire operation. It’s the only way she will ever be safe. Which means I have to find the money. To cut the head off the snake, you first have to find out what feeds it. But in order for this to work, I have to make sure Sokolov and his guys never find out I exist.
I head to the diner I’ve been eating at a lot. Before I go in, I make a call. The other end picks up after one ring.
“Griffin, didn’t expect to hear from you for a while yet.” Jax’s voice is alert and teasing.
“Things turned up quicker than anticipated,” I grunt in reply. My gaze sweeps the sidewalk to make sure no one is close enough to overhear my conversation. “But there are some... complications.”
He perks up, pleasantries forgotten. “Define complications.”
My jaw works before I finally force out the words. “Sokolov’s crew put hands on someone, a civilian.” My voice drops. “A witchy store owner. She runs a place downtown. They’re pressurin’ her into launderin’ cash through her store.”
He’s silent for a minute. “Shit. You involved now?”
“Yeah.” I pause briefly before continuing. “I need Sokolov’s financials, safe houses, shipments, anything you can get. Thisisn’t about bringin’ him in anymore. I have to cut him out by the roots.”
Jax exhales. “Alright, I’ll get you his financials and anything else I come across. See if I can track where his money is coming from before it makes it to her.”
“There's more.” My tone drops lower and I shift further from the front of the building. “I need the identities of the pricks that went into her store last night. There were three of them. And dig up what you can on a Seriphina Joseph.”
“The woman?” he says with disbelief. “That’s a new one, Griff. You getting soft on me?”
“Shut up,” I growl back. “Just do the job I pay you for, yeah?”
“Yeah, yeah.” He holds back a laugh. “Stay frosty and keep that woman breathing.” He disconnects.
I slip my phone back into my pocket and walk inside the diner. The waitress sits me at a booth and I order coffee with a sandwich and some fries to go. My fingers twitch toward my phone. It’s early, she might not have that many customers yet. She hasn’t texted so I’m sure she’s fine. Stick to the plan, I tell myself. But I remember pale skin and shaking hands, and my phone is out of my pocket and shooting off a text before I can stop myself.
[]
Me:You alive over there Wildflower?
