I hand the phone over and give her a reassuring nod. She takes it and then murmurs her goodbyes.
“That was stressful,” she says.
I draw a hand across my forehead, and it comes away dry. I wasn’t nervous talking to her dad even though he sounded like he would have no problem running me over with his truck. “It’s all good.”
Since I’m sticking around, I couldn’t lie to him. It is one thing to sneak around, but when he confronted me point-blank, I had to be truthful. He needs to be able to trust me, to take me at my word.
“I guess you can use the door at all times.”
“I probably will use the window for your dad’s peace of mind. If he sees me leave, he can tell himself you’re still his untouched princess.” I pull her down on my lap and give her a bruising kiss until the timer goes off.
“I’m still the same girl,” she grumbles as she crawls off my lap to go and pull the biscuits out of the oven.
Breakfast is awesome enough that Josie is able to put her dad out of her mind. She pulls out her notebook and lays it open so we can both look at the info map she’s drawn.
“There’s obviously a link between Cole and the gambling, so if we can find out who the bookie is, wouldn’t that lead us to the killer?”
“Maybe. Like I said, doing away with a paying customer, even a late paying one, doesn’t really make sense from a business standpoint. You might rough someone up but snuffing them out means no money.”
“At the very least, maybe it can help us track his last moments. What we really need is his cell phone.” She sits back and taps the end of her pen against her lips. “The person who killed him must have it.”
“Why don’t we see if any of his friends had a location tracker on him and can look it up?” I suggest.
“Do guys do that?” Josie asks in surprise.
“I’ve seen it. Depends on the friend crew. Might as well check it out. After that, I’ll run over to my club and find out who keeps the books for the other gang—I mean organizations.”
Josie rolls her eyes. “Please. If you can’t lie to my dad, you shouldn’t be able to lie to me.”
Chapter Eighteen
JOSIE
Iraise a brow when Bam’s hand comes down on my shoulder, halting me. “They could be naked,” he says. I glance to the boys’ locker room and then back to him.
“Maybe, but half the team is in there.” Basketball practice is over, and a few players had already headed out before I could catch them. The locker room is one of the only places I’ll be able to get them all together.
“Fine.” I’m surprised he agreed.
In the time I’ve come to know Bam, I’m noticing that he can be rather possessive and jealous over me. I’m not complaining. I find it adorable. It’s hard not to when he thinks I’m the most beautiful creature in the world and gives me killer orgasms. He should probably get his eyes checked, but no way I’m suggesting that. I find I like the way he sees me.
I lead the way into the locker room but don’t get far before a hand covers my eyes. “Clothes on,” Bam barks. I hear a few mumbles and shuffling around.
“You’re a dork,” I tell him.
“I’ll be whatever I have to so my girl doesn’t see other people’s dicks.”
I snort a laugh. “I still haven’t even seen yours,” I point out.
I pretty much passed out after he’d gone down on me. I’d started to run my hands up and down his chest, but he’d stopped me by rolling me to my side, where he then wrapped himself around me from behind. I didn’t fight it. I was out within seconds.
“You asking?” Bam removes his hand from over my eyes and comes to stand in front of me. I can feel the heat in my cheeks from his comment. “Fuck. Don’t want anyone seeing you like that.” He tries to cover my face again with his hand, but I bat it away.
“You have to deal with the consequences of your words.” I lick my lips, making his eyes drop there.
“Sup,” someone calls out, reminding me that I’m in the boys’ locker room. This isn’t my first time, though when I snuck in here before, it was empty. It smells of sweat and staleness. Gross.
Bam steps aside so that I can finally see. I realize that it was Shane that asked the question. He’s the co-captain of the team. There are a handful of boys still lingering around, Ryan, the captain, being one of them. He’s got his arms folded over his chest, not appearing happy that I’m back again wanting information. Too bad.
