And that was it.
I tucked the flash drive in my coat pocket and waited in the open front door, watching the gate at the end of the driveway. And while I did that and the minutes ticked by, I got scared.
Like, a lot scared.
I trusted Jesse. I trusted Jude.
But they were in fucking New Zealand right now.
I did not really know or trust any of the rest of Jude’s criminal biker organization, including his brother, Piper. Piper scared me, frankly. I mean, he was friendly enough at parties and stuff, but this was a whole other thing. Even Lex scared me, a little. In that I-really-don’t-know-where-his-priorities-lie sort of way.
And shit, what if Lex himself showed up?
I didn’t know yet if that would be a very bad thing.
But Lex wasn’t very high up in the club; at least, as far as I understood it. So why would Jude send him here to help me with some mysterious but very serious shit? Plus, Jude knew Lex was related to my husband. Yet I hadn’t reached out to Lex for help, even though he was in Vancouver right now, as far as I knew. I’d reached out to Jude, who was on the other side of the world.
Jude was smart.
This wasn’t his first rodeo.
I kept telling myself to just lean into that trust I had for Jude. And it got me through about thirty minutes. But then I started to really freak out.
It occurred to me that maybe I was being stupidly stubborn not talking to anyone else about this. So, I sent Jesse a text. I didn’t want to terrify him, but I just wanted to know that I’d be safe.
Me:You know the guy with the silver fangs? He’s connected to the mafia. Something’s going on and I’m worried. Your BFF is sending a car for me. Tell him to take care of me OK?
Then a vehicle rolled up outside the front gate. I locked up and headed out there, leaving my phone and purse behind like Jude told me to.
It was a dark SUV, a GMC; had to be maybe twenty years old and wasn’t exactly in mint condition. Nothing special. It didn’t scream “bikers inside.” It had tinted windows, though. I couldn’t see who was inside.
The driver got out and hurried around to open the back door for me. Some young guy, like barely twenty. Looked like a biker, definitely, but he wasn’t wearing any Kings stuff.
I slid into the backseat next to the man who was sitting there. Also a biker, but not Piper and not Lex. Other than the way he was dressed, he looked almost clean-cut. Close shave, shortish hair. Kinda familiar, like maybe I’d seen him at a party or something? Or maybe some Dirty show?
He wore a leather West Coast Kings vest and dark shades, and didn’t say anything when I got in. The name patch on his chest saidBlazer. There was another patch that saidSecretary, but I had no idea what that meant.
I couldn’t picture this guy typing sixty-five worlds per minute and answering phones.
All I knew was he was one of Jude’s club brothers. And Lex’s.
The other guy had gotten back into the driver’s seat and as we started driving, Blazer reached into the pocket of his vest and pulled out a phone. I noticed he had the word SHIT tattooed across his knuckles. And when I noticed the knuckles of his other hand were tattooed with the word HEAD, it all came together.
Jesus, what was I doing here?
Jude. I tried to focus on thoughts of Jude. Jude in a nice suit, as Jesse’s best man. Jude keeping Jesse and Katie safe. And of course, the fact that Jude had not, in the four years I’d known him, ever been a shit head.
Blazer called someone on the phone and said, “Got her here.”
Then he handed the phone to me. It wasn’t a smartphone. It was a black cell with actual buttons on it.
I took it and brought it to my ear. “Hello?”
“It’s me, darlin’,” Jude said. “Start talkin’.”
“Okay. I need to make this clear to you that this might involve one of your guys.” I glanced at Blazer, but he seemed to be looking out the window.
“Which one?” Jude asked.
