I frowned. “I think you’re getting confused with apples there.”
“I swear to God.”
A ghost of a smile appeared when he pinned me with an annoyed glare. “You’re way off base, man. She’s blonde, doesn’t wear glasses, and I came across her because she was part of an underground fighting ring.”
Jason looked up at the ceiling. “Great. There goes my dreams of you stumbling upon some nice, normal woman who would tame you. Of course you pick a bloodthirsty criminal instead.”
“At least she’s in good company,” I said bitterly.
Jason crossed towards me in a few quick steps and got right in my face. “Don't act like you're just some common criminal. You're more than that.”
“Why? Because I'm a criminal with good connections?” A humorless laugh ripped from my chest. “Creed made my record disappear, but I am what I am.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Then it sounds like she's perfect for you. Mind explaining the pity party?”
“She stole the watches.” That was all I needed to say. He knew what those meant to me.
Jason pulled a switchblade from his pocket and popped the blade. “Point me her way. I'll cut her and get them back for you.”
I was off the chair in a heartbeat, war surging inside my veins. “You'll do no such thing. She's my problem and mine alone.”
“One of you should probably tell her that,” said a new voice.
Jason jumped a foot in the air while my eyes sliced to the giant with dirty-blonde hair leaning in the open doorway. How the hell had both of us missed his big ass coming into the building?
His brown eyes were cold and flat, and the leather jacket he wore was stretched tight around his considerable bulk. There weren’t many guys around this area bigger than me, so even if I hadn’t known who I was looking at—which I did, thanks to pictures Creed had provided when I joined on—I sure as shit would’ve known by his stature alone.
“Texas,” I said, voice neutral.
Were there guidelines for this?
From everything Creed had said, his former right hand was pretty much retired at this point. He had a wife, a baby, and little interest in being involved with club life except when it was necessary.
Which begged the question: why was it suddenly necessary for him to be here?
Hell, he wasn’t supposed to know I existed.
My eyes narrowed. “You know about me?”
He stood to his full height and stepped into the room. A toothpick appeared from somewhere and he popped it in his mouth. “Nah,” he rumbled. “I just like to drop by random fuckin’ offices in the middle of the fuckin’ day. Steal a few paperclips and shit here and there. Keeps me young.”
Jason snapped his fingers suddenly. “Oh, I’ve got this. You’re the one they call the Hunter, right? Because you always find your prey?”
Texas blinked, looking incredibly unamused. “Mama drop you on your head one too many times? Monster here already said my name. Either you think you’re funny, or you’re as dumb as that suit makes you look.”
The flinch that went through Jason was barely visible. It was enough.
I stepped in front of him and stared down the angry biker.
“Something we can do for you?” My mind caught up to his earlier words. “Back up. You said something about a ‘her.’”
He swiveled his toothpick between his lips. “That kiddie pool shit Creed told you to handle.”
“The fight club? It’s been handled.”
“If it’s handled, then why is the chick we had intel on runnin’ around town causin’ trouble?”
“What kind of trouble?”
“The kind that can get her killed.”
My fists clenched, arms trembling. Somehow, I kept my voice level. One of the most difficult things I had done all day. “You’ve seen her?”
He was quiet for a moment, completely still. The tension that knotted my shoulder blades reminded me of being in someone’s crosshairs. Considering the Sinner before me was known for putting holes in things at long range, that was not a good feeling.
“No,” Texas said finally. “Lizzy ran into her.”
I was about to breathe a sigh of relief. Except he wasn’t done.
“And when I say ran into her,” he continued, “I mean that literally. Josie tried to steal her purse, but my woman isn’t one to be taken lightly. She held onto it. Ended up with a bloody knee to show for the trouble.”
I had the good sense to keep my fucking mouth shut.
A skinned knee was incredibly minor as far as injuries go. The thing was, we both knew this was about more than that.
One thing could be said about small towns that would always either be a blessing or a curse. People knew each other. That applied doubly so for the Sinners or anyone attached to them.
Such as their wives.
Fucking hell, pussycat. What are you doing?
This wasn’t something I could just sweep under the rug and apologize for. Josie’s actions would be seen as an insult against the Sinners as a whole.
This was the result of the lives we led.
We couldn’t let people slight us without making sure they paid the price.
Through gritted teeth, I managed, “I’m sure there was a misunderstanding somewhere.”
“The only misunderstanding,” Texas said, drawing out the word with a mocking sneer, “is that Creed blew a shit-load of resources to get your ass out of prison, and you managed to fuck up the only thing he’s ever asked you to actually do.”
Fire roiled in my gut, licking at the insides of my ribs. “The fighting ring is over with. Josie isn’t—”
“The job isn’t done until the people who might try and start the same shit up again are either six feet under or otherwise disposed of. Where are their bodies, Monster?”
My mouth opened and closed. I had no defense because he was right. Sending rats scurrying wasn’t good enough. Not when they would eventually regroup and come out of the woodwork to be a pain in the ass another day. Bruno was only dead because he’d been a direct threat to Josie’s life.
When I should’ve been cutting the other heads off the snake, I was playing house with a woman who stole from me.
I took a deep breath in and let it out, harnessing the fire in my veins and setting it loose on the mental snapshot of Josie I had in my mind.
There were so many questions unanswered. Like…why was she committing petty crimes when she’d already nabbed a small fortune?
She could’ve sold one of those watches and been set for long enough I would never find her. It didn’t make sense, but making sense no longer mattered.
Texas reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box of toothpicks, rattling the case. “Show me your hands, palms up.”
Without question, I did as I was ordered. There was no reason to object. He was right, I was wrong, and pretending otherwise would be a betrayal to the man I owed my life to.
Texas removed two toothpicks and held them up to his face, studying them carefully.
Jason cleared his throat, speaking for the first time since the insult. “What’s going on?”
We both ignored him. Texas wasn’t explaining shit. He didn’t need to either. From the moment he stopped conversing and started ordering, this became a Sinner’s matter.
Just like I told Josie, they were my family.
Their people were my people.
I would deal with threats lobbied against any of them with the same brutal efficiency I would exact on someone who fucked with Jason.
Sharp and sudden, Texas stabbed one palm with a toothpick before doing the same to the other. I bit my tongue to keep from making a sound, and when he let go of my hands, I let them hover there, watching the beads of red swell.
“This is my promise to you,” the other Sinner said, already walking away. He paused at the door and tossed a look over his shoulder. “You have forty-eight hours to get your shit in order. The woman. The fight club leftovers. Whate
ver else you might have going on, I honestly don’t give a fuck. This is now your priority. We’ve got enough on our plates without sending others to deal with this. See it done. Because if those forty-eight hours pass and you haven’t made any progress?” He nodded to the toothpicks in my hands. “Those become real stakes. I will crucify your ass right on the sign for the city limits, tattoo and all. You’ll be a modern-day scarecrow, left to rot and die.”
After delivering that pleasant bit of news, he left, taking the storm he’d brought with him. The dread remained firmly in place. As did my hesitation when it came to what to do about Josie.
I curled my fingers over the wood in my palms, pressing them deeper. The pain was supposed to clear my mind. All I managed to do was hiss between my teeth before letting go.
Jason disappeared into the hall and came back a second later with rubbing alcohol and bandages. “He wasn’t serious, right? The Sinners never turn on their own.”
I grunted as he patched me up. “Most people that are allowed to join don’t have a conflict of interest either.”
“You can’t help her now,” he said. “I’m sorry, but it sounds like it’s time to cut your losses. Give up on her. There’ll be someone else.”
“Give up on her,” I echoed, meeting his eyes. “The same way you gave up on showing me the ropes of real estate because I had a record—even if no one could find it?”
Jason finished tying the bandages around my hands and stepped back. “That’s not the same.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “You can’t help people who don’t want to be helped. All you can do is watch them drown or risk being pulled down with them.”
Maybe I would rather drown than lose her.
The thought came unbidden. I smothered it immediately.
“Get her out of town,” he suggested. “Put some distance between the two of you while you deal with the other loose ends. That’ll at least get the Sinners off your back. Then you can go from there.”
I nodded, the beginnings of a plan taking shape. “That’s better than nothing. Sometimes, I don’t know what I would do without you, man.”
Jason glanced down, admiring my polished loafers. “Well...you would still be wearing those busted ass bent-over shoes for one thing.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Monster
Finding Josie a second time was much harder than it was the first.
And seeing as how the first had been a modern-day heroic journey, complete with pointless puzzles and fire breathing drunks that milled around the trailer park, this shit was becoming a total and complete pain in my ass.
The thing that was extra infuriating was that she was leaving an obvious trail of breadcrumbs around town.
Didn’t she remember that there were motherfuckers who wanted her dead? Yet Lizzy had only been the first victim of Josie’s sloppy behavior. That same rashness had continued for the last couple of days, except she’d grown increasingly bold as time passed.
As I strolled the streets downtown, I followed her path by looking for people who seemed the most disheveled and annoyed. Mostly women and older men who had more money than courtesy. Pickpocketing was something she’d apparently gotten very good at, because the vast majority of people I stopped and questioned only vaguely remembered what she looked like.
The main thing that stuck out in their minds was that after she bumped into them, they’d found their wallets mysteriously missing.
What the hell are you up to, pussycat? I wondered, strolling past an empty jewelry shop.
Wait.
Empty?
I paused right there on the street, ignoring the muttering of people who had to flow around me. This shop was always doing business, especially this close to the holidays.
Squinting through the frosted glass, I spotted someone stationed on the customer side of the counter. Even with the hoodie pulled over her head, I recognized Josie instantly. Her ass in the tight jeans she was wearing was only one giveaway. Her threatening stance was the rest.
Now that I’d found her, I was content to watch for a moment.
She shifted on her feet as the older man behind the counter came into view. He was waving his hands animatedly, looking flustered and pissed-off. When the physical cues passing between them grew more aggressive, I decided I didn’t have time to play the voyeur after all.
Or decide what the hell I was going to do with her once we were face to face again.
What she obviously didn’t know was that Mr. Hart kept a double-barreled shotgun beneath the glass case.
He hadn’t been robbed in years. Not since the Sinners took over and put this town under our protection. But old habits die hard. Just like Josie would if she took buckshot straight to the chest.
The possibility sent a spike of fear into my veins, turning my blood to ice.
Kicking my ass into gear, I opened the door slowly and stepped inside. The interior looked like every other jewelry shop on the planet. Glass cases and pedestals filled with lights that made the rings and necklaces inside them sparkle brilliantly.
Except the peaceful atmosphere that should’ve been in place was ruined by the raised voices.
“Look here, old man,” Josie was saying, her tongue a sharp blade of intent. “I don’t want any trouble, but I’m not going to tell you again. Empty the register.”
Mr. Hart puffed out his chest, back ramrod straight. He might’ve looked more impressive if he wasn’t shorter than the woman threatening him. There was also the wispy, white mustache that covered the top half of his mouth. He looked like he’d been pulled straight from a black and white TV show.
“I’ve worked too hard for what I have,” he said, cheeks red and splotchy. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to give you even a dime.”
They glared at each other, a silent battle of wills. I managed to close the distance to a few feet before either of them noticed me. When the owner’s head started to lift, tension went through Josie’s shoulders.
I hadn’t made a sound. But when she splayed her hands on top of the display case and went eerily still, I knew she’d made me.
“Way to kick the fucking hive,” I started, not bothering to keep the frustration I was feeling from rising to the surface. “Especially when you’re nowhere near ready for what might come out.”
“I’m not scared of any of you,” she said without turning.
“Then you’re as stupid as you are brave. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“The money,” she said. “Now.”
Confusion held me still for a moment. Then I realized she had the audacity to ignore me.
And of course she did.
I was my namesake, but she was living up to her own title as well.
I scowled over her shoulder at Mr. Hart. “Go,” I barked.
He didn’t have to be told twice.
Before he even disappeared around the corner, I’d covered the little bit of distance between us and caged Josie in with an arm on either side of her body. I was careful to keep my waist away from hers as I leaned closer, lips right above her ear. The last thing I needed right now was a distraction.
And even though she was pissing me the fuck off, feeling her softness would direct that anger in a direction I didn’t need it to go.
Rage kindling in my gut at the fact that, even now, the itch that had plagued me my whole life was nowhere to be seen, I growled, “What the fuck has gotten into you?”
“Reality,” she bit back, shifting in the makeshift cage. “If you don’t mind getting the fuck off me, I have some things to take care of.”
“You really think I’m going to let you go? After it took me this long to find you?”
“No one asked you to look.”
My hand came up, wrapping around her throat. For all her bravado, her pulse fluttered like a butterfly trying to escape from a hurricane.
“Thanks to you,” I told her, “the Sinners have a renewed interest in your
little fight club being put to rest. For good.”
Josie elbowed me in the gut out of nowhere.
I let her go and stepped back, more out of surprise than anything. She’d narrowly missed a kidney and that blow had been heavy as fuck.
She wasn’t playing around.
Josie spun to face me, bristling all over. “You should’ve been doing that in the first place. Instead you fucked with my head. Look where that got both of us.”
My eyes narrowed. “What the hell are you talking about?”
A shadow passed over her features, there and gone before I could figure out what I was seeing. She started to fold her arms and then stopped, glancing over my shoulder instead. Her brows folded together at something out on the street.
Like the idiot I was when it came to this woman, I looked.
The sound of boots squeaking against the floor turned me around in time to see her lunging over the countertop, making a run for it.
“Get back here!” I darted after her, throwing myself over the display case and into the back room.
The corridor was annoyingly tight, forcing me to turn at odd angles to make it around the curves and twists. She used that to her advantage and increased her lead by a significant margin. Josie blew past Mr. Hart when he emerged from a back room.
He yelled something that I didn’t pay attention to.
And when he glanced down the hall and saw me charging forward like a freight train, he made the right decision to get the fuck out of my way.
Josie hit the door at the end of the hall and sunlight flooded in as she burst out into the alley behind the building. She wasted precious seconds turning to look and see where I was. By the time she got to her feet again and started hoofing it once more, I was officially on her ass like white on rice.
Arms pumping, blood thundering through my veins, I continued the chase.
I devoured the space between us inch by inch until I was almost close enough to reach out and grab her braid as it swung wildly behind her.
The alley opened out onto the street, right in the midst of a small crowd standing around a food truck. Josie bowled right through them, flipping some guy’s hot dog onto his suit as she went.
Monster: A Seven Sinners Novel Page 18
