Wrecked (Devil's Horsemen MC Book 1)

by Brook Wilder

  I had taken away that innocence.

  “What?”

  I grinned.

  “Damn, it’s good to see you, Sydney.”

  She flushed, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “You do know that you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney.”

  I interrupted her.

  “Stop. I know my damn rights. Can you at least cut these damn things off me? They are starting to cut off my circulation.”

  She heaved a sigh and got up, walking around to my back. I heard the snap of the tie and felt the blood rush back to my hands, bringing them forward to rub my raw wrists.

  “Thanks.”

  “What were you doing in that bar?” she asked immediately, as she came back around the table. “I want answers.”

  I looked at her, her full cop mood doing a number below the belt. Shit. Would she be like that in bed now?

  “You first. I belong there much more than you do.”

  “That’s none of your business,” she said, not sitting. “And I ask the questions, not you.”

  “Alright,” I said, relaxing in the chair. This was fun having her interrogate me. “Fire away.”

  “Why were you at the bar today?”

  “Business.”

  “What kind of business?”

  “Club business.”

  She growled.

  “I need more than that, Mr. Hale.”

  I leaned forward, bringing my hands together on the table.

  “I can’t tell you any more than that, Officer Warren. And it’s ‘Zack’. I think we are far from those formalities.”

  “This is an interrogation,” she said through clenched teeth. “Not a friendly chat.”

  Unable to help it, I pressed on, wondering how far I could push Sydney. I was getting under her skin.

  “Come on Syd. It’s been a while. How did you get into this police shit?”

  She sighed, loudly.

  “Listen, Zack, I need to know why you were at that bar today. It’s very important.”

  It was then I realized that Sydney was the cop Amy had been referring to. Shit. I didn’t need her in the middle of a potential turf war between us and the Muertos. I could find Hayley without her help and probably quicker than she could as well.

  “Syd, listen. You don’t know what you are dealing with. Get off the case, tell them you can’t do it.”

  She eyed me.

  “What are you talking about? What case?”

  I swallowed. I couldn’t give myself away. There would be more questions than answers if I did.

  “Whatever you were hunting in that bar. Don’t go there by yourself again. If I hadn’t been there...”

  “I would have been just fine,” she retorted, clearly angry that I thought she needed help. “I’ve been just fine without you all this time, and I will continue to be, Zack. I don’t need you.”

  “There was a time when you did.”

  Her eyes widened before her mouth flattened in a thin line.

  “Don’t go there.”

  Oh boy, I had really pissed her off now.

  “So, you haven’t forgotten.”

  For a moment she looked as if she could hit me. But the more I pushed her, the farther she got from her questions, her prying, and that was what I was looking for. I needed for her to forget the reason she had brought me in to begin with.

  “You’re right,” she said after a moment. “I haven’t forgotten what you did. I will never forget what you did.”

  Ouch! I hated the tone of her voice, the hurt that shimmered in her eyes before she blinked it away. I had been a bastard back then.

  “Syd...”

  A knock on the door silenced me, and Sydney stomped across the room to open it, revealing Chief Turner.

  “You, my office. Now,” he directed toward Sydney.

  “Hey chief,” I said in an easygoing manner. “Long time, no see.”

  “Shut up, Hale,” Turner growled as Sydney followed him out the door.

  Once she was gone, I let out a breath, my shoulders slumping. The day was shit. I hadn’t gotten any information on Hayley and got myself arrested by Sydney in the process.

  That, and she was refusing to talk to me about anything other than police business. I knew she hated me. She had every right to hate me. Hell, I hated myself once the rumors had started to spread and Sydney had left town after her graduation, a place I should have been, cheering her on.

  I had screwed up royally, stepping on the people that mattered the most to get where I was at today.

  I was happy, wasn’t I?

  The door opened, and Sydney entered again, looking defeated.

  “You’re free to go.”

  I stared at her.

  “What?”

  “You heard her.”

  My head swiveled as Don Monroe, our legal counsel for DHMC walked in, a huge grin on his face. Short and fat, he was every inch the sleezy lawyer you would see on TV. But he was damn good at finding loopholes in the system, keeping us out of prison and in the good graces of the police department.

  “Don, how did you find out?”

  He nodded to Sydney.

  “All you have to do is step inside this station and I’m aware. She doesn’t have anything to hold you on, Zack, so you are free to go.”

  I eyed the officer that was fuming in the corner.

  “No hard feelings?”

  “Just go,” she said with a wave of her hand.

  I stood and walked to the door, trying to think of something to say to her. There was so much between us, so much I probably should say to clear the air, but the words just didn’t feel right.

  That, and with an audience it wasn’t the appropriate place or time to do so. There would be a time, however, that we would talk about what happened eight years ago.

  “Good to see you, Syd. I’m sure I will be seeing you around.”

  She didn’t answer as I walked out, following Don out of the station and to his fancy Cadillac.

  “Can I take you somewhere. Zack?” he asked, looking around. “I don’t see your bike.”

  I pulled out my cell.

  “I’ll call for a ride, thanks.”

  Luckily, the bike I had driven to the bar was a loaner from the club, a piece of shit that could be used and left if need be. I doubted it was still in one piece after today.

  “Well, alright then,” he answered, climbing into his car and driving off.

  I stared after him, debating on whether or not I should go back into the station and corner Sydney. She was playing with fire, and I didn’t want to come across her dead in a ditch somewhere in the near future, all because she was sticking her nose into where it didn’t belong.

  “Shit,” I muttered, firing off a text message before shoving my phone in my pocket.

  What a freakin’ hot mess. She wasn’t going to listen to me any more than the man on the moon at the moment. I was far from being on her good side. In fact, no member of the DHMC was on the police’s good side.

  And now I had a cop I had a history with on my tail, working on the same case I was.

  I needed to talk to Grant, to see what he wanted me to do about this. It wasn’t going to be as easy as I had first thought, knowing that at every turn Sydney would be there, attempting to arrest my ass again.

  I would never get anything done.

  The sleek car pulled up and I opened the door, sliding into the cool exterior, a welcome relief from the Texas sun. I had to get Sydney to somehow see that I wasn’t the bad guy in this.

  Chapter Seven

  Sydney

  How could my life take a total one-eighty in the span of a few hours?

  I sat at my desk, staring at the notes I had compiled, my thoughts scattered. I had interviewed some of Hayley’s friends, not getting much from them that I hadn’t already gotten from Amy. I had also checked on her cell phone
records, but those were closed to me unless I could get her father’s approval.

  It must be nice to hold that kind of power.

  Still, the events of the day were in the back of my mind constantly. Why had Zack been there at that bar? What were his ties to this case? He had let it slip about a case, and I suspected that he was working on something with Hayley’s disappearance.

  But couldn’t prove it yet.

  “Warren! Get the hell out of here!”

  Sighing, I gathered my notes and tucked them into the folder. It was later than I normally liked to stay, but I couldn’t shut off my brain.

  Partly because of the case, partly because of my run-in with Zack.

  “I’m leaving chief.”

  He didn’t answer as I walked out of the station to my jeep, throwing my things into the passenger seat. Now that the doors were back on, I could smell Zack’s cologne, my stomach flipping over at the thought of him sitting in that seat. God, it had been so long since I had seen him, though every once and awhile he would drift through my thoughts, more so after I had come back home.

  Cutting on the engine, I pulled out of the parking spot and headed toward home, biting my lip as I did so. After the fiasco with Zack, I had stuck it out until I graduated, making the first big decision of my life to move out of state. My parents hadn’t stopped me but had sold their house and done the same in support of my actions.

  I would never be able to repay them for what they had done for me during that time. They could have turned their backs on me, believed the rumors, and stayed here, but they hadn’t.

  In Oklahoma, I had attended college my first two years, getting my criminal justice degree before applying to the police academy. There, I had strived to be an overachiever in all areas, attempting to prove to myself and others that I wasn’t the girl they had made me out to be. When I had told my parents I was taking a job in Cibolo, they had seriously considered admitting me to a psych ward. I would be stupid to go back there.

  But here I was, and though the wounds had never fully healed, I was going to make a difference in this town.

  Rolling my shoulders, I turned left toward the little house I was renting. I didn’t know if it was going to be permanent or not, and the house had been in my price range. Besides, it had a fabulous tub that was calling my name.

  With a sigh, I pulled into the driveway and climbed out, grabbing my things. A bottle of wine might go with that bubble bath. I was tired, my mind tired from the day’s events and what I was going to do about Zack.

  God, Zack Hale! I still couldn’t believe the run-in I had experienced with him. He was still beautiful as sin, filling out his muscular body far better than he had the last time I had seen him, with tattoos running up both arms. Back then, he had been the bad boy, a few years older than me and way out of my league. I had been nothing but a nerdy, awkward girl with no friends and fewer love interests.

  In fact, I hadn’t as much kissed a boy until I met him.

  Sighing, I pushed open the door to the house and deposited my stuff on the couch, walking to the kitchen for that cold bottle of wine I knew was in there. The day that Zack had approached me was forever etched in my mind, a memory that wasn’t quite as bad as the rest of them.

  ***

  I walked out of the library, clutching my books to my chest. Two months left until graduation. I was so ready to be done with school, to be done with the immaturity that high school brought. The guys were only out for one thing, the girls pretty much obsessed with the guys and their own reflections.

  There were times I thought I was the only one worried about grades and passing my finals.

  Thunder boomed overhead, and I hurried to my car, searching in my purse for my keys. I had stayed longer than I had planned, and I knew my parents would be looking for me to be at home for supper.

  Finally, I succeeded in getting the driver-side door opened and dropped the books in the passenger seat before sliding in, putting the key in the starter.

  Nothing.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” I muttered, attempting to turn it again.

  Nothing happened, and I tried not to panic. I didn’t have a cell phone, not really needing one, and the librarian was locking up as I walked out.

  Great, just great.

  A tap on the window caused me to jump, and I turned to see someone standing at the driver’s side.

  Not someone. The hottest guy I had ever laid eyes on in person.

  “Hey, you need some help?”

  I bit my lip, debating on whether or not to roll down the window. He looked… well, huge from my vantage point, with an easy grin on his face. My heart fluttered in my chest as I took in his gorgeous good looks.

  He clearly wasn’t a high school student.

  “Come on,” he coaxed. “You need help, I have jumper cables. I’m not going to kidnap you.”

  Seeing no other choice, I rolled down the window.

  “I can’t get it to start.”

  “Probably a dead battery,” he said, pointing to a truck parked not too far from me. “I’m just going to pull up in front of you and we will get you jumped off.”

  I nodded and opened the door, watching as he ran over to the truck as the rain started to fall. This was not working out like I wanted it to at all. I snatched my umbrella and rolled up the window, stepping out of the car as he pulled in front of my car. Suddenly, I felt bad watching him climb out in the rain, popping the hood of both of our vehicles. He was helping me and getting soaking wet in the process.

  The least I could do was help.

  Walking over to him, I held the umbrella over both of us. He looked up and I forgot to breathe as our eyes met. Oh, this was not good at all.

  “Thanks,” he said after a moment, hooking the cables to his truck. “I appreciate it.”

  “I’m Sydney,” I blurted out as the rain fell around us.

  He looked at me and grinned, my heart pounding in my ears as I took in the sight.

  “Zack.”

  ***

  A loud bang shook me out of the memory, and I looked around, half expecting to see something on fire.

  When I didn’t, I walked to the living room, frowning as I noticed the small hole in the front window. Shit! It was a bullet hole.

  I pulled my gun from the holster and got low to the ground, fully expecting a barrage of bullets to follow. When they didn’t, I reached for my cell, dialing the chief instead of dispatch.

  “I just had someone shoot at my house,” I rushed out as soon as he answered.

  “What?” he asked, the sound of dishes clinking together in the background. “Did you say a shooting?”

  “Just one shot,” I breathed, pushing myself against the wall in the seated position.

  “Do you want lights and sirens?” he asked, breathing heavily into the phone.

  “No,” I said, thinking of who could want me dead.

  I doubted it was the case, just a scare tactic. But still… if I had been sitting on the couch.

  “I bet it’s the DHMC,” Chief Turner replied. “You arrested one of them today. They don’t take too kindly to being arrested.”

  I thought about Zack and our conversation today. He hadn’t acted pissed. He had… well, he had enjoyed it for the most part.

  “I-I don’t think it was them.”

  “Warren,” he said in a low voice. “I know who you arrested today, and I know your history with him. Don’t let that cloud your judgement.”

  I frowned, hating the fact that the chief even had to say anything about that. I was over Zack. I wasn’t protecting him. Hell, I had arrested him today!

  “I’m not chief.”

  “Good,” he said. “So, what are you going to do about it? You wanna fill out a report?”

  “No,” I replied, standing. I knew exactly what I was going to do. “I’ll handle this one off-the-record.”

  “Don’t get yourself killed,” he said before ending the call.

  I drew in a breat
h, staring at the small hole in the opposite wall, where the bullet had come to rest.