“What I don’t get is why her,” I said, dabbing at my tears. “They didn’t know what time we’d be getting back to the clubhouse. Unless they were following me back there.” I suddenly thought of Breaker. “Oh my God!”
“What is it?” asked Trevor.
“That guy who has been harassing me, Breaker! He was following me again tonight. Maybe he had something to do with it!”
“Who is Breaker and why do you think he was following you?” asked the woman, sitting up straighter.
“He’s a sack of shit,” said Trevor, looking angry. “Who has the hots for Adriana. He followed you again?”
I nodded.
“I’m going to kick the shit out of him when I see the fucker,” he growled.
“Now, now, Mr. Larson. Violence only leads to more trouble. If this guy is harassing her, she needs to get the ‘law’ involved,” said Detective Stone.
He stood up and began to pace. “The ‘law’ won’t protect her from a bastard like Breaker. He’s already been convicted of rape and I’m not going to wait for him to try and do it again, just so that we can get a fucking restraining order.”
“Settle down, Mr. Larson. If we’re lucky, we’ll link him to Ms. Blake’s disappearance and that will be the end of him harassing Ms. Nikolas.”
He stopped and looked at me. “It’s going to be the end, no matter what, Kitten. I won’t let him scare you again.”
I nodded.
“Look, I’m going to ignore that threat, because you haven’t yet broken the law. But, I do want to remind you that should you attack this person, you could be the one going to jail,” said Stone.
“I understand,” said Trevor, sitting back down next to me. “And you have to understand what kind of guy we’re dealing with.”
“Tell us about him,” said Williams.
“His real name is Thomas Kramer,” said Trevor. “He’s in the Devil’s Rangers.”
The two detectives looked at each other and then back toward us.
“This is interesting news,” said Stone. “Since a man named Thomas Kramer was found dead about three hours ago.”
My jaw dropped. “What?”
“He was shot and killed in his truck. What time did you say that he was following you?” asked Williams.
I told her. “It was right before I drove to Club Hideaway. I was going to make him follow me to the police station, but he turned at the last minute. I think he must have known where I was headed and changed his mind.”
“Do you own a gun, Ms. Nikolas?” asked Detective Stone.
My eyes widened. “What? No!”
“Of course she doesn’t own a gun,” said Trevor, looking pissed off.
“How about you, Mr. Larson. Do you own a gun?” he asked him.
“Yes,” replied Trevor. “I also have a Carry-And-Conceal Permit.”
“What kind of gun do you own, Mr. Larson?” he asked.
“A Smith & Wesson, Thirty-eight Special.”
“Where is your gun at the moment?” asked Detective Williams, putting a hand on her holster.
“As you can see, I’m unarmed,” said Trevor, holding out his arms. “And, I’m not a murderer, so you can relax.”
“We’re not accusing you of that.” She looked at me. “I’m sorry but we’re going to have to bring you in for further questioning.”
“What do you mean?” I cried, standing up. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“There’s been a murder and a kidnapping tonight. You were the last person in contact with both victims, Ms. Nikolas. We need to interview you properly.”
Frightened, I looked at Trevor. “Is this where I say ‘Not without my lawyer present?’
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Adriana
“Do you have something to hide, Ms. Nikolas? Because when someone brings up their lawyer, it usually means they do,” said Stone, frowning.
“I’ve got nothing to hide,” I said, glaring at him. “And I don’t appreciate you making me feel like a victim.”
“A victim?” he repeated.
“Yes!” I cried. “Not only have I just found out that my best friend was kidnapped, but I had this monster following me around earlier, a man who scared the hell out of me, on purpose. Now, you’re looking at me like I’m the guilty one around here? That’s a bunch of crap!”
Just then the front door opened and my mother walked in.
“What is going on in here?” she asked, staring at all of us in surprise.
“Mom, Krystal’s been kidnapped,” I said, rushing over to her.
“Kidnapped?” she repeated, as I threw my arms around her. “By whom?”
“We don’t know,” I said.
She patted me on the back. “Honey, I’m so sorry. That poor girl. Her mother must be worried sick.”
“I haven’t talked to her yet, but I’m sure she is.”
“Ma’am, my name is Detective Stone and this is Detective Williams. Your daughter has agreed to come down to the precinct for an interview. You’re welcome to join her.”
“Of course,” she said, as I released her. “But, I don’t understand, why does she need to do this?”
I explained what had happened, starting off with Breaker following me this morning.
“That’s why you were acting so strange today,” she said, looking upset. “This man was harassing you? The man that’s been killed?”
I nodded. “Yes and they think that I might have had something to do with it.”
Her face turned red. “Of course you didn’t,” she said angrily. She looked at the couple. “My daughter wouldn’t hurt anyone! This monster was obviously shot by someone else. How dare you even accuse her of something like this!”
“We aren’t accusing her,” said Stone. “We just need to interview her properly.”
“Why can’t you do it here?” she asked. “Adriana isn’t under arrest, is she?”
“No, not at all. We’d just like to record the interview,” he replied. “And see if your daughter might agree to a polygraph test.”
“I can’t believe this is happening,” I moaned, staring at Trevor who was very quiet.
“I’m going to call our lawyer,” said Vanda, taking out her cell phone. “Before you start agreeing to anything, Adriana.”
“If she’s innocent, she doesn’t need a lawyer,” said Williams. She looked at me and sighed. “Look, just come down, pass the test, give us a statement, and you’ll be on your way. That will be cheaper and a lot easier than bringing in a lawyer.”
I sighed. “She’s right,” I said, looking at my mother. “I’m innocent. I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ll take the test and give them a recorded statement. If it will get them off my back.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, looking concerned. “I can call him. You remember Stanley Bruebaker, don’t you? He’s the lawyer I used when your father passed away. I’m sure he can direct me to a lawyer that will help us with something like this.”
“No, I don’t remember him,” I said. “Anyway, Mom, I haven’t done anything wrong so it would be silly for us to fork out money when we don’t need to.”
“Adriana, I’m sure that you haven’t committed any crimes, either,” said Williams, digging into her wallet. “This is really just nothing more than a formality. Here’s my card with the address to the precinct. We’ll meet you there?”
I nodded.
She turned to look at Trevor. “I’d like you down there too. For further questioning.”
“I’ll be there,” he said, moving to my side. He put his arm around my shoulders. “Now, who’s going to be searching for Krystal while you waste your time with us?”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Larson, we have people searching for her,” she replied, smiling coolly.
“Tell me, Raptor, isn’t it? Do you think that Krystal’s disappearance could have anything to do with what happened to Thomas Kramer’s execution?” asked Detective Stone.
“Execution?” repeated Trevor. “H
mm… I don’t see it.”
“You don’t think it might have been for some kind of retaliation between the two of your…clubs?” he asked.
Trevor’s expression was stoic. “No. We’re all good.”
“Even with Mr. Kramer harassing your girlfriend?” asked Detective Williams.
He grunted. “Breaker deserved an ass kicking for that. But murder? That’s extreme, even for us.”
“Well, someone sure felt he deserved it,” she replied, studying his face closely.
“I’m not saying that he didn’t deserve it,” said Trevor. “He was the scum of the earth. A guy who enjoyed raping women. Now, some of those women that he assaulted can sleep better at night.”
“That was the monster that was following you today, Adriana?” asked Vanda, her eyes wide. “A convicted rapist?”
I nodded.
Her eyes were stormy as she turned to the detectives. “When you actually do find out who killed him, call me. I want to thank him personally.”
“For murder?” asked Detective Williams.
“For protecting my daughter and every other girl that catches his eye,” she replied.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Raptor
When the two detectives left, Vanda turned to me. “This is your fault,” she said, angrily. “If it wasn’t for you, none of this would have happened.”
Before I could respond, Adriana got between us. “Mom! It’s not his fault. He had nothing to do with this.”
“They’re both in gangs,” she said, waving her hand at my cut. “Obviously, they hung around each other. Didn’t I tell you that if you hung around biker scum that you’re just looking for trouble?”
“Wait a second,” I said, now glaring back at her. “You have no right to judge me or any of my crew, for that matter and I think you owe me an apology.”
She snorted. “An apology? Right. What are you even doing in my house?” she said and then looked at Adriana. “Adriana, what’s he doing here? Didn’t we talk about this, earlier? You promised that you weren’t going to see him again.”
Clenching my jaw, I found myself hoping for the first time ever, that a woman I was interested would grow a set of balls.
“I never said that,” she replied. “And he had nothing to do with this. I met him through Krystal…”
“Who’s been kidnapped, God forbid,” she said, making the sign of the cross. “How does Krystal even know any of these people?”
“She’s seeing Tank,” replied Adriana. “Who is in their club. The Gold Vipers.”
Her lips tightened. “And you wonder why this happened? Didn’t I tell you how dangerous these people were?”
“Ma’am, I wouldn’t let anything happen to your daughter. You have my word,” I tried again, hoping she’d give me a break, for Adriana’s sake. I could tell how much she loved her mother and I respected that. I didn’t like the shit spewing out of her mouth, but I wasn’t about to make a scene.
Her eyes burned into mine. “I don’t care about your word. It’s the word of the people you hang out with that I have a problem with.”
I clenched my jaw. “My brother’s respect women. Most of them.”
“And was this guy, Breaker, one of your brother’s?”
“Fuck no. He wasn’t part of our crew.”
“Charming vocabulary, you have,” she scoffed.
“I never claimed to be a saint, Mrs. Nikolas.”
“Believe me, one would never mistake you for one,” she answered.
I grunted.
“Look, we don’t have time to argue about this right now, Mom. We need to get down to the precinct.”
“I’m coming with you,” she replied, picking up her purse.
Adriana raised her hand in the air. “No, actually, I prefer that you stayed home.”
Vanda’s face fell. “Why?”
She let out a frustrated sigh. “Because I don’t need to listen to you rail me about Trevor on the ride out there.”
Vanda looked at me, her eyes full of venom. She turned back to Adriana and raised her chin. “Fine. I will drive separately.”
“You don’t need to come,” said Adriana.
“Of course I do. Someone needs to be there for support,” said Vanda.
“That someone is already going. Me,” I replied.
“If you want to look out for my daughter, you’ll stay out of her life,” she said firmly.
“Mom!”
“I’m sorry, Adriana, but you know how I feel about bikers. I’m not going to pretend I’m happy to find the both of you together in my house.”
“I thought this was my house, too,” said Adriana, now looking almost as angry as me.
“Of course it is. But, you are my daughter and I am just trying to protect you.”
I sighed. “I’m going upstairs to get my jacket,” I said, heading for the steps.
“What is his jacket doing in your bedroom?” said Vanda shrilly.
Shaking my head, I went into her bedroom and grabbed my jacket. As I was turning around, Adriana stepped into the room.
“I’m sorry about my mother,” she said, walking over to the mirror. She ran her fingers through her hair. “She can be a real pain in the ass.”
I walked up behind her. “Yeah, well she’s not afraid to speak her mind. I’ll give that to her.”
“She doesn’t know you, though. So, don’t let it get to you.”
I grabbed her around the waist and smiled at her in the mirror. “The only thing that gets to me, Kitten, is you.”
She smiled.
I kissed the side of her head. “What a nightmare, huh?” I whispered.
Adriana nodded.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, I let her go.
“I wish I would have waited for her to pull out of the parking lot,” she said, looking teary-eyed again. “I feel like it’s my fault.”
“It’s definitely not your fault, Babe. Don’t even go there.” I reached inside of my jacket, for my phone. “And, don’t worry, I’m sure Slammer and Tank will get her back.”
She wiped a tear from under her lash. “What do you think happened?”
I couldn’t tell her about The Judge. She wouldn’t understand. But, I wasn’t going to lie to her either. “Personally? I think it was retaliation. I think the Devil’s Rangers believe that we had something to do with Breaker’s murder and took her.”
“Did you?” she whispered.
I looked her in the eye. “I can honestly say that none of us killed him.”
She let out a sigh of relief. “Okay.”
“Are you two coming?” asked Vanda, standing in the doorway. She was glaring at me again.
“Yes,” said Adriana, grabbing a pair of socks from her dresser.
I looked down and saw Adriana’s dress still lying on the floor next to her bra. When I raised my eyes, I saw that Vanda had noticed it too, and was not happy.
I couldn’t help but to dig into her. “Looks like a bomb went off in here,” I said, grinning.
Vanda’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll wait for you outside,” she said, walking away from the bedroom.
I walked over to the doorway and leaned out. “Since you’re not riding with Adriana, you can certainly ride with me.” I smiled evilly. I just couldn’t help myself. “I don’t bite.”
She grunted. “Hah. I’d rather walk.”
Man, she was brutal. “You sure? Riding on the back of a Harley might just put a smile on your face.”
“Nothing that you could do for me would ever put a smile on my face,” she answered, heading down the stairs. “Unless, it has to do with leaving my daughter alone.”
I sighed.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Adriana
When we reached the station, Trevor and I were ushered into two separate rooms. I reiterated everything that had happened the past two days, only leaving out Jason and the fact that he’d almost date-raped me. They recorded my statements, with my mother sitting next to me, hol
ding my hand. When she heard how I’d met Breaker in Griffin’s, she made the sign of the cross and scolded me in front of the detectives. It was embarrassing.
“I didn’t want to go inside there either,” I told her. “But, Krystal insisted.”
“Why did she insist?” asked Detective Stone.
“Because it was her birthday and she needed to talk to Tank.”
They began asking me questions about Krystal and Tank’s relationship.
“I don’t know too much about it,” I said. “I mean, they’ve been dating but she mentioned something tonight about breaking up with Tank.”
Stone suddenly perked up. “She did? What was her reasoning?”
“To be honest, I think she was getting bored. Krystal doesn’t like to stick with one guy too long. Plus, he’s kind of bossy. At least, that’s what she said. I don’t see him enough to know for certain.”
“You don’t think that she might have tried to break it off tonight and he became angry?” he asked.
“No. I mean, I guess I don’t know. Um, didn’t you mention that the person who called it in said that she was taken by two men wearing masks?”
He nodded. “Yes, she did. But, we need to check every angle. In case Tank is somehow involved.”
“To be honest, I can’t imagine that he is,” I replied. I could tell from the look in Tank’s eyes that he really cared for her.
“You just said that you didn’t know him very well,” reminded Stone.
“I know, but…”
“He hangs out with a rough crowd,” said Stone. “They certainly aren’t choir boys.”
“Indeed,” said my mother, sniffing. “Those bikers are all nothing but thugs.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, for the love of God, Mom. You don’t know them so give it a rest.”
“I don’t have to know them. And neither do you.”
Arguing with her was pointless. She was so stubborn. Sighing, I turned back to Stone. “I just can’t see Tank doing something like that. She said that most of the time he was like a big teddy bear, toward her.” I left out the part of how she was afraid to break it off with him. I just didn’t believe that Tank was the kind of guy who’d kidnap or hurt her.
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