by Jayne Blue
“No,” Angel said. “You’re not telling anyone where you’ll be. Beverly can deal with your schedule. You can send an email to the college. If there are any issues, Sly’s got a man …”
I put a hand up. “Of course he does. I think maybe I don’t want to know any more.”
“Maura,” he said, softening his tone.
I didn’t know what to say. Should I tell him this was all okay? I understood. Should I yell? God. I had no road map for this. My mother’s words echoed in my brain. It’s time for you to let someone else be in charge. My whole life ... from the time I was old enough to dress myself practically, I’d never done that before. I wasn’t sure I could now.
Except, as scared as I was for Bailey. I was angry with her too. If she’d listened. If she’d stayed away from Judd, her heart wouldn’t be broken right now. She wouldn’t have been there today at the hospital. Beneath it all, I felt ... relief. What if it had been Angel at that stop light this morning? What if I’d been the one called down to identify him?
My heart lurched at the thought. As jumbled as everything felt, I still just wanted to be with him. Later. Soon. I’d have to figure out if that was worth the price of giving up control like this.
Angel took my bags from me and threw them in the back of the SUV. I climbed in the passenger seat. He wouldn’t even let me say anything to Mrs. E. The fewer people who knew what was going on, the better. Judd’s murder would hit the local news websites soon enough. The people in my life would put it all together.
Angel’s girl. Oh yes, they would know.
As he zipped through downtown Green Bluff, the streets were mostly empty. It was well past six and most of the businesses were closed. The clinic itself had gone dark hours ago. Then why were there so many cars parked in front of the building?
“Son of a bitch!” Angel tensed behind the wheel. He screeched the car to a stop, parking at an odd angle across the street. His fingers played at the handle of the gun I knew he kept in a side holster.
“Stay here,” he commanded. “Stay out of sight.”
But we’d drawn the attention of two deputy sheriffs. From the bubble lights on their dashboards, I realized the cars parked in front of the clinic were unmarked detectives’ vehicles.
“Angel …” My throat ran dry.
One of the deputies held up a hand, hailing us. “Shit,” Angel muttered. My eyes followed his line of sight.
“Oh God,” I said. The front windows of the clinic were smashed in. Shattered glass littered the sidewalk.
“Stay close to me,” he said. “If I tell you to go back to the van, do it. Swear it.”
“I swear,” I said, sliding out of my seat belt.
I recognized Deputy Craig Dobbs. He was one of the older ones in the department, close to retirement.
“What’s happening, Craig?” I asked. He put a hand on his hip, near his walkie, as Angel stayed glued to my side.
“Vandals, probably,” he said. “Pair of bricks smashed through the window there. Your silent alarm went off.”
“You’re not worried about vandals, Dobbs,” Angel said. “You wouldn’t have a full crew out here like this if you were. What’s on the security tapes? You have ’em, right?”
“Now, you know I’m not at liberty to talk about that. This is an ongoing investigation.”
“And you also know Maura made a report about her car getting scratched up a few weeks ago. And you know damn well what they wrote on it.”
“Craig,” I said, putting a hand on Angel’s chest, trying to quiet him. “Tell me what’s going on. You can say it in front of Angel. You know the club’s contracted to provide security for the clinic.”
Craig’s face fell. “Well, you did a bang-up job tonight,” he said through tight lips. Angel made a noise that reminded me of a grizzly bear ready to attack. I stepped between him and Deputy Dobbs.
“Had our hands full with club business,” Angel said. “And the clinic was shut down for the night.”
“Craig?” I asked.
“Look.” Craig sighed. “We’re taking it seriously. So far, no leads. Nobody saw anything. Or nobody’s admitting to seeing anything. The cameras across the street at the laundromat weren’t working. We’re reviewing tapes from your building. So far it looks like one perp. Probably male. But he was wearing a mask and black clothes. Blended into the pavement basically. Threw two bricks. One of them had writing on it.”
“What did it say?” I asked, my heart pounding.
“Same as before,” Dobbs answered. “Die bitch. I’m sorry to repeat that, Maura. It’s not the kind of language I’m comfortable with in mixed company.”
“You don’t need her for anything,” Angel said. It was more a statement than a question. Tension poured through him. He was coiled so tight I was afraid he’d detonate if Craig Dobbs tried to put a hand on him. Angel moved, standing in front of me in an unmistakably protective stance.
“You have her statement from last time about possible suspects. She wasn’t here tonight. I’m getting her out of here.”
“Good enough,” Dobbs said. Thankfully, he could read Angel’s posture as well as I could. “You need to stay reachable by phone though.”
“I am,” I said. I had more questions. I wanted to get inside that office. But Angel was solid as granite and just as hard to move. He put a protective arm around me and led me back to the van.
“You can send for the stuff you need,” he said. “Make a list. I’ll take care of it tomorrow.”
“It’s confidential information, Angel,” I said. His jaw clenched. I realized now wasn’t the time to discuss the finer points of my legal ethics. I climbed into the passenger seat. Angel made a move to strap my seat belt. I shot him a look. I would only let him take the alpha male bit so far. He shut the door, did a quick scan of the street, then got behind the wheel.
“You think it’s Corley?” I asked. “Do you think what happened at the clinic is in any way connected to Judd’s murder?”
Angel white-knuckled the wheel as he swerved to hit the highway on-ramp. He was going close to ninety by the time he hit the straightaway. He weaved in and out of traffic with expert precision.
“Not sure,” he said. “What do you know about him? And don’t give me that confidentiality line. If he is connected, that shit doesn’t apply in my book.”
“Lee Corley isn’t my client,” I said. “And as far as I know, no, he’s not connected to anything that worries me. He’s held odd jobs most of his life when he’s worked at all. No brothers. No family to speak of locally except for Tonya and their child. He’s a drifter, Angel. The guy is known to disappear for months at a time. Then he shows up when he needs something from Tonya. Messes up her life.”
“Or her face,” Angel said through gritted teeth.
“Yeah,” I answered. “That too. He’s just not ... club material. You know?”
“I know,” he said as we got within sight of the Den. “But he also strikes me as the kind of guy who’d sell his own mother out if it got him something. Is there anything you can give me on him? Social security number. Driver’s license. You know I wouldn’t ask ... but …”
“Tonya filed a petition for a restraining order against him. That’s public record. And yes ... most of that information is on the forms. I’ve got digital copies in my file. I suppose I could give you that without violating any of my client’s rights.”
“Good,” he said. “Sly’s got a wireless printer in the office. It’s a long shot. It’s probably nothing. But the more information, the better. There’s something else too.”
He pulled into the lot. The building was dark. Not even Mo came out to greet us. It felt ominous, foreboding. The word my mother used haunted me. Lockdown.
“Come on,” Angel said. He led me inside. The bar itself was empty. The lights on the tall marquis above the building were dimmed. The Wolf Den was closed to the public until further notice.
Angel went behind the bar and hit a button on the cash regi
ster. He pulled a hundred-dollar bill out from the bottom of the drawer. Then he poured two shots of bourbon, handing me one.
The door to the inner office at the back of the bar opened. Sly Cullinan walked out. His eyes met Angel’s. When I turned back to Angel, he nodded at his club president. A chill went through me.
“Angel?”
He slid the hundred-dollar bill across the bar to me. “Let’s call this an initial consultation,” he said.
“What? I don’t …”
“Your oath,” he said. “You keep client secrets.”
“What? Of course,” I answered. Then realization crept through me. I looked back at Sly. His expression stayed stone cold, resolute. This was a test. Swallowing hard, I turned back to Angel. I took the bill and folded it.
“I understand,” I said. I’d just been hired by the club. Sly’s expression softened and he went back into his office without a word. The test was over. I had just passed. I picked up my shot glass and slammed it.
“So,” I said. “What would have happened if I’d said no? Or if I wasn’t a lawyer in the first place?”
Angel’s sly smile melted me. He leaned over the bar and kissed me. Heat coiled through me and it wasn’t from the alcohol. Even now, after everything that had happened today, Angel could still make me rise to him with just a simple touch.
“But you are,” he whispered. “And you said yes.”
“What happens now?” I asked. There was movement upstairs and in the rooms deeper in the building.
Mo came out of the kitchen. Her smile brightened when she saw me. She was followed by Sly’s wife Scarlett, a stunning brunette, Amazonian goddess of a woman. At her side was Ava McLain, Dex’s wife. She was still wearing scrubs and I wondered if she too had been pulled away from her job to come here.
“Now,” Angel said. “I’ve got church.”
Church. It’s what they called members-only meetings of the club. He would never tell me what happened in them. I realized that now, even if he did, I was bound by my own oath of secrecy. Well played, Mr. Cullinan, I thought. Well played indeed.
“Mo and the wives will show you to one of the rooms upstairs,” he said. “We can get you everything you need.”
“I ... uh … I thought I’d be staying with you,” I whispered, suddenly shy around so many listening ears.
For the first time today, Angel gave me a genuine, ear-to-ear smile. It dissolved into a lust-filled smirk that sent that familiar heat shooting through me. “I was hoping you’d say that,” he said. “I didn’t want to presume.”
“Like hell you didn’t,” I said, giving him a playful swat on the ass.
“Angel!” Sly’s gruff voice drew him away. He shot me a wink then left to join the men of the Great Wolves M.C.
I turned, feeling awkward among these women I knew so little about. But we shared something rare and I recognized it as such. Every one of us cared deeply for one of the men behind that closed door.
“Well,” Mo said, beaming. “Welcome to the club, Maura.”
Chapter Nineteen
Angel
Maura gave me everything I asked of her. She had detailed records on Lee Corley—social security number, driver’s license, credit card statements, work history, his last five known addresses. It was a treasure trove of information for our investigator. She even had a print-out of the guy’s criminal record. It was petty shit, mostly. Some shoplifting charges when he was younger. He’d been involved in a hit and run and did thirty days in jail for it. A minor drug possession.
“You come up with anything?” I asked. Sly had called another emergency meeting. Switch and Josh had taken Judd’s death particularly hard. The kid had no biological family. He’d been another of Sly’s “stray dogs.” The men in this room knew and cared about him the most. And I couldn’t help feeling like I’d let him down. Like I could have done something to prevent what had happened.
“The Hellz Rebels haven’t officially claimed responsibility. But they’re not denying it either. That tells me what I really need to know. Their prez, Link Johansen, he’s a mean son of a bitch. Cut from the same cloth as my Uncle Blackie was. He’s old. In his sixties. He should have given up the gavel years ago. I can’t figure why he’d want to start a war now. And this far north.”
“He’d only do it if he was certain he’d win,” Dex said. In the years since Dex McClain had rejoined our ranks after prison, I’d known him to be blunt. He wasn’t the diplomat Sly had to be. They made the perfect team as prez and veep.
“Fuck that,” Tiny said. “They ain’t winning shit.”
“I didn’t say he’d win,” Dex said. “I said Link has to think he’s going to win. Only way that happens is if he thinks he’s got the muscle to put us down. It means he’s banking on the fact that the Diaz cartel can flip what’s left of Pagano’s crew against us. If they can, we’re fucked. We gotta be clear on that. Judd was a warning. A calling card. This is just how they started shit with the Red Brigands a few years ago.”
“Then we take it to ’em!” Big John shouted. “Jesus. We go hard, we go now.”
“We go when I say we go,” Sly said. “Dex is right on everything he just said. There’s just one thing we have to rule out. It bothers me that this is exactly how the Rebels started shit with the Brigands. I mean, down to the last detail. They picked off a probie. Shot him in the back just like Judd. We gotta consider the possibility this is someone trying to force our hand.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “Does it? Whether this was a Rebels sanctioned hit or some copycat, we gotta retaliate. And you’re right. If this wasn’t the Rebels, why the fuck are they sitting back knowing we’re going to suspect them? If it’s not them, I don’t care how big a son of a bitch Johansen is, he’d want to avoid any misunderstandings. I think their silence is an admission.”
“So do I,” Dex said.
“It’s what my gut is telling me too,” Sly said. “Goddammit all to hell. But they knew too much too quick. How’d they just happen to get Judd alone? Nobody saw anything or nobody’s talking. It’s too perfect. They’ve got an informant. We need to find that rat yesterday. I will not have us walking into an ambush. Where are we on this Corley asshole?” He turned to Charlie.
Charlie Brogan had been around the longest. His contacts were deep. If anyone could find a connection between Lee Corley and the Hellz Rebels M.C., it would be him.
“Doesn’t fit any profile,” Charlie said. “If he’s a friend of their club, it’s a new development.”
“Somebody bailed him out last month after he went after his wife,” I said. “That trailer park he was living in, the girl who hit me? There was no money there. I think that’s the tree we bark up. I don’t know the chick’s name but it’ll be in the police report. Maybe she’s the one who’s connected. I’ll see if Maura can talk to the wife again. See if he’s been hanging around anyone new. Any new jobs he’s done.”
“That’s tedious as hell,” Dex said. “It’s necessary, but we’re talking intel that could take a week or more to lock down. In the meantime, every man at this table has a target on his back.”
“We stay on lockdown for the duration,” Sly said. “Until we find the shooter. Somebody knows something. We run down every lead. Lean on the deputies hard. Nothing goes in or out of the sheriff’s office without us knowing about it. Switch, you sit on that. All the way up the chain. The mayor if we have to. We’ve built political capital. It’s time to cash it in.”
He knocked his knuckles on the table. The meeting was over. We all had our marching orders. Mine was to work the Corley angle with Charlie. I’d have to stretch the boundaries of Maura’s ethics. I just prayed I could do it without scaring her off.
I left the conference room and headed upstairs. Maura had helped Mo in the kitchen all morning. I hadn’t asked her. She just took to it. She was settling into club life easier than I dared hope.
She was sleeping when I found her. Her nose was dusted with flour. My cock stirred at
the sight of her. She wore one of my old t-shirts that hung to her thighs. She was naked underneath. Groaning with lust, I slid in beside her, spooning her. She slept like the dead, but her body responded to mine even in her dreams.
I kissed the nape of her neck, loving her scent. I licked my way over her shoulder, pulling back the collar of the shirt she wore.
“Mmmm,” she sighed. “I was dreaming.”
I laughed softly. She turned in my arms, facing me. “I hope you were dreaming about me.” I slid my hands between her thighs. God. She was warm. Whether it was from the dream or me touching her now, her body rose to mine. She was damp.
“I think I was,” she said, yawning. “God. What time is it?”
“Just before noon,” I answered. She tried to sit up, but I held her back. “Shh. Stay put. You’ve earned it. Mo runs it like an army kitchen down there. She probably worked you to death.”
“I don’t mind,” Maura said. “It’s ... nice. I don’t know. It was never like that in any of the places I’ve lived. My mother didn’t cook. We didn’t have family dinners or anything. I mean, she can barely boil water. Mo works magic. And she loves it. It’s just, pretty awesome, you know?”
“You’re amazing,” I said, kissing her in that curved space beneath her earlobe. I nipped her there, earning a little squeal of pleasure from her.
“I’m amazing?”
“This,” I said. “What I’ve asked of you. I would have understood if you were angry with me. But you’ve never questioned anything.”
“You asked me to trust you,” she said. This time, she did shift away from me, sitting up in the bed beside me. “You know that’s not something I do very often. Trust.”
“So why did you? Why me?”
A blush crept into Maura’s cheeks. “Angel ... I don’t …”
I kissed her before she could finish her answer. I realized I didn’t need one. She was here. She could have overthought and talked herself out of all of this. I would have made her come to the Den anyway to keep her safe. But she would have felt like a prisoner. Instead, she was telling me it felt like home. She really was incredible.
