Page 135 of Beyond the Badge: Nox

“Damn. Blackmail.”

She shot him a cheesy grin. “No, Black female.”

He chuckled and shook his head.

“All right,” she continued. “I need to get home and see if my house is still standing since I’ve been gone longer than normal.”

“Don’t you trust them enough not to burn down the house while you’re gone?”

Her head jerked back. “Absolutely not. These are undeveloped male brains we’re talking about. They think of stupid shit like warming up pizza slices in a toaster. Not a toaster oven, mind you—an appliance that sits right on the counter and is easily accessible—an actual freaking toaster. I have an endless list of the dumb shit they do. I should hand that list over to their future wives as warning.”

“Or use it as blackmail.”

Shemmm’d. “I’ll keep that idea in my back pocket. Are you going to walk me out?”

“Absolutely.” He planned on following her on his bike, too. At least until they were forced to split off in different directions.

The motel was located off the beaten path in an area not very populated. Twenty years ago, the two-lane road that ran past it used to be a main thoroughfare. Wider highways built to handle the increase in traffic now bypassed the area completely. The likely reason most of their occupants were long-term. Or hiding.

He tossed the room key onto the small, battered table in front of the window and made sure the door would lock behind them before following her out onto the narrow, cracked concrete sidewalk that ran in front of the rooms. About half of the rooms had at least one vehicle parked in front of them, unlike earlier when they arrived.

Movement to his left made his head turn in that direction. And when it did, he abruptly stopped and stared to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

While the lighting wasn’t great out in the parking lot, it was good enough for him to swear he recognized the man helping a female, appearing drugged or ill, inside a room.

No. Fucking. Way.

Was it T-Bone? It sure as hell looked like that scumbag.

Whoever it was had a hitch in his step, but Nox wasn’t sure if it was from an injury or from the half-unconscious woman leaning heavily on him. It could very well be both.

Nox continued to watch the man, not wearing a cut or any identifying club colors, open the door to the room at the very end of the motel. The farthest he could get from the office, of course.

No damn surprise if itwasT-Bag, since remote motels without a lot of traffic seemed to be the fucker’s M.O. when it came to pimping out strung-out women.

Was the woman with him high on meth? If she was, where did Bonehead get it? If the prospect had been stripped of his cut, that meant his access to an endless supply of meth disappeared the same as his club colors.

Right before ducking inside, the man with the shaggy beard and hair glanced his way and their eyes locked for a few seconds.

Holy fuck.Itwashim. It was goddamn T-Bone. Nox no longer had any doubt.

For some reason, the Demons hadn’t erased that motherfucker from the Earth like they all expected. He had either escaped, or they had let him go. And if they did, why? That wasn’t typical behavior for an outlaw MC.

None of it made any damn sense. It wasn’t like the Demons were gentleman and would give the asshole a polite warning and send him on his way.

But still… The former prospect’s eyes had widened slightly when meeting his. Did he recognize Nox somehow? If so, he had no idea how. He had never gone to The Peach Pit…

Shit.It could be from when he and Rez confronted him while undercover and doing construction at the Demons’ Uniontown church. Or maybe the fucker had seen him when he and Rez found Sadie in the motel in Ohio.

It could very well be both.

Had the asshole been lurking around watching when they thought he was still tied-up in that field? But if T-Bag had spotted them in Ohio, Nox could see him using that info as some sort of bargaining chip with the Demons to remain breathing.

Had the task force been made? Did the Demons know they were being tracked?

Fuck.He should warn Crew but…

At this point, he couldn’t tell anyone he spotted T-Bone because they’d want to know where. They’d also want to know why Nox was at a motel out in the middle of nowhere when he had a perfectly good apartment in Rockvale.

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