Page 152 of Outlaws of Tulsa

“Got put on a new case. My superior, Dan, has been holding out on me. It’s a big one.” He cocks a brow at me. “What did you find today?”

I take a long swig of my beer and then set it down. “You’re never going to believe this. So I got to thinking about Dragon and what Koyn said. If he was scared and most likely running from something, that would mean there might be people looking for him. Since Koyn found him in Arkansas, I started there, but then I moved to Tennessee. Koyn mentioned Dragon getting all weird when Memphis was mentioned.”

Copper stares at me in awe, which has me eager to tell him the rest.

“His name is Chase Everett Thomas,” I blurt out. “Missing since he was sixteen. And, holy shit, Copper, he was in a—”

“Male pageant?”

I blink at him in shock. “What the hell? How did you know that?”

“Grab that file,” he says, nodding to the one on the bar. “I found all the same shit out today at work.” He pauses, lifting a brow. “But, I have the resources. How did you figure this out?”

Sure enough, when I open the file, there is a sticky note with Copper’s chicken scratch detailing all he found, which is exactly what I came across. No freaking way.

“Memphis. It stuck out as odd to me when Katana mentioned it before and I even told you and Koyn I thought they came from there. The way Dragon got so pissed that day was a red flag. I started with missing persons reports and did an estimation on Dragon’s age now versus when he could have gone missing. I assumed he was a runaway maybe. Anyway, he has a remarkable face and once I narrowed down a period of a few years when this could have happened, I was able to scour through them all. Once I found out who he was and had a name, it was much easier to look him up.”

Copper nods, scratching at his jaw. “Sometimes I forget you were a Fed.”

“It all makes sense now,” I say to him, still staring at the file. “Vidal and Collins obviously scoped him out and lured him in with promises of making him a big star since that’s kind of their MO. He fell for it because most impressionable kids that age would and ended up in some shitshow they’re involved with. Whatever they did to him traumatized the hell out of him. Somehow, he must have escaped and landed on Koyn’s radar. He took them in. Those bastards are pissed he got away and either want to kill him or just want him back, which is why they were looking into you guys when I came to Collins’s office that day. We need to talk to Dragon so we can pull information out of him.”

Copper sighs as he washes his hands. “We can’t. Koyn is adamant as fuck about not dragging all this shit into the light.”

It doesn’t surprise me that Koyn is so protective over these guys. They’re all criminals, but he treats them like they’re his kids. I saw the way Koyn was when I lived there with my own two eyes. Loyal to a fault.

“Why does he have to be so damn difficult?” I complain.

“Because it’s his way.” He winks at me. “Let me go check the grill and then I’ll show you your present.”

All investigative thoughts dissipate.

“You got me a present?” I ask, dumfounded. No guy has ever gotten me a present of his own free will. I made Filter buy me shit all the time, but he always seemed put off by it.

“Two actually. Sit tight.”

While he disappears, I throw together a quick salad and toss a couple of potatoes in the microwave. I’m just pulling out toppings for the quick-baked potatoes when Copper returns with an Apple sack.

“What’s this?”

“Open it,” he instructs as he grabs the steaks. “Come out back with me.”

I loop the bag over my wrist and snag our beers before following him out onto the back deck. The lake sparkles in the early evening setting sun. So breathtaking and beautiful. I sigh as I sit in one of the comfy chairs and set the beers down on the table. Then, I set to pulling out the items in the bag.

A laptop and a phone.

Brand-new.

My throat closes up and I will myself not to cry. This is ridiculous. I willnotget emotional about a damn computer and phone. A tear leaks out anyway.

Copper crouches down beside my chair, a frown on his handsome face. “I thought you’d like them. If they’re not the right color or model, I can return them.”

I swipe at my wet cheek and sniffle. “I love them.”

“Fucking women,” he grumbles. “Christ.”

A laugh bubbles out of me. “I’m due for my period. Shut up.”

“I wasn’t lying, Stormy.” He takes my hand in his. “I said this wasn’t going to be some half-ass attempt at a relationship. I’m putting a lot on the line to be with you, so if I’m going in, I’m going all in. That means when I want to talk to my goddamn girl in the middle of the day, I need to be able to get ahold of her.”

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