Page 63 of Devil's Marker

She waved behind her. “And that club?”

“We got a tip that girls who’ve turned up missin’ might have been goin’ to Night Flight.”

“Oh my God.”

“That redheaded guy? The one in the white jeans?”

She scrunched up her nose. “Yeah?”

“He’s their prez.”

“Oh my God!” Her eyes were huge as she contemplated the near brush she had with an irredeemable end to the good life she had going on. She grabbed hold of Win’s arm. “You were watching me.”

“”Course, Arcy. Nothin’s ever gonna happen to you if I’m around.”

She let those words penetrate, particularly the word ever. It warmed and softened as it began to seep through skin and flesh, into her very bones. And she knew. Millions of dollars wouldn’t give her a feeling of security. But Win Garrett.

When a man like Win Garrett used the word ‘ever’, he meant it. She didn’t know how she knew that. She just did.

“You okay?” he said.

“Yes. But I don’t want to go to the condo. I’m gonna sleep at the clubhouse tonight.”

For one thing Win didn’t think it was his place to tell R.C. Greer where to sleep. For another thing, he was disturbed by the fact that some lucky but unaware young lady had experienced a near miss and that, with a slight change of fate, it could have been R.C. With a war brewing with another club, particularly in light of the fact that they’d taken one of the S&B, he wasn’t sure the clubhouse was safer. But he was sure he’d feel better if she was close by.

When he walked into the clubhouse, the members, gathered by news of what had transpired, gaped at R.C. in a way that said they would have been less surprised if he’d brought an elephant back at two in the morning.

He turned her way. “Guess I’d better go face the music.”

She reached out and stopped him. “No. This is on me. You didn’t drive the car from Austin to Waco. You didn’t make the decision to go dancing tonight. He’ll yell and carry on, but it’s nothin’ I haven’t seen before.”

“Don’t feel good about this. Feels like I’m puttin’ it on you.”

“My doing. My mess. I’m the cleanup crew.” She smiled. “But stay away from the door. Just in case.”

Win watched her walk in the direction of Boss’s office. When she turned the corner, he looked around the room. There were at least a dozen pairs of curious eyes fixed on him.

“Where’d Roar put that fucker?” Win said.

“He’s across the way,” Cue said. “Boss wants to find out what Catch gets from the video before we give the asshole an opportunity to provide us with the information we want. Boss says we’ll get further faster if the questions are precise and focused.”

Win nodded. “He’s probably right about that.”

Win had only ever witnessed one bloody interrogation when he was with the Huns. It was something he was not eager to experience again.

After changing clothes, Win headed to security, which was next to Boss’s office. The door was open, but it was quiet. No yelling. No screaming.

He intended to keep moving until he reached the security room, but couldn’t keep from turning his head to look as he went by.

Boss spotted him. “Stop tryin’ to sneak past me, recruit. Get your ass in here.” He backed up two steps. R.C. was sitting in the chair in front of the desk with her back to the door. He couldn’t see her face when he stepped inside. “My little girl says you took care of her. Says she put you in an awful position, where you had to look after her while you were tryin’ to take care of business. So I guess I’m in your debt.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say…”

“My security expert says you’re gonna go through the feed with him. Y’all let me know as soon as you know what you know.” He looked at R.C. “Now you go on to bed, sugar. You can sleep good. There’re a lotta guys here tonight who’d give their lives to keep you safe.”

“Okay,” she said. When she got up and turned around, Win could see she was tired. “See ya, Garrett.”

“See ya, Arcy.”

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