Page 29 of T-Bone
“You don’t think I’ve thought about that? The bitch is joined at the hip with that big gorilla motherfucker from Steel City.”
Faith’s lips twitched but she tried to hide it from me when she noticed me watching. “Not sorry,” she mouthed with a smile.
“Steel Demons,” Maynard asked, surprised. “From what I heard she has no love for bikers, so that’s suspicious.”
“Don’t matter,” Blade grunted. “I’m gonna follow that cop bitch until I get the answers I need, and then I’ll put a bullet in her and her bodyguard.”
Maynard laughed. “Try not to do it in Red Rock, the last thing I need is Steel City’s sheriff crawling up my ass for answers.” He laughed to himself. “What are we doing here, Blade?”
He shrugged. “I thought that bitch was headed here but I lost them on the highway. Guess they went back to their clubhouse.”
“You wanna go in to be sure?”
“No I don’t want to fuckin’ go inside, I want to find that little brat.”
“Right,” Maynard grunted. “Well then, I best be on my way. You got somethin’ for me?” Paper rustled and I assumed it was Blade handing over an envelope full of cash.
Next, two sets of footsteps took off in different directions, but I wasn’t convinced they were gone, not yet. I moved towards the window to watch them, but Faith gripped my forearm and shook her head. She mouthed one word. “Wait.”
Time passed slowly while we waited, Faith’s green eyes watched me carefully but this time she wasn’t looking for lies, for reasons not to trust me. She just… watched.
I took my time and watched her back, taking in her thick chestnut waves mussed from the helmet, the wind and constantly running her fingers through it. Even now, frustrated and rumpled, she was beautiful. Her curves were on full display in the worn jeans. She nibbled her bottom lip while we waited in silence for Maynard and Blade to get the fuck gone, her green eyes bounced back and forth as if she wasn’t seeing me at all, just thoughtful.
After fifteen minutes had passed, Faith’s hand slipped from my arm, and she turned to the closest window. “There’s a squad car out front.”
I froze at her words, turning slowly. Were they waiting to ambush us or just watching the house in case we came by? “Anybody inside?”
She shrugged. “Looks like he’s sleeping or eating.”
“Figures,” I snorted. “We should get out of here and go back the way we came.”
Faith blew out a breath and nodded slowly. “Yeah. But we need to finish searching this place. Use that torch sparingly,” she said, nodding to the phone clutched in my hand.
“Bossy,” I grumbled under my breath, but I couldn’t help but smile when she snickered as she made her way to the second floor.
Chapter Nineteen
Faith
Today was the first day since I left the police force that I actually felt fulfilled in my job. Being a private investigator wasn’t what I imagined for my life, it was a fallback plan because of the transferable skills but it was never something I enjoyed. It paid the bills, allowed me to save more than I did when I was a detective, and it gave me plenty of time to look into sightings of missing little girls who looked like Gemma. But today, spotting the bikers who trailed us up to Shiloh Valley, doing the criminal-cop dance with the Ghost Riders president, and an undercover search? It all felt like I never left the force.
Sitting on the floor inside Ashley’s dark bedroom, going through her boxes of personal belongings in search of any clue about Rachel and Amber Grey. There were no photos, at least not any physical photos but all of her digital gadgets were missing. No phone or laptop, no tablets or hard drives. “Well, fuck.”
“Find anything?” T-Bone stood in the doorway, a towering, imposing figure with his thick arms folded over his massive chest.
“No,” I sighed heavily. “It’s more interesting the things Ihaven’tfound,” I answered before telling him about her missing electronics. “There’s not even a flash drive in this whole place, which is odd for an artist.”
“Someone took it.”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “My guess is one of the two men who showed up here tonight. They think Ashley knew something, and they were sure enough to murder her for that knowledge.”
T-Bone’s expression was grim, his lips stretched into a flat line.
“Did you find anything in the other bedroom?” That itching feeling, the one I got on the back of my neck when something was just out of my grasp was back.
“Not really. The place was neat and tidy, didn’t even look tossed.”
I frowned. “Did you check under the mattress? The rugs? Any kind of hidden compartments?” Why did he seem so laidback about this? Did it have anything to do with why he was looking for a reason to avoid coming here tonight? I didn’t like it, not at all, but I kept my thoughts to myself for now.
