Page 9 of Jigsaw
“What’s going on, Dean?” Raven asked.
I sighed, needing to ask if I was crazy but not wanting anyone to think I actually was. “Do you remember what I told you about Minneapolis?”
“Yeah,” he answered, leaning closer as I stepped to the edge of the bar and leaned against it so I could speak quietly.
“Last night, I swear she was here, standing in front of me, proclaiming her to be property of herself. When I looked away for a second, she was gone, and now, I’m questioning if she was even here to begin with.”
“Have you checked the security recordings?” he asked, and I wanted to punch myself for not thinking about the cameras that cover the entire property. “If she was here, they must’vecaptured her.” He took a swallow of his coffee and asked, “But if she was here, then why? After all these years, and you keeping your word to stay out of Minneapolis, why would she show up here now?”
“I honestly have no idea, and the last thing I want is problems with her father’s club. They’re a good group of guys, or at least they used to be, but I’ve put all that behind me and don’t need her starting a war between our clubs,” I reasoned.
“Then forget you saw her and move on. Find another woman to take her place,” he suggested with a shrug.
Raven was our Road Captain, making sure the bikes were taken care of and all our rides were mapped, planned, and executed with precision. He and I worked in tandem when the club was riding, and his opinion was one I valued. And he was one of the only single brothers left around. I didn’t need advice from someone deep inside the loving feelings. I needed someone to remind me that she had fucked me over.
“What are you talking about?” I heard a voice ask, and Raven and I turned to see Cheyenne walking down the stairs in a hoodie.
Raven gave me a look and a subtle lift of one shoulder, so as I poured Cheyenne a cup of coffee, I tried to explain without going into too much detail. “I thought I saw an old acquaintance last night and was asking Raven if he saw them.”
“Who? I greeted people for an hour or two last night, so I might know who you’re talking about,” Cheyenne offered, and I thought there wasn’t any harm in asking her.
She may be able to make me feel less crazy, so I said, “She was wearing a shirt the said ‘Property of Willow’.”
Cheyenne sat up straight and smiled. “I met her last night. She was really nice and very beautiful. She didn’t say you were friends or I would’ve found you.”
Raven lifted his coffee cup in a mock toast and said, “There’s your answer.”
I ran my hands through my hair and shook my head as Cheyenne asked, “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, you’re in the clear. It was my fuck-up that caused this,” I stated and walked out from behind the bar and over to Roughstock’s office.
I could hear Cheyenne speaking quietly to Raven as I used my key to unlock the office door then walked inside. The hard drive for the security system was locked up in here, and I needed to see if Cheyenne got it right.
Because if Willow was here looking for me and decided to run before I could speak with her, then I was going to find her and see what the hell she was thinking coming into a strange clubhouse without any kind of backup. The Sinners were an honorable group of men, but she didn’t know that.
Then the questions started rolling through my head as I unlocked the hard dive storage closet and opened the laptop inside.
How did she find me?
Why did she come here without speaking to me?
Was this some kind of test from the Phantom Renegades?
And why did she claim herself when I knew brothers had been lining up to be her ol’ man?
I didn’t have the answer to any of those questions, but if I saw her on the camera, I was going to find a way to locate her, even if I had to call Devlin to find her for me. There were over three hundred thousand bikers in the area for the Rally, so finding one sexy blonde would be impossible.
I checked the live feed of the cameras and saw a few campers were starting to wake up and join the land of the living. Some were lined up for the portable toilets while others were taking advantage of the coffee truck we’d hired to be here everymorning. We didn’t have enough time or manpower to play hostess to anyone, so we let a local vendor make some money and serve coffee and pastries to the sleepy bikers.
Seeing everything was okay, I entered the system menu and dialed the recordings back to seven last night, focusing on the one we had pointed at the sign out front. It captured the edge of the road, the parking lot, and most of the field where the bonfire took place. I was watching the camera at double speed, seeing everyone getting the party set up.
A knock sounded on the door, and I said, “Enter,” without turning to see who it was.
“I brought you another cup of coffee,” Raven said as he walked into the office and closed the door behind him. He handed it to me and stood beside me as I watched Cheyenne speak with different people as they entered the party. “Any luck?”
“Not yet,” I returned, keeping my eyes on the monitor as I took a swallow of coffee.
Suddenly, I saw a woman walk up to Cheyenne and I clicked the speed, slowing it to normal as Raven stood beside me watching the two women have a brief conversation.
