Page 32 of Outlaws' Single Mom
“Hm… I’m not trying to alarm you, but this sounds like you were specifically targeted, which is unusual without some sort of criminal connection.”
“I’m a home health aide with a four year old. What could anyone possibly want with me?”
He pulls out a second chair at the kitchen table, and flinches slightly when he sits, like something hurts for a moment. “Ms. Vale, we touched on this at my last visit, but I think it would be a good idea for you to reconsider your involvement with the Outlaw Sons. Those sorts of people can appear very charming, but it can attract the wrong sort of attention.”
“You think they tried to break into my apartment?” I shake my head. “That wouldn’t make sense.” All they’d have to do was knock.
“I’m just speculating. From our investigation, we know that your sister was tangled up in the local criminal network.” He sees the look on my face and changes tactics. “I’m not saying she was a ringleader or anything of the sort, but drugs don’t come from nowhere. I would think you would want to help us figure out if someone can be held responsible. It would give her death some small amount of meaning.”
“I do, I just…”
“Are you being threatened, Ms. Vale? If the Outlaw Sons are forcing you to cooperate with them, you can tell me. You might even be able to help us break their hold on our city.”
Just when I was starting to wonder if maybe I was wrong about my first impressions, he pushed too far. Stiff, Lash and Jackal have done nothing but help me since the moment we met. I give Officer Dillard a thin lipped smile.
“I don’t think I can help. I barely know them. They wouldn’t trust me with anything.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Men will do a lot for a beautiful woman.”
“I really think you should go.”
“Let me at least find you a safe place to stay tonight until the locks can be repaired.”
“I’ll call a friend. She lives nearby.” I start closing the door.
“I think?—”
“Thank you for your help. I’ll make sure to get the locks replaced as soon as possible.” I close the door in his face and throw both locks immediately. I stand quietly with my back against the door until I hear Officer Dillard’s boots clomping down the stairs.
Shit.
18
DAKOTA
The gate into the Outlaw Sons’compound slowly opens after a big guy wearing a cowboy hat nearly blinds me with a flashlight in the face. They wave me through, and unlike the first time, relief floods me as the gate shuts and I find a place to park. Jackal jogs out from between the church and the house, heading my way. I glance over my shoulder to check on Logan, who’s out like a light. No wonder. A car ride at two AM would have me asleep too if I wasn’t wired from the break-in.
Jackal opens the car door, his brows creased with concern. “I got your call, but you weren’t making a lot of sense.” He quickly takes stock of me and Logan in the back. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”
I tell him quickly about the break-in attempt and Officer Dillard’s questions. His expression hardens as I get to the part where Dillard was asking me to betray the bikers. Or at least, feeling out my willingness to go along with it.
“I couldn’t stay in my apartment.” I quickly glance around. Even at night, there are bikers working in the big garage next to us, and the church is lit up with music drifting out. “I grabbed some things and just started driving, but I didn’t know where to go. If I can just stay here tonight that’s enough. I’ll sleep in the car if we have to.”
“Don’t be stupid. You can crash in my quarters.” He helps me out, then grabs our bags out of the backseat. I go to the other side and work Logan out of the car. He mumbles in his sleep, and his head drops onto my shoulder, snoring softly. “Stiff and Lash are on a late patrol, but they’ll be back later. We’ll find you something better tomorrow.”
I cradle the back of Logan’s head. “So long as it’s safe, I don’t care.”
He leads me to the old school building. Inside it still looks very much like what it was, but instead of backpacks and schoolbooks, there are bike parts onthe floors, posters on the walls, and the faint scent of motor oil and cigarette smoke clinging to everything. I could absolutely picture kids in uniforms running through the halls here once upon a time. I follow him down the hall, past classrooms marked with different names. We stop in front of a door that says “Jackal.”
“Home sweet home. It’s not much, but nobody will bother you or Logan in here.” He opens the door, revealing a one room apartment that looks lived in, but neat. It doesn’t surprise me for Jackal, but I bet Lash’s room is a disaster. Stiff I’m not sure. It could go either way.
That gets a smile out of me. “It’s perfect.”
The room is shaped like an L with the windows on the far end. The bed is tucked away into the short end of the L, and there’s a heavy curtain hanging from the ceiling that divides it from the main part of the room where he has a couch, a TV with a couple game controllers, and a short kitchenette counter with a microwave, an air fryer and a sink.
He drops our bags on the couch. Out the windows, I can see the back of the compound, where a narrow parking area has been turned into a shooting range,and there’s a high fence and some trees between us and a street of houses down the hill towards the river. “Bathroom is over there. You and Logan can take the bed. I’ll take the couch.”
The couch is long and looks halfway comfortable, but he’s a big guy. “Thank you. If it was just me I’d offer to take the couch, but with Logan it gets a little tricky.”
