Page 52 of Double the Dilemma

“Yes, but she is right,” Savage said, giving Karissa a bland look. “Which team are you going with?”

“I’m going after Sena. So whoever is going with me.”

“I’m going,” Razor said, squeezing her hip.

“I’ll head with Xena and her man,” Taz offered. “Tiger, you with me?” Tiger nodded.

Simba spoke up. “My team will all go on our own, and we’ll see if we can track where she went. You guys go after your drug dealer and then we can meet up.”

Savage nodded. “Works for me. Let’s ride.”

Karissa stood and looked at Glitch. “You staying here?” She nodded. “Play nice with Code and maybe he’ll let you use some of his stuff. I’ll need you to give me some guidance while he works with his guys.”

Glitch glanced over at Code. “If I say I’m sorry for calling you lazy, will you let me touch it?” she asked him sweetly. “I’ll even tell you how big and manly it is, if you want.”

Code scowled at her. “You’re going to be a pain in my ass, aren’t you?” She shrugged. “Fine, but if you fuck up my shit, ally or not, I’ll make your life hell.”

“You two play nice,” Karissa warned them over her shoulder. She looked at Razor. “Your bike?”

He nodded. “I got you,” he assured her.

She had a feeling that he meant for more than just this one ride, and she wasn’t going to complain about it.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN

RAZOR

It was odd to ride with a group of men other than his brothers. It didn’t matter that they were allies or that he had Karissa on the back of his bike. They weren’t his club, but they hadn’t questioned him being with them, so that was something. Though he had a feeling that was more to do with Karissa than him.

When they arrived at the alleyway near the diner, Karissa was off and moving before he could even turn off the bike. He bit back a sigh, because he knew there was no point in saying anything. She was on a mission, and nothing was going to get in her way. He turned off his bike and climbed off, following her and the other men.

They were like a well-oiled machine as they moved. No words were spoken as they all fanned out, eyes scanning and bodies braced. He didn’t have any kind of military training, so he could only watch and brace himself, but it fascinated him. Especially since they easily let Karissa take the lead. It gave him a twinge of worry that she would realize she wanted this again, but he pushed it away.

They were looking for a killer, and his worries were not important right now.

The alleyway was dark, lit only by dim exterior lights over security doors spaced along the walls. It smelled of urine, garbage, and body odor, telling him that the alleyway was used by the homeless often. He would be surprised if Sena was still here.

No one spoke, and he watched as they spread out along the alleyway. Ursa leaped up on top of a dumpster, barely making a sound as he carefully checked behind it with a small flashlight he pulled from his pocket. Ursa looked back and shook his head at Simba, and Razor turned his attention back to Karissa.

He could just make her out in the shadowed area, crouched down at the back of the alley, searching with the light on her phone. He made his way toward her. When reached her, she looked up at him and said, “She’s not here, so I guess she was only here to shoot up her drugs.” The disappointment in her voice was obvious. As was the frustration.

“Code said she never left the alleyway, so there has to be a way she got out of here,” Simba said thoughtfully. “We need more light here.” He glanced at Razor. “Your bike has a bigger headlamp. Do you think you can pull it up here and we’ll see what’s hiding?”

Razor nodded and went to grab his bike. It took some maneuvering to get it up over the short curb, but thankfully it wasn’t as hard as it could have been. Once he had the bike pointed into the mouth of the alleyway, and the light on as bright as it could go, he stepped off and looked around. He saw nothing out of the ordinary.

The Predators members moved along the walls silently, and Karissa moved to stand next to him, hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. “She can’t just disappear into thin air,” she muttered. “This doesn’t make any sense. There has to be a hidden tunnel or door or something.”

“What about under the dumpster?” Razor suggested. “Could it be that it’s blocking a door or a way out?” The dumpster was closer to the end of the alleyway and opposite a steel door that he assumed belonged to the business in the building on the right. There was no door on the left that he could see.

“Good thinking,” Taz agreed, dropping to his stomach on the ground to look under. Razor tried not to think of what he could by lying in. “Well, well, well, he’s not just pretty, he has brains too. There is a door under here.” He got to his feet and brushed off his front. He grinned at Razor. “Maybe we’ll keep you around.”

Razor rolled his eyes. “Shut the hell up and move the damn dumpster,” Razor ordered drily. Karissa snickered next to him, and he saw the other men smirking and grinning his way.

“Well, looks like we’re in luck,” Taz remarked as he shone his light around the bottom of the dumpster again. It looked like it was on the ground, but when Taz started to push on it, it moved far too easily. He could just make out the faintest sound of wheels turning. “Clever of them.”

Once the dumpster was moved, Razor stepped forward with Karissa to see the hatch in the ground. It wasn’t anything spectacular, just an old steel door with a handle in the center. But the handle was almost flat to the steel top, leaving only enough space for a smaller hand to grasp. He doubted that his own hand could fit.

“Before we go in, we need to make sure we’re ready for what might be down there,” Simba said seriously, pulling out his gun. “If this is some kind of safe room and she’s in there, we don’t want to surprise her and have her start shooting at us. So be ready.”

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