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“I’m nobody’s bitch,” he growls but climbs on behind me and wraps his arms around my waist as I turn on the powerful machine. Thankfully, there’s a small dirt trail that leads out of the forest, because this is no dirt bike. This is a pure, lean, mean road machine, and I wouldn’t want to scratch it up going through the underbrush.
I pat his hand on my waist. “If you’re a good boy, I might let you ride it some time,” I coo into my microphone, and his hands clench, but he doesn’t hurt me. “You are going to have to be the navigator, I have no idea where we are going.”
“Go left at the end of the dirt road. It leads back into town. Then head through a really run-down section that opens up to a rich neighborhood,” he tells me as I drive slowly down the dirt track.
I don’t think anyone would be able to hear the bike from the house, since it purrs beautifully, but I don’t want to risk opening it up and waking the Standishes. I don’t want them getting suspicious that someone is using this old path, then check it out and discover the bike. That would completely blow our cover.
“Oh yeah, I remember seeing it on the drive through town,” I reply.
Miller snorts. “And I bet Martha pointed out Governor Turner’s house, right?”
“Ah, yeah, she did and mentioned his two sons have come back to town.” It all clicks into place. “Oh, I’m an idiot. I know that their last name is Turner, but now all the dots connect. Your team is here because their dad talked to mine.”
“Yes, it was very easy to place both of them at the high school. Max and Ry didn’t grow up here, and there’s never been anything in the paper about them except that the governor has two sons. Creating backstories about their return to their hometown to finish out Ryland’s education after getting kicked out of a private school was easy, and Max is his guardian, so it was just as easy for him to get a job at the high school. All Jeff had to do was put in a good word for him, and the principal was thrilled to have Max teach at the school.”
I turn left once we hit the blacktop and open up the throttle. The bike jumps forward, and we fly down the road toward town. Miller whoops with joy, and I feel my own smile cross my lips. There’s nothing better than feeling the wind against your body as the bike hugs the curves of the road, but I ease back once we enter the built-up area again. There’s no point in getting a ticket, which would also blow our cover at this stage. The vibrations of the engine do nice things to my body, especially with the new ring between my legs and the feel of Miller’s hard body wrapped around mine. I feel the need to squirm, but I don’t want Miller to know that I’m turned on, so I grasp at a conversation to distract myself from my growing need.
“How do you guys explain the living arrangement? I’m assuming they all live together.”
“Anders and Dayton are college friends of Max’s who were looking for work, and Max suggested they come and stay with him. Lathan and Bishop are Governor Turner’s two aides’ sons, who are finishing their own schooling so they aren’t dragged all over the country.”
“And people believe that?” I ask, not hiding my skepticism.
“It’s a small town, so of course they do.” Miller’s sarcasm is not hard to miss. “It would have been strange if we had moved them all in separately. This kind of town doesn’t get that many new families all at once unless there’s some big job opportunity that just opened up nearby, and there was nothing convenient for us to use.”
Miller has been very forthcoming during the ride into town. It’s almost like a switch was flipped inside his brain. I’m sure it won’t last, but it makes for a more pleasant ride. The houses turn from dilapidated and dirt poor to middle class before changing into the upper end of the income scale. Miller points out a few more large properties on the way.
“That is Ted and June Standish’s place. James’s brother and his family.”
“Sophie and Stella?” I ask flatly, looking at the antebellum style house.
“Yeah, Ted is in imports and exports, and he looks to be doing quite well for himself as opposed to James and Martha. It all seems like happy families on the surface, and they are all smiles at church every Sunday, but I sense some tension between the families. June and Martha particularly.”
“Jealousy about status?” I ask, and I feel him shrug.
“I’m not sure. Ted came over to the house the week before we had our evaluation, and he and James had a heated argument, but I couldn’t get close enough to hear what it was about. Martha kept us all upstairs in our rooms while it was going on.”
“And you said Ted is in imports and exports?” I ask him, and I feel him nod his head, his helmet touching mine with the movement.
“Yes, he has ships coming and going from the wharf here in town all the time.”
“Well, doesn’t that seem awfully convenient. That would certainly be a way to smuggle them out of the country.”
We’re quiet for the rest of the ride, both lost in our own thoughts. Is this a much bigger operation than we first considered? So far, my three main suspects are Ted and James Standish, and Matthew from the bar. He was entirely too interested in seeing if I would happily blow Anders to get the job. That’s not normal, is it? I mean, I’ve never had a normal job, but surely people don’t actually get away with that sort of thing. There is also the guidance counselor, Brock. The questions he asked me were beyond invasive, but that can’t be how he speaks to all children, because there would be red flags galore by now. I have so many questions. Hopefully Team Bastards will be a bit more forthcoming face-to-face, otherwise I’m going to lose my shit. I’m achy, tired, and horny, which is not a good combination, so heaven help those men if they pull any of their bullshit tonight.
Chapter 21
I pull the bike up to the large mansion that Martha had pointed out to me as Governor Turner’s home.
“Take it around the back,” Miller says, gesturing at the driveway that curves around the large building. “There will be eyes on us even at this late hour. We don’t need them seeing us get off the bike. It’s better they assume it’s some of the guys.”
I do as he says, and a back light switches on as I pull the bike to a stop and we both get off. We remove our helmets and leave them on the seat before Miller leads the way past the pool to the back patio. There are curtains pulled across the large glass doors, but one is pushed far enough to the side to let us through. Standing there, looking sheepish, is Ryland Turner, confirming my guess that he’s the last member of Team Bastards.
He waves and pushes the door open, gesturing for us to come in. I stop in front of him, scowling, and he shrugs.
“Sorry. The others didn’t want you to know, and we were outvoted. Both Max and I didn’t think it was fair, but they wanted to test you.” He sounds as annoyed as I feel, and I roll my eyes.
“What a load of misogynistic bullshit. No wonder you haven’t had a permanent woman stay with your group, you’re all a bunch of children.” I push past him, and he shuts the door and pulls the curtain closed again.
