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As I went down the stairs, I decided it was yet another reason that I needed to detach myself from the situation, I needed to get some space. In general, I tried to turn my profiling skills on myself as well as others. I wanted to know my motivations. I wanted to know what made me tick. And after so many years, I thought I knew everything about myself. I thought I knew of what I was capable.
So suddenly finding that I was capable of cruelty was not sitting well with me.
Fact of the matter was, I needed to leave.
And once we finished talking to the Lazarus guy, I was going to head out.
There was absolutely no reason for me to be there every day. I wasn't the most trained at Hailstorm. Other guys would have been much better for the job of helping to protect The Henchmen. I didn't need to oversee any more of the renovations which, yet again, I wasn't the most knowledgable about to begin with.
My specialty was specific. My skills were niche. And while I could manage well enough with the other things, why not step away and let someone else more capable take them over. Lo wanted me at the compound to get a feel for the guys, to see if they were the kind of personalities to make the kind of enemies who would come at them like someone was coming at them. Then, when I finished that, I was there to try to create a blind profile on the attackers by their actions.
Now that we had a name or, as it were, a list of names, I didn't need to be there. There was no reason. I would likely be able to make a better, more comprehensive profile back at Hailstorm working side-by-side with L who apparently was a crime encyclopedia. And maybe Alex who was currently banned from The Henchmen compound by her husband, something she railed against endlessly to the point where I almost felt bad for Breaker. But, then again, he brought that on himself. But she would be able to come up to Hailstorm and work with me.
I worked better from afar.
And I damn sure worked better when I wasn't constantly thinking about a certain redheaded, charming, impressive biker. I spent more time trying to think of ways to shoot him down and hide my ever-growing attraction to him than actually doing any kind of work.
I went to the bottom landing to find Lazarus sitting on a steel chair, ankles cuffed to the front legs, arms cuffed behind the back, making his chest widen. But he was slouched back, seeming as comfortable as you please despite the very uncomfortable position.
Repo gave us a tight nod as we walked up toward them.
"They didn't blow it up or anything did they?" Lazarus asked as soon as he saw us.
"Cops got them first," Renny supplied and Repo made a frustrated noise. "Go on up and talk to Reign. We have to have a few words with our new friend."
Repo nodded, clamping a hand on Renny's shoulder before heading up the stairs.
"If you guys are supposed to come down here to pick my brain," he started, tone casual, "let me save you some time. My name is Lazarus Alexander. I'm thirty-one. I live in Shane Mallick's apartment building because I like when people mind their own goddamn business. I've lived in Navesink Bank for two years."
"Why did you move here, of all places?" I asked, brow raised. While Navesink Bank had its very nice areas, the crime rate was, well, a deterrent for most people.
He shrugged a shoulder. "I was in the City. Got all kinds of fucked up and needed to get away."
"Fucked up meaning drugs," Renny supplied, watching the man with a quiet intensity I shouldn't have, but absolutely did, find incredibly attractive.
"Booze to thirties to H."
"And you decided Navesink Bank was a good place to recover?" Renny went on. "You do realize we have an impressive drug problem here, right?"
Laz shrugged. "I've got some time in. Can't hide from your triggers. Gotta face 'em up. So when I'm having a bad night, I walk."
"Which was how you came across the guys breaking into the gym," I concluded.
"Yeah, babe. I walk for hours some nights. See a lot of shit."
"She hates being called babe," Renny supplied, not bothering to look my way and I knew he was still ticked at me. But that was probably for the best. "If you see a lot of shit, why bother reporting this? And why to us and not the cops?"
"Fact of the matter is, when you're a junkie, you get a different perspective on the world. It's not as easy as the cops are the good guys and the criminals are the bad guys. It's a fuckuva lot more complicated than that. And I've been here long enough to know that you guys don't fuck with innocents. You keep the shit between you and who you're having issues with. If you're overthrown and a new power takes over, there's no guarantee of that being the case with them. The lesser of two evils, if you will."
