AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Zeke’s gaze flicked to the hold Dawg had on her before his eyes lifted back to hers.
“If she’s not in trouble, then why isn’t she staying at her place?”
“Because she moved in with me yesterday,” Dawg answered coolly. “We were heading to her house to pack her stuff when this happened. ”
Crista was suddenly aware of the other diners packed into the restaurant, their curious gazes following them, even though the table had been moved far enough away to give the sheriff the privacy he needed to question them.
And those curious diners couldn’t have helped but overhear Dawg’s little announcement.
“Well, I know where to find her then, that’s all that matters. ” Zeke moved smoothly to his feet, his leanly muscled body flexing in frustration as he glanced around the table again. “Natches, Rowdy, next time I have proof you’re pulling ops behind my back, I’m going to arrest every damned one of you. I’m giving you fair warning now. ”
Ops. Operations. Crista knew that word, she had heard Alex use it often enough.
“Save it, Zeke. ” Natches followed Rowdy and Kelly as they rose from their seats as well. “We’re not running ops on you. And if we were, we would know how to cover our asses. ”
Zeke breathed out in exasperation. “Unfortunately, that’s too true. ” He stood as
well, his gaze coming back to Crista. “Have you talked to Alex yet?”
She shook her head. “He’s out of the country. ”
Zeke nodded. “I put out a call to his CO, and he told me the same thing. Any idea when he’ll be back?”
“When he gets back. ”
Zeke’s questions were beginning to grate on her nerves, especially when it was more than obvious that he knew the answers before he did the asking.
Zeke nodded again, his gaze going over the five of them before it landed on Kelly once more.
“You’re letting them get you in trouble again, Kel. Not a good idea?”
At that, Kelly’s laughter whispered around the table. “Zeke, they are trouble, remember? But in this case, I promise you, I’m innocent as a babe. ”
His lips twitched at that, and an edge of amusement filled his gaze. “Course you are, Kel. ” He chuckled. “And it’s more than obvious that fiancé of yours is a damned bad influence. Not that I expected anything less. You, my girl, are a little too easily taken in by that rogue’s smile of his. ”
“Ease up, Zeke. ” Though his voice was amused, there was an edge of steel in Rowdy’s voice.
“We need to get Crista back to the marina and let Dawg get her settled. Her nerves are raw, and so are ours. Like you said, you know where to find her if you have any more questions. ”
Crista let Dawg lead her from the diner then, aware that the sheriff watched them leave, suspicion shadowing his gaze. Not that he didn’t have a damned good reason to be suspicious. She knew Zeke, and knew, from the conversations she had with her brother in the past, how seriously he took his job and the protection of the county. And suspicion meant a challenge to Zeke. He wasn’t going to just let this go.
“Just hang on. ” Dawg’s voice was a whisper of sound as he led her from the diner. “We’re almost clear. ” He turned to Rowdy. “Did you bring the pickup?”
“Dad drove yours in,” Rowdy answered softly as they moved toward the parking lot. “He’s waiting to take your Harley back to the marina. We sure as hell didn’t want to leave it here. ”
Crista wrapped her arms across herself as Dawg led her to the big black pickup truck that she had ridden in the day before.
Her life had definitely gone beyond Mercury in retrograde. Car bombs were major catastrophes, not fate fucking with you.
“We’ll meet you back at your place,” Rowdy told him as they neared the pickup, and Ray Mackay opened the door and stepped from it.
Rowdy’s tan pickup sat beside it, and Dawg’s and Natches’s cycles on the other side. Ray lifted the rifle he carried from the seat, unloaded it, and calmly reached in to hang it on the gun rack that stretched across the back window.
“Few curiosity seekers and that rabid little twit Johnny,” he grunted as they neared him. “Little bastard. His daddy would roll over in his grave if he knew how that boy turned out. ”
Crista stared at Ray in surprise. “Johnny Grace?”
“Grace my ass,” he muttered. “That bitch that spawned him had to have gotten the sperm donor from someone other than Ralph. Ralph was a fine man. Ain’t none of him in that boy. ”
