Aiden
Rule #5: Stop making rules about Evie, it’s suspicious.
Ihad slapped one more rule on myself, but all that did was remind me that I was now failing at all five.
My bike lurched forward, the engine roaring under me as I gunned it faster, weaving between cars on the highway. The metallic scent of exhaust, the rush of wind, the steady vibration of the road beneath me—all of it should have been grounding.
We were working and all I needed to do was stay focused, but I was too busy scolding myself for how weak I had been last night.
I shook the thoughts off for the thousandth time, looking at the road ahead.
We were following three cars in total. All stolen vehicles and all had every possible space inside filled with drugs. It wasn’t the drugs we were after this time, but the cars.
A local chop shop was losing their cars daily, each one customized for running illegal drugs. But when cars that were sent out to run drugs started to suddenly disappear, the boss got pissed. He called us in, and after a full day of back-and-forth over our price, we had a job—find out who was stealing the cars and where they were going. Apparently, he thought it would be politeto give us a little bonus if we also found out where the drivers were going, too.
The crime bosses and drug lords of the city couldn’t exactly call the police for these things, and the shady fucks didn’t trust their own people enough to have them investigate, so they called us. None of them were stupid. They didn’t trust anyone—and they weren’t the kind to be trusted, either—but they knew that money encouraged loyalty, so we get paid excessive amounts to take care of their issues.
The cars ahead lined up, moving in sync as Rook waved to us.
“Hero, speed up. Take Zack and Kane to get ahead of them. We are going to break apart and get behind. We’ll let you know if they get off the highway anywhere.”
“Why would we get ahead?” Zack asked. “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of following to see where they go?”
Hero weaved through traffic without question, speeding up to pass them, with Zack and Kane following. Mason dropped back, sitting up to ride next to us.
“We have to make sure there’s no police waiting,” I said, already knowing how this goes. “We can’t risk them getting pulled over when we need to see where they are going.”
“So what do we do if there are police waiting?” Kane asked.
I grinned, looking over at Mason and Rook even though they couldn’t see me through the helmet.
“You get yourself pulled over,” I said. “Run for a mile or two, so there’s a gap. Then there’s no attention on the cars.”
“Hold on, you expect all of us to get pulled over? We arebaitnow?” Zack asked.
“Oh, no,” Hero said, and I could hear the excitement in his voice. “Only one of us is getting pulled over. Who that will bedepends on which one of us is the slowest. I suggest pushing that cute little bike of yours to the limit, Zack.”
“Fuck you, Hero. I don’t want to be bait for some fucking drug runners.”
“Too bad.” Rook threw his bike back and forth between the lines. “We take turns running, so no one gets too many hits. Your record is clear enough. Play a good boy and they won’t hit you with many charges.”
Groans and mumbled threats came through the helmet, but Zack moved, not willing to go against our orders.
It took us another twenty minutes of following before they split off, all three getting off at different exits and making us split up to follow. I stayed with the last one, pulling off into a warehouse three buildings down as they idled the car around the back of the old metal building.
Without a sound I walked down to the car, slipping a tracker on the back panel and walking away without anyone noticing me. Sometimes these guys would spend so much brain power thinking about how to take the cars, they forgot to worry about everything else happening around them.
The ride back to Maverick Moto was longer than I would have liked, my chest already tightening at the thought of seeing Evie for the first time since last night. I barely parked before my gaze snapped to the office.
And there she was.
Or, at least, her blonde bun, bobbing right above the desk where she was undoubtedly plotting my untimely demise.
Which, fine. Fair.
Because I had touched her and I wasn’t supposed to.
I ripped off my helmet as her head lifted, eyes locking onto mine immediately.
