I chuckle. “The girl is already a bit past drunk, Nins. She’s probably seeing two of you.”
“Yeah, well…I wonder if her girlfriend knows she’s been in the bathroom making out with the redhead sitting at the bar.”
My eyebrows lift into my hairline. “Any other night, I’d say raise the roof on this place, but we have more important things than to get back at Little Miss Drunk-and-Confused.”
“What do we do?” Nina asks, her nose scrunching up as her head shakes.
I glance in the direction she’s looking and find Lanie in the middle of the dance floor, leaned back, the entire top half of her body gyrating to the music.
“Good grief,” Nina says. “I’ll go grab her while you two plan our next move.” She takes off toward the dance floor, eyes trained on Lanie and her antics.
I pull my phone out and start searching for bars close by. Muddy Mermaid comes up, but so does another that sounds like it’s just as much a dive bar.
“There are two within five minutes of Haven’s Bard, but in opposite directions. It’s a coin flip, and we’re out of time. It’s nearly sunset, and we’re not in position,” I say, panic rising as Ashley’s life hangs in the balance. My head drops with a groan. “I don’t know what to do,” I admit to Nick. “I’d just be guessing, and what if I choose wrong?” I shake my head. “I think we should split up.”
“Not happening,” he says, voice stern. “We’re talking about a murderer, Lyss. I’m not leaving you.”
I step toward him, grabbing his hands. “We have to. Otherwise, that girl is going to die. I can’t live with that.”
“Do you remember what Natalia said? You can’t save them all, Alyssa.” Nick’s eyes lock on to mine with intense focus, but I notice a crack in his armor that reveals his vulnerability. He couldn’t bear the thought of her dying any more than I could. The first chance he gets, he’ll be rushing out of here to try to intervene. He’s only trying to protect me.
“Trust me, Nick. Please.”
I watch as he appears to war with himself before nodding. “Do you promise you won’t do anything that puts you in danger? If you see her, you’ll do what you can from inside to keep her from leaving. But under no circumstances do you leave that bar.”
“I promise,” I say, willing to make that compromise.
She might not even be there to begin with.
He sighs. “Who’s going with me?”
“Lanie,” I say, knowing that I can’t worry about corralling her tonight.
He lifts a brow, frowning. “Sticking me with the wild card.”
“She’ll listen to you,” I say. “I can’t be worried about her andfinding Ashley. I know you’ll keep her safe. Nina, I don’t worry about. She’ll be by my side the whole time.”
He bobs his head. “I think it’s the best plan. Where are Lanie and I headed?”
“Muddy Mermaid.”
He grins. “Sounds shady. I think we have the winner.”
I smirk. “I’m not so sure. We’re off to Rebel Roost.”
“Is that a biker bar?” he asks, pulling out his phone, likely to search it up.
I shrug, not having a clue. Neither has a website, as far as I could tell.
“Yeah…no,” he mumbles. “We’ll take Rebel Roost. I remember that place. There was a double murder there a couple years ago. Rival biker gangs. You’re not going there without me.”
“All right,” I say, not apt to fight when we just need to make moves. “I’m going to grab Nina and head to Muddy Mermaid. Keep me posted on what you find,” I say. I turn to leave, but he reaches out, stopping me.
I’m pulled into his strong embrace, melting into him.
“Be careful, Lyss. I mean it.” He places a hard kiss on my lips before pulling away and stalking toward Lanie, who’s still on the dance floor.
I know he hates this. I can tell by his posture that he’s not comfortable with the arrangement, but he’s a good man, and he won’t allow Ashley to die if there’s a chance that we can stop it.
