Page 17 of Sweet Revenge for the Bikers

I guess I’m ready.

10

MELODY

The origin of Eagle-eye’s name is immediately obvious.

It looks like he’s completely blind in one eye, the pupil a thick milky white. The other is steel gray and sharp as a knife. They move together, which is more unnerving than if he had an eye patch. I wonder if that’s why he doesn’t. Those distinctive eyes are set in a strong face, its squared off jaw covered with white stubble. His thick mustache still has streaks of black, just like the barely tamed mane on his head, but the dark hairs are losing the battle to shades of white and gray.

“Who you got here?” No gentle greetings, got it.

“Melody.”

“Cute name. Nice figure. I’m lookin’ at her because?”

Rebel steps forward. “We met her at the rally last night, and she ran into some trouble after. Thought it was worth hearing about.”

“Alright.” He pushes away his laptop and leans back in his chair. “Talk.”

Mad Dog grins. “Funny story, actually. We⁠—”

“I met them near the race, and then we got some food and hung out by the bonfire,” I interrupt before he goes into a full retelling of all the most embarrassing details.

“What were you doing when the shooting started?”

“Um… we were getting to know each other.” I can see the instant he reads between the lines, because his mustache twitches as he fights a smirk.

“That true, boys?” Eagle-eye asks.

“Would’ve been hard for her to be anywhere else,” Riptide chimes in. “We were still sharing space if you wanna put it delicately.”

“Real classy. Of fucking ‘course you were.”

I squeeze my eyes shut for a second and stare down at my dirt-streaked sneakers. At least my clothes got washed and Emily loaned me a pair of socks. It could be worse. Movement at the side of his desk grabs my attention. A brown and white boxer pads out from behind Eagle-eye’s desk. He has plenty of gray on his muzzle, just like his human. I hold my hand out and a moment later a broad, wet tongue swipes over it.

Eagle-eye’s mask cracks enough to show a hint of a smile. “Jupiter likes you. That’s a good sign.”

“He seems very nice.”

“He’s a proud old man, who is currently hiding from his much younger, much more energetic son, Hercules,” he says fondly. And then the mask returns, right back to business. “So clearly you didn’t see the shooting, and I know you didn’t drag her up here just to tell me you got your dicks wet. Get to the useful information.”

Mad Dog stands behind me, lending silent support, and it helps to have Jupiter’s ears to rub. “I don’t know if I have any, honestly.” I give him a slightly abridged version of what happened, leaving Dad out of it.

“You didn’t see who did it?” His eyes narrow.

I shake my head. “No. There was at least one man, and I think I heard voices, but I don’t remember a lot. Emily says some people found me and brought me to the ER. I think I woke up a few times, but the first thing I really remember after getting jumped was being at the hospital. You probably know everything from there.”

Eagle-eye nods. His hands are clasped, his elbows on the desk. “King gave me her version this morning. She sent me the picture she took of the guys who were looking for you in the waiting room. You said you didn’t recognize them.”

“No.”

“How about we take another look now that you’ve had a chance to recover a little.” He opens his laptop and clicks a few times before spinning it around.

Emily must’ve been trying to take the photo without anyone noticing, because the angle is funny and the focus is on the woman at the desk, not the men, but it’s clear enough. I lean in closer. This whole time, I’ve been trying to tell as accurate a story as possible, without bringing my father into things. Unfortunately, I can’t leave the Devil’s Brigade totally out if they were the ones who got themselves spotted.

I don’t even have to lie. “Sorry, I’ve never seen them before.”

“You sure?”