Page 102 of Cole

I walked through the group, tension sharpening my every sense.

Gage made space for me at the desk he was standing beside.

“I’m fine. I found out everything I could about Grant’s murder. He was shot in a cab that had stopped at a red light. The cops have CCTV of a biker wearing a Hounds jacket.”

“What time at?” Gage asked immediately.

“Yesterday afternoon. It was on a back road, not the way a cab should go into town at all.”

“So, that’s fucking sus,” Maddox grunted.

I nodded in agreement. “They’re looking for the cab driver, but he’s disappeared.”

“Of course, he has,” Gage sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. “What time in the afternoon?”

“The call came in from tourists who were passing by and found the body about four. Grant had been discharged from the hospital at two. It’s a pretty specific window.”

Gage let out a hollow laugh. “Yeah, specific and pretty fucking inconvenient.”

“Why? Where was Cole?” I asked, my hope when I’d found out about the time window slipping away. I’d convinced myself on the way over that he’d have a strong alibi for those two hours, and everything would be ok.

“Here. Sleeping. Apparently, he didn’t sleep well last night, and got some shut-eye here in the room at the back.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“No one was here?”

“Asher arrived at five to open. It was a half day.”

“No one in the shop?”

“I was here,” Maddox said.

“Well?” I prompted when no one else spoke. I could tell by the look on his face that he didn’t consider himself a believable alibi.

“And I can’t see that fucking room from here. I didn’t know Cole was here until later, when I came over to the bar at about six.”

I slumped against the table, head spinning.

“Why did the cops only get here this morning to pick Cole up?” Maddox asked.

I shrugged. “Apparently, they couldn’t get the footage any faster. By the time the crime scene was processed and the footage received, it was morning.”

“Excuse me, but why are we even listening to her? She writes an article outing our business to the entire town, and now she gets to question us? Bullshit,” someone scoffed. I looked over, clocking a familiar face. Travis.

Gage studied him without speaking. Travis turned red and looked away.

“Cole might not be here, but we are, so act accordingly. The Pres will hear all about how you’ve acted in his absence,” Maddox put in, his tone hewn from stone.

“So good luck, motherfucker,” Gage muttered and then rolled his shoulders back, and cracked his neck. He looked like he was squaring up for a fight, and maybe he was. We all were.

“Boss says she didn’t write the article,” He announced. “And, he said if she did, he didn’t care. She’s his old lady, and no one disrespects her, got it?”

There was a murmur of assent from the crowd.

Maddox called out instructions for the rest of the day, sending most of the MC home.

“We don’t need any more heat right now. Stay home and don’t make trouble,” he reminded the group as they got up to leave.