Page 112
“He’s—” was “—my best friend. We’ve ridden together for more than a decade. I need an address. Fuck. Anything. Vega knows he’s with the sisters. Kodiak has always had a thing for Skye. I’d have you text Kodiak, but I don’t want you involved any more than I already have.” Not that he’d respond. He might’ve already blocked anyone associated with the Hellers.
“They have a place in Shady Valley,” she said. “We’ve got a mutual client. Scarlett still fucks him, but he and I are only online now. He’ll know how to find her. I’ll be right back.” She hurried from the room and returned with her phone in her hand. She put her finger against her lips to indicate I should be quiet.
With the speaker on, the phone rang twice before a deep male voice answered.
“It’s me,” she cooed. “I thought you were going to come to my live stream tonight.”
He groaned. “Work has been brutal. I just got back into town. I spent a month in Hong Kong.”
“Sounds rough.”
“I survived.”
“We need to get together,” Clover said. “Maybe have a drink. Strictly off the books. I wouldn’t want to piss off Scarlett.”
“I’m seeing her tomorrow.”
“Really?” Her tone lightened. “I have to admit, I’ve missed her. I know she’s over in Shady Valley. I should stop in and see her.”
“I’m sure she’d be surprised.”
“Maybe I could meet you over there. What’s her trailer number?”
He chuckled. “Yeah. I’m not driving my Benz into that shit show again. I’m meeting her at the Onyx. You should join us.”
“Sounds fun. Do you know her trailer number?”
“Yes. Let me give it to you. I sent her some flowers while I was away.”
He rattled off the number, and I plugged it into my phone. “Thank you,” I mouthed and kissed Clover’s cheek. She smiled and continued chatting with the guy. Two minutes later, I was on my bike and on my way to the trash part of town to convince Scarlett to give up her sister and Kodiak.
Shady Valley sounded quaint and picturesque, but it was a drug and gang invested trailer park. This used to be Crawler territory, but the Kings had taken over. Not somewhere you wanted to be caught alone. Or unarmed. Which is why I’d gotten my weapon back from Dozer now that the restraining order was lifted.
The streets were numbered and corresponded to the lot numbers. I slowly rode through the rows of trailers, looking for 5th Street, lot 54. Lights were on in the white water-stained single-wide. A rickety covered wooden porch led to the door. The pungent scent of weed drifted on the night air.
The brown and white pitty chained to the porch lifted his head. “Easy, boy,” I said, giving him my hand to sniff. My boots landed hard on the weathered planks. I rapped my knuckles against the metal screen door. Laughter echoed from inside, and then the door swung open.
The smile slipped from Scarlett’s lips. “Steele.”
I didn’t wait for an invitation. I opened the screen and let myself in. She took a step back. Another girl stretched out on the couch. A ribbon of smoke curled around her lips as she toked on a half-smoked blunt.
“Kodiak isn’t here.” Scarlett grabbed her cat from the chair, then sat keeping the scrawny kitten in her lap. “You should be glad because if he were he’d kick your ass.”
“Do you know where he is?” The girl scooted up, giving me room to sit next to her. “I’m not fucking around, Scarlett. If you care about your sister, you’ll tell me where they are.”
A smirk twisted her lips. “Since when do Hellers care?” She racked a line on the glass-topped end table next to her.
“This isn’t about the Hellers. Kodiak’s out bad with the club.”
Scarlett leaned over and snorted the line. She tipped her head back and gasped a breath. “Fuck the Hellers. And fuck you.”
I stood. “Enjoy your high. The mafia knows Kodiak took their product. They’re looking for it, and they’re looking for him. I’m sure they’ll be forgiving when they discover you’ve snorted it up your nose.”
With blown pupils, her eyes widened.
“Good luck.” I headed toward the door.
“Wait.” She dropped the cat and scrambled out of the chair. “How do you know?”
