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“I think I already have,” I said.
I could see all the color in his beautiful hazel eyes. I could see flecks of green and gold. I could see all the colors of autumn. There was nothing remotely frightening about those eyes. I leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips, purely because I wanted to.
We broke away naturally, and Zack's eyes softened when he looked at me. “I thought we agreed not to go there.”
“When this is all over… we’ll probably never see each other again,” I said. “So until then… why not be together whil
e we can?”
Zack considered that for a moment, and then his face broke out into a slow smile. “That sounds… very reasonable.”
“Does it?”
Zack pulled me closer into the curve of his body, and then I felt his hands travel up the skirt of my dress. I felt myself shiver in response, just like I had the night we had slept together for the first time. I was more aware of what to expect this time, but it still felt like the first time. There was all the same anticipation and excitement and wonder.
As he lay me down on the soft earth, I stared up at the leaves of the trees, dangling over us like dancing wind chimes. I should have been self-conscious that we were out in the open. Anyone could have walked right up to us. But at that moment, I couldn’t have cared less. I felt my inhibitions float away as though I’d never had any at all.
Even as Zack pulled down my panties and slipped inside me, I couldn’t bring myself to care about anyone or anything. Not even Walter Black was important enough to draw my focus or interest. There was only Zack and I… and the trees.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Zack
“Hi there, honey,” the waitress greeted as she came over to me. “I hear you’ve been asking some questions around here.”
She was tall and willowy, and she was wearing a short black skirt that showed off her legs. She had dark eyes and dark blond hair that could have passed for brown. She was obviously pretty, and I knew that on any other day I would have hit on her, but today she held no interest for me.
“I’m looking for someone,” I replied. “He’s a big guy, tattooed, about my height. Goes by the name Walter Black.”
The waitress frowned, but I could tell from her expression that she hadn’t heard the name before. “Sorry, hon,” she replied. “I haven’t heard of anyone with that name.”
“Has anyone come in here that fits that description?”
“It’s not much of a description,” she said.
“He has a tattoo of a siren on his right calf,” I said. “And a massive tattoo of an eagle that covers his entire back.”
The waitress smiled at me. “Most of our customers come in with their shirts on,” she said. “We have a lot of customers, and most of them have tattoos. I haven’t seen anyone come in here with the tattoos you just described. But even if he had… they’re not exactly in places that I would have seen.”
“Fuck,” I said, under my breath.
“Listen,” she said. “I don’t want any trouble, ok?”
“I’m not trying to make trouble,” I told her.
“In my experience… men like you coming into places like this and asking questions never ends well for anyone involved. I know you run with a gang—”
“We’re not a gang,” I corrected.
“Doesn’t matter what you call yourselves,” she said. “It amounts to the same thing. You don’t play by the rules. You do things your own way. Which is fine, as long as you keep the rest of us out of this. I have a son to raise, and this bar is my only livelihood.”
I nodded. “Understood,” I said. “I’ll be going now.”
She nodded and watched me walk out of the bar. I walked down the street and turned down the corner where I had left my bike. Devon was already waiting for me. He didn’t look as bad anymore, and the swelling on his face had gone down considerably. He was smoking a cigarette and leaning against his own bike.
“Well?” I asked. “Any leads?”
“Dead ends,” Devon replied, in obvious frustration. “Every single one. What about you?”
