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“Could he be casino security?” Lucian asked.
“Not likely,” Kodiak answered. “Considering these were snapped in four different casinos.”
Lucian leaned in to study the photos. “There’s something about that guy—”
“He looks familiar,” I agreed.
I didn’t know where I’d seen him before, but it felt like I had.
“You’re going to have to ask her,” Lucian said. “It’s the only way, Ace. Let me come with you. I can help.”
I dragged in a breath and shook my head. “No. This is something I need to confront on my own.”
My phone vibrated, and I glanced at the screen distractedly, noting it was one of my guys from the shop. I elected not to answer, but when I dismissed the call and saw it was the sixth time he’d tried to reach me, I called him back.
“Digger,” I grunted when he answered. “What is it?”
He cleared his throat, and I knew something wasn’t right before he even spoke. “You better get down here, man. Cops are all over the place.”
“What the fuck for?” I demanded.
He hesitated for a second before he told me what I didn’t want to hear. News that sent me careening back to my past and a time in my life when I had no control.
“Looks like they pulled a body out of the garbage in the back lot, man. I’m sorry, but they want you down here. Now.”
TROUBLE FROWNED AT THE SCREEN of her phone, reading the fifth text that had come through in the last ten minutes. I didn’t know what was up with her, but she’d been acting weird all morning. Truthfully, I was too wrapped up in my own shit to give it much thought, but when she looked at me, I had a feeling her problems were about to become my own.
“You need to go pack.” She stood and gestured for me to follow. “Quick. I’ll help you.”
“Why?” I demanded.
The last flame of hope flickered before me, threatening to die. This was it. Ace was getting rid of me. He’d seen the worst of me last night, and he couldn’t handle it. This was the thing I’d feared all along, and though I’d tried to prepare for it, I couldn’t. I wasn’t ready to leave. I would never be ready to leave.
Defiantly, I remained on the couch while my mind flipped through a million ways I could convince him to keep me. But Trouble’s next words sealed my fate.
“The cops are on their way out here, Birdie. We need to get the fuck out of here now, and we need to take any evidence you were ever here with us.”
What she was saying didn’t make any sense. I didn’t want to believe it, but how could I not? This morning Ace had disappeared, and now the cops were coming for me. Had he tipped them off?
The room spun as I stood and forced my way down the hall. I didn’t even know what I was doing. My body operated on autopilot while we shoved clothes and shoes and toiletries back into the pink suitcases from which they’d come. The entire process was surprisingly quick, given that I’d never bothered to unpack in the first place. I’d lived my life as a nomad, always on the run. But for once, I wished I hadn’t. I wished I’d unpacked and left it all here, so Ace would have to think of me whenever he saw it.
Tears blurred my vision as Trouble ushered me to the door of the only place I’d ever felt at home. The place where I was both a prisoner and a resident. The safety bubble had burst, and my heart squeezed as I looked around one last time.
I was never here. We had erased any evidence that I ever existed. And in my gut, I knew I wouldn’t be coming back. This was it for me. The final nail in my coffin.
“Come on,” Trouble pleaded. “We need to leave, Birdie. Get in the car.”
Her voice was weighted with a level of desperation I’d never heard from her before. It occurred to me as I fell into line and she drove manically toward the exit of the compound why she was so frantic. She was trying to protect Ace. If the police caught me here, it wouldn’t just be bad for me. He’d lied to them. He’d covered for me. And Trouble knew it.
I reclined my seat and closed my eyes while Trouble cranked up the radio. I didn’t know where we were going, but I didn’t even care anymore. All I knew was that if I closed my eyes, I could still see him in my dreams.
“Hey.” Trouble shook me awake, and I blinked away my exhaustion as I sat up and looked out the window.
“Where are we?” I asked though the question wasn’t necessary. One glance out the window, and I knew exactly where we were. I just didn’t know why.
