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“Thank you, Rose. You’re always so helpful. Where’s Tiff?”
“She’s out back, micromanaging Ryder on the grill.” A huge grin lit her face. “He’s taking it pretty well though.”
Ace dropped his arm from around Barbara’s waist and pulled her by the hand toward the back of the building. As they approached, she could smell food cooking. It seemed a bit cold for a cookout, but from the look of it, these folks were used to operating outside the box.
The teenager he called Rose began chattering with the students, as if she’d known them her whole life. The girl struck Barbara as quite the social butterfly.
Before she could even reach a table, the youngsters had all grabbed drinks and were snagging steaks from the grill. Maybe it was just her, but the entire day felt surreal.
“You okay, babe?”
Glancing up at Ace, Barbara nodded. “I’m grateful for your help today. I might have made some pretty stupid decisions if left to my own devices to handle something like that.”
“You would have been fine. You’re a smart lady.”
“I just can’t believe we’re in danger over this.”
“Holing up here with my brothers falls in the better-safe-than-sorry category. Chances are good the cops will pick up whoever’s responsible in record time. This isn’t the kind of case they like to have open. Folks in that area will expect them to make solving it a priority.”
“I guess you’re right.”
He brushed a strand of her hair back from her face. “You look exhausted.”
“I am,” she sighed out.
“We’ll eat and think about turning in early for the night.”
Another teen walked up. He had dark hair, black clothing, and a nose ring that made him look gothic. He jerked his chin at Ace and picked up his pace. “Can we give your strays the password to the Wi-Fi?”
“You’re asking the wrong dude, Peb. I ain’t in charge of security,” Ace replied. “You need to ask Ryder or Darkness about that.”
“I ain’t going anywhere near Ryder,” Peb said emphatically. “He’s been fit to be tied all damned day. Darkness should be down soon. He’s tending to his little one. I’ll ask him.”
“Head’s up, here comes Ryder, and he don’t look happy.”
Peb’s eyes widened. “Crap, I gotta go.”
“Freeze, kid,” Ryder barked.
The teen’s feet stopped moving and he did an about-face.
“What the fuck are you doin’ outside?”
“I was just grabbing some food to take back to my hole, sir,” he said meekly.
“You don’t got time to eat. You’re a goddamn man on a mission tonight.”
A woman with long, dark hair handed the kid a plate and a beer. “Hell’s bells, babe, let the man eat.”
Jerking the can of beer out of his hand, Ryder stated gruffly, “No booze for you until your work is done. Back to the hole with you.”
Suddenly, Jack was there. “Damn, they really keep you in a hole? That’s all kinds of messed up.”
Ryder pointed his finger in the interloper’s face. “Shut the fuck up. You’re being a distraction, and we don’t need that right now.”
Ace’s hand came out hard and fast around the surly biker’s arm. “You okay, brother? You’re more tightly wound than I’ve seen you in a while.”
“My fucking best friend stumbled on another club’s fucking dump site. Do you know what that means?”
