AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’s staying the night with me,” Drake says, clapping a possessive hand on my teammate’s knee. “But we’re just gonna hang out down here until the bar closes. I want to make sure Rochelle makes it home safely.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I say as I sit back down. “Call it a night. I’ll follow her home.”
“You’re sure?” Drake asks, ready to take me up on my offer. I can’t even begin to explain what it means to me that he doesn’t hesitate even a second, thinking I would harm the woman.
It seems only Lennox is still questioning my innocence.
“Not a problem.” I point to the other side of the bar toward Bishop, Legacy, and Stormy, watching each one of them smile at a different woman. “Those guys seem like they have other plans anyway.”
“I really appreciate it!” Drake says, bouncing up from his chair and grabbing Boomer by the hand.
The man doesn’t struggle against the grasp, but it doesn’t stop his cheeks from flaming red as he’s dragged away. Drake lives in the small apartment above the bar. Offering to get Rochelle home safely means they don’t have to get out and drive anywhere.
I look down at my watch, calculating how much longer my offer will keep me from bed, but the bar closes in less than an hour.
After making my way back to the bar to inform Rochelle of the plan, I sit at the bar and wait. Like any other time we show up at Jake’s, the number of women increase. Tonight is no different, but after many notice the other guys’ attention have already been focused elsewhere, they begin to trickle out.
“Excuse me?”
I turn to face the woman speaking.
“Do you mind walking me to my car?”
I stand at the request without thinking. Clearly word about what happened to Elizabeth has spread, but it doesn’t surprise me.
“Of course,” I tell her, grateful my name either didn’t come up, or this person is confident that I wouldn’t harm her even if it did.
I let Rochelle know what I’m doing before heading outside. I don’t want her to think that I promised to get her home and then bailed.
One woman turns into another request, and I spend the last hour of the bar being open making sure women leave the property safely.
I’m still standing near the door when it swings open for Legacy to leave. He has a look of sated bliss on his face, telling me the woman he was talking to got down to business inside. He walks her to her car, waiting for her to drive off before throwing up a hand in my direction and leaving on his bike.
Bishop walks out, jumping on his bike and following the woman that accompanied him outside as she drives away in her car.
Stormy leaves his bike altogether, climbing in behind the wheel to drive that woman home, and by my count, that leaves only Rochelle inside.
She gives me a weak smile when I step inside, twisting the lock on the front door.
“I won’t be long,” she says as she pulls the cash drawer from the register. “Do you think you can let Joey out when he’s finished in the kitchen?”
“Sure can,” I tell her and take a seat back at the bar and wait.
Fifteen minutes later, Joey mumbles his thanks as I unlock the front door to let him out. Not five minutes later, Rochelle comes from the back office.
“I’ve got to swing by the night deposit box at the bank,” she says, holding the zippered bag up. “Is that okay?”
“Of course, it is,” I tell her before we head out of the bar.
I stand to the side as she uses her set of keys to lock the door before following her to her car. Wordlessly, she stands back while I check her car before she enters it.
Less than a minute later, we’re heading out.
The bank drop is quick, and ten minutes after leaving the bar, she’s climbing out of her car in her driveway. She gives me a small wave before going inside, flashing the porch light to let me know she’s safely locked away inside.
I turn my bike around at the end of the cul-de-sac, making sure I drive very slowly past Lennox Maison’s car. I clocked her waiting outside of the bar, and as much as I’d like to think she was waiting to make sure the women got into their cars safely, I know it has everything to do with me.
I have no idea what it’s going to take to convince this woman that I had nothing to do with Elizabeth Burr’s murder.
She must be feeling a little more confident than she was when she found me near her car earlier because she doesn’t hesitate to lock eyes with me as I drive past.
