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He gazed back at me steadily. “It’s not exactly a big town. It didn’t take me long to get a full lay of the land. Seems like a bunch of minor thugs decided to form a small-time gang out of that building.”
“Here?” I said, still finding it hard to wrap my head around this development even after what I’d seen. “How much criminal business can they even get up to?”
Rafael shrugged. “They hit up Hobb Creek and a few other small towns in the area—collecting protection money, dealing drugs, stashing stuff in that storage building that’s probably stolen or illegal. People who want to profit by breaking the law can always find some way of doing it.”
I scowled. “And what the hell are the local police doing? Just sitting on their asses?”
“I don’t know if they’ve even noticed what’s going on. The regular locals are too intimidated to speak up. From what I’ve seen, the law enforcement presence in this area is stretched thin and not very competent anyway.”
I turned my scowl directly on him. “And you found out all this stuff and didn’t tell me?”
Rafael lifted his eyebrows just slightly. “Why would I have? What does it even matter?”
“Well, I—they’re making trouble for the town!Mytown.”
“Lou, you’re supposed to be stayingoutof anything that looks like trouble, remember? Lay low and skate. Wasn’t that the plan?”
“It was,” I grumbled. “It is. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
The townspeople I’d met so far didn’t deserve this shit. They should get to enjoy their peaceful surroundings without some assholes ruining it.
AndIdidn’t deserve this shit. I’d driven across an entire country to escape the criminal side of my life, and somehow I’d driven right into more of that garbage.
What if this gang did make a connection with the wrong person, and someone recognized me? As unlikely as it was, their very existence was a threat to my freedom.
I set off back toward town, shoving my hands in the pockets of my jeans, but my thoughts kept roiling in my head. No, I didn’t like this at all.
But what exactly could I do about it that wouldn’t make the threat even worse?
SIX
Luciana
My legs pumpedas I built up my speed, my dark hair trailing behind me in its ponytail. Bending my knees into a squatting position, I positioned my ankles back until they were beneath my thighs.
An ache spread through my muscles—this was one of the first moves I’d ever learned, but holding it always strained my endurance. I adjusted my weight until I was sure I was steady and then lifted my right foot while sinking even further down, clasping my gloved fingers around the toe of my skates.
One Mississippi. Two Mississippi.
God, this move was torture. I dropped my leg after several more seconds and stood only to speed up again.
All my senses were wired with the awareness of my two fellow skaters at the other end of the rink. This was my third time training alongside Niko Okabe and Jasper St. Pierre, but every time I glanced their way, butterflies fluttered in my stomach.
I still couldn’t quite believe I was actually training on the same ice as them.
Not only that, but Niko had even given me a few tips here and there when Jasper was taking a breather or doing something simple like stretching. And always with plenty of praise, as if he really did believe I was somewhere close to the same caliber as the two of them.
That idea felt even more impossible. Could he really just be that nice?
But if he honestly thought I had that level of skill… then had all Coach Balakin’s criticisms and discouragements been lies? Or had being in the presence of two greats somehow elevated me too?
I couldn’t wrap my head around it, but one thing I knew for sure was that I intended to give a performance worthy of Niko’s praise. If I was going to level up to the standards I’d been aspiring to so long, I couldn’t settle for anything short of perfection.
Again, I lowered myself back into the move. This time, my bravado carried me through the ache in my legs for little more than thirty seconds.
But I would be damned if I let my weakness faze me. I tried over and over, until I thought my muscles would snap like rubber bands.
Finally breaking out of my position, I lowered my right leg and stood, albeit a little wobbly. I’d held the pose for as long as I could that time, but the pressure on my ankles and thighs was murder.
