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“Look, I know that you’re infatuated with the guy—and that someone bugged you out at the hotel, but the club handles this shit. You have to just be aware and watch your back, but we won’t let anything happen to you.”
He has no idea it’s an inside job.
“Yeah, but...”
“But what? I get that you’re like one of those annoying investigative journalist people—and I did some digging, you’ve got one hell of a track record with getting shit done, but come on, Hannah. You gotta just let this one go. You can’t figure out who’s after Viper without getting yourself killed or Viper killed trying to protect you—orme, for that matter, since I’m your designated babysitter.”
“Gunner...” my voice trailed off as he pulled into the parking lot of the park. “This is worse than that.”
He put it in park and let out a sharp exhale. “Hannah,stop.”
Frustration boiled up in my chest as he continued to push me off. “Gunner, it’s from within the fucking club. It’s an inside job.”
He went dead silent in the seat beside me.
My eyes went to the clock, seeing that it was five minutes until Louise was supposed to be there. “I really need to know if you can help me.”
He shook his head, disbelief in his voice. “That can’t be true.”
“I don’t know if Viper believes me either, but Iknowwhat I heard. They weren’t wearing their vests or whatever, but they made it clear.”
Gunner looked over to me, his light eyes full of concern. “You don’t know who it was? You didn’t recognize them?”
“I couldn’t see their faces, and I can fill you in on the details of what I heard later—but I need you to help me figure out who’s doing this. I don’t know who else to talk to, and youknoweveryone in the club. You can help me figure it out. Viper can’t. It might just make it more dangerous for him.”
Gunner rubbed his jaw, appearing to be in deep thought. “I don’t fucking know...”
“Ineedyour help.”
“I’m not even a member of the club, Hannah—and seriously? You’re expecting me to just take your word that the brothers are turning on each other, putting a hit on their vice president. That doesn’t add up. They’re loyal guys.”
Nodding, I knew that he might have this reaction. “I understand that, and like I said, I don’t even know if Viper believes me, but I think something is really wrong.” I glanced around us, my eyes landing on Louise, walking up to the park bench just about twenty feet from the Tahoe.
“That’s just a lot to take in—”
“I know, I know.” I cut him off. “But I don’t know who else to go to that I can actually trust—and I’m not even sure that Icantrust you. I just think that you respect Viper enough to help me. I don’t want something to happen to him.” My voice wavered at the last few words, my fear for his safety a lot stronger than I ever imagined it would be. “Just think about it,” I said quickly, pushing open the door of the Tahoe. “You have the duration of this meeting to decide what you want to do.”
“Okay.” He looked utterly wrecked as I slid out of the Tahoe and slammed the door, giving Louise a wave as I headed toward the bench she was sitting on.
“Hey!” I called out to her, slinging my purse over my shoulder.
“I see you have a babysitter,” Louise greeted me with a smile, her blonde hair blowing slightly in the gentle breeze. “And it appears to be...” she squinted over at the Tahoe. “Gunner Johnston. Interesting.”
“I take it that you know him,” I laughed, trying to feel light as I glanced around where we were at. Nothing felt off, but at the same time, it was hard to think that I wasn’t being watched.
Bysomeone.
“Yeah, he went to school with all of us. He’s a good guy. He was with one of my friends, Rachel, for the longest time, but anyway. I guess you must’ve either risen in the ranks or gotten in trouble.”
“Both, I’m afraid.”
“Oh?” she raised an eyebrow at me. “I would ask, but I’m sure that you don’t want to talk about that.”
I shrugged, relaxing a little with her. “I’m sure you could probably help me understand what the hell is going on, but first, I’d love to know what you have to say. I have to admit that I was surprised that you called the meeting.”
“Yeah, I know. I know that I was really reluctant to talk about everything, and I know that I came across really bitter.”
I nodded, setting my notepad on my lap. “I think you have a good reason for feeling the way you do, Louise. I don’t see anything wrong with that. You lost someone that you love. That’s never easy.”
