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He led me to the bar and turned to face me. The aroma of coffee filled the air, along with the scent of something delicious and savory that reminded me of my favorite breakfast cart, Fried Egg I’m in Love.
“Iced rose vanilla latte and a Smells like Protein Spirit, just the way you like it. Bacon, avocado, and holy aioli.” Reaper’s voice was rough, like he’d just woken up, and it sent a shiver down my spine.
“Yeah. Uh.” How the hell did he know my breakfast order on the rare days I got up early enough to beat the crowds at Pioneer Courthouse Square? It seemed like he was trying really hard to make me comfortable, but I didn’t know how to reconcile this Reaper with the man I once knew. I guessed assholes could grow up.
My stomach made an embarrassing groan, and his lips twitched. “Eat. Brothers won’t be awake for another hour or so. I’d wake them now, but you need food. Plus, they don’t need any extra reasons to be dicks when they wake up.” I wanted to demand that he wake them up because they’d be dicks no matter what. But I was too damn hungry to argue.
* * *
After I’d finished eating, Reaper escorted me to the Chapel and told me to let him know if I needed anything. After the glare I sent his way when he offered to help me set up, he hadn’t left his spot against the while. His eyes stayed on my back, making me hyperaware of everything I did. It made me move slower, afraid that I’d make a mistake, even though I knew how to do this set up in my sleep.
“We haven’t talked about how the runs are set up.” He came over and sat down next to me. I nodded for him to continue. “We get a call about the destination point, which is where we meet your team to complete the transfer. From there, we drive straight here, only making stops when absolutely necessary. It’s set up for two guys per run, with three groups in rotation.
“The men were picked for a few different reasons, mostly background and willingness to help. I don’t have to tell you that many of my men are honored to help these women get a second lease on life. Only two of the three teams handled the runs you asked about, and I talked to all of them last night, let them know what you wanted from them. I told them I didn’t care if they had to go off route, but that you needed to know everything.”
“Thank you for briefing them.” The fact the Reaper went out of his way to talk to them boded well. I just had to hope the brothers had woken up in a good mood.
Reaper had the same tells he’d had when I was sixteen and tried to follow him around without getting caught, and I could see that he had more to say. But whatever was on his mind, he didn’t have a chance to voice it before the door opened.
Four men filed into the room, all of them scowling. I only recognized two of them—Abraham, a legacy I’d grown up with, and Paul Bunyan, who was Reaper’s age and had prospected with my brother. The other two guys must have been new.
Reaper jerked his chin toward the guys. “Give her whatever she asks for. You’re not allowed to leave until she has everything she needs.” He looked down at his phone, then back up at me. “I was gonna stay but I have to handle something. If you need the bathroom, walk down the hall, hook a right, last door on the left.”
The instant the door closed behind him, the room went frigid. I took a deep breath. “You guys can have a seat. I’ll do my best to make this as fast as possible.” Adjusting the extra monitor hooked up to my laptop, I nodded at Abraham, who’d taken the seat across from me. “Let’s start with you. I need your phone, please.”Calm, cool, collected. Nice.“Which runs did you do?”
Without answering, Abraham shoved his phone across the table, and it slipped off the edge. My hope that this would be a quick, painless process crashed to the ground along with it.
I had the dates we’d grabbed the women. If Abraham wouldn’t answer the few questions I had, he was only making it harder on both of us. I plugged his phone in and searched for each date, finding a hit with two of the three.
I doused the disappointment that was brewing in me. I couldn’t let them get to me. Just like I couldn’t force Abraham to remember that I’d spent three years tutoring him in math so he could graduate from high school.
Clearing my throat, I sat up straighter in my chair and looked at all four of the men. “Please don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be. Where did you stop? Can you recall who you talked to? Every piece of information matters, no matter how trivial it may seem.”
They stayed silent, the looks on their faces ranging from disinterest to outright disgust.
Well, I’d tried nice. Time to switch gears. “One of those women you helped save might be safe on your compound, but two of them are out in the world. They’re rebuilding their lives, trying to heal from the trauma of what the men in their lives put them through. If someone remembers them, if the women were caught on tape and those men are able to find the footage, everything we worked so hard for could be at stake. I don’t give the first fuck if you like me. But if you refuse to help me, you’re not screwing me over. You’re screwing the women you cared enough to help.”
They stayed silent, but three more phones slid across the table. With a sigh, I accepted that this was the best I was going to get. Digging through their logs would take me three times longer, so I couldn’t afford to waste any more time trying to appeal to their better nature. They didn’t have one. But they weren’t allowed to leave until I had every last piece of data I could get from their phones.
After thirty minutes, I slid Abraham’s phone back to him and moved on to the next one. They stayed, but never once opened their mouths. Not to talk to me or each other.
“Whose phone is this?” I asked as I plugged it in. A few seconds after the program started, a dialog box popped up telling me it was finished. Confused, I unplugged the device, reconnected it, and restarted the scan. The same box popped up.
Impossible. I navigated to the phone settings and immediately wanted to smash it against the table. It was a brand-new phone. The data showed it was activated last night.
“Where’s the old one?” I asked.
Silence.
Unable to look at them a second longer, I stood up and walked out of Chapel, following the directions Reaper had given me to find the bathroom. Impotent rage blasted through my veins. Taking several deep breaths, I washed my hands and tried to calm down. I felt no better when I stepped out of the bathroom, but the sight of the leather cut hanging on the back of the chair in the bedroom stopped me in my tracks.
Reaper’s room looked nothing like the one I remembered from the last time I was here. Long gone were the posters pulled fromPlayboyandMaxim, the messy unmade bed, and the discarded food wrappers littering the desk. The space was tidy, save for a small pile of clothes on the floor in the corner. Not ready to go back to Chapel and deal with the merry band of mute motorcycle men, I sat down at the desk and stared blankly at the cup full of hair ties sitting on the otherwise empty surface.
As I stood up to leave, I paused, then looked at the cup and grabbed a red hair tie that was identical to the one I’d lost a few weeks ago. I didn’t have time for a time-warping Target trip, and the asshole owed me for failing to get his men to understand the importance of helping me. Least he could do was replace my favorite ponytail holder.
All the effort I’d put into quelling my anger went out the window when I saw my duffle on the floor outside the closed door of the Chapel. I didn’t need to unzip it to know that the guys had shoved all my stuff inside without caring what might break if the equipment wasn’t shut down and disconnected properly.
Fuck this. Dealing with them wasn’t worth the headache or frustration. Me coming to them was supposed to be the easier, more respectful option so I didn’t have to hack into their phones and invade their privacy.
