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Thomas made hand motions for Hawk to come closer. But since there was no way he’d do that, he shoved his phone in his back pocket, turned on the ignition, and made a U-turn. Cheery and Twitch followed him as he took a long, winding way back to the Powder House. He wanted nothing more than to head directly to the pawn shop and take care of Izzy, but he didn’t want to lead anyone to her.
Besides, before he saw Izzy again, he needed time to think. The attack on Cali and Izzy required retribution on the Black Jacks. The kind of retribution that would end in blood.
* * *
Izzy was incredibly grateful for the cold soda Cali handed her when he returned to the pawn shop’s office. After crossing six roofs of different heights, she’d led him down a drain pipe that dumped them into a dark, smelly alley.
He’d taken control after that and had brought her here, to this old building probably built during the Civil War, that smelled like dried leather shoe polish and fresh cat pee. For some reason, he had a key to the building. Once inside, he’d dumped her in the office only to disappear to call Hawk.
She opened the can and sank into a folding chair near a metal filing cabinet. The messy desk, piled high with documents, had been placed in the middle of the room. Cali had taken the chair behind the desk, and her bag lay on the floor at her feet. “Are you sure it’s okay to be here? Won’t the owner get upset?”
Cali grunted as he drank his soda. “The club owns this place. It’s fine.”
“Oh.” She studied the room that had so many boxes and bags the door wouldn’t shut. “I never knew motorcycle clubs owned businesses.”
“Not all of them.” Cali raised his soda can in a salute. “The smart ones do, though. Real estate, gun shops, car and truck repair garages, bars, strip clubs—”
“Really?” She took another long sip of the cold, sweet drink.
“Strip clubs are a great way to launder money.” He placed his can on the desk and leaned forward, hands clasped. “Are you okay? We had quite the runaway adventure.”
She nodded.Please don’t ask me about the getaway route.“Did you see the shooters? Do you know who they were?”
He studied her for a long moment before shaking his head. Then he pulled out his phone and began texting.
So they were both holding on to secrets. She glanced at the clock, surprised to find it was only eight o’clock. It felt so much later. When she finished her soda, she placed it on the desk and noticed her duffel bag on the floor. Then she glanced at Cali who was texting and not looking at her. Slowly, and with great care not to make a lot of noise, she unzipped the outer pocket of her bag and palmed her prepaid cell phone. “Cali, is there a restroom?”
“Yeah.” Still texting, he nodded toward the hallway. “Turn left. It’s down on the right.”
“Thanks.” She slipped out of the room and hurried toward the restroom. Instead of going in, she moved past it, toward the solid steel door that covered the back entrance. After a few deep breaths, she opened the phone and dialed the number.
It rang, and she leaned against the wall covered in paneling that had probably been installed in the 1960s. “Come on. Come on. Come on.”
The call went to voicemail, and she shut it without leaving a message. Part of her was relieved, another part was angry that no one had picked up. For the past few months, since she’d received the phone, she’d assumed someone would pick up instantly the moment she needed help. But maybe the promises they made when they gave her the phone weren’t promises at all. Maybe they’d just given her false hope.
Her stomach growled and she laughed. Despite all the morning’s stress, she was hungry.
A sound came from the back door, and she turned to see Hawk come storming in, headed toward her. The door slammed shut behind him. She shoved her phone in her back pocket and pressed her back against the wall. He never slowed down. He strode directly to her, grabbed her arms, and pulled her into his chest. Then, without asking, he kissed her.
His mouth, warm and demanding, commanded hers to open. When she obliged, his tongue plundered, and he gently bit her bottom lip. He tasted like peppermint breath mints, and reminded her of warm spring days and freshly cut grass. He wrapped one arm around her waist and his other hand held her head at the perfect angle. He deepened the kiss until her hands, which were pressed against her chest, softened. Erotic memories of their long, hot, naked nights together flooded her mind and left her desperate for more.
He lifted his head and placed a palm against the wall so his large body was all she could see. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” She swallowed and blinked away the unexpected tears. His concern touched something deep inside her. No one in her life since her father died—especially not her mother or stepfather—had shown any interest in her life. Yet here he was kissing her and worrying about her even though she’d offered no promise of sex in return. “I’m glad Cali was there.”
“Me too.” He kissed her forehead, took her hand, and led her into the office where they found Cali sitting in a chair, his boots propped up on the desktop, his phone pressed to his ear.
“For you.” He got up and handed the phone to Hawk. “It’s Eagle.”
Hawk headed back into the hallway saying, “What’s wrong now?”
Once he was out of earshot, Cali picked up her bag and smiled at her. “By the way, thanks for the save earlier. How did you know to escape over the roofs?”
She shrugged as if it were no big deal, as if every woman knew how to escape a dangerous situation by skipping across rooftops and shimmying down drain pipes. “I watch a lot of action movies.”
Cali’s eyes narrowed—until he laughed and small wrinkles appeared on his forehead. She wasn’t sure if he believed her, but she didn’t want to keep talking about it. She just needed to get out of this mess and leave town as quickly as possible. Although she had no idea where she’d go or how far she’d get without a car. With the cash in her bag, she might be able to buy a bus ticket. She’d just never taken a bus before and wasn’t sure how the public transportation system worked in rural Virginia. She wasn’t even sure if buses drove on Sundays.
Hawk returned and handed the phone back to Cali. “I’m taking Izzy to the Powder House. Eagle will pick you up in the truck. I don’t want you wandering around the streets in case the Black Jacks are still out there. By now they’ll know they didn’t hit their target. They may be testy about that.”
