Chapter 9
“How was Cincinnati?”
The next morning, King had been pacing by the front door, waiting for Storm to get back, and he pounced as soon as Storm hopped out of the Jeep.
King waved to the rest of the team while they unloaded their luggage and headed inside.
“Why are you all weird?” Storm made a vague hand gesture.
“I’m not weird, I was being polite. Answer the question so I can move on.”
“Fine, I think we have another client.” He tilted his head to one side. “What’s up?”
“I need you to spy for me, but we’ll get to it in a second.” King handed him the cell phone and explained what happened.
“I’ll take a look, but I won’t make any promises.”
“You didn’t get anythin’ from the envelopes?”
Storm scowled. “Not a damn thing. Know what I hate?”
“Smart criminals.”
“Yeah, I like mine dumb. What else have you got for me?”
King leaned forward. “I need you to look into Savvy’s manager.”
“Why? Is he a suspect?”
“Maybe.”
“Do you have any evidence?”
“Not yet. Call it a hunch.”
Storm studied him a moment, and King grew more agitated under the added scrutiny. When they had been deployed, Storm was the one who interrogated the terrorists. He was practically a walking lie detector, and he could see straight through people.
“Are you sure you aren’t doing this because you’re jealous?”
King glared. “Have you been talking to Zane?”
“Yeah, we texted.” He scrunched up his nose. “Nox is making his own pornos, huh?”
“Just look into it.” King could feel a headache coming on. Apparently, Zane couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
Storm sobered. “You’re worried about her, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, please run it down.” King wouldn’t be able to relax until he’d discovered all the skeletons in Adam’s closet. His instincts were usually spot on.
“I’m on it, brother. Consider it done.”
***
That evening, King, Zane, and Savvy were seated around the kitchen table eating sweet potato fries. They were laughing, joking, enjoying themselves, but suddenly, King stopped talking.
Savvy swallowed. “What’s wrong?”
“Jesus.” He was flushed, and his fists were clenched.
When Savvy turned, she saw the source of his distress. A young woman was standing in the doorway. She had a black eye, and her lower lip had been split wide open. There were a half a dozen scratches on her otherwise pretty face. Clearly, someone had beat her up.
Storm walked up beside her. “Look who I found outside.” His face was grim.
“Are you okay?” King bolted to his feet. “Do you need any medical care? My kit’s upstairs.”
“No, I’m fine. Tommy, can I stay here a couple of days until things blow over?”
“Yeah, you can stay as long as you like, Ellie,” King said softly.
Ellie. This must be his younger sister, the one she’d heard so much about. Upon closer inspection, Savvy noted a family resemblance. Ellie had King’s hair and eyes.
Savvy could tell he was hurting, caught somewhere between rage and the need to save his sister, comfort her.
“Dave didn’t—”
“Beat the ever-livin’ shit out of you? You’re tellin’ me this was an accident?” King asked tightly. “What? You fell down the stairs? Or banged your head after getting out of the shower? What’s the excuse?”
“We had an argument, and things got out of hand.” She glanced down. “Can we please discuss it later? In private?” The last bit came out in a hushed whisper.
Ellie was apparently in love with the man who’d abused her. Savvy sympathized with her, but she had no reason to be ashamed. She had done nothing wrong.
Savvy didn’t know what to say or do, so she sat there quietly. And then she noticed something else.
If King was angry, Zane was enraged.
A tight, white line had formed around his mouth, and a muscle in his jaw bunched. She didn’t quite understand the aura of barely leashed violence, but she had a feeling Zane cared for Ellie very deeply.
What’s going on here? Did Zane have a thing for Ellie?
Right then, West and Nox walked in the room. They took in Ellie’s bumps and bruises and then glanced at King, to gauge his reaction.
“I’m gonna kill him.” King gripped the back of a chair, and his knuckles had gone white.
“Are we saddling up, brother?” West asked.
“Yeah. Get ready.”
Nox grinned. “I love teachin’ assholes a lesson.”
“No, please don’t.” Tears slipped down Ellie’s cheeks.
Mack and Annie headed down the stairs and they stopped talking once they saw Ellie’s face.
“Can you all look after Savvy?” King asked them. “I’ve got an errand to run.”
“Of course,” Annie said.
Savvy had a feeling Dave was in for a world of hurt. And she didn’t feel a bit sorry for him.
“Tommy, you don’t have to do this,” Ellie watched him with watery eyes.
“The fuck I don’t.” He charged out the door, and Storm, Nox, and West followed him.
“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up,” Mack said gently to Ellie.
“No, I—”
“Trust me, there’s nothing you can do,” Annie said. Together, they escorted Ellie upstairs, one on either side of her. And Savvy was left in the kitchen with Zane who took a vicious pull on his half-empty beer.
“I’m surprised you didn’t go with the posse.”
“I can’t.” For a hot second, Savvy thought he might shatter the glass because he was gripping it so hard.
“Why not?”
“It’s a long story.” He downed the rest of his Budweiser.
“As luck would have it, my dance card is free.” She leaned back in her chair. “Lay it on me.”
“Tell you what, let’s get out of here instead.” He stood.
“Are you serious?”
“Yup.”
“King said it’s safer here.” But Savvy was going a bit stir crazy and the thought of getting out, even for a little while, appealed to her.
“You always do what King tells you to?” He smirked.
“No.” She lifted her chin. “What about King?”
“What about him?”
“When he finds out, we left, he’s gonna be even more pissed than he already is.”
“Naw, he’ll get over it. Besides, he’ll be occupied for a bit. We might get back before he does.”
“And what if we run into the shooter?”
“You’ll be safe with me. I’m a Navy SEAL, too.”
Savvy almost wondered if Zane was trying to provoke the man who was after her. She got the sense Zane wanted the chance to beat someone down, to release all the frustration and the rage.
She knew how he felt.
Adam had made an excellent point the other day. Savvy was sick of hiding, waiting for the man to find her. Savvy wanted this over with, one way or the other. Sitting here, waiting for the other shoe to drop, was no way to live.
“Fine, let’s go.”
“Where to?”
“A bar.”
“You wanna drink? Maybe dance?”
“No, I want to sing.”
She hadn’t performed for a crowd for so long, it was making her twitchy. Singing with King the other day had helped, but it had barely taken the edge off. She needed to let loose.
“That isn’t exactly low key.”
“I’ll wear a disguise. Besides, I thought you were a big bad Navy SEAL.”
“Then let’s go.”
Twenty minutes later, they were in his Jeep Wrangler, headed down the road. Savvy had grabbed a baseball cap and pulled her hair underneath it. She also wore a pair of glasses with clear lenses. It was night time so she couldn’t wear sunglasses indoors, without attracting unwanted attention.
“What is it with you guys and Jeeps? All of you drive them.”
He shrugged. “Dunno. I suppose it’s because they have four-wheel drive.”
It made sense. Rugged vehicles, for rugged men.
“Any other questions?” Zane asked.
“Yeah. How long have you been in love with Ellie?”
He coughed. “What makes you think I am?”
Savvy didn’t respond.
Zane groaned. “Fine, you caught me. Happy?”
“Hardly.” Although, it was nice to see someone else struggling with their feelings for a change. At least she wasn’t the only one in pain. “So, what are you gonna do about it?”
“Not a damn thing.”
“Why not? Is this a brotherhood deal? You can’t violate the guy code.”
“I’m not the one for her.”
“Why exactly?” At least Zane wouldn’t hit her. Ellie had already done worse.
“It’s a long story.”
“And we’ve already established I’ve got plenty of time.”
He screeched around a corner. “Because I’m no better than the bastard she’s with.”
“I don’t believe you.” Savvy had never met David, but Zane was the protective sort.
“Because I joke all the time? ‘Zane’s so funny,’” he said mockingly.
Savvy bit her lip. “And it’s only an act?”
“No, not all the time.” He didn’t elaborate.
Soon, they were right outside of Lexington, in a seedy part of town. The windows were covered with bars. Several of the homes had been vacated during the housing crisis. They were boarded up, spray painted with gang graffiti. This was the sort of neighborhood where people made it a point to not notice things.
They pulled into a cracked parking lot.
Behind the club, there was a rusted-out Dumpster, along with some scattered trash. Left by scavengers of either the animal or human variety. They’d parked the Jeep near it, and the smell was godawful.
“We’re here.”
It had been so rainy, lately, the ground had become saturated. There were pools of muddy water all over the place. The blacktop was littered with the corpses of drowned worms. Gross.
According to the neon sign over yonder, it was called the Hooch and Scooch which didn’t sound promising.
“Really? This is the place you wanted to go?”
“Darlin’, we’re out in the sticks. It ain’t like we can roll up to a proper honky tonk.”
At least they were playing the right music. Somebody was singing a warbling version of Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire inside.
Excellent. Open mic night.
“Fine, but first I want you to tell me somethin’.”
“Go on.”
“You seem dead set against pursuing Ellie, but why don’t you find someone else?”
“Why won’t you drop it?” Zane sighed, world-weary as an old man.
“I can’t.”
“Me either, to answer your question.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m a goner and I can’t stop. I’ve been sucked into her gravitational pull, and I’ll never get out again.”
Savvy was beginning to feel the same way about King. She couldn’t stop thinking about the man, wanting to be with him. Craving his presence. Savvy was fixated on King, something fierce. She had a one-track mind when it came to the man.
“And what did you mean earlier? About all of this being an act?”
“She deserves someone good, like her. I’m not a nice guy.”
Savvy laughed, not believing it for a second. Until Zane locked eyes with her, dropped the mask and let her see beneath it.
There was darkness there, all right.
But it wasn’t cold or forbidding, no. It was sensual, almost welcoming, like black velvet. Like the night sky shot with hot silvery stars or decadent dark chocolate melting upon her tongue. It was the kind of night a girl wouldn’t mind rubbing up against.
Some other girl anyway.
Savvy wasn’t attracted to Zane, but she wasn’t oblivious to his appeal. Ellie didn’t know what she was missing with this guy.
“I’m sorry.”
“Me too, but I can’t change it.” He extended a hand for the door. “Shall we?”
“Yes, let’s do this.” They headed inside.
This bar was full of bikers, badasses, and drug dealers. Savvy preferred dealing with cowboys and roughnecks. Those were her kind of people.
However, Zane didn’t seem to mind. He was grinning from ear to ear. On the way to the bar, Zane bumped into other men, deliberately ramming them and he didn’t bother to apologize.
Christ Almighty. Zane had come here to pick a fight.
Oh, yeah, this had been a huge mistake.
“Maybe we should try another place?”
“Nah, I like the Hooch and Scooch just fine.” He leaned against the bar, scanning the crowd.
Savvy noticed a blond bodybuilder type guy, giving his girlfriend a hard time. She was about half his size, and Blondie had her by the arm. He was in her face, yelling at her about something.
Savvy wasn’t the only one observing the scene. Zane’s jaw tightened, and he couldn’t take his eyes off the couple.
Uh oh.
“Look, you’re gonna have to cool your crazy. We wanna keep this situation on the down low.” Savvy wanted to whisper the words, but instead, she had to shout over the music.
Ignoring her, Zane headed over to the arguing couple and picked up a pool cue. His grip on it tightened.
Oh shit. This is how a girl ends up on TMZ. She could picture the headlines now. Savvy’s Bar Brawl.
Zane smacked Blondie with the pool cue, right across the back. Blondie whirled around and socked Zane right in the nose. Zane punched the man in the face.
And then all hell busted loose.
This place was a powder keg, and Zane had just struck a match. Fights busted out all around them because everyone was drunk and ornery. And the three bouncers by the door couldn’t stop them. There were just too many fights.
Savvy scurried away from the fray and leaped onto the stage.
She turned to the band. “We’re gonna do a number, fellas.”
The guitar picker spoke up. “Um, miss, I don’t think this is the best time.” He pointed to the bar brawl behind her, as though she’d somehow missed it. “Besides, you’ve gotta sign up in advance.”
Seriously? He was worried about the rules at a time like this?
She scanned the room quickly, as though she expected to see some guy wearing an I’m the Gunman trucker hat. Shrugging, Savvy threw off her baseball cap and the glasses. They gasped once they realized who she was. Like Clark Kent, the disguise worked well.
“Let me ask again. Wanna do a number with me?”
“Hell yeah,” the drummer said.
“Excellent. Let’s do Kerosene by Miranda Lambert.”
Hopefully, music would soothe the savage beasts here tonight.
“How y’all doing tonight?” She grabbed the microphone, and her voice boomed over the speaker system. “I’m gonna go ahead and get started.”
The band played her intro, and she went for it.
The song she’d chosen was aggressive but had a beat to it. She willed the drunk boys to pay attention to her and stop beating one another up. It was a long shot, but she had a lot of power in her voice and an entertaining stage presence. In her early days, she’d controlled more than one rowdy mob.
One by one, they stopped punching one another and gaped at her instead. Even Zane. Like magic, she captured the crowd’s attention.
God, I missed this.
Soon, Savvy held them all in the palm of her hand, and she gave them one helluva show.
. When the audience was warmed up, Savvy gave them a taste of the new song she’d been working on, and they went wild.
Oh yeah. King’s right. It was time to sing her own material to an audience.
The stage was Savvy’s arena, and she loved to compete. A gladiator with a guitar, she brought down the house.
After she finished playing three encores, Zane escorted her back to the car. They hopped in and took off for HQ.
“I owe you an apology. I just—”
“Lost your damn mind?” Savvy offered.
“Pretty much. Once again, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry. All is forgiven.”
“Why?”
“My new song killed.” Savvy was buoyed by the reaction she’d gotten, almost floating.
“Look at you.”
“What?”
“You’re about to bust your buttons.”
“I can’t help it. I was born to be on stage.” Tonight had felt damn good.
“Well, at least you got somethin’ out of this.”
“I’ll tell you what, you weren’t lyin’ about havin’ a dark side.”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “I do my damnedest to stick to the light.”
“But it seeps out?”
“Yeah, I lock it in a cage, sink it to the bottom of the deepest ocean, but it still pops up again.”
“Which brings us to the big question.”
“And what’s that?”
“Where did this come from?”
Zane shook his head. “We’ve done enough sharin’ tonight.”
“Fair enough. Feelin’ better?”
“Yes ma’am, much better.” He rubbed his swollen jaw. He had a few bumps and bruises, but he would be just fine.
“You’re kinda messed up, huh?” She’d never seen anyone so self-destructive, which was saying something since she knew spoiled celebrities.
He snickered. “You’re not wrong.”
“This was personal for you tonight, wasn’t it? You hate seein’ a guy beat up on an innocent woman?”
He stared straight ahead, his lips set in a stubborn line.
“Fine, then let’s discuss King.”
“What about him?”
“What happened to his wife?”
Savvy needed to know, but she didn’t want to push King until he was ready to share it with her.
He whistled real low. “Nope, sorry, no can do. I learned the hard way not to talk out of turn. And by ‘hard way,’ I mean I got a beat down.” He tapped his forehead. “Up here, it’s the Chamber of Secrets.”
“I wouldn’t have pegged you for a Harry Potter fan.” Savvy had read the books as a kid. Of course, she’d had to get on a waitlist at the local library. It had taken her months to get them all.
“We all have our hidden sides, don’t we?” he drawled.
“At least tell me this much. Somethin’ terrible happened to her, didn’t it?” Savvy doubted she died of an illness or in a car accident. “And King thinks it’s his fault, doesn’t he?”
He hesitated a moment, and she could see the silent war happening within him. Finally, Zane nodded.
“He might be a big, rough-and-tumble guy, but King has a soft side. Don’t hurt him. He’s been through enough.”
“I’d never do anythin’ to harm him.” Because I think I’m falling for him. What the hell had happened to Nicole? Whatever it was, it had scarred King, inside and out.
And then Zane pressed down on the gas pedal, and the car lurched forward. He floored it, and she clung to the seat like a kid on a rollercoaster.
She swallowed. “What’s wrong?”
“We’ve picked up a tail. A black sedan pulled out of the parking lot right after us, and it’s made every turn we have, even though it’s hangin’ back, tryin’ not to draw attention to itself.”
Oh shit.
She was about to turn around to look when he placed a hand on the back of her head.
“Don’t even think about it. Get down and stay down until I tell you to get up. The Jeep’s got a soft top on it.”
Zane didn’t need to tell her the rest of the story. A flimsy piece of plastic didn’t offer any protection from a bullet.
“It’s him, isn’t it?”
“It would be a great big coincidence if it wasn’t.”
A gunshot ricocheted off the back bumper.
Savvy screamed, and Zane sped up. They had to be going at least a hundred miles an hour. She couldn’t see the dashboard, but Savvy knew they were flying. She could feel it.
“Is he still back there?”
“Yep, and he sped up.” His attention was focused on the road ahead.
“Can you see him?”
“Negative. He has tinted windows.” And then the sedan rammed the back of their car.
“I’ve got a terrible idea.”
“What?”
And then Zane made a sharp left, right into a cornfield.
“It’s time to go muddin’.”