Kristel
It’s 8 a.m. and I’ve called Andre three times over the last 12 hours. He was supposed to meet me last night at his safe house, but I didn’t hear from him then and I haven’t heard from him now. I haven’t even heard from Will, and while I want to call him, my dad has been missing, too. He was supposed to be back last night at 10.
“Robert? Oh my god, Robert! Are you okay? Whathappened? Where have you been, I’ve been worried sick! Why didn’t you call?”
I hear my mother downstairs, and I hop to my feet. Relief floods through my system, and I trot down the stairs and into the foyer. “Dad! Is everything okay?”
He holds up his hands and smiles. While he looks tired, I don’t see any injuries and there aren’t any other officers with him. “I’m fine. Just had some biker trouble last night, but it was taken care of.”
My heart plummets into my gut, and I swallow hard. Andre hasn’t called me even though he was supposed to meet me last night. Has he been caught? I fight to keep my breathing even as I hug him, mostly to hide my face. I’m sure it’s as pale as a sheet of paper. “Biker trouble? No one got hurt, did they?”
“No, nothing like that. Just a raid on one of their buildings, but we’re all safe. I promise. Things were pretty hectic, so I couldn’t call.” He returns my hug, then pushes me back. When he looks down at me, his brow is furrowed in suspicion.
I glance up at him and shrug. “Hey, I’m allowed to be worried, too, aren’t I?”
My mother laughs with relief and wraps her arms around him. She hugs him tight and kisses him over and over again. I wrinkle my nose and step away from them.
“Guys, get a room! I’m glad dad’s okay, too, but I don’t need to see that.”
My mother gently smacks my arm and laughs again. “Oh, don’t be such a teenager, you’re past that. But I think I may take your advice…” She looks up at my father and wriggles her eyebrows.
“Right… I just remembered I need to go out.” I step away from them and dash back up the stairs. My heart is in my throat as I think about what could have happened to Andre. What if he’s in jail? Trying to breathe deeply, I grab the secure phone he gave me, along with my backpack, and run back down the stairs. I catch a glimpse of my parents making out in the kitchen and can’t get out of the house fast enough.
Once I’m outside, I call Andre, both hands holding the phone against my ear. “Please pick up,” I whisper. “Please, please…”
“Kristel?”
Oh, thank god. “Where the hell have you been?” I glance back at my parents’ house before I start to walk toward my car, which is parked on the street next to the house.
“It’s complicated. Can you meet me at the north end safe house?”
A frown touches my mouth. That safe house has been cleaned out for months, and no one has been there in just as many months, including the cops. “Andre… are you okay?”
“I’m fine, just get here.”
I give the phone a dirty look when he hangs up, but slide into my car as quickly as I can. My backpack is dropped next to me in the passenger seat. As I turn the engine on, I hear a tap against my passenger side window. It’s Danielle.
“Uh… hey!” I swallow my nerves and sit up straighter.
“Hey! I thought I’d come by and help you study for that quiz next Tuesday. You know the one for Mr. Matthew’s class? Ugh, I hate that guy. Who needs to know anything about poetry in this day and age anyway?”
“Oh! Right! Sorry, but I need to go pick some things up for my parents. I should be back later, though.”
“Are you okay, Kristel? You’re acting kinda weird.”
“Yeah, fine!” I have to think faster. “My parents just freaked me out… don’t make me go into detail.”
She looks confused for a moment, but after I stare at her for a little while, her eyes widen. “Oooh! Say no more. Want me to come with you?”
“No, that’s okay. I shouldn’t be too long, and I’ll call or text you when I get back. Then we can study together, okay?” I give her my best smile and hope she doesn’t try to push her way into my car like she’s done before.
She narrows her eyes on me. “I actually don’t believe you. You’re going to see a guy, aren’t you?”
My jaw goes slack. “What? No! Of course not.”
“Uh, uh. I know that look. I’ve seen it on my own face before. Trust me… you’re going to see a guy. Is he hot?” She gasps. “Oh my God, is it Andre?”
After several seconds of thought, I decide to fold. She knows me way too well. “Yes… I’m sorry, I’m going to see him and I don’t want my parents to know. They still have no idea about him. But I’m late for our coffee, so I’ll call you when I get back okay?”
She grins at me and gives me a knowing nod. “I look forward to hearing everything. Every little detail. Don’t sell me short, Kristel!”
“I won’t, I won’t!” With a laugh, I head out onto the street. I draw in a deep, long breath. That was way too close.
The safe house looks as abandoned as it was the last time I spent time here. Will took the time to show me where most of the safe houses are just in case I need a place to run, and now I’m glad he did. I pull in next to the main door, turn my car off, grab my backpack, and step out. My shoulders are square, but I’m sure my face is full of worry as I walk quickly to the door and open it.
“Andre?” My voice echoes across the emptiness of the place. There are a few moving boxes along the wall of the room I walk into, but other than that it’s completely empty.
When there’s no answer, I walk slowly to a closed door and open it. When I peek through, I see Andre lounging in a chair, his piercing blue eyes on me. I let out a breath of relief and hurry over to him, and I don’t give him a chance to get up as I straddle him in the chair. My mouth hungrily tastes his, and he bites gently on my bottom lip. I kiss him deep and hard for many minutes, my hands in his hair, before I draw back and look down at him. The backpack drops next to the chair.
“What happened? My dad came home this morning talking about dealing with a bunch of bikers, and you –”
“I know.” He presses a finger against my lips. “Him and I had a run in last night at the central safe house. I was there with some of the guys just to make sure that everything was cleared out when he and his partner showed up.”
“What exactly does ‘run in’ mean? You never showed up –”
“He arrested me and threw me in a cell overnight.”
My jaw drops, and I slide off him. When I step back, my arms fold across my chest in a disappointed manner. “Hewhat? What did you do?”
“Nothing!” He gets up, too, and throws his hands into the air. “I told him he was wasting his time, because he’d never find anything. He didn’t take too kindly to that, so we got into it a little spat, which led to him arresting me. It’s not a big deal.”
“Andre! This is a huge deal. My dad arrested you!”
“I know, but I didn’t get charged for anything! It means nothing, he can’t do a thing to me.”
I run my hands back through my hair and turn away from him. This is unbelievable. With a shake of my head, I turn around and look at him again. “What the hell were you even thinking? When a cop shows up, you don’t tell them they’re wasting their time, you let them do whatever it is they’re there to do. And if I know my dad, he’ll be pushing all of your businesses and ‘safe houses’ pretty hard now that you’ve pissed him off. Nice job!”
He grinds his teeth together, and I watch the muscles in his jaw flinch. His eyes narrow, and he growls. When he turns away from me and strides over to a window, I don’t move even though I desperately want to be close to him. I’m too angry and unpleasantly surprised.
“You’re right.”
I blink several times; did he just admit to me that I’m right? “I’m sorry, what?”
“You’re right, okay?” He turns toward me and points. “I was reckless, but I wasn’t wrong. He had no business doing what he did.”
As I try to get over the shock of his admission, I uncross my arms and slowly move toward him. “What do you mean? What did he do?”
“Not only did he arrest me for no good reason, but he completely trashed the safe house even before he took me to the station. Kristel, I get that he has a job to do, but he had no right to hold me overnight. I didn’t hurt him or attempt to hurt him. Maybe there was some profanity, but it was on both sides, trust me. I don’t like cops and apparently, he doesn’t like bikers.” He almost spits the last part of that sentence out.
I move closer to him, and soon I’m able to press one of my hands against his bicep. “Hey… I know. My dad’s spent his entire career trying to clean towns up like this one, and he’s really proud of what he does. I know it’s not your fault, but bikers have always been a huge thorn in his side. So, whenever he deals with them, he gets… a little bit over the top.”
“A little bit?” His head shakes, but he turns toward me.
“Yeah… a little bit.” I smile and take both of his hands. “I know this isn’t comfortable for you, but I’m almost thinking it would be a good idea if we came out with it to my parents. That was too close for comfort last night, even to me who wasn’t even there. It might not be a fun admission, but imagine how bad it could get if they find out from someone else?”
His hands close around my own. “Maybe. But how about we hold off a little longer? I want to make sure your dad doesn’t actually have any dirt on me or my boys. Something’s come up that I need to deal with, too. An old enemy of sorts, and I think he’s trying to bring me down.” When I give him an inquisitive look, he continues. “He’s loyal to the old Black Knights leader and can’t seem to handle that I’m in charge now. I think he’s been messing with my books somehow and putting a bunch of targets on our back.”
“Shit…” My brow furrows, and I press close to him. “I’ll keep an eye out if I can. The resources on my end are potentially limitless.” With a smirk, I give him a seductive wink.
He snorts, the sound turning into laughter. “I’ll deal with it because that’s my job. But my job also includes managing you.” Lips brush across mine, and I breathe out a sigh of contentment. I can’t say I’m not irritated with Andre, but the way that he kisses me dissolves my will, just as it always has.
Reluctantly, I draw away from him. “I have something to show you.”