“HEY, JUNIOR, WHAT’S up?” I asked as we followed him around the back of the gas station.
He looked at me, then slid his eyes over to Carmen, before bringing them back to me.
“This is Carmen, she works with me,” I told him.
“Not a pig?”
“No, she’s a civilian, like me,” I said, resisting the urge to throttle him.
He gave her one more suspicious look, then whispered, “They came back.”
“Who? The MC? My fiancé?” I asked, keeping my voice low as well. I wasn’t sure who we were afraid was going to overhear, but if Junior was paranoid, then I’d go with it.
“The ones who took your man and set the explosion.”
“Did you get a name? Find out where they’re keeping him? Anything?”
Junior looked around, so I did too. There was no one else there, so he leaned back in.
“They’ll be back tomorrow night with a tow truck. After dark, when the cops aren’t around. The guy I talked to had a name patch, name’s Scam, he’s the one who I talked to before. I bet he knows where your man is.”
“Did you notice any other patches, maybe one with their MC name on it?” Carmen asked.
See, I knew having her on my team was a good idea.
“Uh, yeah, Diablos Rebeledos, or something like that . . .”
“Diablos Rebeldes?” she asked.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Junior said with a creepy smile.
“Diablos Rebeldes?” I asked her, never having heard of them before.
“Devils Rebels,” Carmen explained. “I did a piece on them a couple years ago, after they blew up some warehouse a couple counties over. There was chatter about them scoping out Greenswood.”
“Yup, thems the ones, the guys I told you about.” Junior looked pleased with himself, then turned to me and asked, “You gonna give a reward or something?”
“Junior, if we come here tomorrow, follow this Scam person, and find my fiancé, I will definitely come back and compensate you for your assistance,” I assured him.
If I got Cade back, I’d give Junior anything in this world that it was in my power to give.
Junior let out a little maniacal giggle, which caused my blood to turn cold, then did another sweep of our surroundings before turning and walking away.
“’Member, come after dark. And . . . no cops,” Junior called over his shoulder, then disappeared inside the station.
“Let’s get out of here,” Carmen said, giving a full-body shiver.
“Yeah, Junior is creepy as fuck,” I agreed.
We drove back to my place and formulated our plans. We would both do some digging on the Diablos Rebeldes. I would look online and Carmen would go back through her old notes and see if she could contact her old source.
Tomorrow, I’d pick up Cade’s family, drop them off, take them for groceries, see if Lena and Elin could hang with them, etc. I’d meet Carmen back at my place at seven at night, so that we could roll out and hopefully tail them to wherever they were keeping Cade.
“Thanks again for coming out, Carmen, you were great today,” I said once we were at my place and she was getting ready to leave.
“It was so much fun,” she exclaimed, then looked guilty again. “I mean . . . ugh, you know what I mean, right?”
I chuckled, thinking it was great to have a friend like Carmen, who could make me laugh when I wanted to fall into a helpless ball on the floor.
“Got any big plans tonight?” I asked, looked back at my dark house and realizing I didn’t want to go inside.
“Yeah, actually, I’m going to Bran’s for dinner again,” she said, a slight blush infusing her cheeks.
“Really?” I drawled. “How many times is that now?”
“Five,” she whispered.
“Five?” I almost yelled. “What, have you been over there like, every night?”
“Almost,” Carmen admitted, then her smile got so big, it practically tipped her over.
“You’ve done the deed, haven’t you? Oh my God! I can’t believe you’ve been with me all day and didn’t say anything. How was it? Magical? Does he see to your needs? Is he fantastic? Tell me all,” I said quickly, sounding just like Carmen when she got excited about something.
She laughed.
“All I’m going to say is, I’ve never been with anyone like him before, and I’m extremely happy.”
When she started toward her car, I yelled, “Wait, that’s it? You’re not going to share details?”
“Nope.”
I wished Amy May were there, no way would she allow Carmen to walk away without giving the goods.
“But, he’s the best you’ve ever had?” I called out as she ducked into the car.
“Jeez, Lila,” she said, looking up and down my street, embarrassed.
“Come on, you can at least tell me that,” I argued.
“Fine. Yes, okay, he’s the best I’ve ever had,” Carmen said, then shut the door.
As she pulled out of my driveway and drove past me, I did a little jig in the street, and I could see her laughing at me.
I danced until her taillights faded, then looked back toward my empty house and my smile dropped.
I sure hoped the kids got home soon. I didn’t think I could handle being alone in my house again.