5. Chapter 5
Chapter 5
One day you’ll understand why storms are named after people.
Chance tensed as one of his outside cameras sent him an alert, but paused when he realized it was Berlin pulling into his driveway. What. The Hell.
He double-checked his phone, but nope, she hadn’t called or texted to let him know she was coming over. Also, he hadn’t given her his address. Which clearly didn’t matter to the gorgeous hacker.
He opened the front door as she reached it, tried not to drink in the sight of her. Her dark hair was down around her shoulders in thick waves and the oversized T-shirt under her jacket was cropped slightly, showing a couple inches of smooth skin, and nope, he had to stop staring. “What are you doing here?”
Her sweet hibiscus scent trailed past her as she strode into his rental carrying a giant purse. “Might have found something and figured it was better to go over this in person. Do you have coffee? I’ve only had a couple cups this morning.”
“I haven’t made any yet,” he murmured, mesmerized by the sway of her ass. Nope. No, no, no. He shook his head and shut the door behind her.
She headed into the little kitchen so he followed, watched as she pulled her laptop out. “So—” She stopped at the rumble of multiple engines.
Shit . He pulled up the security cam feed on his phone, saw three motorcycles headed down the street. He picked up her bag, shoved it at her. “Go down the hallway and into the far room. Climb out the back window. You’ll be able to get away through the neighbor’s yard. There’s a little gap in the fence and they don’t have any dogs. Just leave, then walk down the street normally.” It had been his plan if he needed to get out of here quickly.
She shoved out a sigh and did as he said without argument, hurrying out of sight. He could have gone with her, but in case something went wrong, he wanted to hang back and stop these guys if needed. Acting normal, he started a pot of coffee even as the bikes rumbled up into the driveway. When someone banged on the front door, he took his time answering it.
“What the hell?” he grumbled as he swung it open.
The president, Brody Williams, and two of his guys, including Johnny, followed in after him, scowls on their faces. All three were white and both Brody and Johnny had thick beards. The other had a scruffy mustache that looked as if it had taken him a year to grow.
“Where the hell have you been?” Brody demanded.
“What are you even doing here?” he demanded, letting the door shut behind him. “And what’s got you all worked up?” He kept his tone dismissive, as if he wasn’t worried about them showing up here.
“I asked a question,” Brody snarled even as Chance headed back into the kitchen where the coffee was percolating.
“I’ve been out of town.”
“Yeah, doing what?” he asked while Johnny and the other guy stood guard at the kitchen doorway, likely thinking they were blocking his escape.
But he could take these three out relatively easily. Sure, he wouldn’t get the deposit on the rental back, but that was a small price to pay. “Are you under the impression that I answer to you?” He kept his tone mild but sharp. Because at the end of the day, if he ever wanted to make progress with these guys, he couldn’t be a pushover. And he couldn’t seem desperate.
Brody took a step forward when there was a small thump in the back of the house. Damn it!
“Is someone else here?” Johnny demanded, swiveling before Chance could answer.
“Who the hell are you?” Berlin’s haughty voice demanded before she elbowed her way through the two bikers by the doorway.
Jesus Christ. He was going to go gray by tomorrow at this rate. What the hell was she doing?
The two guys stared at her a little too long as she strode in wearing… What the hell? She had on nothing but a button-down shirt with the buttons undone between her breasts, showing off a lot of cleavage. “Hey babe, who are these jerks?”
He had to hide his reaction because she had just changed everything. He couldn’t kill them with her here. Well, he could, but she could get hurt. Moving quickly, he took her lead and tucked her up against him, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as she leaned into him.
“Eyes up here, asshole,” Chance snapped at Johnny, who was staring at her bare thighs.
“Sorry man, just looking.” He held up his palms, but Chance still wanted to bash his face in.
Brody only glanced at Berlin briefly before focusing back on Chance. “So? Where’ve you been?”
Berlin snorted in response. “Where do you think he’s been?” She motioned down the length of her body before she went up on tiptoe, brushed her lips over his, then headed for the coffee pot.
And three sets of eyes followed her, two with too much interest. He shifted slightly so that he was standing in front of her, and it wasn’t an act. He didn’t like these assholes eyeing her like she was a piece of meat. “I’ve been with my girl the last couple of days, and thank you for ruining our morning. Seriously, why the hell are you here?”
Brody’s body language eased slightly. “Someone broke into our club.”
“And?”
“We’re asking around, seeing if anyone knows anything about it.”
“They steal anything?”
Brody lifted a shoulder, but was still watching Chance intently. “We don’t know yet.”
Chance frowned. “You don’t know if anything was stolen, but you roll up here clearly wanting to accuse me of something?” He made a scoffing sound, then took the mug that Berlin handed him. “Thanks, babe,” he murmured.
She was acting very girlfriend-y, and even though he wished she’d left when he’d told her to and would tear into her later for it once they were both safe, she looked incredible in his shirt. He might never wash it again.
“It’s not personal,” Brody said, the energy rolling off him from earlier gone. “We’re just checking in with everyone who hangs out at the bar who’s not a member.”
Chance lifted a shoulder. “Feels personal, but whatever. Check this place if you want, but this is bullshit.”
Brody kept watching him, his expression hard. Then he gave an almost imperceptible nod. “Let’s talk alone,” he finally said, clearly wanting Berlin gone.
Berlin took the hint and picked up her own coffee, but not before brushing her mouth over his again. He shouldn’t like it so much and tried not to lean into her but she tasted sweet and perfect… She was the one who pulled back and it took all his willpower not to tug her up against him. “I’ll be in the shower,” she murmured before stepping away.
“If you ever get sick of this guy, my name’s Johnny,” the asshole said as she strode past him.
“Gross.” Berlin shot up her middle finger as she left, heading for Chance’s room. He wasn’t sure if she was actually going to shower or not, but he could breathe clearly again now that she was out of harm’s way.
“How long have you been with her?” Johnny asked.
“None of your business.” Chance set his mug down, crossed his arms over his chest.
Brody looked exasperated. “Lay off him, Johnny. We’re here on business.”
Chance lifted an eyebrow.
Brody nodded slowly. “I’m looking for some people to do some runs for me.”
Runs was code for transporting drugs or weapons or whatever. Not his thing, and by doing low-level shit like that it wouldn’t get him any closer to finding out where his brother was. “That doesn’t sound like something I’m going to do.”
Brody raised an eyebrow. “I thought you wanted a couple jobs.”
“I do—I did. But I’ve got some other things lined up.” He was walking a fine line, risking alienating the Uptown Street Kings but it was a risk he had to take.
“I said this wasn’t personal.” There was a definitive shift in the air now, an unsteady energy rolling off Brody, and Chance wondered if he’d pushed too hard.
Before he could respond, Berlin strode back in, now fully dressed in her ripped black pants, and cropped shirt that hung off one shoulder. Her hair was pulled back in a tight braid now and she looked…a lot more serious than she had earlier. And he liked all versions of her, but seriously, what was she doing out here again?
“I couldn’t help but overhear—because I was eavesdropping. He can’t do any jobs for you because he’s pulling some with me.”
Now Brody looked intrigued, his anger slipping away as he turned to Berlin. “What kind of job?”
“A quick swipe. Diamonds. Worth way more than whatever you’re planning to pay him.” She stood next to Chance, her expression almost challenging.
Chance had to actively not react.
“Too risky to do anything local,” Brody said. “Especially something that big. Cops’ll come sniffing around soon enough.”
“Who said it was local?”
“Is that right?” Brody looked at Chance.
He simply shrugged. He had no idea where she was going with this.
“We’re looking to bring in two more for our crew,” she continued.
Brody looked full-on amused now as he glanced at her, then Chance. “She wear the pants in this relationship?”
Refusing to be baited, he shrugged again. “She’s smart—and I don’t mind a woman telling me what to do if the payoff is worth it.” Even if he wondered what her endgame was.
Brody was quiet for a long moment, his expression thoughtful. “Where’s the job?”
“We’re not telling you that, but if you’re interested, we need a good driver,” Berlin answered even though he’d been looking at Chance. “Happens in three days and the take will be roughly four mil.”
The room went very quiet, then Brody finally nodded at the other two. “Wait outside for me.”
Johnny looked annoyed, but the other one simply turned and strode out. Once it was just the three of them, Brody sat at the kitchen table, making himself at home. “How do I know you’re not a cop? Or law enforcement?”
Berlin snort-laughed. “You show up at my man’s place out of the blue, but yeah, I’m a cop setting you up.” Completely dismissing him, she turned to Chance. “I’ve got shit to do today to prep for the job, so just hit me up when you’re free.” When she made a move to leave, Brody held up his hands.
“Fine. If you can’t tell me where the job is, I’ll still need more details and I’ll need to know something about you.”
Expression haughty, Berlin lifted a shoulder. “I used to be based out of Miami. I worked under the name Fox while I was there. My crews were always small, we never use weapons, and no one ever gets hurt. Each job usually nets a couple mil, up to five. And we never cross any of the cartels,” she added. “Look me up, you’ll find out I’m not lying.”
Chance wondered if she knew that the Uptown Street Kings ran drugs for one of the cartels, even if not directly. The biker gang ran some of their product, but didn’t get it directly from them. No, they bought it from a middleman who distributed to various gangs or suppliers around the country.
Brody simply nodded and stood. “Why’d you bring Chance in?”
Berlin held up a hand and started ticking off fingers as she said, “One, he’s trained. Two, he knows how to take orders. And three, he’s got a big dick and knows how to use it.”
Brody blinked, then barked out a laugh. “All right. I’ll be in touch,” he said, nodding at Chance as he left.
Once the rumble of motorcycles was far in the distance, Chance checked his cameras just to be sure they were all gone. “We need to get you the hell out of here.”
“Why?”
He stared down at her in surprise, and okay, exasperation. She’d just thrown a wrench into everything. “Because he’s going to look into you, and when he finds out that was all bullshit, he’s going to come after you. And me.”
“It’s not bullshit. I mean, technically it is, but I have various covers that I’ve built up over the years. Including Fox, a sexy thief who never leaves any clues behind.”
He blinked, taken aback. “Seriously?”
“Yep. She’s one of my favorite IDs. I like to imagine that she wears all black skinsuits on jobs, like a sexy cat burglar.”
He had no trouble imagining her wearing one. And that was way hotter than it should be. “Well, they’re going to expect a real job.”
“I can arrange that. We’re going to get them to do this for us and then we’ll use it to our advantage.”
“We?”
“Yeah, we’re a team now.”
Chance shook his head. “No. Absolutely not.” She should never have intervened like this, putting herself in their sights.
She raised an eyebrow. “Pretty sure we are.”
“No. You’re going to leave and I’ll make something up. Or I’ll just split town. But you’re not getting involved any further with these psychos. I’ll find my brother another way.”
“I got a hit on his face. It’s why I came over this morning before we were rudely interrupted.”
Forgetting everything else, Chance breathed out a sigh. “What did you find?”
“I’ll show you,” she said before disappearing to grab her laptop. Once she set it up on the table, she pulled up a couple screens. “My program says there’s a seventy-four percent chance this is him.”
Chance’s heart rate kicked up as he took in the side view image of a man who looked a lot like his brother. According to the date and time stamp, it was from the day he disappeared. He was at a gas station in Texas if the giant picture of the state on one of the signs was any indication. Enzo was filling up a generic-looking moving truck. And Chance recognized the ball cap his brother was wearing. “Did you get a shot of the license plate?”
“Yeah, but it’s got mud smeared on it. And I also found an image of him here…” She pulled up another shot of him, this time in Baton Rouge. “Filling up gas again. After this, I can’t find him anywhere. But that doesn’t mean anything. If he’s lying low, then there’s a reason I can’t find him.”
“This one was three days after he fell off the grid, so that’s something.” It meant he was on his own at least, and not under duress. Or dead. Anything could have happened since then but at least Chance knew that Enzo had been alive and well when he’d gone off-grid.
“And I’ll keep looking. Oh, I cracked open the files you stole. So far it’s just records for the club, nothing that points to your brother, but you’re welcome to look at everything.”
He looked at her in disbelief. “You broke the encryption already?”
“Yeah, last night actually. But it was late and I didn’t want to wake you up, especially since I didn’t find anything worthwhile in the files.”
He rubbed a hand over his face as he tried to think. “You’ve done a lot, and I think—”
“Don’t even try to tell me that we’re done. We’re just getting started.”
He wanted to argue with her, but…he liked working with her and she’d already proven that she could more than hold her own. But he wanted to keep her safe. Unfortunately, it seemed that even if he tried to cut and run, she wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Fine, but we’re not staying here. In case things go sideways we’re going to hunker down at your place if you think it’s safe. Or we can get a motel room or something.”
“My place is good.”
Even though things had gotten way out of his control, he found himself nodding. He knew he should just walk away, handle this on his own to protect her, but there was something about her that he couldn’t say no to.
Didn’t want to say no to.