Chapter 48 Dangerous Friends
Dangerous Friends
Ryder
Outside the darkened bike shop, I stared down at the screen. Maddox, concise as usual, had replied to my text with a message even briefer than my own.
Two words. Call me.
So I did.
He answered on the first ring. "What's up?"
I almost laughed. "You are, apparently. You know it's almost three in the morning, right?"
"Not here, it isn't."
On this, the guy had a point. Chicago was in a different time zone, which made it almost 2 a.m. there. But that didn't change the facts. As I started walking toward my hotel, my footsteps were the only sounds on the empty street. "Yeah, but it's still late."
"So that's what you need help with? Figuring out the time?"
Maddox McGuiness wasn't a man who wasted words. He didn't rant, ramble, or explain himself twice. If he called you back in the middle of the night, it wasn't because he couldn't sleep.
It was because he was willing to help.
Some might say he owed me. Not the way I saw it. And already, he'd done me that favor with Griff – setting up the scenario that had sent Griff on his extended getaway.
Sure, Griff wouldn't see it as a favor. Not yet. Still, I'd bet my last dollar, he would eventually.
But right now, it wasn't Griff dominating my thoughts. It was Tessa. To Maddox, I replied, "I need to borrow someone. No. Multiple someones. Got any you can spare?"
There was a long beat where I could practically hear him recalibrating. "Is this about you? Or someone else?"
It was a simple question with a complicated answer, because I knew for a fact that if anything happened to Tessa Sinclair, I'd never forgive myself. I had money, clout, and dangerous friends – some who swam in waters a lot murkier than my own.
And at the top of that list?
Yeah, that would be Maddox.
I was still thinking when he said, "Fuck."
I stopped in mid-step. "What?"
"Who is she?"
"What do you mean?"
"It's the middle of the night, you're calling for help, and you won't say if it's personal. So I'll ask it again." His voice darkened. "Who is she?"
I saw no reason to bullshit. "Tessa Sinclair."
He paused. "Wait…you don't mean the one who went viral?"
That caught me off guard. "So you saw it?"
"That meeting meltdown?" He laughed. "Hell, everyone saw it."
I frowned. "I didn't."
"Then you must've been hiding under a rock, because it popped onto my feed like ten times."
Regardless, I'd been unable to find it even once – something I chalked up to her previous employer, who had a reputation for making publicity problems go away. "But you haven't seen it lately. Am I right?"
"Sure, but it's not like I've been looking. So tell me. What'd she do to you?"
She hadn't done a damn thing – not the way he made it sound. I replied, "Nothing."
"That psycho? You sure?"
My jaw tightened. "Don't call her that."
At this, he literally groaned. "Don't tell me you have a thing for her."
I said nothing as the street loomed empty in front of me. I knew what Maddox was asking, but I wasn't ready to say it.
Into my silence, he said, "You know Carver's looking for her, right?"
No kidding. But I was curious. "And you know this, how?"
"Because everyone knows it. Get this. He offered to make it worth my while to find her."
It was my turn to say it. "Fuck."
Maddox chuckled. "Yeah, that's what I said."
"So he offered you what? Money?"
"Money and a favor – as if I needed either from him."
"So, what'd you tell him?"
"To fuck off, what else?"
Knowing Maddox, he wasn't joking. Even so, I couldn't help but smile. "Good."
"So who is she? And before you start giving me her history, what I mean is…who is she to you?"
If this were almost anyone else, my guard would've already been up. But this was Maddox. I trusted him – and not only because of our history. Still, I didn't have a good reply. In the end, all I said was, "I don't know."
"That's not an answer."
"Yeah, but it's the only one I've got."
"How long have you known her?"
"Long enough." This was no lie. On the calendar, the time was short. But it was still long to know she was a decent person who'd been dealt a shitty hand.
And yet, this alone wouldn't have me calling Maddox in the middle of the night. I knew this.
And Maddox knew it, too, because when he replied, the amusement was back. "That long, huh?"
This wasn't funny. "So can you spare someone or not?"
"For this?" he said with a chuckle. "Sure, why not?"
The tightness in my shoulders eased. As I started walking again toward my hotel, I gave him the rundown of everything I knew, which granted, wasn't nearly enough.
But it would be enough for Maddox to get moving.
That was guaranteed.