Chapter 4
Rue
“Where the hell did he go?” I muttered, turning in a full circle. I’d followed him for blocks and the guy vanished. How did a man that size disappear without a trace?
A yelp spilled from my lips when someone grabbed me by the collar of my jacket and my feet left the concrete.
“What’re you following me for, kid?” the guy snarled in my face. His eyes narrowed as soon as he got a good look at me under the streetlight.
He’d stepped into the shadow of the building, clearly having made my tail. I thought I’d done better than that. “I’m not,” I told him. “I’m just heading home.”
“Pretty thing like you shouldn’t be walking home this late,” he said, a sneer on his face as he realized I was a woman, not a child.
Considering how big he was it wasn’t strange that he automatically thought I was a kid, even though I wasn’t a tiny woman.
What was my five-nine height when this guy had to be at least six-four?
Though from where I was dangling he seemed a lot taller.
“I can take care of myself,” I told him. “But thank you. Could you put me down?”
“Sure. Once you tell me why you were following me.”
“Hey, Rhino. You’re late.”
We both glanced over as another man came out of another building.
Rhino? I mean, the name fit. The guy was kind of built like the beast he was named after.
“I’ll be up in a minute,” Rhino called out.
Then he gagged as my punch landed squarely against his windpipe. It had the desired effect and he dropped me back to my feet. Before I could get more than a couple steps I was jerked to a stop by my jacket. He’d grabbed it again.
“Stupid little bitch,” he wheezed.
“Thought I was pretty?” I taunted over my shoulder, batting my lashes at him. I slipped my arms out of my jacket and started to run.
Unfortunately, I’d forgotten about the second guy. Slamming into him knocked the breath out of me as I stumbled back a couple steps. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my switch blade, angling my body so I could watch both men as they stalked toward me while I backed up. “Stay away from me.”
This wasn’t good. I was only expecting to follow Teddy and see where he went.
I’d been hoping that maybe he’d lead me to Ryan.
Not whatever this was. I wasn’t supposed to be facing two guys, one named Rhino, in the dimly lit street by myself.
Not until I was prepared anyway. It was going to take more than a knife to take these two on.
“Come here, bitch,” Rhino said, his eyes flashing with a manic sort of pleasure. “I’ll show you why it’s a bad idea to be following men you don’t know.”
“I’m well aware of why that’s a bad idea,” I replied, continuing to back away from them. “I’ll scream.”
They both chuckled at that. “No one here will help you, girl,” the second man told me.
I wasn’t a girl, but then again he looked to be in his fifties, so to him I guess I was.
The guy lunged at me and I wasn’t quick enough to evade.
He caught my left arm while Rhino came up on my right.
Without thinking I slashed out with my switchblade, satisfied when it bit into flesh.
His howl of pain was only a brief sound before it was replaced by a ringing.
He’d backhanded me so hard the second man was holding me on my feet. I would have hit the pavement hard if he didn’t have a grip on me.
Holy shit.
My eyes blurred and I couldn’t seem to get any of my limbs to cooperate. I sank down toward the ground, mostly dead weight as my legs refused to hold me.
“Bring her inside,” Rhino instructed.
No. Inside was a death sentence. Or something even worse.
With the last of my strength, I stabbed my blade into the guy’s thigh.
As soon as he released me I was off like a shot, stumbling away as fast as I could.
After a few moments the adrenaline hit and I managed to stop weaving, running faster.
I made it out to a busier street and spotted a cop car sitting beneath a lonely street lamp.
Bee lining my way to the cruiser, I looked over my shoulder. Rhino had stopped at the intersection and watched me as I ran toward the police car. After a few moments he disappeared down the street.
I slowed to a stop and then bent over, hands on my knees as I gasped in breaths.
I didn’t bother to knock on the window of the car.
Making my way back to my bike, I was determined to get out of there before Rhino backtracked and found me again.
I’d come up with a plan for that asshole later. One that gave me the upper hand.
My heart didn’t stop racing until I was on my bike and driving home.
This wasn’t going to be the end of this, but I was probably going to take a few days off from playing detective.
That had scared the shit out of me. What an unfortunate reality check.
I needed to get my gun before I tried following these guys around again.
“What the fuck happened to you?”
Sighing, I looked over, then froze. I’d been hearing that same question all day from various co-workers. I just expected this had come from someone just coming on shift.
Warm fingers wrapped gently around my jaw and angled my face so Overdrive could examine it.
He was the last person I was expecting to see the next morning. “What are you doing here?” I asked, staring at him.
“No. My question first. What happened?” His dark eyes were nearly black with rage as he studied my shiner.
Rhino hadn’t even used his fist and a good portion of my face was bruised. My eye wasn’t able to open fully either. I’d considered calling in, but I hated doing that. Working kept me busy. Kept my mind off things.
“I tripped,” I told him, jerking my face out of his hold.
“Bullshit.”
Everyone I worked with had thought the same thing, but were too polite to say anything. Not Overdrive. I’d known him for all of an hour and he was calling me out.
Huffing as he grabbed my arm and dragged me into a quieter corner of the hallway, I tugged away from him as soon as he stopped.
“Keep your hands to yourself,” I muttered.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like his touch. In fact, I liked it too much.
My skin was still tingling from where his warm fingers had wrapped around my arm.
“What. Happened?”
He was pissed, and I didn’t even know why. He didn’t even know me. “Why do you care?” I narrowed my eyes. “What are you doing here anyway?”
He was holding a large tin container in his other hand and at my question he thrust it at me. He watched silently as I opened it.
There were dozens of cookies in there. Sugar cookies, chocolate chip, peanut butter, ginger snaps, and probably more that I couldn’t see, or smell. “What’s this?”
“Camila’s way of saying thank you for helping her. She made them for you and your partner. I already dropped the others off to the nurses and doctor from yesterday.” His lips quirked upward. “She likes to cook. And bake,” he added.
“That’s so sweet of her,” I said, “but she’s supposed to be resting.”
“That’s what I told her.” I met his gaze. “Don’t worry, I helped her with most of it. Though that means those cookies might be delicious or they might poison you. No way to tell. You going to tell me about that?”
“No,” I replied, my lips lifting upward at his admission. “I don’t even know you.”
“Told you my name yesterday. I’m also the VP of a local motorcycle club.” The way he said that, not as a random fact, but the way a plumber says, “I’m a plumber” when he sees your faucet leaking. Like he was offering me a solution.
I figured the MC thing out on my own based off the cut he was wearing. Saint’s Outlaws, according to the patch. You saw enough bikers in my line of work to recognize them. They came in with broken limbs, stab wounds, and yes, as pavement paste.
“And we help people who’re in trouble.” He paused, his jaw flexing as though he was grinding his teeth. “Boyfriend?”
“Huh?”
“Did your boyfriend hit you? Give you that black eye?” He searched my face. “Husband?” he guessed again when I didn’t respond.
“I don’t have either,” I told him, watching the way his shoulders relaxed just slightly. “I told you, I tripped.”
“Sure. And fell into a door handle right?”
Rolling my eyes, I ignored that. “Look, I’m a paramedic, sometimes you help people that don’t want help.” He wasn’t buying it for a second. “Thank Camila for these cookies for us. Gary’s going to lose his mind. He loves chocolate chip. Doesn’t think any other kind of cookie should exist.”
“Give him some of the oatmeal raisin,” Overdrive suggested with a smirk.
I scoffed. “He’d say I really was poisoning him.”
Overdrive hesitated, then said, “If you decide you need anything…anything at all…” I gasped as he reached his hand into the pocket of my uniform pants and pulled my phone out.
I didn’t say anything as he punched his number into my contacts.
He reached his hand out and gently tilted my chin up to look into his dark brown eyes. “Just call. Day or night.”
I looked up into those dark eyes wondering why I wanted to bare my soul to this man that I hardly even knew. I couldn’t possibly drag him into my business.
“Sure you can.”
Blinking, I frowned when I realized I said that last part out loud without meaning to.
“My brothers and I are all former military,” he added when I didn’t say anything. “There isn’t much we can’t handle.” He handed me back my phone. “Just think about it.”
I watched, clutching my phone and the tin of cookies to my chest as he walked away.
As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t trust anyone with this.
I didn’t even know what it was I’d stumbled on to.
All I knew was that my brother was gone and more kids were going missing and dying in that part of town.
I was going to get to the bottom of it. But I needed to be more careful.
Shaking my head, I pushed all those thoughts from my mind and headed off to do my job. Everything else was going to have to wait until later. I had work to do. People to save.