Chapter Four #2
I slipped out of the room and closed the door softly behind me.
Shadow’s room was at the far end of the hall, mainly because it was right above the utility room, which made it easier every time he added to the tech stuff he swore was crucial to his role in the club.
He already had twice as much space as the rest of us.
Beast had cut a doorway into the wall between two rooms so Shadow could have a separate workspace next to his room, complete with enough electrical outlets to power a small village.
He didn’t have the Do Not Disturb sign out, so I didn’t bother to knock.
Shadow looked up as I entered, a slight smirk on his face. “Managed to tear yourself away from her, did you?”
“Fuck off.” But I said it without any heat. “Ace said you could give me some kind of thing so we can verify Lily is Jack’s sister?”
“Sure.” He reached over and grabbed a zip locked bag off the shelf to his left.
It contained one of those cheek swab sticks.
We’d all done this more than once. I knew the drill, but he repeated it anyways.
“Don’t touch anything but the end of the stick that’s outside the bag.
She needs to swab the inside of her cheek with the other end and drop it back in the bag. Seal it shut and bring it back to me.”
I took the bag from him and parked my ass down on the empty chair. “Ace tell you about her ex?”
He nodded. “Some. From the looks of what I saw at the cupcake thing, he roughed her up bad. Let me guess -- you need me to find out everything I can so you can decide how to make sure there’s no backlash when you deal with him?”
I narrowed my eyes. This was serious, but I wasn’t sure that word was in Shadow’s vocabulary. “Anyone ever told you you’re a smartass?”
He grinned. “All the time. I take it as a compliment. So, what can you tell me about him?”
“Not a lot. Name of Tim. Last name is Jones. White guy, mid-thirties or so. Some kind of bigshot financial guy, has connections to bankers and high rollers, which makes sense. Lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I can get the address off Lily when she wakes up.”
“Not a lot to go on.” Shadow started typing.
“Think you can find him?”
He glanced up. “I can find anyone. This is just a little more challenging. We also know he filed a missing person report on Lily, and as soon as I hack that sheriff’s office it’s a piece of cake.”
I hadn’t considered that. “How long will it take?”
He shrugged. “Go grab me a sandwich from the kitchen, and by the time you get back here I should have something on him.”
I was starting to feel like I’d been demoted to prospect. First, I was fetching cupcakes. Now I was fetching sandwiches? I stood up. “Any particular kind you’d like?” I meant it to sound sarcastic, but Shadow was too busy with the weird symbols flashing across his screen to notice.
“Whatever, as long as there’s some meat in it.”
I shook my head and opened the door to the hallway. He might be annoying as hell sometimes, but when it came to tracking things on the web, no one could beat Shadow. This Tim asshole didn’t stand a chance.
* * *
Mom looked up when I entered the kitchen. “That poor young thing sleeping now?”
I nodded. “She had a nice hot shower, and now she’s passed out cold.”
Mom shook her head. “The guy that did that to her needs a good talking to.”
I knew she didn’t mean talk. She meant something a lot worse. “I’m on it. Shadow’s looking into him for me, and then we can decide on a suitable plan.”
“Is he mafia or something?” Jake spoke up from his place by the window.
I shook my head. “Lily said no. Not cartel either, but we need to be sure. Shadow’s working on that. If he’s not connected, that’ll make it a whole lot easier to deal with him.”
Jake pursed his lips. “Sounds like you’re more than a little taken with the girl.”
“Yeah. I know she’s a little young in years, but she’s mature enough to know what she wants.”
“And you think she wants you?” Mom raised her brows.
“I sure as shit hope so.” The subject was getting too fucking close to hitting home. “Shadow sent me down to get him a sandwich.”
Jake let out a hoot of laughter. “You mean he wanted you to quit bugging him while he worked, so he made up an errand for you to run for him.”
I felt my mouth curve up in a wry smile. “Yeah. That’s about it.”
Mom nodded, opening the fridge to peer in. “I’ll see what I can whip up. There should be some roast beef left from the other night unless one of you already ate it all.”
I held up one hand. “Not me. I was all over those meatballs though. Definitely none of them left in there.”
“Glad you appreciate my cooking.” She pulled out a container with the beef in it. “You want to come slice this for me, Jake?”
“You need to learn how to use that damn meat slicer we bought you,” Jake grumbled as he lurched to his feet.
Some days the old injuries bothered him more than others, and it looked like today was one of those days.
Stomping past me, he handed me the kitten that had been sleeping in his lap.
“Here. You can take him back to his owner. Mom stuffed him so full of food, he’s probably going to sleep for the rest of the day. ”
“He wasn’t complaining, and why would I bother to learn how to use the meat slicer when I have you here to do it for me?” Mom grinned at him. “And it tastes better when you slice it with a knife. I didn’t ask for a meat slicer, and we don’t need one more dumb gadget cluttering up the counter.”
Jake shook his head and gave me a pointed look. “You see what happens when you let a woman into your life? You end up taking orders from them. They just don’t realize we’re the stronger sex and they should take orders from us.”
Mom rolled her eyes. “Less talk and more action here, boy. Shadow’s waiting for his sandwich, and poor Rattler here is going to get blamed for how long it’s taking.”
I grinned. Mom and Jake were forever grousing at each other, but they never meant a word of it. They’d been inseparable since the day they met and would do anything for each other. If I were really fucking lucky, Lily and I would sound just like them someday when we were both old.
The thought gave me pause. Right now the age difference between Lily and I seemed huge but years from now, it wouldn’t even be worth commenting on.
Things like age gaps depend on how you look at them.
Instead of our ages, I preferred to think about the trust that shone in her eyes when she looked at me, and the way my heart ached when I saw the bruises that asshole had dared to put on her.
“Here you go, woman.” Jake handed a plate of sliced roast beef to Mom, brushing a quick kiss across her lips before limping back to his seat.
“Thanks, sweetie.” Mom smiled at him. She wrinkled her nose when she caught me watching them. “Mind your own business. The sandwich will be ready in a minute.”
Jake winked at me, and I struggled not to laugh.
“This should keep Shadow happy.” Mom handed me the plate with the sandwich on it and a few pickles arranged artfully at the side. “Tell Shadow he’d better eat every bite, or he’ll have to deal with me. Last time I sent him up a plate, it came back with all the carrot sticks still on it.”
With the plate in one hand and holding the kitten against me with the other, I headed back upstairs. Did Shadow even like carrot sticks? I had no idea. Not the kind of thing guys talked about. I had a feeling Mom and Jake had been grandstanding to give Shadow more time to dig into Lily’s ex.
Shadow was muttering away to himself when I entered the room. The display of symbols dancing across the screen meant nothing to me, so I placed the sandwich down on the desk in front of him and cleared my throat to get his attention.
He glanced up at me, his expression distant. “What?”
I ran a hand down Scrapper’s back, drawing Shadow’s attention to it. “I’m just going to take the kitten to my room, then I’ll be back.”
“Sure.” He turned back to his computer, effectively dismissing me.
I headed back down the hallway, Scrapper purring like a well-tuned motor in my arms. Reaching my room, I quietly opened the door.
Lily was in bed where I’d left her, the sheets pulled up to her chin so that only her head was showing.
Her soft, even breathing told me she was still fast asleep.
I padded over to the bed as silently as I could and placed the little kitten on the other pillow.
He immediately scampered over to Lily and curled up inches from her face.
I’d never had a kitten as a pet, or a cat, for that matter, but I imagined he was safe enough there.
I grabbed the Do Not Disturb sign from the side table.
If I hung it on the door, no one would randomly open it.
Not the usual reason for a sign like that to be hung on a bedroom door in an MC clubhouse, but it would do the trick.
I didn’t want the little guy to get loose.
I’d known Shadow long enough not to interrupt him when he was working, so I entered his room as quietly as I could and sat down.
He pivoted to address me. “There’s something fishy about this guy. He’s not mafia, and I don’t think he’s got anything to do with the Mexican cartels running drugs into this country, but I need to dig deeper.”
I frowned. “If he’s not cartel or mafia, what’s the issue?”
He shook his head. “I’m not sure, but something isn’t adding up. I got a bad feeling in my gut. You okay with me taking some more time?”
“Sure.” Not like I had a lot of choices here. I needed to know what I was up against. “How long do you think it will take you?”
Shadow picked up the sandwich, taking a bite and chewing it thoughtfully. He swallowed. “I’ll let you know when I have an answer. Meantime, keep that woman out of sight. And get me that DNA swab, just to be safe.”
I raised my brows. “You’re doubting she’s who she says she is?”
He shook his head. “No, I just want to confirm her identity. Makes it easier to figure out what her ex’s agenda is, if he has one. Could be he’s just a civilian asshole who likes to beat women and has enough money to make the local law look the other way.”
“That would be my ideal outcome.” Especially if he didn’t have any close family connections, which seemed likely given the little Lily had divulged. No close family means no one dug too deep for answers if he had an unfortunate accident or disappeared when boating in bad weather.
Shadow crunched on one of the pickles. “Can’t guarantee that. Go get the DNA swab and leave me alone to work.” He glanced up as if remembering I outranked him and added, “Please.”
“Let me know when you have something.” I turned and left, heading down the hall to my room. I’d left Lily alone for long enough.