Chapter Seven
Wheels
I was halfway up the stairs when Goldie’s bedroom door opened.
She stepped into the hallway wearing a clean pair of jeans, a fitted blue T-shirt she’d apparently managed to dig out of the bottom of her backpack, and her hair pulled back into a ponytail. The dark circles under her eyes hadn’t disappeared, but they weren’t nearly as bad as yesterday.
She looked... rested.
She tugged lightly on the hem of her shirt and sighed. “I really wish I’d packed more clothes.”
I leaned against the wall outside her room and crossed my arms. “I could ask Tempi and Britta if they’ve got something you could borrow.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I appreciate that, but...” She glanced down at herself. “I’d rather have my own clothes.”
Fair enough.
I rubbed my jaw while I thought about it. Twister had said if she needed anything from her apartment, we’d go. We just weren’t going alone. “I can make that happen.”
Her eyes lifted to mine.
“You can?”
“Yeah.”
Hope flickered across her face.
“We’ll go get your stuff.”
“Really?”
I nodded. “But some of the guys are coming with us.”
Her smile faded into understanding almost immediately. “That’s fine.”
“I figured it would be.”
She shifted her weight. “I just... I’d really like a few more shirts.”
“And maybe a toothbrush that isn’t living in your backpack?”
A small laugh escaped her. “That too.”
I jerked my chin toward the bathroom. “Get ready.”
“I already am.”
I looked her over once before realizing exactly what I’d done.
She caught me.
One eyebrow lifted.
“I just need to go to the bathroom,” she laughed.
I cleared my throat. “Meet me by the front door in five.”
She smiled. “Yes, sir.”
I snorted.
“Don’t start.”
She laughed as she disappeared into the bathroom.
I headed downstairs. Twister was exactly where I hoped he’d be—standing near the table with Podge, looking over copies of Goldie’s paperwork.
“Prez.”
Twister looked up. “Wheels.”
“Goldie wants to grab some clothes from her apartment.”
He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he looked toward the front windows before looking back at me. “Fine.”
That’s easy.
“You aren’t going alone.”
“I know.”
“Hodge.”
The big bastard looked up from where he was helping Method carry boxes out of the basement.
“What?”
“You’re going with Wheels.”
Hodge nodded once. “No problem.”
Twister looked toward the bar. “Magnum.”
Magnum set his coffee mug down. “Yeah?”
“You’re leading.”
He pushed away from the counter. “I’m in.”
Twister looked back at me.
“Keep your eyes open.”
“Always.”
“Stay together.”
“We will.”
“If anything feels off...”
“We leave.”
Twister nodded once. “Exactly.”
He didn’t need to say anything else.
We all knew this wasn’t a shopping trip.
Goldie came down the stairs a few minutes later. Her blonde ponytail swung gently behind her as she came down the steps.
The jeans hugged her curves without trying too hard. The blue shirt made her eyes stand out. She wasn’t flashy, and she wasn’t trying to impress anybody.
She was just… pretty.
She spotted me immediately and didn’t hesitate. Didn’t look around the room trying to figure out where she belonged. She walked straight toward me, and something about that settled in my chest.
“I’m ready,” she said.
I forced myself to focus. “Where do you live?”
“Shorewood Apartments.”
Magnum nodded. “I know where that is.”
Hodge grabbed his helmet off the bar. “Let’s get this over with.”
Goldie looked around the room. “I’ll be quick.”
Tempi pointed at her. “You don’t have to rush.”
Britta smiled. “We’ll be here.”
Twister folded his arms. “You’ve got three armed babysitters.”
Goldie sighed dramatically. “I feel safer already.”
“You should.”
She looked at me. “You ready?”
I nodded. “Let’s ride.”
The afternoon sun had warmed the pavement by the time we stepped out behind the clubhouse.
Three motorcycles waited.
Magnum climbed onto his first. Hodge swung onto his without a word.
Before I even grabbed my helmet, Goldie walked straight toward my bike. She simply stopped beside my Harley like she’d already decided where she belonged.
I liked that a whole lot more than I probably should have.
I handed her the spare helmet.
She slipped it on.
“You remember the drill?”
She smiled. “Hold on.”
“Exactly.”
A minute later she climbed on behind me, and this time there wasn’t any awkward hesitation.
No uncertainty.
Her hands settled around my waist almost immediately. I tried real hard not to think about how much I liked that.
Magnum started his bike.
Hodge followed.
I fired mine up, and the familiar rumble filled the alley.
Magnum pulled out first, I stayed in the middle, and Hodge took the rear. Exactly how Twister wanted it.
We rolled through downtown Madison with our heads on swivels.
Every intersection.
Every parked SUV.
Every alley.
Every vehicle sitting just a little too long at a stop sign.
Magnum checked mirrors constantly. I watched cross streets. Hodge covered our rear. Goldie stayed quiet behind me.
The city moved around us like it always did. Students crossed streets carrying backpacks. People waited outside coffee shops. Delivery trucks backed into loading docks. Nobody looking around would have guessed there was a war quietly unfolding beneath the surface.
Fifteen minutes later, Magnum raised a fist. We slowed, and the Shorewood Apartments came into view.
The complex wasn’t fancy. Three tan brick buildings sat around a neatly maintained courtyard with trimmed bushes, fresh mulch, and flower beds trying hard to make the place look more expensive than it probably was.
A woman pushed a stroller. Two kids chased each other near the mailboxes.
Everything looked normal.
We parked together, and I waited until Goldie climbed off before removing my helmet.
Magnum looked around the parking lot. “I’ve got the back.”
“I’ll watch the front,” Hodge replied.
I looked at Goldie. “You stay with me.”
She nodded. “I wasn’t planning on leaving you.” Again, I liked hearing that.
We climbed the outside staircase together. Each step creaked beneath our boots.
Goldie slowed as we reached the second-floor walkway. “There.”
She pointed toward the last apartment. Unit 214.
Everything looked untouched. Flowerpot beside the door. Welcome mat. Nothing broken. No signs of forced entry.
She pulled her keys from her pocket. “I don’t remember...”
“What?”
“...leaving the porch light on.”
It was broad daylight.
The porch light was definitely on.
I looked at Magnum, and he noticed it too.
Goldie slid her key into the lock, then the knob turned immediately afterward. She froze. “It’s unlocked.”
Magnum stepped closer. “You sure you locked it?”
She frowned. “I...” Her forehead wrinkled. “I left in a panic.”
Magnum shrugged. “Maybe you forgot.”
She nodded slowly. “Maybe.”
I wasn’t convinced.
Neither was Magnum.
I moved slightly in front of Goldie. “I’ll go first.”
She didn’t argue.
The apartment door swung open, and there was silence.
No movement. No voices. No alarms. Everything looked fine.
Almost too fine.
Nothing overturned.
No broken furniture.
No drawers dumped out.
No shattered glass.
No obvious sign anyone had been there.
Magnum checked the kitchen.
“Bathroom clear,” Hodge called.
I looked back at Goldie. “Grab what you need.”
She nodded. “My bedroom.”
“I’ll come with you.”
She led me down the short hallway. The bedroom looked as neat as the rest of the apartment.
The bed was made. Books sat on the nightstand. A framed picture of two women smiled from the dresser.
“Sister?” I asked.
She smiled faintly. “Novalea.”
“You look alike.”
“I’ll tell her you said that.”
She opened the closet where rows of neatly hung clothes. She started pulling shirts off hangers and folding them onto the bed.
I wandered toward the desk beneath the window, and something felt off.
“You fit all your desk stuff in that backpack?”
She looked over her shoulder. “What?”
I pointed.
“Your desk.”
She walked over slowly.
At first, she looked confused. Then her expression changed. “No...” She stepped closer. “No.”
“What?”
“My planner.”
She touched an empty spot beside the monitor. “It was right here.” Her breathing quickened. “My work notebook...” Her hand moved to another spot. “My appointment calendar.” Another. “My external hard drive.” She looked at me. “I didn’t take those.”
“Was there important stuff in them?” I asked.
“I mean, yes, but not anything that someone would want to take.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “Someone was here.”
I looked around the room again. Nothing else appeared disturbed.
No drawers hanging open.
No broken locks.
No mattress flipped.
No clothes scattered.
Someone had walked into this room and known exactly what they wanted.
I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
This wasn’t burglary.
This was collection.
Magnum stepped into the doorway. “You find something?”
I looked at him. “They’ve been here.”
He scanned the room. “Doesn’t look like it.”
“They took specific things.”
Goldie nodded quickly. “My planner. My notebook. My hard drive. My flash drives. My inspection journal.”
Hodge appeared behind Magnum.
“They didn’t trash the place?”
“No.”
Magnum slowly turned in a circle.
“They weren’t looking.”
I nodded. “They already knew where everything was.”
Goldie looked around her bedroom as if seeing it for the first time. “They came into my home...” Her voice barely carried. “...and I would’ve never known.”
Nobody had an answer for that.
Because whoever The Ledger had sent hadn’t needed to tear the apartment apart. They hadn’t needed to search. They’d walked in, gone straight to the desk, taken exactly what they came for, and then quietly left.
That was somehow a hell of a lot scarier than finding the place destroyed.