Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Cole
I leaned back against the pool table with my arms crossed, watching Boink and Fox argue over what to watch like it was life or death.
Ender stood off to the side, half in shadow, half not. He always did that, positioning himself where he could see everything without being in the middle of it. Quiet. Watchful.
The front door opened, and Clove stepped through.
She was talking on the phone as she walked, something about Bell borrowing a jacket and not returning it. Normal, everyday bullshit. She looked fine. Relaxed. Laughing.
Ender’s attention snapped to her like it had been pulled on a wire.
It was subtle. Anyone else might’ve missed it. His posture didn’t change. He didn’t smile. Didn’t move. But his eyes tracked her, followed her clear across the room until she disappeared into the kitchen.
Then he looked away.
Like he’d caught himself doing something he hadn’t meant to.
I didn’t say anything. Didn’t raise a brow. Didn’t smirk. I just clocked it and filed it away.
Wrecker came through the front door next, his phone pressed to his ear, and his expression already telling me the call was serious.
“Yeah,” he said into the phone. “I hear you.”
He ended the call and motioned for us to get closer.
“We got a lead at the pipeline,” he said quietly so the cameras didn’t hear him.
My jaw tightened. “Something new?”
“Mason, Thorn, and Arlo are up there,” he confirmed. He jerked his head toward the back hallway, away from the main room. Away from the cameras.
We followed without question.
Once we were out of range, he lowered his voice even more. “They talked to someone who’s been hanging around out there in the mornings. Local guy. He recognized the truck.”
My pulse kicked.
“Recognized it how?” Boink asked.
“He said he’s seen the same guy,” Wrecker continued. “Always in the same truck. Parks at the same diner every Friday morning. Same time. Same spot.”
Routine.
“We want him,” I said immediately.
Wrecker nodded. “We’re going to get him.”
“I’ll go,” I added. “Friday. I want in on it.”
“No,” Wrecker said flatly.
I opened my mouth, already pissed, but he cut me off before I could get the words out.
“You’re not leaving Star,” he said. “Not right now. Not when this is about her.”
My jaw clenched hard enough to hurt.
“Let me go,” Fox said.
“Me, too,” Ender insisted.
Wrecker’s jaw clenched, but he nodded. Fox was his youngest son, and I knew he was struggling with sending him into something that could be dangerous. “You two can go with Mason and Thorn to grab him Friday,” Wrecker went on. “Quick. Quiet. No scene. Bring him straight back here.”
I hated it. Every instinct in me wanted to be the one putting hands on the guy who thought he could touch her and walk away. But Wrecker wasn’t wrong, and he was the president. His call.
“I’ll be here when they bring him in,” I said.
Wrecker met my eyes. “That’s exactly where you’ll be.”
I nodded once. Acceptance didn’t mean I liked it.
The voices from the main room drifted down the hallway. “I’ll fill in the rest of the club. Hopefully by Friday afternoon, we are going to have a shit ton more answers.”
I turned and headed for my room.
Star was waiting for me.
And Friday was only two days away.