Chapter 26
NOELLE
I’d barely made it out of the clubhouse before the weight of the lie pressed down on me.
Meeting my editor.
I scoffed so hard, a cloud of white puffed in front of my face.
What a joke.
A bitter taste lingered on the back of my tongue.
I’d been lying to them from the beginning, all while expecting them to tell me the truth about themselves.
They could never know I was a detective and not a local reporter.
Every instinct in my body screamed that this would get harder the closer I drew to the truth.
What was the truth?
The town was quiet, almost spooky in the lack of noise.
Snow crunched beneath my boots, the sound punctuating the eerie silence.
I scanned every storefront.
Had the whole place shut down and I didn’t know it?
No. The OPEN signs shone brightly.
Maybe it was just too early for everyone else to be out.
My luck changed when I rounded the corner and came face to face with a man I recognized from the Christmas drive.
“Hi.” I smiled, keeping my tone light.
The man’s face paled. “Um. Hi.”
“Sorry for almost running into you. Totally my fault.”
I laughed and slid my hands into my pockets, creating that air of innocence most men loved. “I remember you.”
White didn’t begin to describe the color of his face. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. You dropped off some clothes for the drive.”
A forceful exhale erupted. “Oh, right.” He snapped his fingers and chuckled nervously. “I thought I recognized you but couldn’t remember where.”
“Sorry for not remembering your name.” My smile remained firmly in place. “Listen, I wondered if you could help me out.”
I tipped my head to the side and gave him a forlorn look.
God, I hated acting like the damsel in distress.
But it worked.
The man’s shoulders lowered. “Help with what?”
“That whole deal with the power outage. It’s kind of weird, right?”
A shrug. “I mean, I guess.”
“Everyone is saying the Steel Vipers did it.” I leaned toward him, pitching my voice low like I was about to share some deep conspiracy.
“It’s so weird, though, because I saw all of them in town that day.” I knew better than to share where they’d really been. “Someone had to have tampered with the generating station. Who would know how to do that?”
“No idea.” He shut down faster than a campfire doused with a firehose.
I knew people didn’t like to talk about the Vipers openly, but even the ones willing to help out for their charities refused to take a stand against the rumors.
He cleared his throat. “I can’t say anything.”
A quick, darting look from side to side, then he leaned in close. “But I’ve seen a lot of people coming and going from the old abandoned warehouses on Eighth Street.”
He gave me a look, eyebrows up and expression guileless. “Know what I mean?”
“Yeah.” I barely breathed the word. Abandoned warehouses with lots of activity. Not suspicious at all.
“Any other places that I might want to visit?” He wouldn’t talk about the Vipers, but he didn’t seem to mind sharing other tidbits that might help me out.
“The Dip.” He jerked his chin toward the opposite side of the street.
I’d heard of the bar before, and not in a good way.
Brawls, beatings, and a host of other infractions put them firmly on the local PD’s shit list.
But if I wanted to find out the truth, I had to be willing to go all in.
How much worse could this be than the things I’d done already?
“Thanks.” I turned and headed straight to the bar.
My heart drummed hard enough to rattle my ribs, but I kept going.
Despite looking old and rundown on the outside, the inside glowed with fresh paint.
Smelled like it too.
My nose wrinkled at the powerful aroma.
Music pulsed, almost drowning out the rowdy crowd already forming despite the early hour.
I did my best to scan the room without being obvious.
Bikers sat together in a shadowed back corner.
Mugs of beer covered the tabletop and more than one of them sported ruddy cheeks and sloppy expressions.
This might be a total failure, and it might be exactly what I needed to break this story wide open.
Drunk men often said more than they should.
I’d have to be careful.
Too curious and I’d get noticed.
I slid onto a barstool and raised my hand, silently asking the bartender to come over.
Cold eyes latched on me, sizing me up. “Not our usual type. What brings someone like you in here?”
My stomach clenched at the obvious scorn. “Checking out the place.”
I pasted on my sincerest smile. “I’m new in town. Looking for the best place to settle in.”
A scoff and a roll of his eyes preceded his grabbing a mug from beneath the counter and filling it to the brim with a foamy beer.
He slammed it onto the bar and leaned toward me.
A tall man in a leather vest and a sharp jaw stepped closer.
His shadow cut over my face, and a chill danced down my spine. “I’ve seen you before. Always asking questions.”
His speech slurred.
Did I excuse my behavior or lean into it?
I sipped my beer and raised one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “What can I say? I’m a curious sort of person.”
“Mm-hm.” His eyes jigged from side to side, and he blinked slowly.
Definitely drunk.
Probably too drunk to remember this conversation later.
But not the bartender.
He watched the whole thing with mild interest.
I took advantage of the beer in my hands, using it as a shield and a distraction to hold off my response as I took a deep draught.
“I’m a reporter. My boss has me doing these idiotic reports on local business. Infrastructure, all that sort of bullshit. I’m bored out of my mind, and people are interesting.”
The small bag I’d hung over one shoulder fell open, revealing my notebook and phone.
“Just covering all the basics. Like the bars and local scenes. This one is my favorite so far.” The lie rolled off way too easily.
His eyes narrowed. “Reporter, huh?” He swayed so hard, he almost lost his balance.
The temperature and energy in the room shifted.
Or maybe that was my imagination.
I ignored the sudden desire to bolt out the door and never come back.
Movement at the back of the room snagged my attention.
A man who looked to be the leader locked eyes with me when I shifted to gauge their tempers.
I’d thought they were all drunk, but this man looked sharp… and sober.
Shit.
Suspicion churned in his dark eyes.
Suspicion and a calculated willingness to act on his anger.
I’d barely said anything.
Why was he looking at me like that?
He stood in a slow move, his body unfurling in a predatory way.
“What else have you been reporting on?” The menacing drawl accentuated the question.
I forced my lips into a smile, giving them my impression of the most harmless woman in the world. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“No?” A single step brought the threat level up a notch.
The leader’s jaw tightened, and the drunk man beside me staggered away. “I hear you’ve been asking questions about the Vipers. About all the gangs.”
His head cocked, a smirk tightening his eyes. “I hear you’ve been telling people the Vipers didn’t destroy the power and you want to figure out who did.”
My heart lived in my throat.
Anything I wanted to say stuck behind the furious beat.
How did he know all that? How… “I’m just asking questions. I’m a reporter.”
My casual shrug failed me as I realized the full extent of the danger I’d put myself in.
I shifted and let my discomfort show.
“The power outage was a big deal. I’m trying to track how the town has been affected by the outage. You know, news coverage.”
I blew out an exaggerated breath. “I’m hoping to move up the ranks. Reporting on business is boring.”
I tried for a sulky, down on her luck reporter.
If he believed me, it didn’t show on his face, or in the way he crossed the room in a series of clipped steps.
The rest of the men stood as well.
They reminded me of a pack of wolves.
Cunning.
Destructive.
They could tear me apart and have zero regret.
A pang of regret pierced my heart.
I could disappear without a trace and no one would know or care.
Rafe, Bishop, and Ash might mourn me for a split second before they moved on.
The space between me and the men shrank to nothing.
I should have left as soon as I felt the threat.
But I’d stayed and now, I couldn’t possibly back down. Show no fear.
My sergeant at the training academy taught me that.
Not wolves, I realized as the blank coldness took over the leader’s face.
Sharks.
They were all sharks, and they smelled my fear like chum in the water.
Another man leaned on the edge of the bar behind me, arms crossed, watching my every twitch.
“I agree. Business is boring.” The leader smirked with such a callous edge to his lips that my fear turned into a wild thing.
“Funny how reporters always seem to ask the same damn questions when they shouldn’t.” He jutted his chin toward the back room. “You’re poking around where you don’t belong, lady.”
I gripped my beer tighter, knuckles whitening.
My mind raced, scrambling for a response that might get me out of this situation.
A rational, believable escape.
My cover, the polite, harmless journalist, didn’t seem to be cutting it, but what else did I have?
I had to sell it. “I swear I’m just here for a good time. And for my job. I don’t know anyone here, so when I hear about clubs like the Steel Vipers, I can’t help but be curious.”
The leader’s eyes darkened.
Holy hell, the man exuded danger brighter than a neon sign.
I needed to learn his name.
I was definitely telling Captain Delaney to keep an eye out for him.
“You’re a lucky woman.” The look in his eyes remained predatory. “Otherwise, we’d have a real problem on our hands.”
Raw fear settled in my chest.
My palms grew sweaty, but I didn’t dare set the mug down and give up my only possible weapon.
Stay calm.
I’d been in danger before.
All I had to do was stay calm and work the situation.
I’d fight my way out if I had to, but deescalating the situation worked to my advantage.
“I really don’t want any trouble.”
A rough finger ran across the back of my neck.
Nausea rose in the back of my throat.
Anger took place of the fear, and I swatted at the unwelcome touch coming back for a second time.
My lips peeled back from my teeth. “I don’t want any trouble, but you do not touch me. I’m here for information.”
“We have plenty of information. And it doesn’t involve helping your Viper pals. We’d be happy to see them run out of town. But if you want our information, you’re going to work for it.”
The suggestive words were followed by his slow assessment of my body. “You’re not my usual type, but I can make it work.”
The fuck did he say?
My right hand dropped from the mug and curled into a fist.
I was sick and damned tired of being treated as nothing more than a repugnant second-choice pity fuck.
Even as they threatened to take what they wanted, they made it clear it was nothing more than a power move.
The man behind me wrapped his hand around my upper arm and pulled.
I prepared to throw the mug of beer in the leader’s face, followed up by a punch to the man holding me.
It might not let me escape, but I wasn’t going down without a fight.
Bang.
The door flew open, spilling light and the sight of three avenging angels pouring into the room.
Colt rushed in behind Rafe, Bishop, and Ash.
All four men looked ready to kill, and my fear evaporated.
“Get your fucking hands off our old lady.” Rafe could have bellowed the words, but his low, venomous hiss carried so much more weight.