Chapter 4
STIFF
Whatever she hears on the other end of the line tears through Dakota like acid.
Watching it hit is like seeing the strings of a puppet go slack.
It’s bad enough that all three of us tense up, preparing for whatever comes next.
Her little boy is the only one who doesn’t immediately realize that something’s wrong.
He frowns and lifts an arm, reaching for her to pick him up again.
“No, she wouldn’t’ve—I understand, but—” She listens, focused completely on the phone aside from grabbing Logan’s hand and holding it still. She nods before she remembers she has to speak. “Right. Of course. Do whatever you have to. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
I catch Lash’s eye and tip my head in the direction of the kitchenette we use to make coffee and microwave shit while we’re working on the bikes. He nods.
Lash puts his hand on Logan’s shoulder. “Hey, buddy, how about we go see if there’s any more of that hot chocolate powder. If that’s okay with your mom.”
Logan looks up at Lash with a grin, but he’s a smart kid. He might not know what’s going on, but he’s figured out something’s off and he puts an arm around her thigh and hesitates.
Dakota gives him a little hug and puts on a fragile smile. “That sounds like a great idea. I just need a couple minutes and then I’ll come find you when I’m ready to go.”
Logan lets out a whoop and clings to the top of Lash’s head as he swings him up and settles him in place on his shoulders.
On the way, they stop and look at a big ol’ chopper one of the guys is fixing up for a custom order.
It’s real fucking weird to see a kid around.
The club isn’t exactly family friendly, but fortunately it’s quiet today, and aside from picking up some new vocabulary, Logan isn’t likely to see anything too shocking in here.
“What am I supposed to do?” Dakota whispers, watching them go, her knuckles white around the phone in her hand. “That was the hospital. There was an accident and they think my sister was the driver.”
“Bad?” I ask, knowing the answer but needing to make sure.
She nods. “I don’t… On the way over here, I was so mad at her but I didn’t want her to get hurt. This doesn’t feel real. I don’t know if I can do this.”
“Of course you can. That kid needs you to, so you start at the beginning and ignore everything but the step right in front of you.” Jackal’s voice is firm, like when he’s guiding one of the new guys through a job when they get rattled.
Startled, she looks at him with wide, hazel eyes just like Logan’s, and nods. I pull over a stool and nudge her shoulders until she sits.
“What did they tell you to do?” Jackal asks.
“I have to go…” Her voice trails off.
“You have to?” I prompt.
“Identify her.”
Fuck. I’ve been in this life too long to remember how to be gentle.
Not like she needs. If it was one of us, I’d get them drunk as a skunk and then point them in the right direction to fuck or fight their way through the worst of the shock.
Doesn’t solve everything, shit, doesn’t solve most things, but it sure helps quiet the demons until you’re ready to deal with reality.
But Dakota is so fucking sweet and normal.
Her dark hair is pulled up into a bun, held together by hairpins with tiny glittering gemstones on the ends, and there’s a glint of gold around her neck, with a cursive L charm nestled in the hollow of her throat.
Just a cute single mom who an hour ago was at work doing her best to get through the day and probably thinking about what to make her kid for dinner, or if the car needs an oil change on the way home.
“Is there anyone you can call to ask for help?” I ask.
“Our father—no.” She shakes her head. “I’ll have to tell him, but I can’t deal with that. Not now. If I have to,” her voice hitches, “to identify Georgia, then maybe it’s not her, right?” Dakota looks up, her eyes pleading. “Do you think? Maybe someone stole her car and—”
“Stop,” I interrupt. “What did Jackal say? Thinking ahead and guessing at shit just makes it harder to focus. Right now, we head to the hospital. When you have the facts, you can decide what the next step is.”
“We?” Dakota asks.
Did she think we’d just toss her and the kid out to the wolves while she looks like she’s hanging on by a thread? “We’ll stick with you until you have this under control.”
We’re between assignments, so we’ve got the time. She might not be one of us, but for now she’s ours.
“Thank you. I feel like I keep saying that, but I mean it. I’m not usually this useless,” she says with a sigh, looking down at her hands and rubbing her thumb over a blood red nail. “I’m going to owe you guys so much after all this.”
A tear slides out from the corner of her eye and down the side of her nose.
Jackal brushes it away. She looks up and he leans in and kisses her, not demanding, just enough to make her eyes go wide and her breath stutter.
She freezes, and her fingers go to her full lips.
If the Reaper makes my next brush with death stick, he’ll be taking me to Hell, because it makes me want to see what else those lips can do.
She blinks up at Jackal in surprise, her cheeks getting pink. “What was that for?”
“Payment. Now we’re even.” He winks.
In spite of the strain on her face, Dakota laughs. “You guys aren’t what I expected.”
“And that’s a good thing?” I ask, curious.
She nods. “Yeah, I think it is.”
I want to keep her here and stretch out this moment so she doesn’t have to do what’s coming next, but that’s not how the world works. I hold out my hand. “Come on, let’s go find Lash and Logan.”
“Okay.” Her slender fingers slip into my palm and she looks up at me like I’m a much better man than I am.
And just to prove I really am an asshole, I’m going to let her keep on thinking that way as long as I can.