4. Tempest
CHAPTER FOUR
tempest
The SUV disappears around the corner before I can make out the plate.
Lilah doesn't move; she's standing halfway up the path, keys in one hand, staring at the empty street like she's expecting it to come back.
"Lilah?" She blinks, like she's only just remembered where she is. "You okay?"
"Yeah,” she says quietly. She doesn't look at me until she's already walking again.
I watch her unlock her apartment and enter quickly before the door closes, and the lock clicks a second later.
The SUV could've belonged to anyone: someone visiting, someone waiting for a friend, it could have even been someone who took a wrong turn.
But... It pulled away the second she saw it, not before, not five minutes later, but right as she saw it.
I finish my coffee and toss the empty cup into the bin beside the steps. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. I pull my phone from my pocket.
"Ghost," he answers on the second ring.
"You busy?"
"For you?" He pauses for a second. "Depends what you've broken."
I snort. "Nothing."
"Then what's the problem?"
I glance back toward the building. "My neighbor."
"Lilah?" he asks.
"Yeah."
He’s silent for a moment. "What about her?"
"I just saw something I don't like," I say, not wanting to say it over the phone.
"I’m at the clubhouse, I’ll be waiting."
"I'm on my way." I end the call, slip my phone back into my pocket, and head for my bike.
The ride gives me too much time to think.
Traffic's steady enough that I don't have to pay much attention, and my mind keeps going back to the same thing.
The SUV. It didn't speed away, it just left, like whoever was inside had seen what they came to see, or they realized they'd been noticed. Neither option sits well with me.
The gates to the clubhouse roll open as I pull up. A couple of the prospects are outside washing bikes, Spike lifts a hand. "Tempest," he greets.
I nod back before parking beside Ghost's Harley.
The smell of burgers hits me as I walk inside; someone's cooking.
The clubhouse is louder than usual. Music plays low through the speakers while Sniper and Savage argue over a pool game. Onyx laughs as Savage misses an easy shot. "You couldn't pot that if the pocket was the size of Boston."
"Shut up."
Ghost looks up from the table as I walk in. "There he is." He jerks his chin toward the office. "Inside."
I follow him through the door and see that Rogue's already there, a manila folder in his hands. Ghost notices me looking at it. "Rogue finished digging this afternoon." He slides the folder across the desk. "Lilah Carter."
I pick it up, noticing the file isn't thick. It has her driver's license, vehicle registration, employment details, and current address. She’s lived in Boston for about two years, same address and same job. There’s no arrests, no complaints, not even a debt.
I flip another page. "No family?"
Rogue leans back in his chair. "None listed."
My brows knit together. "No emergency contact?"
"Nope."
I look up. "That's odd."
"It is," Rogue agrees. "Especially for someone her age."
Ghost folds his arms. "What else?"
Rogue reaches for the folder and taps a page near the back. "Before Boston, she lived in Connecticut."
"Where?"
"Small town called Drayton Creek," Rogue tells us.
Ghost nods. “Makes sense as to why Omen’s involved; Drayton Creek is his neck of the woods.”
"Address checks out, but that's where it gets strange," Rogue continues.
"How strange?" Ghost demands.
"Everything before three years ago..." He shrugs. "There’s gaps."
Ghost frowns. "What do you mean?"
"I mean there's enough to prove she existed, school records, driver's license, utilities. Then..." He taps the file again. "Nothing."
"No job?"
Rogue shakes his head. "Nothing that lasts."
Ghost crosses his arms over his chest as he glances at the file in my hand. "No social media?"
Once again, Rogue shakes his head. "Nothing."
What the fuck? "No friends?" I ask. None of this is making any sense.
"Couldn't find any."
Ghost looks at me. "What happened today?"
I lean against the desk. "I was sitting outside when she got home; she looked across the street and spotted a black SUV that was parked there. The moment she looked at it, it pulled away."
Ghost's expression hardens. "You sure?"
"I'm sure," I tell him.
"What was her reaction?"
I think about the look on her face, the way she'd stopped moving, and the way she'd stared after the SUV long after it'd gone.
"She knew it."
"The SUV, run it,” Ghost instructs
"I need a plate," Rogue tells him.
"Work on what Tempest gives you. Make, model, timing, location pattern. See if anything comes back. Check the security footage outside the apartment and also at Petals. I want to know if that SUV has been around her job too."
Rogue nods and reaches for his laptop. "It won't be fast."
"Then start now." Ghost looks at me. "Keep an eye on her."
"Already am."
The silence that follows annoys me, because Ghost’s watching me, and then he smirks, which Rogue catches.
"That was quick," he says, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"She's my neighbor," I snarl at him.
"Mmm," he says, earning a glare from me, but he doesn't even look up from his laptop. "Lorenzo makes one phone call and you've already volunteered."
"I live across the hall, and have done for two fucking years."
"What a coincidence."
"Rogue," I growl.
"I'm agreeing with you," he says, smirking.
"Bullshit."
A laugh escapes him, but Ghost cuts in before it goes any further. "Enough." He looks at me. "If that SUV comes back, I want to know before it leaves."
"You will," I assure him.
Ghost gives a nod before opening the office door. "Let's eat."
The smell of burgers gets stronger the second we step into the main room. Savage is at the grill by the back doors, spatula in one hand and a beer in the other. "You ladies finally finished gossiping?" he calls.
Ghost doesn't even break stride. "Unless you want to cook for yourself tomorrow, I'd watch your mouth."
Savage laughs. "I knew I liked having a president with a sense of humor."
"You don't."
"I don't," Savage agrees.
The rest of us grab plates from the cupboard, while Sniper carries over a bowl of fries big enough to feed twice the number of men sitting around the table, Onyx stealing one before it even reaches the middle.
"I saw that," Sniper says.
Onyx slices him a look. "You saw nothing."
"I saw a thief," Sniper grunts.
Onyx merely shrugs. "I'm quality control."
"Bullshit," Sniper hisses.
I take the chair beside Ghost, while Rogue drops his laptop onto the table next to him instead of leaving it in the office. "Working through dinner?" I ask.
"I can multitask."
"No, you can't," Onyx says around a mouthful of burger.
"I absolutely can," Rogue says, still not looking up.
"Really?” Onyx drawls.
“Leave it,” Rogue hisses. “I got shit to do and I’ve got a woman and kid at home waiting on me; I don’t need your bullshit today, Onyx.”
Onyx grins, raising his hands in mock surrender. “Joking with you, Rogue, lighten up, dude.”
Ghost sets his bottle on the table, and the room quiets without him asking.
"If any of you see a black SUV hanging around the apartment building or Petals Florist..." Every head turns his way. "I want to know."
Nobody asks why, but Savage nods first. "I'll keep an eye out."
"I'll swing past Petals tomorrow," Sniper says.
"Don't make a thing of it," Ghost replies. "If she's there, leave her alone."
Sniper nods, all humor gone from his face. "Got it."
Onyx wipes his hands on a napkin. "I've got a meeting downtown tomorrow afternoon. I'll drive past on my way back."
Ghost looks at Rogue. "Anything?"
"I'm pulling camera footage from around both locations." Rogue taps his laptop. "Might get lucky."
"Might not," Ghost says.
Rogue shrugs. "I've found people with less."
Ghost looks around the table. "If you see the SUV..."
"We call," Savage finishes.
Ghost nods. "Exactly."
Nobody complains and nobody asks why we're helping a woman most of them have never met. That's how this club works, one person spots something and everybody pays attention.
Savage points his bottle at me. "So..."
I already know where this is going. "So," I repeat.
"How's the neighbor?"
I sigh. "She's fine."
"You sure about that?"
"No."
He grins. "Thought so."
"I said she's my neighbor."
"And?"
"And that's it."
Onyx snorts. "That's never it."
"It is this time."
Savage leans back in his chair. "Lorenzo doesn't ask us to keep an eye on just anyone."
Ghost answers before I can. "No."
"But he asked us to keep an eye on her."
He doesn't elaborate, he doesn't have to. Lorenzo's judgment has earned that much trust.
Savage sits back in his chair. "If she needs us..."
"We're there," Sniper finishes.
No hesitation and no discussion, it’s just fact.
Ghost looks at each of us in turn. "That goes for all of you."
A chorus of nods answers him. I glance around the table. these are the men I'd trust with my life, men who've already proven they'd risk theirs for mine.
Ghost catches my eye. "If something changes..."
"I'll call."
He nods, satisfied. "I know you will."
The conversation moves on as quickly as it started, but every time it lulls, my mind goes back to the same image. Lilah, and the way she was standing in the middle of the path, watching that SUV disappear.
I wake up with Lilah still on my mind, sleep not doing a damn thing to answer the questions circling my head. Who is she running from? Did she recognize that SUV, or am I seeing a threat that isn't there?
By late morning, I'm out running errands; the clubhouse always needs something.
Today, it's paperwork, supplies, and lunch.
Whitmore isn't the quickest route, but I take it anyway; I tell myself it's because the coffee's better, but the truth is, I want to drive past the florist, just to make sure yesterday wasn't the start of something.
Then I see it, a black SUV.
I don't react; I keep rolling with traffic, one hand resting loosely on the bars. It’s the same vehicle, same dark tint, and the engine's running.