Chapter 5
5
H er dad’s murder . That word echoed in Lina’s head. Since walking into her childhood home and finding his body, she’d said it many times inside her mind. But this was the first time the word passed her lips.
Viper shifted, his left foot knocking against hers, bringing her back to the here and now. “We can head straight out,” he offered, his dark eyes searching hers.
She hesitated, then shook her head. “I assume you’re okay pretending we’re together?” He wasn’t wrong that her flirty comments were her way of deflecting. She hadn’t played these cat-and-mouse games for years, and finding her dad’s body, his note, and the map, and then discovering she was being followed had thrown her for a loop.
On top of all that, the reality of how little her dad’s death meant to her swirled inside her like a constant reminder of a bad meal—leaving her off-kilter and a little nauseous. She wouldn’t pretend he’d be missed—she could count on her fingers and toes how many conversations they’d had in her life. But acknowledging that made her feel…less human.
Despite their lack of relationship, though, he didn’t deserve what happened to him. She knew that for certain.
In response to her question, Viper lowered his arms from where they rested on the wall, caging her in, and twined his fingers with hers. Grabbing her backpack from the floor, he slung it over his shoulder and turned toward the crowd. In the next beat, he led her toward the niche at the back of the bar.
Heavy air swirled around her now-bare legs, and though the glasses weren’t prescription, her vision blurred a little around the edges.
“You don’t strike me as a cutoffs kind of woman, but they look good on you,” Viper leaned down and whispered in her ear as he slung his arm over her shoulder. She laughed and slid her arm around his waist, giving the appearance of a couple out for a good time. He pulled her closer, and she bumped into a solid wall of muscle as the heat from his body enveloped her.
“Table in the corner,” she said.
“On it,” he replied, deftly steering them toward a two-top another couple was leaving. “You want to face the wall or the room?”
“You take the room.”
With a nod to the departing couple, he pulled out a chair for her before taking the seat opposite, his gaze scanning the crowd behind her as he did. A casual glance to most people. She knew it was anything but.
He set her bag down between his chair and the wall and leaned forward. Resting his forearms on the table, he reached for her. She didn’t usually do touchy-feely, but it made the ruse more believable. And maybe a not-so-little part of her liked the feel of his large hand closing around hers.
“You want to tell me about your dad?” he asked, his attention split between her and the room at her back.
“You see Sam?”
He looked more intently. “At the far end of the bar. Watching the door in the mirror.”
“He didn’t see me when he got here.”
“Or he’s waiting for you to leave.” He paused. “How do they know you’re here?”
Before she could answer, a waitress stopped by their table. “I’ll have a pulled pork sandwich and whatever local IPA you have on tap,” Viper said, leaning back in his chair but not letting go of her hand.
“Same,” she said.
A woman of few words, the waitress nodded and headed off.
“Here at the roadhouse or here in general?” she clarified.
“At the roadhouse? Both?” he replied.
“I think they put a tracker on my bike. I wasn’t followed from Seattle, but I—stupidly—didn’t take other precautions.”
His gaze lifted to the crowds again before meeting hers. “So they followed your bike, but by the time they arrived here, you’d already dropped it at the mechanic and walked to the hotel.”
She nodded. “That’s my guess.”
He nodded. “So they know you’re in the area, but not specifically where. What about the roadhouse? It’s not the only dinner place in town.”
“We’re not exactly in the thick of things here,” she said. “Other than fast-food restaurants, this is the most logical place to find me around dinnertime.”
Again, he nodded. “Did you leave anything in your hotel room that you need?”
She shook her head. She’d added the contents of the little pink bag to the backpack now sitting on the floor by Viper’s feet.
“You want to tell me about your dad?” he asked, his voice both cautious and curious.
“Not here,” she replied. Viper would be a good sounding board, but she wanted to be somewhere secluded when she told him what little she knew.
He leaned back in his seat, his hand sliding away from hers. For a split second, she thought he might be sulking. Then, pulling out his phone, he waggled his eyebrows and said, “Pose, babe.”
Setting her elbows on the table, she rested her chin in her palm and grinned at him, tilting her head this way and that. She couldn’t hear his phone, but his finger tapped the photo button more than once.
She stopped when he leaned forward and set the device on the table. Reaching for it, she flipped through the pictures. The first set was Sam at the bar. The second set, Sam and a woman with blond hair that looked as if she’d bleached it one too many times. Unfortunately, her back was to them, so all Lina could say about her was that she was tall and waif-thin, and her hair needed a good repair job.
“Looks like you were right. There are two of them,” Viper said. “I’ll keep my phone ready if she turns.”
She nodded, itching to look over her shoulder. She could pull it off, make it seem as if she were looking for their waitress. She wouldn’t tempt the fates, though. Nor would she give her two shadows the opportunity to connect the solo woman they sought to the woman wearing cutoffs and glasses, with braided hair, and who now sat across from a hot guy.
“Sam is looking this way,” Viper said. “Give me your foot.”
He leaned back again and motioned for her to raise her leg. Again, she didn’t hesitate and swung her foot onto his thigh. He wrapped his warm hand around her calf above her boot, the move both possessive and suggestive.
Viper laughed, and she followed suit, her braids swinging between her shoulder blades. “And?”
“He lost interest. He’s talking to the woman with the rat’s nest hair. Not to be judgy or anything.” She snorted a laugh. “I wish she’d turn around.”
“We could cause a scene,” she suggested. The look he shot her communicated exactly how he felt about that option.
Silence fell between them, Viper’s attention darting between her and the pair at the bar. She wondered if he realized he still stroked her leg, his thumb running along the side of her shinbone. She allowed herself to get distracted by the feel of it—by the warmth of his hand wrapped around her bare skin, by the pressure of his thumb massaging her muscles. Abruptly, his hand slid away, and he straightened.
She let her foot slide off his thigh as the waitress appeared, bringing their beers and sandwiches.
“How’s Leo?” Lina asked after the waitress left. They might be playing a game, but they could still have a conversation.
“He’s good. Fully recovered. Living with Joey. Unofficially, for now, although we have a betting pool going as to when that will change,” he replied, making her smile. She’d met Leo Gallardo and Josephine “Joey” Warwick at Rita C’s, the bar Viper and his MC brothers owned. Leo had been sitting alone and, not realizing that the love of his life was in another part of the bar, Lina had hit on him. Thankfully, Joey wasn’t the jealous type, and the three had chatted before the couple introduced her to Viper. Lina had been looking for a distraction that night, and Joey had assured her Viper would woo her into a good time. He’d been doing just that when Leo had been shot in the parking lot. Chaos ensued, and while others went after the shooter, she and Viper covered a terrified Joey so she could get to Leo’s side. The panic, the pain in Joey’s eyes when she realized what had happened was something Lina would never forget. There was never any doubt about the couple’s devotion to each other, but the depth of agony on Joey’s face in those few moments before the ambulance arrived had been more emotional than Lina knew how to process.
“Did you catch the shooter?” she asked. Later that night, she’d learned that Joey was the granddaughter of former president William Warwick and the daughter of a federal judge. From what little she knew about the family, they were the type who’d want to thank her, and sticking around for that wasn’t up her alley. Her only regret about bailing early the next morning was not saying goodbye to Viper. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to hold it against her.
“Eventually. Not that night, but not long after. It was in the news, the guy who killed all those women thinking they might be someone else.”
She made a face, remembering the coverage. The killer had been looking for one specific woman but hadn’t known enough about her to determine who she was, so he’d killed several who possessed the same name and basic characteristics.
“ That was the shooter? I’ve run across a lot of crazy people in my life, and that story was one of the most bizarre.”
Viper chuckled, then took a sip of his beer. She appreciated his ability to hold a conversation with her while keeping an eye on Sam and the woman. “Yeah, he was way messed up. The whole situation was. Much of it was kept from the news, but I’ll tell you about it when we’re not…”
“Trying to figure out why two people are following me or what it has to do with my dad’s murder?”
He inclined his head and took another sip of his drink. Setting it down, he frowned. “They’re leaving,” he said. “And the woman never turned around, so the only picture I have of her is from behind.”
“I’m guessing if we see that hair again, we’ll recognize it.”
Viper huffed a laugh. “Do you feel as petty as I do about that?”
She laughed. “Like a mean girl. Doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
His brows lifted in agreement. “So…finish the meal and head out?”
“Unless it’s life or death, I will never leave food on my plate,” she said, popping a fry into her mouth. She’d been blessed with a good metabolism, and although she did exercise, she didn’t tend to put on weight from eating.
“Then eat up. We have about an hour-and-a-half ride when we leave.”
She arched a brow. “Where are we headed?”
“A riverside campground west of here. It has cabins, and a friend owns it. It’s secure. Unless you have other ideas?”
The map flashed in her mind. “Actually, that’s perfect. And tomorrow, we can head toward the coast.”
“What’s at the coast?”
She took a sip of her beer, then shook her head. “I don’t know, but my dad left me a map. For some reason, that’s where he wants me to go.”