The guy stepped toward me, but I jerked away before he could touch my arm. There obviously wasn’t any way these men would listen to reason. They were too caught up in their egos and greed.
“This is my house,” I couldn’t help reminding them. “I can get out on my own. Thank you very much for your hospitality.”
I strode down the hall and out the door. I could barely breathe until I was halfway down the block. Sweat had broken out on my forehead. I stopped to swipe at it, and a van rolled to a halt next to me. Kaige leaned his elbow out the driver’s side window and grinned. “You look like you could use a ride.”
Rowan and Gideon were waiting in the back. As I dropped onto the bench next to them, Wylder pushed past the seats from the passenger-side one to join us. Kaige started driving again, taking us farther from the Red Shark’s men and that uncomfortable conversation.
“It didn’t go so well, huh,” Wylder said, nodding to the screen where our voices were being recorded in erratic wave patterns.
I reached inside my shirt and pulled out the bug that had been pinned against my collarbone. “I don’t think they even considered my suggestion.”
“Well, it was worth a try,” Rowan said.
I gave him a crooked smile and turned to Gideon. “Do you think the bug picked up anything in the conversation that we could use against them?”
“We got a few tidbits we might be able to spin the right way to get the cops focused on them, if we want to go that route,” Gideon said. “He confessed to bringing weapons into the Bend and to multiple killings, if in a vague way. And intending to get in on the drug trade.”
“Okay.” I sagged back against the wall of the van. We hadn’t figured there was all that much hope of convincing the Red Shark to back off, but we’d at least hoped to get some ammunition we could use as leverage to force them out.
“The Storm’s people are still the bigger problem,” Rowan pointed out.
Wylder nodded. “We’ll sit on this recording for now. We’ll have it in our back pocket when we really need it. Mercy did good.”
He tugged my ponytail in his usual affectionate way, but his expression stayed tense, and his gaze only held mine for a second. Uneasiness prickled over my skin.
He’d said last night that he needed to talk to me, but he’d never gotten around to telling me what that was about. Something was obviously bothering him.
But it was something he didn’t want to discuss in front of the other guys, I had to assume. He wasn’t likely to tell me much if I undermined his authority by badgering him about it with them around. The next time we were alone, though, I’d have to drag it out of him.
Gideon had gone back to tapping on his tablet. “Hey,” he called over to Kaige, “take a right up here and then stop at the end of the block.”
As Kaige followed his instructions, Wylder gave his best friend a curious look. “Where are you leading us now, oh tech genius?”
A sparkle came into Gideon’s eyes at the compliment, but his jaw tensed too. “I’ve got plans for a few more ways we can screw with both the Storm’s and the Red Shark’s guys, but I need to pick up supplies. There’s a store near here where I can pick up a few… unusual items.”
The building he had Kaige park outside looked practically abandoned, the windows dim and the sign over the doorway cracked. Spray-painted graffiti marked the outer walls. But Gideon sauntered inside with more confidence than he usually showed when we were out on a mission, enough that I enjoyed admiring the view of his ass before he vanished through the doorway.
The rest of us got out too, stretching our legs and scanning the rest of the street. We ambled to the corner and glanced around, but there was no sign of any activity in the area. Both nothing dangerous and nothing simply normal. It was only just coming up on the evening, and the Bend was way too quiet.
But the Red Shark, the Storm, and all their lackeys didn’t give a shit about how their war was killing this place, did they?
Kaige’s stomach let out an audible growl.
Rowan shook his head. “Are you hungry already? We had dinner before we left.”
“All the running around makes me super hungry,” Kaige said. “And I’m not going to apologize for my appetite. It’s how I got these guns.” He flexed his massive biceps, and all three of us laughed.
“Guys.” Wylder hadn’t been taking part in our banter. When I glanced at him, he was gazing intently down the street. A black SUV was cruising toward us.
Beside me, Kaige stiffened. “That isn’t Axel again, is it? That fucker—”
Before he could finish his sentence, the SUV jerked to a stop and four men poured out. The three in front had guns at the ready. In their wake, the fourth stomped out onto the sidewalk in heavy combat boots, his form looming over the others, and I got my first in-person look at the man who’d been haunting me for weeks.
Xavier was a hulking figure, towering no less than six-five, with corded shoulders. He might even be wider than Kaige, if that was possible. The angry scars on his cheeks must have become less pronounced with age, but it was still unnerving seeing how the ominous Xs drilled into his skin took over most of his face.
But that wasn’t even the worst part. His eyes had a manic glint in them, and his toothy smile widened when he saw us. Every nerve in my body clanged in warning: this man was unhinged. An involuntary shiver passed down my spine.
“Hello, my cat,” he said, addressing me directly. “We finally meet.”