“The place where Devil Riders are causing trouble?”
And the place where Naomi works.
“That’s the one,” I said, opening the matchbook. There had only been two of them used. “You find anything?”
“You could say that.”
I looked up to see that he was holding a quart-sized ziploc bag full of round, white pills.
“Oh, shit.”
“Yeah.” He looked almost sad. “I found them in the freezer. I have no idea what this is about.”
“Any idea what they are? If we at least knew that...”
Coyote looked closely at the bag before shaking his head. “No. Do you think he was selling or using whatever these are?”
“It’s impossible to tell.”
Rebel Saints had stopped dealing drugs months ago, so if Ink was still doing it… that could be a serious problem. Not that taking these pills would be okay. But the doctors hadn’t seen anything in his bloodwork to indicate he was a junkie.
“We’ll have to tell the guys about this,” Coyote said.
I nodded, pocketing the matchbook. Coyote didn’t seem to think much of it, so I could admit it seemed insignificant in comparison to his find, but I had a bad feeling about all of this and I didn’t want to discount anything.
My phone chimed and I pulled it out of my pocket. I almost couldn’t believe that it was a text from Naomi, but I opened it, reading the two short lines.
I’m sorry about yesterday. Can you come over and talk?
“I gotta go,” I told Coyote as I typed back a quick message, telling her I was on my way. “Keep me updated about what the guys say.”
I left the apartment and drove straight to Naomi’s place. Anticipation swirled in my gut. I wasn’t even mad at her anymore. I just wanted to see her.
Her car wasn’t outside, which I thought was odd, but I knocked on her door anyway. She answered right away, and I ran my eyes over her. She wore a pair of very short shorts with a white tank top and I could see her dark purple bra showing through. I smelled fingernail polish and saw that she was walking awkwardly on her heels because there were spacers between her toes and her nails were halfway painted bright red. Her hair sat piled on the top of her head in a messy bun and there was no makeup on her face.
I could see from her expression that she wasn’t expecting me. I wasn’t sure how that was possible, but the flushed look on her face as she gazed down at herself painted a clear picture. She wouldn’t want me seeing her like this, even though she was freakin’ adorable.
“Practicing a little self care?” I asked with a smile.
“Uh, yeah… What are you doing here?”
“You didn’t get my text response? I messaged you right back.”
“Response?” Her eyebrows drew together. She went to her purse and dug around until she pulled out her phone. Her mouth fell open as she checked it. “Oh, my god. I didn’t send those messages.”
It took a moment for the implication of that to set in. “Where’s Gavin?” I asked.
“He just left. Staying the night at a friend’s house.”
“He must have sent the messages before he left,” I said, disappointed that she didn’t actually want to see me. “I think he’s trying to play matchmaker.”
“That little evil genius.” She chuckled. “He planned it out perfectly.”
“Yeah.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I guess I’ll just go then.” I started to turn away.
She reached out and placed a hand on my arm. “Don’t go. We should talk.”
I changed directions, coming inside. I saw the nail polish on the coffee table and there was a movie paused on the TV. It looked like some kind of romantic comedy.