Tank hadn’t checked his location properly, and now there was no way he could follow him in time.
“Fuck!”
Running fingers through his hair, he headed back, going to his bike.
He pulled out his cell phone, and he didn’t want to call Lord to tell him that he’d fucked up, but he had no choice.
Lord was pissed off, which was to be expected. Tank had messed up.
Staring across the street at the house where the prospect had been, he frowned. If there was a chance of getting that woman on their side, he’d be able to capture the asshole and then find the rest of the Skull Nation.
With the prospect gone, the kids suddenly appeared again in the street.
No, he had a better idea. Tank walked toward the kids, knowing that most adults didn’t pay attention to children. They often overlooked them. Kids, if given the right incentive, were a pit of information, and he had a feeling he knew how to use them.
****
Bell hadn’t heard from Tank all day, and that was … strange. She never wanted to be one of those women who couldn’t go a single day without knowing where herboyfriendwas. Her mother had once been obsessed with the men in her life. Bell had grown up in that environment when the flavor of the month had been the most important part of her day. She’d never known what it felt like to be anyone’s number one—until Tank.
Bell had been determined not to be the same as her mother. She had a life.
She never expected Tank to matter so much to her. It wasn’t just the fact she hadn’t heard from him. She knew his club didn’t like her, and she kind of had the feeling he hadn’t told them about her.
Not that it was a problem.
She was all new to the MC stuff.
No judgment.
Only, in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but wonder if Tank doubted her. Or was he embarrassed about dating an outsider?
She closed her eyes, counted to five, and immediately opened them.
No. It was crazy.
Tank didn’t believe the bad stuff about her. They were in a good place. A great place. She twisted the cap on the sugar jar. She’d gone through all fifteen jars and filled them with fresh sugar. Picking three up, she moved between the empty tables and placed the jars back on each.
It was a slow day.
The minor fire had already been fixed and repairs made. Bell was thankful for it because she really needed this job and as many hours as she could get. She knew if money was tight, Tank would help her out, but that was beside the point. There was no way she’d accept money from him or a handout. With the club already doubting her intentions with him, she didn’t want to add fuel to the already building flames.
The diner would be thriving in no time. Customers were addicted to the food, and sure enough, by dinner time, the diner was full, and Bell didn’t have time to think about Tank or anyone else. Not her mother’s pestering phone calls or the fact Tank had offered to help her.
She wasn’t going to ask for his help.
No, they were boyfriend and girlfriend. And she was an independent woman, always had been. A new relationship didn’t warrant him having to do anything for her, other than show up and give her attention.
All her drama was her own problem.
By the end of her shift, her feet hurt, and she was exhausted.
She helped clean up and then headed outside, surprised to find that Tank still wasn’t around. Bell shrugged, ignoring the niggle of disappointment.
She had no problem walking back to her apartment at night. His company was always nice though. Shoving her hands into her pockets, she set off walking, trying to convince herself not to grab her cell phone. It was better not to get distracted when alone at night.
She hadn’t looked at her phone since lunchtime.
Bell talked herself out of looking for exactly ten minutes, and then she wanted to make sure she hadn’t missed anything from Tank. Staring down at the screen, she saw she had over a hundred missed calls and multiple text messages. All the calls were from her mother. As were nearly all but one text.