Page 74 of Wicked Shadows
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CHAPTER TWENTY
“You’ve been thereevery day for the last three days, and she hasn’t even made eye contact with you. You’re going to draw attention to us that we don’t need.” Nick ran his fingers through his hair and stomped across the floor of his ratty apartment.
“I know how to operate an undercover investigation, Nick.”
“But you’re not running one, are you? You’re only here to get your girlfriend. Fuck my case. Fuck the last two years of my life. Fuck my career. As long as you get what you want.”
“I can’t leave her there any longer and risk something happening to her.”
“You’re not thinking clearly. You will get her killed by pulling her out now. You’ll get both of us killed. Who will be there to protect her, then? You’re too close. You need to get out.”
“What you’re really asking is if you need to push me out,” Shadow countered. “The hell you will. I’m not leavingwithoutElle.”
“And you’re not leavingwithher yet. I need more information—like exactly who is behind this and why.”
“You know who—Barry Jacobson and Vince Rossi. Who else do you need?”
“The DEA requires this little thing called evidence. We can’t prosecute someone and stop them unless we have everything on them—and more. If you bothered to check the rules, you’d know that.
“Look, I let you come in on this case as a favor. Not so you’d blow it all to hell. You’ve seen her. You know she’s okay. She’s fed well, she’s taken care of, no one has hurt her. They’re moving the other girls there with her soon. We’re tracing the money, unraveling the tangled web of fake companies to get to the offshore account. We know something’s going down—likely this week. Just be patient so I don’t have to shoot you myself.”
“I’m going over there to relieve Bone. He said you have an officers’ meeting this morning.” Shadow slid his fingers into his leather gloves and picked up his keys. “I’m sure I’ll see you after the meeting.”
“Expect a phone call from Headbanger as soon as the meeting is over. Spider has been fucking up more over the last couple of days. He’s on his way out. Oh, and Shadow?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”
Shadow grinned, the mischief playing in his eyes once again. “Cross my heart.”
Nick glared at Shadow’s back as he walked out. As if he didn’t have enough to manage with all the fast-paced, confusing pieces of the case, his old friend added more stress to an already unbearable situation. He was doing all his thinking with the head between his legs instead of the one between his shoulders. But Nick had to get his own head in the game at play that day instead of worrying about Shadow doing something crazy.
Shadow strode into the old clubhouse and found Bone in the large common room. The bedroom doors that lined the long wall were all closed, leaving Shadow to question which one Elle used to hide from him that visit.
“Fuck, I’m glad you’re here. I’ll never complain about our new clubhouse again. This building is a fucking dump. The last rat that ran by was as big as a fucking gopher. Damn thing may carry me off in my sleep.” Bone paced back and forth, speaking fast, and his eyes darted aimlessly around the room.
Great—he’s as high as a fucking kite,Shadow thought.
“Yeah, well, I’m here to cover for you while you’re at the officers’ meeting. Whenever you’re ready to take off is fine.”
“I’m ready now. Have fun, man. They’re both in that room.” Bone motioned to the room farthest from the kitchen area, at the end of the long room. “We have an unspoken agreement to stay away from each other. The mouthy one pisses me off, and I don’t want the prez taking my head off over her.”
Shadow stood in the same spot, staring at the closed door, when he heard Bone’s Harley fire up. The familiar thump, thump, thump of the engine rattled the metal door in the garage when he rode away. The metal grinding against metal sound of the door closing drew his attention. He moved quickly through the room toward the kitchen until he reached the door leading out to the garage to see who had joined him.
And why.
The door swung open, and Axle stepped into the room. He had a knack for seeing everything while remaining in the background. Extra-cautious and suspicious of everyone, Axle had every classic sign of a man who’d served hard time in a maximum-security prison—and didn’t want to go back.
“Wasn’t expecting to see you here.” Shadow tried to keep the disappointment out of this tone. He wanted time alone with Elle more than anything.
Axle narrowed his eyes and tilted his head slightly. “I’ll just bet you didn’t. What are you up to, Doorman?”
“Nothing. Just entertaining our guests in Bone’s absence.”
“Uh-huh,” Axle replied. “You can go if you want. I got it.”
