Page 48 of Paco
Chapter Fifteen
Chains swiveled aroundfrom the computer. “It’s her. She comes from Findlay, Ohio. That’s Twisted Warriors territory.”
“That’s right. We bumped into Sniper and Jacko on a poker run last fall.”
“Yeah, that was a fuckin’ good time. Anyway, she went missing in October eight years ago. It’s been treated like an abduction from the beginning. You know her. What do you think? Was she a runaway or being held by force?”
Paco leaned back and stretched his legs in front of him. “This shows I don’t know her, but I’ve suspected she was in some deep shit. Why the fuck didn’t she tell me?”
“I don’t know, dude, but if she escaped from her traffickers, then they’ll be looking for her, and it’s something the club needs to know about. You gotta find out who the fuckers are who are keeping her.” Chains handed the flyer back to Paco. “I gotta tell Steel about this.”
Paco nodded. “I was going to after I talked to her. Fuck, I can’t believe she’s been through all this.” A deep sadness filled him as he stared at Misty’s smiling photo from when she was fifteen years old. She looked so innocent, so trusting. He stood up. “Thanks, man. How’re you doing with the layout of the West Avenue Bandits’ clubhouse?”
“Good. The assholes have some crummy thousand-square-foot dump in the sketchy part of town. This is gonna be a cinch.”
Paco laughed. “It makes our lives easier when dealing with dumb fucks. Let’s get together with Rooster and put our plan of attack together.”
“Sure thing.”
Paco went into the main room and motioned for a double shot of Jack. Since he’d kissed Misty, his mind had been reeling. Instead of relieving the pent-up sexual tension that had been brewing since he’d met her, it made it worse. He wanted all of her.
He was prepared to tell her that when he came back from his ride, but he’d decided to buy her a phone and ended up back at Walmart. When he’d passed the bulletin board, he’d stopped, remembering how Misty had practically dragged him away when he’d come over to the board. It’d been like she didn’t want him to see something, so he’d stopped and looked at the flyers.
Blood had rushed through him and he took a step back: a smiling girl in a poster looked like Misty. Then his gaze had drifted to the computerized image of a woman in her twenties who looked a lot like Misty. At first he’d chalked it up to a coincidence, but the harder he stared at the images, the more convinced he’d been that it was Misty.
The ride home had been fraught with battling thoughts and emotions. By the time he’d arrived at the clubhouse, he’d been pissed as hell at her for not telling him what the fuck was going on. He’d wondered if she was playing him like women did when they wanted something from a man. So when he’d gone into her room the night before, he’d been pissed and wanted to confront her, but figured he’d have Chains check on the details to make sure Misty was really Chelsea Sullivan. But the way she’d acted when he walked in had told him she’d been up to something, and she was lying to him again.
He brought the shot to his lips and drank, his mind going back to the afternoon before when they’d kissed. It was incredible, but now he suspected she was just acting because she wanted something from him. Women were that way—they played men until they got what they wanted, and then they walked away without a backward glance. Misty just reinforced his distrust in women.Every fucking thing that’s come out of her mouth has been a lie.
He threw back the rest of the drink.
“You wanna get in on a poker game later on?” Eagle asked as he came over.
Paco shook his head. “I’ll pass.”
“How’s it going with your hottie?”
“She’s notmyanything.” He motioned for another shot.
Eagle chuckled. “She stays up in your room a lot.”
Picking up his Jack, Paco threw it back and put the glass on the bar. “See you.” He walked away and went up to his room.
When he went inside, Misty sat on the bed, her hair wrapped in a towel, wearing one of his T-shirts. The bright smile she gave him made him think she was happy to see him.
“I wondered if you were going to come by today. You seemed mad at me last night.”
He sat at the edge of the bed. “I don’t like it when people lie to me.”
The bright smile faltered and then faded. “I don’t mean to lie to you. It’s just that I don’t trust people.”
“Am Ipeopleto you?” he asked softly. Lowering her head, she shook it. “Then what?”
She kept her head down, not meeting his gaze. An awkward silence filled the space between them. He reached out and grasped her hand, and she shivered.
“I’m not gonna betray you. You can open up to me.” She looked quickly at him and then away.She’s scared to death. I’m gonna kill the fuckers who did this to her.“I know. I saw the flyer when I went back to the store to buy your phone.” Flinching, she jumped slightly and sucked in an audible breath. He squeezed her hand. “Do you wanna tell me about it? I have time.”
“I don’t really wanna talk about it,” she whispered.
