Page 90 of Rune
“Believe it or not, I have no criminal record. And cops out this way have no idea who I am or what I’m associated with. Besides, we did nothing wrong. This was done to us.”
“Okay.”
“It’s gonna be okay,” I told her, pressing a hand to her cheek. “But I think maybe you and me, we’re gonna be spending more time in the clubhouse for the time being.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, barely able to look at me because her gaze kept scanning the streets, expecting to see the car again, even though we still had a cop parked a few yards away.
I pulled her close, tucking her head under my chin. She was stiff as a board for a moment, but slowly started to melt into me. Until she heard the crunch of rocks under tires as the club SUV pulled into the lot.
“It’s Croft,” I told her, giving her a squeeze before moving her to tuck her at my side as the doors opened.
Cain was behind the wheel and Croft jumped out of the passenger seat to rush toward us.
“You okay?” he asked, looking at us both.
“Yeah. Just… a lot.”
“Yeah, I bet. Come on, sweetheart, let’s get you in the SUV. It’s bullet-resistant.”
“My purse.”
“We got this,” Croft said, giving her a soft smile, but I could see the tension around his eyes. He wanted us off the street and in a controlled environment. I did too.
I opened the back door to find Spike in the third row.
“I’m just going to grab your purse,” I told her as she carefully climbed in, being mindful of her hand, ribs, and ankle all at once.
“Eventful day, huh?” Spike asked her as I moved away.
“Jesus, man,” Croft said, inspecting the driver’s side of the car.
“Yeah, I know. Don’t remind—” I broke off as another car came flying into the lot. Croft’s hand went automatically toward his waist before I grabbed his hand.
“It’s Dad,” I told him as our father flew out of the driver’s seat and rushed up. But his pace slowed as he eyed the car, then looked at me, something horrified in his gaze.
His arm went around me as soon as he was close.
“I’m fine, Dad.”
“By pure luck,” he said, voice rough. “That fucking car.”
And he didn’t even know about the other drive-by yet.
It looked like I had a lot to bring the club in on.
But not out here in the open.
“Let’s get back to the club,” I said. “Carmen is freaked out.”
“Who is Carmen?” my father asked, brows pinching.
“His girlfriend,” Croft piped in.
I shot him a ‘you’re not helping’ look.
“Questions you can ask me at the club,” I said, reaching into the car to grab Carmen’s purse. “We gotta get out of here,” I added, nodding my head toward the cop, who was now watching us a lot more closely.
“Yeah. I’ll follow.”
