“What happened last night?” I ask. “Did you plant the remains?”
“Yeppers,” Caz says over a mouthful of toast. “And one of our guys called in an anonymous tip.”
“Cops should be crawling up Ruben’s butt right about now,” Saint says, grinning widely, showcasing a set of perfectly straight, white teeth.
“Good. Maybe, he’ll forget about murdering me for five minutes.”
“We’ll move to stage two of our plan now,” Saint says, drawing me to his side and slinging his arm around my neck. He kisses my temple. “Don’t worry about The Bulls. We’ve got it in hand. Where they’re going, they won’t be able to touch you.”
I’ll believe it when I see it.
CHAPTER 22
Harlow
BY WEDNESDAY, NEWS of Parker’s murder is all over school and splashed across the airwaves. The media speculation over Finn’s and Brooklyn’s disappearance is a bonus as they debate the possibility they’ve fled the scene of their crime.
I dump my keys on the kitchen counter when I arrive home after visiting Sariah at the hospital, rubbing my sore temples. A dull ache has taken up residence in my skull all day, and I can’t shake the sense of impending doom. Caz removes two beers from the refrigerator, handing one to me as he slings his arm around my shoulders. “You hanging in there, babe?”
I shrug, feeling sadder every day that passes when my bestie doesn’t wake up. Even news of Beth McCoy’s arrest has done little to help my depressed mood. Two other girls were arrested too, and they are all being detained for further questioning, pending assault charges.
The guys look up as our footsteps thud on the basement stairs. Theo strides toward us, pulling me into his comforting arms when I reach the last step. “I take it there’s no change?”
I shake my head against his chest.
“Unfortunately, not,” Caz confirms. “Sean is totally messed up.”
Theo steers me to the couch, placing me beside Saint, before sitting down on my other side. I rest my head against Saint’s shoulder as his hand lands on my knee. “Do we have any clue where Finn and Brooklyn are, and should we be worried?” I ask, because right now, I need to focus on something else.
“We don’t know is the answer to both questions,” Saint admits, caressing my thigh.
“I have their images uploaded to the facial recognition software system I use, but it’s like they’ve disappeared off the face of the Earth,” Theo admits. “I’ve messaged Diesel in our private chat room to see if he can help. I don’t like not having eyes on all the moving parts.”
“He respond?” Saint asks, leaning his head back so he’s looking at Theo.
Theo shakes his head. “He’s been offline the past few days.”
“I got a message from him an hour ago,” I say. “He can meet Sunday, but he wants me to come alone.”
Saint harrumphs. “Yeah, so not happening.” He tilts my head around to his. “Tell him we all meet at the barn or we don’t meet at all.”
I press a kiss to the underside of his jaw. “Already done.”
He squeezes my thigh as a genuine smile lifts the corners of his mouth.
“What are we going to do about Taylor Tamlin?” Galen asks, sitting up straighter on the other couch.
“We need to find out what she knows,” Theo says.
“Maybe our princess should befriend her,” Caz suggests.
I shake my head. “That won’t work. She’s Tempest’s cousin, and Tempest hates my guts. Besides, it’s pretty much common knowledge I’m your girl. She’ll instantly smell a rat.”
“We need someone she won’t know,” Galen says.
“Emmett,” Saint supplies.
I tilt my face up to his. “No way. We do not involve him in any of this. And he won’t do shit for you after you threatened his sister.”
Saint smirks. “He’d jump off a cliff for you.”
“It’s too risky. Dar might remember him from a party we were at a while back. I won’t put Emmett in harm’s way.”
“We’re low on options,” Theo says.
“No, we’re not.” I drag my lower lip between my teeth as I think about it. “She’s important to The Bulls because she’s the connection between them and The Arrows and she had an in with The Sainthood, something she is probably reworking now she’s lost her puppet.” I stand, pacing as my mind works through it. “She’s not some inconsequential hoodrat. She successfully feeds intel among the different crews, and that is not something that can be easily replicated, so let’s make things harder for them.”
“I like where this is going,” Saint says. “What exactly do you have in mind?”
“Let’s kidnap the bitch’s ass and torture her until we get answers.”
Caz whistles under his breath, crossing one leg over his knee, as he lights up a joint. “Sign me up if you’re doing the torturing.” He grabs his crotch. “I’m already hard thinking about it.”
I hop up and grab the joint from Caz’s lips, stubbing it out. “I didn’t say quit cigarettes so you could smoke this shit every day.”
“Aw, c’mon, princess.” He sends me puppy dog eyes. “A man’s got to have some vices.”
I plonk myself on his lap, lacing my arms around his neck. “You’ve already got two. Beer and me.” I lean down, licking a path up the side of his neck. “Trust me, that’s more than enough for any guy to handle.”
“You might have to convince me.” Caz’s wicked gaze is seductive in the extreme.
“Deal.” I purposely rub my ass over the growing bulge in his jeans. “I’ll start convincing you later.” I press a kiss to the corner of his lips. “I’m claiming you in my bed tonight.”
“Hell yeah, baby.” He nuzzles his nose in my neck.
My eyes meet Galen’s troubled green ones, and we share a lingering stare before he breaks eye contact, looking at Theo. “What about the rat?” Galen asks. “Any progress with those background checks?”
“Not so far, and I’ve had no luck getting past the firewall at Sainthood HQ.”
“Meaning what?” I ask, swiveling on Caz’s lap to face Theo.
“I can’t infiltrate their security system or get into their cameras.”
“Maybe, I could do it whenever I’m summoned there,” I say.
“Your pretty ass is not stepping foot in that place,” Saint growls.
“I thought you attended monthly junior chapter meetings?”
“We do, but you won’t be there.” Saint runs his fingers over his cropped blond hair. “I don’t trust any of those bastards with you.”
“That won’t cut it, and you know it.”
“I don’t fucking care!” he roars. “He’s not getting his dirty hands on you.”
I get off Caz, walk over to Saint, and sink down on to his lap. I tip his face up. “Agreed. But we can’t be stupid. We need access to those cameras, to watch things and to check logs for any evidence of the rat. Me getting summoned to HQ might help, and I’ll figure out a way to avoid being gang-raped by Sinner and his buddies.” A shudder crawls its way up my spine.