“I don’t think anything right now but it’s a possibility and that’s better than anything else I’ve come up with.”
Nodding, he stares at a spot on the wall and I can practically see his wheels turning. “Or it could be the husband slash boyfriend of any girl we’ve helped since we started doing this.”
“But why start with Dina?”
“Okay,” he agrees, nodding as he turns back to his computer as he starts typing. “I’ll start looking into him. What all do you want?”
“Everything you can find.”
He glances at me with an arched brow. “Everything? Like… everything?”
“Maybe everything from six months before Dina died until now.”
“You got it.”
He starts typing furiously and I know that’s my cue to get the fuck out. I close his door behind me as I step back into the hallway and check my watch as I head back downstairs. I still have a little time before my date this afternoon and I’m feeling damn good after what feels like my first major break in this case. Sure, it might still be nothing but, at least, I’m doing something other than staring at those damn files and floundering. Which is especially irritating because this is what I did for almost a year before joining the club. My mind drifts back to my time as a Baton Rouge police officer and I shake my head. God, what a shitty time that was in my life. I had just gotten out of the Marines and I was looking for a fresh start but joining a department that had more dirty cops than legit ones made it hard to achieve that. Once I found out about the Devils and the work they had started doing, I got out of there as fast as I could.
Back downstairs, I slip behind the bar and grab a beer from the fridge before slipping onto a bar stool and popping the cap off as I turn my focus to my plans for the rest of the day. It’s weird but I’m actually looking forward to this date. Eden has been easy as hell to talk to and she seems sweet and carefree. Plus, we’ve already gotten all the important questions out of the way so hopefully I won’t be blindsided again. Although, I’m serious this time when I say if this date doesn’t go well, I’m deleting my profile and throwing in the towel.
The door to the clubhouse opens and sunlight streams into the room. I glance over my shoulder to see who just walked in and as soon as the door closes again and my eyes adjust, I almost fall off my bar stool. Every eye in the room turns to look at the woman standing in the doorway as a hush falls over the room.
What in the fuck is she doing here?
“Uh… is Moose here?” Tawny asks, shifting from one foot to the other before going back again as her gaze shifts between Chance, Storm, and me as we all stare back at her. The nerve of this bitch…
I shake my head in disbelief. A while back, Tawny and Moose were seeing each other but it was casual as hell and when Tawny pushed him for more, he ended things with her. Not that she took the rejection well. She kept coming around, trying to get him back and when that didn’t work, she went down to the police with a mysterious black eye and claimed that Moose hit her. It’s a load of shit. Especially in this club. I mean, you don’t join a club that helps women being abused if you’re secretly smacking them around on the side. In the end, she dropped the charges and Moose was able to get back to his life and his new woman but she still isn’t welcome here.
“Please?” she pleads, her hand shaking as her gaze lands on me. I take a step toward her and shake my head.
“Nope. He’s not here.”
She flicks imploring eyes to me. “I saw his bike outside. Please. I just need to talk to him.”
“Hell, no. You can turn right the fuck around and walk back out that door.”
Tears fill her eyes but she blinks them away. “Look, I know what I did was fucked up… and I know I’m not welcome here but I need to talk to…”
“Tawny?” Moose growls from behind me as he walks into the room and she sucks in a breath as her gaze snaps to his. He stops next to me and crosses his arms over his chest, anger radiating off him in waves. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Can we talk?”
“Fuck, no. I don’t have shit to say to you.”
He releases a breath, her gaze falling to the floor before meeting his eyes again. “Please, Moose? I really need to talk to you. It’s important…”
Moose stares at her for a second before his gaze flicks to me. I shrug my shoulders as I take a sip of my beer and he turns back to her.
“Fine. Talk.”
“Uh,” she whispers, looking at the rest of us watching on. “Could we go somewhere more private?”
“No. Apparently I need witnesses around you.”
She flinches and nods. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Get on with it, then,” he snaps, raising a brow as he waits for whatever she feels she needs to say to him. She sucks in a breath as she takes another step into the room.
“I… uh, when you ended things between us, I was really pissed and I went out drinking for a couple of nights…”
His head jerks back. “I don’t give a shit what you did.”
“Just… listen,” she mutters, shaking her head as she draws a breath into her lungs. “I met this guy there and we got to talking. I told him all about us and how you had ended things with me. He was sympathetic and the more we drank, the more he started suggesting that I find a way to get back at you.”
“And you thought pretending that he had abused you was the way to go?” I ask, disgust rolling through me. “How the hell did you even get that black eye? Did you punch yourself?”
She shakes her head. “No, actually… that was his idea. He knew who you guys were and the work you do and said it would be hilarious if one of you got arrested for hitting a woman…”
Chance stands and kicks his chair back as he shakes his head in disgust. “Yeah? Did you two get a good laugh out of it?”
“No,” she whispers, shaking her head. “After I sobered up and I woke up with a giant black eye, it didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore.”
Moose glances at me before turning back to Tawny. “You never answered Fuzz’s question. How did you get the black eye?”
“He did it… After we were completely wasted, he talked me into going out behind the bar and he…” Tears sting her eyes again as she looks up at the ceiling. “He punched me in the face a couple times.”
“So, this guy hit you, ” Moose starts, tilting his head to the side, studying her as he tries to understand her flawed logic. “And you decided to take advantage of a bad situation by going to the police?”
“I wasn’t going to go through with it but then my roommate saw me and asked what happened… I didn’t know what else to say so I just told her the story we came up with and she made me go to the police.”
“Great,” Moose snarls, turning away from her. “Thanks for the fucking explanation.”
“Wait!”
He turns back around, arching a brow and she straightens her shoulder as she meets his eyes.
“I wanted to tell you how sorry I am, Moose. It was a lot of stupid decisions fueled by your rejection and my anger, not to mention alcohol but I wish I could take them all back.”