Page 35 of Blood of Vengeance

“Yes.”

“So your dad’s truck was there in the desert when he was shot?”

“Absolutely.”

Cutter nodded and looked right at her, seemingly not convinced. “You sure it was Chiggy’s?”

Locklyn paused, obviously thinking. “Yeah. Well… I’m 90% sure.”

“Only ninety?” Zed leaned across the table, dark eyes locked on her. “Why not a hundred?”

“Because I hadn’t seen my dad’s truck in a few years. He didn’t want me coming out here, so he would visit me in Detroit instead. The last few times, he flew there.”

“But you think it was his?” Cutter asked.

“Yeah. The horns sort of gave it away.”

The horns—Chiggy had driven a truck with longhorn antlers since I’d known him. Only man in the club to do so. Shit, only man in northeast Arizona to do so that I could tell. That seemed more like a Texas adornment, but Chiggy had loved those fuckers.

“You saw the longhorns?” I asked.

Locklyn nodded. “Definitely, that’s why I assumed it was his truck.”

I looked up at the two men across the table. “Sounds like Chiggy’s truck.”

Zed sat deeper in his chair, blowing breath out of his nose as his entire face tightened. “So where the fuck is it?”

“That’s what we need to find out.” Cutter rose to his feet and nodded our way. “Thanks, Locklyn. We appreciate you coming down here.”

“Anything to help you find out who killed my dad.” She rose to her feet, and I followed, still sticking close to her.

Cutter seemed to notice because he looked my way, frowning. “We hunt tonight. Get her settled.”

Locklyn glanced up at me, eyes wide. I could practically smell the fear rolling off her, but I didn’t address it. Not yet.

“Ready to go home?”

She nodded and automatically reached for my hand, weaving our fingers together as if she always had. I liked it—the comfort with which she reached for me, the trust she put in me. Earn her, Cutter had said. I was earning.

We reached my house without incident, but my mind hadn’t stopped spinning since I’d seen the expression on Locklyn’s face when Cutter had told me to get her settled. She didn’t want to be alone, and I didn’t want to leave her. Tonight would be hard, so I sent a quick text to Cutter and Zed before walking inside the house. One that simply said I need an hour. They would have to deal with my delay.

“You hungry?” I asked as soon as I closed the door behind me. Locklyn shook her head, silent. Arms crossed over herself as if in protection mode. That just wouldn’t fucking do. “Want to watch something? I’ve got all the streaming shit.”

“No thanks.” Soft voice. No emotion. Fuck. Time to be bluntly honest with her.

“I have to go hunt for your dad’s truck with the club.”

“I know.”

“I can’t leave you here like this.”

“Like what?”

“Half dead and looking afraid. What do you need?”

She shook her head, silent once more. Fuck that noise. Without another word, I growled and lunged at her, picking her up and wrapping her legs around me before carrying her down the hallway. I kicked open the door to my bedroom, the room that now smelled like Locklyn and got me hard just walking inside it, and headed across the threshold. She may not have invited me in, but she certainly wasn’t trying to stop me. I took that as some sort of consent. I hadn’t earned her yet, so there would be a hard stop ahead, but for the moment, I basked in all things Locklyn because she needed me to.

I didn’t stop until I reached my bed, basically throwing myself down on the mattress with Locklyn still wrapped around me.

---