“Well enough.” She smiled.

“I uh, so my parents caught him and I together,” I started.

Her jaw dropped. “Oh my gosh! How bad was the fallout?”

“They want Kai to go to our?—”

“Good afternoon, ladies,” Officer Maddison McKenzie—bane of my existence—blocked our path.

Carson tensed at my side, the two sharing a look similar to what Maddison and Kai shared.

“Do I need to get an attorney?” I asked pointedly.

“Do you feel you need one?” Maddison countered.

“For charges of harassment against you and the police department, yes,” I sneered, playing her own game. “I’d like to be able to go about my day without ‘running’ into you.”

I crossed my arms, glaring at her. At this point, I had no doubt she was following me. What was she hoping to find?

“I’m merely out for a cup of coffee.” She waved her hand.

Carson’s lips tightened together, stopping a variety of words from falling out. Her face slowly turned red, anger and frustration evident.

“Then you’ll be happy to excuse us.” I tugged Carson with me.

“I do have a few more questions,” Maddison said as she stepped into our way.

“She has no more answers foryou,” Carson answered for me, venom baked into her tone. If I wasn’t holding onto her, the interaction would have gone differently.

We walked toward the coffee shop, my heart pounding.

“When was the last time you talked to Quinton?” Maddison said, calling after us. “Maybe ask Kai and Liam about him.”

We entered the coffee shop, her voice falling away. But an itching part of my brain attached to what she said:ask Kai and Liam.Why the hell would they know anything about him?

Chapter 40

Kai

“Why did we decide boosting a fucking car off the cliff side was going to be a great idea?” I whispered into the darkness. Logan leaned against the wall, his fingers mindlessly playing with a lighter. Something about the far off look in his eyes said more than I expected.

There was an innocence there that reminded me of when we were kids. His shoulders slouched, his face softened, and there was something about the way he was escaping into his own head that gave me pause.

All that would be an amazing thing to see in a friend—normally. But not when you were lurking around in the darkness of someone’s yard, waiting for them to return home with a car you planned to steal.

“Logan?” I called for him, my voice a raspy whisper. It reminded me of how my mother used to scold me when she didn’t want to wake my sorry excuse for a father.

“Hmm?” He lifted his eyes to meet mine.

“Are you on this job or somewhere else?”

“I’m fine.” He shrugged, slipping the lighter into his pocket.

Before I could push him on the topic, headlights shined from down the way. Liam’s car was parked strategically in the center of the road. I squinted, trying to see him in the darkness.

Why did rich people hate the light?There were no streetlights for miles.

Liam’s silhouette came in and out of view as he ‘worked’ on his ‘broken down’ car. He chose a more expensive model to take out, bribing one of his long-time friends in the crew to borrow it for the night. Whatever Liam had on him must have bought a whole lot of loyalty for the man to go behind Samuel’s back. We had a ‘hands off’ order on us. They weren’t to mess with us—including in a positive way. And we weren’t allowed to mess with them—including using the fucking contacts I had worked since high school to build.