Page 16 of Inferno

I stand back and wait for everyone else to follow him before I do the same. I’ll be damned if I’m gonna get caught by surprise twice.

Once we’re all situated in the room, I close the door behind me and move to stand next to Viking.

“What orders are you following?” I ask, wasting no time. “Or better yet, whose orders?”

Not that it’s that hard to figure out.

“You know as well as we do that Odin is the only one we take orders from,” Stoner, their Sergeant at Arms, bites out.

“What. Orders?” Acid enunciates.

Trooper glances from Acid to Viking to me. “We were to report any activity regarding Emmaline Daniels to you.”

My muscles tense. “Activity?”

“We’ve got access to sources you don’t,” Doom, their Road Captain states matter-of-factly.

“Like what?” I demand, annoyed that they might be better equipped than we are. Why the fuck would Odin send us here unprepared?

“Law enforcement databases,” Mummy, their Enforcer, says. “Social media, employment records or databases, traffic cams…” He shrugs. “Stuff like that.”

“What activity are you here to report?” Viking asks way more calmly than I feel.

“Seems Miss Daniels filed a police report tonight,” Mummy states, his shoulders tensing. “She thinks she has a stalker.”

“That’s gotta be it!” Reaper exclaims.

I whip my head in his direction. “What?”

“Why we’re here,” he explains. “What we’re supposed to protect her from.”

“Wow,” Rave drawls. “You hadn’t even figured out what the fuck you were keeping her safe from?”

Viking lunges forward, but before he can connect with Rave, Trooper grabs his arm and hauls him back.

Guns are drawn all around.

“Let him go,” I sneer, pointing my weapon at Trooper’s head.

Doom presses his pistol to my temple. “Drop it,” he commands.

“Have your guys lower their guns,” Viking growls at Trooper.

Trooper glances around the room, and then nods at his men. One by one they drop their arms, and when I do the same, my brothers follow suit. Finally, Trooper releases Viking, who takes a step back and straightens his cut.

“Talk shitty about my men or our methods again, and nothing will hold me back,” Viking sneers at Rave. “Got it?”

Rave glares but doesn’t speak. Trooper smacks him upside the head.

“Answer the man,” he orders. “I’m not in the mood to answer to Odin if we all can’t get along.”

Rave swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and takes a deep breath. “Got it.”

“Back to Emmy,” I urge. “You say she filed a police report?”

Mummy nods as he reaches into an inner pocket of his cut and pulls out a thin file. “It’s all here,” he says as he hands it to me. “Seems she had a note on her car not that long ago, and earlier tonight she received a letter in the mail. She reported that both are from the same person, but she has no clue who the person is.”

I look through the report and learn nothing beyond what Mummy just stated. Emmy clearly has no idea who’s behind either note, but they’ve scared her into thinking she has a stalker.

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