Page 62 of Hawk

The first photo I saw was Hawk with Melanie Winchester. It was black and white, and on top in Eric’s familiar handwriting was the word extortion. There was a photo of him leaning against a burgundy car with a brick of what appeared to be drugs in his hand. Another was a long-distance image of him with three young girls who looked to be underage.

My heart skipped as I took in dozens of photos of Hawk in the thick of some truly awful criminal activity. Tears slipped down my cheeks when it dawned on me that I was being played for a fool. Again. I was falling for Hawk. No, that was a lie, I had fallen for Hawk. I loved him and I was prepared to turn my heart over to him when I never knew who he really was.

Eric was an asshole, he was a liar and a cheat. As a man, he was a worthless piece of controlling shit.

But he was a cop, and he was damn good at his job. He had an exemplary record and was known to be thorough and diligent. I had no reason not to believe him when it came to police evidence. It was here in my hands in black and white—the first time I was targeted was because of what I’d seen, but the second and third time? Or the other night when we were shot at? That was all down to who I was with.

Hawk.

I didn’t want to believe it, but there was no other explanation.

I wanted to drive back to Hawk’s place and pack my bags, but I’d promised him last time that I’d talk through any concerns.

I knew Eric was hoping this information would send me running back into his arms, but that wasn’t ever going to happen. Maybe it was time that I stood on my own two feet again and looked out for myself?

Dammit! When had my life gotten so complicated? Stepping out of my car I headed to the only person I knew who would give me a dose of good old commonsense.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Hawk

I’d been waiting outside the ER on my bike for almost thirty minutes and there was no sign of Laura. I knew sometimes she worked late, but she’d not even sent a text. Leaving my motorcycle in the parking lot I made my way to the entrance. Inside, the hospital buzzed with activity, but I didn’t notice anything specific as I pushed to the front of the line. “Nurse Carpenter, please.”

The woman glanced up. “She’s not here.”

“Are you sure?” I just couldn’t believe that she would be foolish enough to go home knowing how dangerous it was.

“She left an hour ago,” the woman said.

I was getting a bad feeling about this. It wasn’t like Laura, to just take off. Though maybe she hadn’t? I saw a spark of recognition in the receptionist’s eyes, she’d seen me come to meet Laura on a few occasions. I tried another tactic and gave her a winning smile, “She was supposed to meet me here. Maybe she’s visiting Kristy on the ward? What room is she in again?”

“Room 468,” she said, and directed me on how to get there.

“Thanks, darlin’.”

“Visiting hours are almost over,” she called after me, but I ignored everything but the directions she’d given me, plowing straight ahead until I arrived at the right room.

I knocked and opened the door at the same time, surprised to see the woman looking pale and much frailer than I’d remembered. “Kristy. You’re still here?”

Surprise flashed on her face as she nodded. “Yep. Laura isn’t here, you just missed her.”

“Has something happened?” I kept my focus on Kristy’s face. You could tell a lot about a person by the expressions they made without thinking about it, and right now her eyes were filled with concern.

“She’s gone home,” Kristy said.

“Home, her home?” My heart was racing.

“Yours,” her friend replied. “Though that was only after I’d talked her down.”

I took in her friend’s appearance, she looked sick, and I felt like the world’s biggest asshole questioning her, but something had obviously happened, “What’s wrong?”

“She got a visit from her ex, Eric. He’s a cop and he gave her an evidence folder on you and your club.”

“Fuck! What was in it?” I couldn’t imagine what evidence he had on me. After that meeting with Los Ochos, this was the last fucking thing I needed, but I made a promise to her, dammit. “Look Kristy, I don’t know what you know about me, but someone is spreading lies about me which has pissed off the people I was protecting Laura from. They’re going after her. Definitely.”

Kristy looked alarmed, “She didn’t have it with her, I think she left it in the car. But it was photographs of you doing bad things.”

“Bad things?” I exclaimed. My mind raced through my recent club activity. Okay, we were no boy scouts, but if there had been anything linking us to crime, then we’d be behind bars.

---