Page 5 of Brage & Dinah

Chapter 2

The train whistled. Dinah Reed stood on the porch of the rental house at dusk watching the wheels turn on the steel rails. The sound deafening and yet made her feel alive.

She had stayed outside most of the day, hoping Monica would notice her and come over for a visit, but despite her efforts, she hadn't seen anyone coming and going from Slag Motorcycle Club. The gate at the end of the alley in view of her house, across the tracks, remained closed.

Her phone vibrated. She pulled out the cell and answered, knowing who it would be.

"Hello?" She covered her other ear in case the train whistled again.

"Where are you?"

She rolled her eyes at her brother's tone. Tony should be here instead of passing the job on to her.

His whole life, he'd neglected his responsibilities, forcing others to do his dirty work. Clear back to the time he and Brad, Dinah's oldest brother, took guardianship of her after their parents died, she'd been forced to save his ass because no one else would help him.

"Where do you think I am?" She looked over her shoulder at the front of the house.

Tony had rented the run-down single-story house next to the train tracks going through Portland for her use. Every night when the whistles went off and the trains went by, the house rumbled, and she damned him to hell. In the month she'd stayed here, she hadn't received a full night's sleep.

It was ridiculous that at thirty-nine years old, her brother was still getting in trouble. Being thirteen years younger than Tony, he still had ways of manipulating her, which was how she ended up living here. And, the fact that she was jobless after being laid off at the car dealership back home gave her no excuse not to try and help her brother.

She owed him and Brad—something he was always reminding her. They could've dumped her into state care when their parents died. Raising a young child when her brothers were barely adults ruined their lives and put more hardships on them than she could count.

"I need you to get closer to the Slag members," said Tony.

Last night, she got as close as possible to one of them. She looked over at the clubhouse and swallowed the tightness in her chest. Having sex with a member hadn't been part of her plan.

She was lonely. She was frustrated. And, Brage was hot.

Some of the other members had hit on her at the party, and even when she'd visited the bar in front of the clubhouse, she'd seen the looks and accepted the flirting to pass the time. But none of them appealed to her the way Brage had.

He'd seemed untouchable. There was something about the way he stayed to himself during the party that appealed to her. A bad boy she wanted to conquer.

His prominent brow and wide cheekbones were striking and almost camouflaged by the full beard and long, dirty-blonde hair. While the lack of expression when he looked at her gave him a hard appearance, it was his light, blue eyes that initially caught her attention. His gaze had shown his interest in her.

Because of his contradicting looks, she'd pegged him as a rough loner out of her reach. Maybe even taken by one of the women wandering around at the clubhouse.

"What do you suggest? Because I've tried everything. I've hung out at The Fire Ring. The woman who works there as a server invited me to one of their parties. And, it was lucky I even went, because I got stuck in town after getting gas and couldn't even pull down the street and get to the rental with all the cars parked around the club. I ended up leaving my Jeep in town, and I worried all night that someone would break one of the windows or pop the tires." She sighed. "This isn't easy, Tony."

"You're a woman. Hit on the men. They're not going to turn you down."

She scoffed. His comment hit too close to home, but that was not the reason she got together with Brage.

"I think this is a dead end. They're not going to divulge any information to a stranger. I should go home. You can figure out another way to find out what Slag Motorcycle Club is doing."

While she was gone, Tony stayed at her apartment, giving his word that he would pay her rent in exchange for her helping him. His history of following through on his promises left her wondering if she'd even have a place to go home to or if she'd have an eviction notice on the door once the job was over. The chances of him bailing on paying rent or destroying the apartment were much higher than her getting the information he needed from the biker club.

Whatever he'd done to get in trouble with Moroad Motorcycle Club made him desperate. The sooner she could finish the job for him, the faster she could go home.

"Maybe you should come to Portland and do the job yourself," she said.

"Damnit, Dinah." Tony's voice grew louder. "Do you want me to go back to prison?"

She pressed two fingers to her temple. Tony was on probation and couldn't leave the state of Idaho. Though, she knew he often broke that rule.

Her desire to convince him to let her stop spying on Slag Motorcycle Club left and she inhaled deeply. "Shut up. You know I don't want you getting in any more trouble."

"Then, get your ass inside the club and tell me what they're planning on doing. Tonight."

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