Page 68 of Devil's Vengeance

CHASE

I wasn’t sent back to Lacey’s club. Brewer didn’t trust me anymore. Instead, I was sent with Reaper to go looking for signs of Trick in town. He wasn’t a chatty guy, so it wasn’t an enjoyable experience, to say the least. And the longer we went with no new information, the more irritated he got.

“How many nights has he been in town?” he demanded as we sat outside Outpost. It was the last place Trick was seen, aside from the library that morning. We already looked there for any signs that he might’ve been casing the place. It was exactly as Mariah had left it when she finished her shift, so we moved on pretty quick.

“I’m not sure. He likes to show his face, then disappear for a few days before popping back up again.”

He made a tick sound behind his teeth, pulling out his phone to make a call. He didn’t greet whoever was on the other end, just demanded in a sharp tone, “Where was he last?”

If I had to make a guess, he was talking to Neo. He had cameras installed on all the major roads leading in and out of town and more in our businesses. He was going to need help eventually because he was doing six jobs at once to make things up to the crew, and I wasn’t sure how much longer he could take it. He rarely slept anymore. It’d been over a year sinceall the shit with Wrecker went down. How long were they planning on punishing him? How long would they punish me?

Reaper grunted at whatever Neo reported to him and hung up without a word. “He says Trick left town this morning. If he’s popping up as often as he is, he’s probably in the city. Close enough to travel, and big enough to hide in plain sight.”

I trusted Reaper’s judgment on that. He was good at finding people. He had military training and good instincts. I jerked my chin in the direction we needed to go.

“Are we going there tonight?”

He scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. “No. I’ve got other shit I need to do. And I don't trust you out on your own. Get back to the clubhouse. We’ll start our search again tomorrow.”

While I didn’t have a problem with an early night, I didn’t want to go back to the clubhouse. Not while Mariah was still in danger. I didn't trust Trick not to find her. And as far as I knew, the only people in the house were her and her mom.

“I’m gonna head to Mariah’s if that’s alright. She hasn’t accepted the plan yet and I’m worried she’s gonna run.”

“Did you tell her that would get her killed?”

The way he said it made it sound like it wasn’t just Trick’s crew she needed to worry about. To my knowledge, Reaper didn't hurt women. He didn’t even take part when a woman screwed with the crew. But I wouldn’t put it past Croy if he was in a foul enough mood. I wasn’t letting him anywhere near Mariah.

“I’ll make sure she knows how dangerous it is.”

“Fine. Go. But if I catch you sneaking around, not even Nevada’s dying wish will save you from me.”

CHAPTER 41

CHASE

It wasn’t until I showed up in front of Mariah’s parents’ place that I realized how late it was. Not as late as I normally got off, but late enough that it’d be fucking rude if I knocked on the door. And it’d probably scare the shit out of her. I was considering heading back to the clubhouse to get some sleep when my phone rang and Mariah’s name popped up on the screen.

“Yeah?”

“Why are you sitting out front like a creeper?”

Stunned, I looked back at the house. Mariah stood in the front window, her eyebrow raised. There was another woman behind her I didn’t recognize, but Mariah didn’t seem worried about it.

“Get in here.”

Huffing out a laugh, I hung up and headed to her front door. She let me in, that smug look still all over her face. I smacked a kiss on her lips to distract her, locking the door behind me.

“Why were you just sitting out there?”

“Thought it’d be messed up to wake you. I was going to head out in a minute.”

She hummed, lifting onto her toes to kiss me again before whispering against my lips, “Gentleman.”

I rolled my eyes, cupping her neck and squeezing just a little to remindher of the kind of guy I really was. “There’s nothing gentlemanly about what I want to do to you, sweetheart. Just because I’m protective doesn’t make me a gentleman.”

She snickered, and it was obvious she didn’t believe me, but I didn’t get a chance to prove it to her. A light voice cleared from the living room, and I finally looked away from Mariah to see who had joined her. Mariah rolled her eyes.

“Chase, this is my sister, Angelica. Angelica, this is–”

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