Page 64 of Karma

She’s not yet fully on board with my thinking on the matter. But she sees enough sense in it to be here.

“He’s seeing some woman,” Psycho says. “Taking her on dates and such. They saw the most god awful black and white movie and he looked like he loved it as much as she did. Is that what girls want? Pretending you like crappy romantic movies?”

Psycho is in his early thirties, a fine-looking man with a full head of dark brown hair and grey eyes that remind me of the stormy sky. He’s tall, well-built and brave. He could have any woman he wants. His problem is, he wants the one he can’t have. I doubt taking her to boring old movies will change that.

“Joker’s girlfriend clearly does,” I say since I don’t want to burst his bubble and I don’t know what else to say.

“That makes no sense,” Karma says. “He’s talking about joining the war against the Devils, telling us to pretend we don’t know him and he’s spending all his time with a woman?”

Psycho’s eyes light up slightly, which in his case means they turn a little whiter. “I was kinda wondering the same thing, so I followed her some after they split up. She’s connected to Devil’s Nightmare MC. I saw her with that woman Cross’ son Hunter is always chasing after. Trixie, or whatever her name is. They went up to the Devils’ HQ on the hill. That’s when I came back to the inn. Didn’t wanna follow them up there.”

“So he’s just seeing her because she’s connected to the Devils?” I say. “Maybe he’s trying to get information out of her or something.”

Karma gives me a look that’s both full of rage and condescending as hell at the same time. “He’s planning on abducting her. Gotta be.”

That didn’t even cross my mind. But I’ve long since stopped questioning a woman’s intuition on things like this. EspeciallyKarma’s. She’s honed her intuition to the point of it being a valuable weapon.

“Why would he take her on dates if that’s his plan?” Psycho asks. “Why not just grab her?”

Karma shrugs. “Maybe he needs to get her alone somewhere. She must be too protected to just abduct.”

“They were plenty alone at that movie theatre,” Psycho says. “And far from the Devils’ home town. I didn’t spot anyone following them.”

Karma looks a little unsure for a moment, but then her eyes harden as she looks at me. “We gotta ask Scorpio. We gotta make him tell us what this is all about.”

I cringe. “You know how well that’s gonna go.”

She nods, her eyes full of determination. “But we have to know what we’re up against. You know as well as I do that the Devils kill everyone and anyone who harms their women. They don’t stop until they’re all dead. No matter what. You know that.”

I do know that very well. Used to think it was just a rumor, until a guy I was drinking with at a roadside bar, got swarmed and stabbed full of holes right in front of me by three masked Devils. I very nearly met the same fate right then and there, but once they realized I wasn’t connected to the guy and had nothing to do with him abducting one of their women, they let me go. They are pros at what they do. Ruthless and cold-blooded, but professional.

“You’re right,” I say. “We gotta stop this.”

I mount my bike and drive off, not waiting for them. I hope the ride back to the inn will offer up an idea on how exactly to achieve that. Because currently, I have none.

What I do have is that same feeling of time slipping through my fingers like sand that I had as I watched Reaper die with menot able to do anything about it. And I never want to feel that way again.

33

Karma

The bar at the inn isn’t much more crowded than it was when we left to talk to Psycho away from prying ears. The Devils and Joker are sitting at a table together, and Scorpio is rocking back in his chair a few tables over. He watches us walk in, I can feel his gaze on me like the touch of his warm hands, only softer, but when I look at him, he’s looking right through me. It feels like walking from a hot, fire-warmed log cabin into the dead of winter. So much so, I shiver.

Is that what it’s gonna be like all the time after we tell him what we know? After we ask him to tell us the truth about Joker’s plans?

I hope not. But I can’t shake the feeling that this was a premonition of sorts.

We take the table next to Joker’s and Psycho picks us up a bottle of whiskey from the bar. I’m not drinking tonight though, not until after our talk with Scorpio. I’m happy to see Grim has the same idea.

It’s such a quiet night that I’m hoping the party will break up soon.

But then the door opens and Ruin walks in with a pretty blonde on his arm. She looks scared as hell, her innocence rolling in huge waves off her as he leads her to Joker’s table. I can’t believe I’m seeing this. Every guy in here sees it too.

The girl is too pure for a place like this. And Joker’s table is the absolute last place for her. I thought Ruin was legit. I made him some coffee this morning and asked him if he knows where I can find Unholy. I’m also still holding onto the dream that Unholy can somehow aid us in securing a life that won’t be full of hiding and running from one place to another all the time. But Ruin just confirmed what I already know—that Unholy is down in LA with Rogue Angels MC.

I also wanted to get a read on him, or more like make sure I was right in the read I already had on him—namely that he’s not of Joker’s ilk. I thought I had confirmed it.

But clearly I was all wrong about him. What the hell is his game? Bringing this girl here?

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