Page 13 of In Too Deep

As he finishes his words, I hear a car pull up and turn to see who it is. Tyler joins me and says, “Yeah, here they are.” Theresa and Ben park their car, step out of the vehicle, and walk toward us.

Once they’re in the garage, Theresa says, “Hey, Tyler.” Then she turns to me. “I see you’ve met your new employee.”

“Why the hell do I need an employee? I’d prefer I do this on my own, Theresa,” I reply, irritated that they’re only springing this upon me now.

“Cole. You can’t be here on your own.”

“Why not,” I growl.

Theresa grabs hold of my arm to calm me down and, with a soft voice, explains, “I know you don’t want to have any other responsibility on your hands, but think about this… Brent had at least three other mechanics working here. You need at least one to make it look like it’s a legitimate business. Plus, who knows? You might be busy.”

Sighing, I look over to Tyler and ask, “Do you know anything about bikes?”

He smirks.” I sure do. I’ve been working on bikes since I was fifteen.”

“Are you in the RCMP too?”

Tyler looks at Theresa, and she explains, “Tyler is an undercover agent as well. He was working for Brent before we bought the shop from him. We knew the RBMC were getting their bikes fixed here, and well… because we already had Tyler undercover working for Brent, we thought, why not have you both here?”

“I’ll be able to help you, Cole. I know most of the members, so it would just be a matter of getting them to trust you. And I can help with that.”

He makes a good point, but it just doesn’t feel right.

“How old are you?” I ask, unable to believe he’s out of school already.

He smiles wide.

“Twenty-five.”

“Bullshit!” I spit, glancing at Theresa.

“She smiles. “He really is.”

She takes a couple of steps toward Tyler and places her arm around his shoulder. “He’s been on the force since he graduated. He will be good for your cover, Cole.”

Ben steps closer. “Listen, if this is going to work, we need to start calling you Seth,” Ben says with seriousness.

“If any word gets out about your real name, then all this…” he says, waving his hand around the garage, “… will be for nothing.”

Nodding once, my eyes focus back on Tyler.

“Is your name really Tyler?”

He smirks, showing his pearly white teeth. Tyler has long blond hair tied back in a ponytail, and his eyes are light blue. He has hair on his face, but growing in patches. He could use a shave.

“Nope, it’s Jack. Tyler is my undercover name.”

“Right. Looks like you and I have a lot to catch up on. Seeing you have already dealt with the Royal Bastards MC and all.”

He folds his arms, and I note his shirt is oversized. His black pants are low on his waist, and a tight belt is holding them up.Shit, this kid could be wearing kid-size clothing.

“They call me Skinny.”

Confused, I ask, “What do you mean they call you Skinny?”

“They’ve given me a nickname, so when they come in here, they’ll be calling me Skinny. They’ll probably come up with a name for you, too, Co… sorry, Seth.”

“Whatever they want to call me is fine with me as long as they let me in.”

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