Page 11 of Outlaws’ Runaway

“Two days ago. Probably around six I guess? It was right after I finished my shift at the diner.”

He nods, scrolling through files. “Found you.” He points at the screen.

We all watch as the grainy footage shows Paige looking back and forth nervously before making a beeline to the locker. This time, instead of coming up empty, she pulls a duffel bag part way out of the locker and unzips it. It’s hard to make out what’s inside, but she moves some things around and then clearly peels a few bills off the top of a bound stack before stashing everything away again. That doesn’t mean there’s a million dollars in there, but it definitely supports that part of her story.

“See! I’m not lying. The money really was there.”

Savage puts a hand on her shoulder. “Okay, okay. Give him time to work.”

Poe is laser focused, fast forwarding through the past two days of footage. It's boring as fuck. The occasional luggage. A couple drug deals, but anytime there's movement, he slows it down, just long enough to dismiss, then back to hyper speed.

Paige is more interesting to watch. Leaning over the desk, she’s giving me a sweet view of her ass in her tight black pants. Shit, I shouldn’t have laid it on so thick for Georgia. Now it’s got me thinking of Paige in ways I probably shouldn’t. Like wrapping my fist in her long, thick hair and making her arch that back while she takes me.

I've been away from the club for too long. I adjust my pants before she turns around and realizes what she's doing to me. I can daydream later.

“There. Watch. Early this morning.” Poe’s finger traces the screen as a skinny guy with greasy hair goes down the row, checking different lockers. He’s got a master key or something, since he unlocks each one easily. As he riffles through people’s things, he occasionally pulls stuff out and pockets it. When hegets to Paige’s locker, he slides out the bag and almost falls over when he looks inside.

“He fucking works here.” Savage points at his jacket with the station logo. “Either that or he stole a uniform.”

“Would explain how he's got a master key. That would be a good thing, actually. Makes it easier to figure out who he is.” Poe scratches his chin as he thinks.

“Can you make it any clearer?”

Poe snorts. “Sure, I’ll just hit enhance a couple times.” When I don’t laugh—because who the fuck knows what computers can even do anymore—he throws up his hands. “No, but I can zoom in and try to get a shot of his face. We're not exactly talking super hi-def equipment here.” Poe flips between different cameras until he finds a better angle and takes a screenshot.

“Works for me. Can you print it out or something?”

“Nah. Better.” He pops up some other program and starts clicking around. “Company intranet.”

“Uh sure.”

A moment later, he’s scrolling through a page full of employee information. Poe adjusts some search settings, and a short list of people pops up, including their names and faces. One of them is our kinky romance-loving friend at the counter, but two names farther down, we find our guy. It's gotta be.

“Neil Michaelson.” Poe pulls out his phone and takes a picture of Neil’s information. “Got him. Address, birthday, social, everything.”

I grin at Paige. “What do you think? Wanna go collect some money?”

She nods. “Let's go.”

6

PAIGE

Ever since Ifound the money, I’ve been on the run, scared of getting caught every single day. But now that I’ve been caught, oddly enough, this is the first time in a while that I feel like I’m on a team. It’s like being in one of those movies where a group of unlikely people have to work together to do something crazy like solve a mystery or steal the crown jewels. If it wasn’t so serious, it would almost be fun.

It’s almost ten, and we're standing outside an old house on a row of identical old houses just outside the town center. The neighborhood has seen better days, but it seems quiet except for this one house. Loud techno music rattles the windows that are shut tight in spite of the warm summer weather. Neil's having a good time in there. Maybe that’s what I should’ve done. Barricaded myself somewhere and just lived it up until the bill came due.

Like it’s about to for Neil.

I can’t believe I’m about to steal back my stolen money with the help of three hot bikers who were hired to track me down.

What is my life? A few months ago I was happy to have finished my associates degree and was looking forward to finding a nice little office job and a studio apartment.

“Sounds like a party. I’m sure he won’t mind us crashing it.” Crank grins in anticipation, eager to get physical.

“Don’t get cocky. It looks like he’s just a fucking weasel that lucked out into the haul of his life, but we don’t know what we’re walking into. Stay sharp.”

Poe nods.

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