Page 88 of Bloom: Part 2

“Yes, I do. I’ll be staying with friends.”

“With the bikers?” From his frown, he disapproved.

“Yes. My fiancé is one of them.”

“I’m going to be blunt with you, Dr. Collier. You hanging around those bikers won’t do you any good. We’ve been tasked specifically with turning this town around, and we have everyintention of doing so. If your bikers are taking the law into their own hands, it’s going to be a big problem.”

“Believe me, there’s no one else who would rather see this town cleaned up than me. I’ve enjoyed working here. But you’re making a big mistake by automatically seeing these bikers as your enemies. They’ve policed this town while the cops here have collected salaries and done nothing about the murders, the rapes, and the burglaries. If you want to make this town better, I’d consider working alongside these bikers who know the town inside out. Get to know them, and you’ll see.”

Just as I’d gotten to know them—still was. They were definitely not saints. Exhibit B, the photo of the marshal’s dead body. But the people they hurt usually deserved it.

“Hmm, you may be on to something there, Dr. Collier. I’ll talk to my partner and superiors about it.”

“Am I free to go, then?”

“Yes, for now. Officer Keyes will give you a ride to your destination. We know the PD here in Smoky Vale has not always done the best work, but you can trust that my team and I will be working hard to turn this around and to become an institution the people have faith in.”

27

BLOOM

Back and forth, I paced the length of the mess hall, stopping every so often to check my phone. No calls, no text messages from Logan. He’d been at the police station for so long. What if they locked him up or held him longer for questioning? I learned enough about the law to know they could hold him without charging him for seventy-two hours. How was I supposed to do three days without Logan?

Fuck this.

I stalked toward the door. Crowe materialized in front of me, and I almost slammed into him. He caught my arms to steady me.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To the police station. Logan—”

“Doesn’t need you there. The man will be fine, Bloom.”

“How can you tell?”

“Because he’s smart. Look, as much as you think he needs you, he’s an Agosti. That should tell you everything you need to know about him.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“First of all, unclench your intestines and take a deep breath. You’re setting everyone on edge.”

I expelled a loud, frustrated breath from my nostrils. “I don’t see how this is making anything better.”

“Well, think about it. Logan grew up in the Agosti family. The man must have learned the tricks of the trade. He used to torture people for his father.”

“I never thought about it, but that’s kind of like you, Bloom!” Saint hollered from behind the bar. “You two have a lot more in common than we thought. Still can’t picture the doctor cutting people up for fun, but those are the best kind of killers, right? The ones we don’t expect to be so gruesome.”

I scowled at Saint, my hands curled into fists, nails biting into my palms. Heat surged up my neck, and my whole body vibrated like a live wire about to snap.

I took a step toward him, jaw clenched so hard it ached. “He didn’t want to do any of that. His family forced him to torture people.” My voice came out low and sharp, a warning I was already on the edge. If he continued to provoke me, I wouldn’t hesitate to punch him.

“By the way he handled those men today, it seems like he still has a bit of the killer instinct inside of him.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

Our conversation had gotten loud, and the other bikers were blatantly staring at us.

“Saint, stop trying to goad him.” Crowe pointed at me. “And you, you need to learn to think objectively about this man. He lied to you about who he is, but you accept his explanations without a thought.”

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