Page 51 of Mensa's Match

Whitney

Mensa brought me backto Hard Pressed at five minutes after two. Unlike this morning, he didn’t stick around.

Aunt Nadia stared out the glass door after he left. “You best be careful, Whitney. No matter what either of you says, that biker looks at you like his world revolves around you.”

“That’s dramatic, Aunt Nadia. Besides, that’s only because right now, I’m tied up in something that’s turned his own world upside down. Keeping me safe benefits him in a big way.”

She laughed her high-pitched, gravelly laugh. “You go with that, sweetheart.”

The double-beep of the alarm sounded. I twisted my head to the front door and saw my brother, Wyatt, striding inside.

“Well, hey there, handsome boy,” Aunt Nadia said.

Wyatt gave her a look that said only she could get away with calling him ‘boy’. “Aunt Nadia. You think you could go to the back? Maybe rustle me up a glass of your tea?”

Aunt Nadia’s lips twisted into a slight pout. “You’re standing right there, which means your legs aren’t broken. Go rustle up your own glass. I’m not giving you two a second of privacy.”

Wyatt closed his eyes and heaved a deep breath. I fought laughing because he knew better. Aunt Nadia was as nosy as could be, and even when people called her on it, she didn’t give a damn.

My brother stepped closer to me. “Why were you at Twisted Talons when gunfire broke out?”

My head reared back. “How do you know—”

“I chased you out of there.”

Once the words registered, my jaw dropped open. “You shot at me!”

He shook his head. “No. The asshole next to me shot at you, then he ordered me to chase you.”

I put my hands on my hips. “But why chase us so far out of town?”

Wyatt crossed his arms. “Because I didn’t want Mensa bringing you back to the bar or your apartment.”

“He had no intention of going back to the—”

“I couldn’t know that, but Idoknow you’d have pestered the hell outta him about it.”

He knew me too well.

I crossed my arms. “Do you know who stole my car?”

Wyatt’s posture relaxed and he shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. “Rod recognized you when you entered the bar. He called his road captain and ordered him to do that.”

I straightened as I realized my focus was on the wrong thing. “Why the hell did you let Biloxi PD question us? You know Corrupt Chrome burned down DeeLight’s.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know that. The fire’s a local crime, which has to be investigated by the local authorities. I’m working a different case here. It doesn’t overlap with Biloxi’s case, at least not yet.”

My head tilted. “If Corrupt Chrome didn’t burn down the restaurant, then who did?”

His expression cleared. “I don’t know.”

“Sounds like BS,” I muttered.

He pulled his hands from his pockets and put them on his hips. “No. It sounds like me doing my job. If you want any kind of future in law enforcement, you gotta take care of your reputation and stay away from Mensa.”

“I got bad information, Wyatt. Hitting a bar for karaoke night isn’t something a future employer will hold against me.”

Wyatt’s lips twisted to the side. “You know that he works there. That’s more than enough reason for you to stay away.”

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