Page 95 of Property of the Hellfire Riders

“I told this story a hundred times to the cops, and some of them still don’t want to believe their precious lead detective could be the Puppeteer.”

“If I hadn’t seen it, I don't think I would have,” I whisper. “Reynolds was by the book always.”

“Well, looking back—it all makes sense,” she says. “He was just so far up in power, no one thought to question him. I wanted to find out if my hunch was right, so I went to the clubhouse by myself. Hawk sent me away, and that was when Reynolds showed up out of nowhere. He said he had been patrolling the area, working on a case against the Riders. Get this—he told me he thought they were the Puppeteers.”

“Jesus,” I mutter."

She rubs her temple, shaking her head.

“God, I feel like an idiot. All the information I had gathered on them. It was all sent by Reynolds. He’d been working to plant them as the bad guys this whole damn time. Here I was thinking that I’d been gathering all this information against the Hellfire Riders single-handedly. It was all him, leading me along like a puppet on a damn string.”

“You were doing your job, Laina,” I assure her. “You can’t control what he did with that information.”

“Yeah. I know, but still.” She sighs, picking at her fingernails. “He’d planned to kill me, hide me at the clubhouse. Then afterhe arrested them with his warrant. He and the other police would discover my body along with all the planted evidence in the clubhouse basement. I don’t think he ever thought you were going to show up, Izzy, but when you did—I think he decided to use you as well. Build a better case.”

“It was an elaborate plan,” I mutter, shaking my head in disbelief. The anger boils within me, and I work to push it down.

“I can only imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up, Izzy.” Laina finally looks at me, her eyes haunted by the thought of what could have happened. “Thank you, for that,” she whispers.

As the sun begins to set, casting a warm glow through the hospital windows, a nurse enters the room, her smile gentle. “It’s time for Laina to get some rest,” she says kindly. “Visiting hours are almost over.”

We all nod, understanding the need for her to recover. I lean in and hug Laina tightly, feeling the familiar warmth and comfort of her embrace. “Get some sleep, okay? We’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Promise?” she asks, her voice small and vulnerable.

“Promise,” I say, pulling back to look into her eyes. “You’re not getting rid of us that easily.”

“Good. Because I need details on what the hell’s going on with the four of you,” she whispers in my ear.

“All in due time,” I laugh, kissing her forehead.

“At least tell me which one you’re seeing.” I hesitate to answer, and she reads the look on my face and her mouth drops open. “No? All of them?”

I shrug. “Something like that.”

“Izzy, get the hell out of here!” she squeals, almost jumping right off the hospital bed. The nurse clears her throat and I take my cue to leave.

As we exit the hospital, a sense of calm settles over me.

Laina is safe. Reynolds is locked up.

"So, what's next?" Vance's deep voice startles me out of my thoughts. I turn to see him straddling his Harley, arms clutching the handlebars.

“We’ve got a huge mess on our hands to clean up,” Hawk says, glancing down at me. His intense blue eyes follow me for a long while. “You’re coming with us, right?”

I stop, looking at all three of them. I’m like a moth drawn to a flame, but I’d been so wrapped up in all the events, finding Laina, catching Reynolds I hadn’t ever stopped to think what happens once this all ends.

Hawk shifts the weight of his feet.

“Izzy, come on. There’s no discussion to be had here.” He extends a hand to me. “You’re coming home.”

Home. The word reverberates through my mind as I stare at his outstretched hand, the promise of a future I never thought possible waiting for me if I take it.

“It won’t be the same without you now,” Vance says.

Life with these three is going to be a wild ride, but after what I’d just been through, I was starting to think that maybe I don’t belong anywhere else either.

Suddenly, Tank revs his bike impatiently behind us. "Yeah, enough with the mushy crap! We got shit to do!" He yells over the roar of his engine.

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