Page 95 of Steel

“Good girl,” he croons. “That’s good. Do it again.”

Inhale deeply. Exhale slowly.

“One more.”

Resting my head against the wall, I let his deep voice lead me until I no longer feel as if I’m crawling out of my skin. My panic subsides, but a new numbness has taken its place.

“There she is,” he says softly. “Tell me what’s happenin’.”

Taking a deep breath, I recount what I found in the alley. “Miranda is dead. Someone killed her. I found her in the alley when I went out to catch a breath.”

“Did you touch anything?”

“No.”

“That’s good, Hummingbird. Cops are goin’ to be there soon. It’s obvious from what you’ve told me that someone intentionally put her there as a message. Not sure if it’s for the club or for you. What you’re goin’ to do is go back inside and wait for me. I’ll be there in about five minutes. Got Lyric with me, so I’m goin’ to take you both back to my place.”

“No. Absolutely not. Do not bring her here, Steel. What if it’s connected to me? No.” I climb to my feet. “No. I won’t put her in danger.”

“Listen to me,” he growls. “You damn well know shit ain’t happenin’ to either of you as long as I’m around. She’ll be safe ‘cause I’m pullin’ to the door and you’re comin’ to me. That way, I can keep an eye on you both. Good?”

“Bossman, I don’t feel comfortable about this. I’m terrified to death that it has to do with me, and I don’t know what I’d do if I was the reason something happened to my little heart song. It’s unimaginable. It’s safer if I just stay here.”

“Bailee, that place is fixin’ to be crawlin’ with fuckin’ cops and Dirty Mavericks. Not goin’ to have you where you can be caught. Not yet.”

I swallow hard at the rough timbre of his voice. “Okay. Do I have time to grab anything from the apartment?”

“Probably not. Got shit you can wear ‘til we get you back there.”

“Okay,” I whisper.

“Start walkin’ to the front. Goin’ to stay on the phone with you ‘til I see you.”

My eyes bounce around in every direction, and my body coils tightly, waiting for any threat to appear as I walk through the club. The music is louder as I get to the main area, so we don’t carry on any conversation, but he does continue to say things in my ear so I have assurance that he’s still there.

“I need to let Reva know about Miranda,” I say numbly. “She was looking for her.”

“Quick, Bailee.”

Reva sees me coming toward her and whatever she spots—or doesn’t spot—on my face alerts her that something is very seriously wrong. She steps out from behind the bar and meets me at the end, her eyes searching mine.

“Firefly? Everything okay?” she asks.

I glance around to make sure there’s no one listening who shouldn’t be before leaning toward her so that only she can hear me. “Miranda is dead. She’s in the alley. You need to call the cops. Steel is out front waiting to get me out of here before this place is overrun by the club and law enforcement.”

When I lean back, Reva’s pretty eyes are glassy and full of heartache. Most of the girls who work here aren’t bad. They’re all pretty great actually. One or two have been the sort of catty bitches I remember dealing with in school, but most of them, including Miranda, were friendly.

Reva nods. “He’s right. You need to get out of here. I’ll take care of it. Go on. I’ll let you know when it’s clear for you to come back.” She reaches out to squeeze my arm. “Stay safe, Bailee. It’s escalating, and I don’t like the feel of any of this.”

I give her a wobbly smile. “You all stay safe too.”

She grabs her phone from her pocket, and after taking a deep breath, I see her punch in nine-one-one.

“Outside, Hummingbird. Need to get out of here.”

The eyes that followed me through the club earlier are gone. Cecil, one of our bouncers, is leaning against the wall, watching the people around the club. The good thing about Cecil having no connection to the Dirty Mavericks is that he doesn’t know who I am outside of here, so I don’t have to stress about him recognizing me from anywhere else.

“Out of here for the night, Red?” he asks with a smile, unfolding his arms and stepping away from the door.

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