Page 48 of Queen of Blades

“They could be bad shots.”

He scoffed. “Yeah, definitely not. Whoever took him out, between the eyes, knew what they were doing. They hit their target.”

The only problem was, Paul hadn’t gotten the information he wanted out of Snoopy. Now, his theory that it was really about him and not Harper was put to bed. Paul was never as sure of anything as he was of that fact. Unfortunately, he still didn’t know who was actually behind all of this.

She slid her hand from under his and pulled her legs up to her chest. He wasn’t about to tell her how unsafe that was, considering the speed he drove. It wasn’t the time or place. She was in shock. He needed to give her time to process all of this.

Another glance up in the mirror as he merged onto the highway, and something caught his eye. No lights? At this time of night?

That wasn’t good.

He didn’t need someone following him right now. He could be wrong, but he doubted it. It wasn’t outside the realm of possibilities that someone could actually forget to put their headlights on, but it didn’t feel right.

Tapping the control screen on his car, he dialed his brother.

“Yeah?” Eddie sounded out of breath.

“I think I have company.”

“Well, I can’t really help right now. I’m kind of knee-deep in fixing your first problem.”

Paul nodded as though his brother could see him. “Who was it?”

“Hard to tell.”

He furrowed his brow.

“They are bikers, but they don’t look right.” Eddie paused.

Paul could hear a muffled conversation on the other end. His brother must be talking to someone else at the body shop. They obviously came out on top if they had time to chat.

“I gotta call you back.”

The call ended before he could respond.

None of this sat right with him. This was supposed to be a private meeting. Who would Snoopy tell about it other than his brothers? Did he even know there were others there?

The bikers had a rat among them.

Glancing in Harper’s direction, he frowned. Then again, something else could’ve happened. Had his own club turned against him? She had siblings still connected to the club. Hell, her two younger brothers were patched in. This was about to get a lot worse for her.

He couldn’t protect all her siblings, even if they would accept it. He slammed his hand against the steering wheel. Harper would blame herself if something happened to them. She didn’t have the wherewithal to place the blame where it belonged—on Snoopy. It washispoor choices that put them in this position.

Goddammit, Snoopy.He hadn’t been dead ten minutes, and he was still a thorn in Paul’s side. Another mess he had to clean up for the derelict biker in order to protect Harper.

One day, he would spit on that man’s grave.

26

Harper

Harper’sdadwassupposedto be untouchable. Logically, she knew that wasn’t true, but her heart wished for it. People who lived like he did, took all the risks he had, were not long for this world. For fifty years, her dad defied the odds and continued to thrive. She didn’t believe he’d live forever. He was a mere mortal, but never in her wildest imagination had she thought he’d go out like that—in her face.Literally.

Reaching up, she swiped her cheek. Bringing her fingers before her, in the flashes of light from the passing lampposts, she saw the ruddy stains of her father’s blood.

It really happened. It wasn’t an awful nightmare. She wore the proof.

Her dad was gone. She’d never receive another one of his hugs or see his wry smile. His throaty laugh was silenced.

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