Page 267 of Fearless

Fielding’s face became guarded. Ah, so he’d realized all the Carpathians were MIA. “I don’t have an ID.”

“Shame. Here’s hoping whoever it was just kept on driving. He’s probably not even in town anymore.”

Fielding’s lips compressed, jaw clenching. “Probably not.”

With a gesture, the Dogs moved on at a casual pace, eyeing the yard sale wares, trying to look as innocuous as possible.

Ghost leaned in close to Fielding before he followed them, his voice just audible between the two of them. “Just a heads up, Vince. What you’re doing to my club? It’s not going to be a smart move for you in the long run.”

When he joined his crew again, he did a fast headcount. Collier was missing.

**

Shade was hard to come by out on the football field. It was only ten, but the sun was at a hard slant and climbing, and without a screen of clouds, it poured relentless across the open stretch of tent-studded grass. Maggie regretted her waffle weave shirt and denim jacket in a big way.

She bought a cold bottle of water at the concession stand and leaned against the chain link fence as she sipped it, watching the bustle of the sale. Olivia had been right. It was a big event, and it was drawing a sizable crowd. She watched shoppers pick through piles of secondhand goods and new handmade art pieces. Local artisans had taken advantage of the turnout, and were selling knitted scarves, hand-tooled leather purses; someone had used old barn wood to make decorative signs. Then there was the usual assortment of clothes, old shoes, kids’ toys and unwanted furniture. Items were moving, people backing trucks and minivans up to the field’s entrance to load their purchases.

She sighed. Had the state of affairs with the club and the city been different, she would have unloaded all of her crap by now.

Through the crowd, she caught a glimpse of salmon and turned away. “Shit.” She didn’t want Olivia gloating in her face about what a miserable show of goodwill this had turned out to be.

There was a line of blue porta-potties on the other side of the gate, and she bypassed them with a muttered “yeah right.” They were discouraging yard salers from entering the school, but like hell did she need to pee badly enough to go into one of those blue boxes. She’d risk getting chastised by some errant PE coach.

She entered the nearest set of double doors and stepped into a long cool hallway that smelled like locker rooms. She spied the signs up high along the ceiling, marking just that, and kept walking, heels clipping over the white tile. She’d just walk a little farther, find a restroom deeper in the school.

Behind her, she heard one of the heavy metal doors grate open. The light swelled around her. And then it closed with a sharp slam.

She turned and saw a man haloed in the incoming light from the windows. He’d taken four steps toward her before she recognized him.

“Jace?”

He came closer, and his face became more clear to her, as the sunlight faded behind him. He looked like hell. His eyes were runny and red, the lids puffy. His lips were chapped and his hair dirty and greasy. His pupils, she noticed, were too large, and they hadn’t reacted to the change in light.

“Mags,” he said, taking still another step. He was shaking all over, his hand unsteady as he pushed it through his hair. “Mags, you gotta help me. You gotta talk to Ghost and make him understand.”

“Understand what?” She frowned. “How’d you know I was in here? What did you take, Jace? You’re high out of your mind.”

Proving her point, he gripped both sides of his head and grimaced, like her rapid-fire questions caused him pain. “I…I need to talk to you. I knew I couldn’t go to Ghost. He wouldn’t understand. He…Christ, look what happened to Andre! Ghost thinks I’m a rat, too. You’ve got to explain it to him.”

His hand shot out, faster than she expected, and locked onto her forearm, squeezing until she felt the bones grind together.

She tried to wrench away. “Areyou a rat, Jace?”

“No,” he snarled with sudden violence. Then he softened. “Please, Mags–”

“Let go!” She managed to twist free and took a step back. Her heart leapt hard against her breastbone. All the warning sirens were going off in her head, telling her to get away as fast as she could.

She lifted her chin. “I don’t know where you’ve been, or what you’ve done. Take it up with Ghost. It’s not my problem.”

He grimaced again and made another reach for her that she dodged. “Please, Maggie! You have tohelpme!”

Run, her conscience shouted.Run, run, run!

“Go outside and get some coffee,” she said. “And do your explaining to your brothers. They’ll listen to you, whatever you have to say.”

He shook his head furiously. “No they won’t. They won’t! I told Fielding – I told the cops. Oh, Christ, I did a bad thing. Very bad.” He ducked his chin and knotted his hands together and looked like a child who wanted to throw himself down and weep.

“What did you tell Fielding?” Maggie asked carefully, edging another step back.

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