Page 61 of Enforcing the Rules

She smiled. “Oh, you do, do you?”

I led her down the hall and unlocked the door. It wasn’t the biggest, but it was a corner room with lots of windows and a nice view of the mountains.

I closed the door and lifted my chin to the bed. “Sit down.”

She grinned and sat, then dropped back on her elbows, her hands smoothing over the corduroy patchwork quilt and taking in the brass bed. “I like your bed.”

I folded my arms and stood, boots apart. “We need to talk.”

The smile slid from her face, and her brow furrowed. “Is something wrong?”

“Charlie Cochran, the two-bit scum bag who stole from the club, the one I’ve been hunting?”

She sat up. “Yeah?”

“He’s the same man you’re looking for.”

“What? No. I’m looking for Ray Lee Baker.”

“Kate, Ray Lee Baker is Charlie Cochran.”

She shook her head. “No. No, that can’t be. I’m bringing Ray in for skipping on a DUI.”

“I can’t let you do that, babe. The MC wants him. You’re going to have to back off this one.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Kate—

Oh. My. God. If what Utah said was true, that meant the MC was looking for my father. And they wanted him dead. Utah and Memphis had said as much. He’s a dead man walking.

It was a lot to process, but at least they didn’t know the connection to me, and I wasn’t about to tell them.

I got up and paced. I couldn’t tell Utah, could I? Would it even matter to him? I doubted it. God, I hated the secrets and lies piling between us. That wasn’t what I wanted, and I knew it wasn’t something he’d stand for.

“I can’t give up the bounty, Utah. I’ve taken the contract to find this guy. He belongs behind bars.”

“Give the bounty to someone else. I don’t care, but you are not getting between this guy and the MC. And we are not looking to turn him over to the police. He stole something from us, and we want it back. After we get it back, he’s going to pay for fucking us over.”

“I can’t just give up the bounty. This is my job. It’s important to me.”

“Why do I get the feeling there’s something you’re not telling me?”

“It’s a lot of money, Utah! Ten Thousand dollars.” I flung my hands out. “That’s probably more than he stole from you. Isn’t it?”

“Not even close, babe.”

I swallowed. “I need that money, Utah.”

“If it’s money you need, Kate—”

I flung a hand up. “Don’t. Don’t you offer to give me the money or whatever you were about to say. I need to prove myself in this business. This is the biggest skip I’ll ever have. Don’t you see?”

“I understand that, Kate. I do.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “But the MC comes first.”

My hands hit my hips. “Oh, really? Above everything else, even me?”

“Don’t make this about you and me.”

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