Page 80 of Enforcing the Rules

I hung up and tossed my phone on my kitchen table.

“Where is he?” Utah asked.

I met his eyes. “We still have a deal, right?”

“I’ll even let you cuff him.”

“Then you find out where your money is, and I can take him in for the bounty. Right?” I needed him to confirm it all exactly.

“Right.”

“What if he doesn’t have your money any longer?”

“Then I’m going to beat his ass.”

“I need him alive. It’s kind of a prerequisite for bring him back alive.”

Utah grinned. “You’re hilarious.”

“I’m also dead serious.”

“I get that part.”

“Why am I not getting a warm, fuzzy feeling about this?”

“Maybe because your father’s a dick. He stabbed one of my brothers in the chest, then he stabbed his dog.”

My shoulders dropped. “What?”

“Yeah. So don’t go getting any warm and fuzzy feelings about the sperm donor you call a father. Seems from the call I just overheard, he doesn’t give a damn about putting his new family out on the street, either.”

He was right. I knew he was right. “Okay, look. If Edina’s telling the truth, he’s staying at the El Dorado Motel on the outskirts of town.”

“I know where it is.”

He pulled his phone out, but I put my hand over it, stopping him. “Don’t. Let me take him down.”

“I have to make this call, Kate.” I saw the torment in his eyes. He didn’t want to choose the club he loved over me, but he had to.

My hand dropped. His loyalty was to his club. And I was putting him in a bind. “I understand.”

“You don’t. But we’ll get past this. I swear it, Kate.”

He believed that. I wanted to believe it, too, but I didn’t.

Utah and I picked up my car and rode to the El Dorado motel. It was remote, and there wasn’t much around except a gas station a block down and a trailer park across the street. We parked near the trailer park. The motel looked pretty deserted. There was a pickup truck near the office and a silver Malibu about ten spots down.

A dark van pulled up behind us, and Memphis and Baja climbed out. They came to my passenger window and squatted, talking to Utah. Both were dressed in dark clothing and had knit hats pulled up on their heads.

“What’s she doing here?” Baja asked.

I suspected there was a good chance Utah hadn’t told the club Ray was my father. So, I took the dilemma out of his hands. “The man you’re after is my father.”

Memphis shifted on his feet and looked away, and I suddenly knew Utah had told him. But Baja’s gaze moved from me to Utah. “You knew about this?”

“He knew I was after Ray, aka Charlie Cochran. When he told you they were the same person, he didn’t know Ray was my father.”

“Whoa,” Baja murmured. “So, this skip you’ve been after was your father? Damn, you’re a cold-hearted woman, aren’t you?”

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