Page 17 of Sly (Dragon Riders MC 5)
Link nodded. “It’s a question I’m wondering myself.”
I sighed. “Look, I get it: you guys are suspicious because I tear through women. Got it. But if I hadn’t gone on that date? If I hadn’t gotten her number? We wouldn’t have this information to go off of. So, instead of smacking me around for my decision, why don’t you just take what we’ve got and run with it?”
Knuckles pointed. “He brings up a good point. If there’s more information to be had, he might be able to get it by taking this girl on more dates.”
Link slowly panned his eyes over to the man. “Thank you for your contribution.”
I held my hand out to Knuckles. “He’s right, though. And don’t worry about Chains; I know how to deal with overprotective brothers.”
Bowser chuckled bitterly. “Yeah. That’s how you ended up in the hospital the last time.”
I growled. “How the fuck was I supposed to know the man was proficient with throwing knives?”
Link held up his hands. “Enough!”
His office fell silent as I drew in a sobering breath.
“I can do this. You know I can,” I said.
Link’s eyes leveled with mine. “Don’t get you or her hurt. Ash is going to check out your information, but in the meantime if you can get Tara alone to pull more out of her, then by all means do it. Just keep a low profile, yeah? Let’s not kill anyone or put anyone else in the hospital this time.”
I nodded. “Got it.”
As Link dismissed our church meeting, guilt pooled inside my gut. I felt even worse for getting the guys to agree with my manipulation plan. But I also got what I wanted in the process: the guys’ encouragement to continue seeing Tara under any means necessary. And that was exactly what I’d do. I’d continue pursuing Tara no matter what the fuck her federal agent brother said or even did.
Even if she didn’t give up anymore information for me to take back to the guys.8Tara“Where are you going?” Ben asked.
I rolled my eyes. “To get coffee, numbnuts.”
“So, you aren’t going to meet that biker guy?”
I sighed. “You’ve been monitoring my phone calls for over a week now, Ben. He’s called, but I haven’t picked up. You’ve been there when I’ve deleted every voice message and text. Isn’t that enough for you?”
“Just remember, I’ve still got a tap on your phone. Please, don’t do anything that’s going to put you on his side of the game. These men? They’re trained to be seductive. They work at this. They work at manipulating people. It’s how they get around in life.”
“Heading out for coffee, don’t get killed!”
And before my brother could say anything else, I slipped out the front door.
I knew enough about my brother’s job to know there were a few things I needed to do. Like, take the battery out of the back of my phone. So, I did. I didn’t want him tracking me or secretly listening into whatever conversations I got myself into while I was out. I needed to get away from him for a little bit. I needed to do something for myself other than be cooped up in that apartment which had quickly become my prison.
I also needed to get another cell phone so I could call Sly.
The first stop I made was to a gas station. I purchased a prepaid cell phone with no data plan as I rattled off Sly’s phone number in my head. And after entering it into the phone, I saved it for good measure. I didn’t want to call him immediately in case Ben was tailing me for some reason. I mean in the few days that my brother had completely spun out on me, I didn’t put it past him to have someone watching me. Or tailing me. Trying to figure out what the hell I was doing when I wasn’t in the apartment where Ben could keep an eye on me.
So, I purchased some snacks to hide the phone in my bag, then headed back to my car.
I made my way to the first coffee shop I found that also had food and tucked the plastic bag in my purse. If I could maneuver myself into a back corner somewhere, I might be able to get a text out to Sly for the first time in a week. I walked inside with my purse held closely against my side and placed my order at the register: one large iced caramel coffee with cream and a veggie wrap with mixed fruit on the side.
Then, I plucked a table for myself in the corner and waited.
Because of my brother’s job, I knew how invasive the government could be. Which was why I was so relieved to not find security cameras in the corners of this coffee shop. Not many women would have enjoyed something like that, but for me? It would work in my favor today.
