Page 20 of Sly (Dragon Riders MC 5)
“Someone bothering you?” Joanna asked.
I jumped at the sound of her voice before I whipped around. “Huh?”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Didn’t sound like a friendly conversation. You okay?”
I sighed. “Just my overprotective brother doing his overprotective thing.”
“I saw you take the battery out of your phone. Looks like a little more than just being overprotective.”
My eyes met hers. “I really don’t want to talk about it, Joanna. Okay?”
She nodded slowly. “All right. But just know you’ve got options. And now? You know an excellent lawyer.”
I snickered. “Trust me, once I can find myself a job? I’m out of there anyway. Living with him is only temporary. Just until I can get back on my feet. But now I get to do it in two weeks instead of two or three months.”
She walked up to me. “Well, maybe we should get our chocolate cake to go and have some drinks back at my place. I’ve got this great red wine that would go very well with this cake.”
I smiled. “Then, by all means, lead the way.”9Sly“Church!”
I whipped around at the sound of Link’s voice. “What?”
He snapped his fingers in the air. “Church, you guys. Come on. Back office, now.”
I shook my head. “It’s five o’clock. I’m waiting for some—”
He leveled me with a look. “Now, Sly.”
I bit back a deep growl that bubbled up the back of my throat. I had been watching that clock for two hours now while passing the time with mindless work. I was supposed to be meeting Tara here promptly at six so we could talk. And I had to be here for it.
There was something in Link’s voice that told me that shit wasn’t happening, though.
I’d spent the last two hours busting my ass around this bar just for something to do. Something to busy my hands. I had mopped the floors, wiped down all of the empty chairs and tables, rearranged the liquor on the lit-up shelving, and restocked all of the bar’s little tidbits it always had on stock. Like cherries and straws. Shit like that.
“Sly!” Link exclaimed.
I finished off cutting some limes. “Coming! God damn.”
After wiping my hands off, I made my way back into the back office where the rest of the guys were waiting for me. And I noticed some curious looks on their faces. I furrowed my brow as I walked in before someone slammed the door behind me. To which I peered over my shoulder and saw Link scowling at me.
“What? I’m here. Let’s get on with it,” I said.
His nostrils flared. “Everyone, we’ve got a plan to get Skeleton off the road. And it doesn’t include Chains.”
I sighed, facing the rest of the guys. “Thank fuck.”
Link pointed at me. “There is a lot that we’ve dug up that supports your theory of him being federal. I mean, his cover is pretty good. Even the stuff online that we find is specially-tailored to ‘bad boy’ status.”
Ash snickered. “Which is what’s so weird about it. It’s too easy to find the background information on him that we’re looking for.”
Knuckles cracked his, well, knuckles. “And I did a little poking around myself. Turns out that one of our police contacts I recruited last year has seen a couple of people in dark suits coming in and out of their office on a regular basis. He’d stake his life on the fact that they’re federal agents.”
I chuckled. “I mean if they’re going to wear suits, at least make them interesting suits.”
“Right?” Ash asked.
Bowser sighed. “So, needless to say, we’re all with you at this point. For now, Chains needs to be kept out of the loop on stuff like that.”
Link nodded. “But we still need to make it look like he’s pledging this crew. So, I sent him on assignment this morning.”
I blinked. “Doing what?”
Link grinned wildly. “He’s attending some meetings with ‘distributors.’”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m not following.”
Bowser snickered. “I pulled it together last-minute. Called up our liquor and food distributors. And let’s just say they’ve been paid very well to keep Chains busy all day today.”
I shook my head. “You guys are sick fucks, you know that, right?”
All of the guys barked with laughter before Link snapped his fingers again, and everyone settled down instantly.
“We’re not out of the woods yet, guys,” he said.
I nodded. “So, while Chains is distracted, I take it we’re about to hit the road and go find Skeleton?”
Bowser crossed his arms over his chest. “We have to find him and get him off the road. And the longer the Feds attempt to track him down, the harder it’s going to be to force him out of his little corner he’s currently hiding in. We have to find a way to get ahead of them.”
Ash clicked his tongue. “Or around them.”
Link paused. “You got a plan or something rattling around in that head of yours?”
