Page 19 of Cole (Dirty Misfits MC 4)
Nine
Cole
As I laid down in bed, I drew in a deep breath. On the outside, I was as cool as a cucumber. But on the inside I was practically shaking in my boots. I hadn’t been able to think about anything else except her, even though we had only spoken or met one another today. Yet, despite that issue, she had taken up space in my mind rent-free.
And I loved every second of it.
I mean, I’d never thought about a woman like this before. I’d never had her consume my waking mind or infiltrate my daydreams the way she did. For the first time in a very long time, my daydreams were pleasant instead of filled with gunfire and blood spatter. For once, my daydreams had been palatable.
And I wondered if that meant a night well rested for myself.
“Thank God, I see her tomorrow,” I murmured to myself.
As my eyes closed, Opie crashed into bed with me. He leapt into the air and landed directly between my legs, nestling his head against my stomach. I chuckled as I scratched behind his ear, listening to him whimper and yawn before he closed his eyes and sighed.
But just as I got my pillow exactly the way I wanted it, my phone rang.
Molly.
I rolled over in a flash, disturbing Opie and making him growl as I slapped my hand against my phone. My heart skipped a beat as I held it in front of me, eager to hear her voice once more in my ear. But instead of Molly’s number scrolling across the screen, it was Tanner’s.
So, I braced myself as I answered. “Yep?”
“Get up. I spotted Chops at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.”
I shot up in bed. “Are you sure about that?”
“I’m about ninety percent positive, yes.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why would Chops be there, though? It’s a giant… tourist…oh, shit.”
“Yeah, now you’re getting it.”
I closed my eyes. “It would be easy for him to be out and about and get lost in the crowds of people if he needed to.”
“Plus, none of us frequent that area because of the constant police patrolling.”
“Yeah, well, we all but know those Black Asshats have men in the department paid off.”
“Hence why he’s walking around as freely as he is.”
I swung my legs over the edge of my bed as my eyes opened. “How did you find out? What made you go there and pursue him?”
“Honestly? Just a hunch. We’ve exhausted everywhere else in our searches, and I wondered if Chops might try to hide in the open since it was practically the last thing we thought he’d do, anyway. So, I started looking in all of the popular tourist places around here instead of his normal haunts.”
I stood to my feet. “I’ll meet you there. Give me half an hour. Just gotta throw on some pants and get out the door.”
“Give Opie kisses for me.”
I felt him nestle his nose against my lower back. “I will.”
“Thanks. See you soon.”
“See you soon.”
I hung up the phone and tossed it onto the bed before I cupped Opie’s face. I raised his head to mine before nuzzling my cheek against the top of his head, not wanting to say goodbye. I hated it when the club did this to me. When they called me just as I had gotten comfortable in bed.
Then again, having something to do meant passing the time quicker.
Which meant seeing Molly sooner.
“I’ll be back soon, boy. I promise,” I whispered.
He licked my face as I smiled. “There’s a good boy. You get some rest, though. Okay?”
He bumped my chin with his nose. “Good boy.”
After pulling some pants on and checking to make sure I had everything, I grabbed a slice of cold pizza out of the fridge. I wolfed it down, barely chewing it before I swallowed the hunk of carb-loaded goodness down my throat. I chugged an energy drink to wake my ass up and push the food down into my stomach because God only knew what this would turn into.
Then, I made my way out to my bike and struck up the engine.
I tore out of my neighborhood and headed straight for the boardwalk, and it didn’t take me long to find where Tanner sat. He straddled his bike in the parking lot in front of a string of beachside joints that housed everything from coffee to puka-shell necklaces to surf and turf steak lunches. I eased into the space next to him and cut the engine to my bike, watching as he quickly swung his leg over his bike.
And after I did the same, Tanner practically dragged me over to the sidewalk.
“This is where I saw him,” he said.
He pointed to a blue concrete table with a salmon-colored umbrella that only sat half-open instead of fully-opened like the ones around it.
