Page 67 of Ride or Die

“You a cop?” Saint asked, hands still loose on his lap. Wheeler was in a good position to cover him if she drew.

Nia’s face remained perfectly blank.

The kid sucked in a breath as he looked at Nia. The whites of his eyes reflected the lights of the truck.

It was answer enough. Wheeler lifted his shoulder in a shrug. Your show, boss.

When Saint turned back to the cop, a well-worn pistol was in her hand, trained on the ground.

Wheeler stayed where he was, at the door, waiting. Watching.

Aaron, who is this?

“I’m going to take him home. I’m not on duty, and I don’t care what you’re doing here.”

Saint trusted Aaron with his life. Still.

He relaxed his shoulders, and Wheeler holstered his gun.

“Understood.”

Nia glanced over her shoulder at Wheeler and relaxed. “You’re Aaron’s?”

Saint chipped a smile. “Something like that.”

She nodded and turned to Key. “What the hell, man? It’s late, and these aren’t the type of guys you rob a convenience store with. How’d you even get out here?”

Key hung his head. “I know. Sorry, Nia.”

She raised an eyebrow at him.

“I hitchhiked,” he muttered and scuffed his sneaker in the dust.

“Idiot.” Nia shook her head. “Let’s go.”

Key got up and walked across the warehouse like his feet weighed more than they did. “I didn’t find her.”

Nia sighed and reached up to put an arm around his shoulders. “I know, buddy. We can talk about it in the morning.”

Saint followed them out at a distance and stopped next to Wheeler at the door.

“We’re all fucked if Cooper finds out about this,” Wheeler said.

Maybe now he’d think twice about taking money from bikers.

Hypocrite.

“Yup.”

Chapter 21

Riley

Riley jerked awake on the couch.

“You stayed,” Saint whispered, frozen at the top of the stairs. His hair stood up, and his eyes were bright black.

Riley swiped a hand across her face and pushed herself up. The screen of her phone lit up, the numbers blurry. It was close to midnight, meaning he’d been gone for six hours. Doing what? The lamp on the side table created a circle of soft light, the rest of the loft lit by yellow haze from the streetlamps outside.