Protect & Serve(196)

I felt woozy.

I knew how this had ended.

“He went to the police,” I groaned, “and that didn’t go over so well.”

“Correct,” Grizz replied calmly as he cleaned out a glass with a rag, feigning activity to keep talking to me. “Hunter’s information got his ass locked up in interrogations for hours with the club members in his company. Myself included.”

“And by the time he went back…”

“They were gone, yes.”

The pit in my stomach grew deeper than ever. Hunter had told me that he’d gone to the cops with some evidence of the cartel’s workings, and some intelligence on where to possibly find them… Turns out he had found the girls and lost them, thanks to goddamned police incompetence.

My blood was boiling as hard as ever, but this time, it wasn’t because Hunter had hidden something from me after all… it was because he had come so close to saving them, and ineptitude and prejudice had robbed him of his chance.

“What can you tell me about the Desert Owl?” I asked suddenly, turning to Grizz again.

He paused in mid-swipe on another glass, refusing to look at me. “Trust me… you already know more than you ever want to know about him,” Grizz cryptically explained.

“He’s an interrogator, right? That’s a weird name for one of those… I know that he’s a combat medic, but that’s about it…”

Grizz sighed heavily. “He joined the armed forces to see bloodshed. He wanted to witness the horrors of war right up front and center, and so he enlisted in the medical division to treat amputations and infections on the front lines.”

I swallowed.

What kind of people has Hunter conspired with to keep the peace out here? What kind of man does it make him to have someone like this at his beck and call?

“I know what you are thinking, Sarah,” Grizz quietly informed me. “You are questioning the sanctity of the man who was your lover.”

“Something like that,” I agreed.

“Are you a good churchgoing woman?” he asked quietly.

“Not quite,” I replied, taking notice of the small cross hanging round Grizz’s neck. I hadn’t been inside a church in twenty years…

“Allow me to be perfectly clear…” he replied as the glass and its rag were set down. All illusions that this conversation wasn’t happening were cast aside.

“…I do not serve evil men,” Grizz told me under no uncertain terms, “nor do I serve men who maintain the company of the wicked. I follow the president of the Devil’s Dragons club because he has steered us from wanton violence and cruelty… He is my King Solomon, and I am his Benaiah. Hunter doesn’t enjoy fighting these evils. He does not pride himself on it. He has gathered allies, forged truces, and curried the favor of hundreds. Hunter works with men who walk the path of the righteous…”

I didn’t have words to reply, but I didn’t have to. Grizz turned to watch as Hunter stepped back into the club, looking worn and fatigued. The events of the night were starting to weigh on him.

I could only imagine that whoever was on the other end of the phone hadn’t exactly made things easy, either.

“Thank you,” I quickly whispered to Grizz, who merely nodded silently and watched Hunter approach.

“That was the Desert Owl,” Hunter mentioned offhandedly. He rubbed the side of his face with a palm, but paused when he saw the two of us near each other – separated only by the counter.

“I thought I told you to watch over the club,” Hunter remarked with a hint of irritation. “Why are you over here with Sarah?”

Grizz stiffened, but didn’t skip a beat to answer matter-of-factly: “My apologies, sir. I was answering Sarah’s questions about the club, about the Outlaws, and about the incident in Tucson.”

Hunter looked like he was about to lose his fucking mind for a split second, but then descended into raucous laughter.

“Stir the assholes who are still sleeping,” Hunter finally replied. “I need five bikers ready for a hard ride…”

Grizz paused.

“You mean…”

“I do,” Hunter cut him off. “Don’t waste your time on anyone who’s too hung over to shoot. I can’t afford to lose anyone on this.”

“Of course.” His right-hand man dutifully left the bar, descending into the bar hallway.

Hunter confidently smirked at me.

“I have a plan.”

I ignored this. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I demanded to know. “What was the point of leaving out the minor detail of, oh, I don’t know… actually seeing the fucking missing girls?”