Sour Cherry(10)

Of course the club had sent Talon.

As if a hundred pound weight on my chest wasn’t enough, my hands started shaking. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the cool shower tile. The freezing temperature brought some peace, but not a lot. The shotgun trembled in my hands. Talon would find me in here, drag me out by my hair, and present me to Ryder. My president wouldn’t do the dirty work, however. No. Talon had taken the job voluntarily when sworn in. Always the people-pleaser.

“Bathroom,” Cooper answered. “Nothing special.”

My eyes shot open when the doorknob rattled. I forced my hands to still and brought the shotgun around toward the door. The barrel leveled with the doorknob. In this position, the kickback could break my hip, but I didn’t trust my strength to hold it up right now.

“Open it.” Another familiar voice. Amelia.

Damn it all to hell.

I didn’t remember locking the door. Maybe Cooper had. Random thoughts crossed my mind in those agonizing seconds. Would Cooper open the door? Give me up? How’d they find me?

Short gasps filled my ears. Mine. I was on the verge of hyperventilating. I searched the small space for a way out. Just like the bathroom at the clubhouse, the small window set into the outside wall was too small for me to fit through. My eyes locked on a vent in the ceiling.

Without a second thought, I scrambled out of the tub, setting the shotgun against the wall silently.

“Won’t open,” Cooper said from the other side of the door. His attempt to buy me time went into the pro column. I’d have to thank him for that if I survived the next few minutes.

Leveraging myself on top of the toilet, I reached for the vent cover. Of all the things I’d planned on doing today, climbing into a vent hadn’t been one of them. I’d never complain again about my life being boring. Ever. The metal cover dropped open, its hinges screaming in protest.

“What was that?” Talon asked.

I didn’t have time to think of the consequences of the sound. I jumped down from the toilet, grabbed the shotgun and climbed back up. Thuds reverberated throughout the bathroom as someone, presumably Talon, tried to shoulder their way in. I shoved the shotgun inside the vent as carefully as possible. I didn’t want it going off accidentally. With one last glance toward the bathroom door, now cracking under pressure, I lifted myself up into the vent with help from the bathroom counter and scurried inside completely.

My skin caught on sharp edges of metal as I pushed myself backward into the vent. I tried not to cry out as I used my remaining strength to pull the vent cover shut behind me.

The bathroom door slammed open. Footsteps crossed the space and I stared down onto Talon’s full head of dark, curly hair.

He wrenched the shower curtain aside. “Nobody’s here.”

Amelia came into view. “She has to be here. Tweeker or not, Lilia said she saw her and she wouldn’t lie to me. I pay a lot to keep her little habit going.” She turned around, hands on hips. Her bracelets clinked as she moved. “Where is she?”

I assumed she’d spoken to Cooper who still hadn’t entered the bathroom.

“Don’t know who you’re talking about.”

Talon ripped the bathroom cabinets open, emptying everything onto the linoleum. “I’ll check the other rooms again. She might have moved.” He left in a rush, carrying his gun in one hand and a knife in the other.

Amelia took two steps out of my sight. “Come on, Cooper. We know about the other night. You and that little bitch hooked up. What’d she tell you?” She paused. “She tell you where the exchange was? Is that how S.A. got the jump on us?”

I held my breath, waiting for his answer.

They thought I’d passed on club secrets? My heart plummeted into my stomach. Is that what all this was about? Impossible. The exchange went south before I’d met Cooper. I’d gone to the bar because of that. Unless—

“Like I said before, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Nobody’s here.” Cooper’s voice remained calm.

I envied him that. I didn’t dare slide further into the vent, despite my uncomfortable position and the fact my left arm had fallen asleep. The steel of the gun cut into my bare leg. I shifted slightly, and the vent groaned beneath my weight.

Amelia’s gaze shot upward. “Clever bitch.” She stormed out of the bathroom.

Cooper appeared beneath the vent, small portions of his shoulder tattoo peeking out from under his collar. He glanced upward then back toward the bathroom door. “Move toward the front of the house. Take the gun with you. I’ll meet you there.” He disappeared.

I didn’t have the chance to ask him how the hell I was supposed to do all that. Barely a foot and a half in width and two feet tall, the vent offered little room for me to move anywhere. Then again, anything could be accomplished when your life was on the line.