“Yeah,” Moon sighed and sent a sympathetic look to the angry man across from me. “Cordell spotted her on a website for those in search of companionship from girls of a certain age. The website is run by Roadkill and Cordell thought, mistakenly, that Craig was a friend of mine because he saw him in my shop.”
Ripcord nodded. “And I ransacked her place thinking I could find evidence of this underage bullshit. That’s not some shit they’d keep at the clubhouse.”
I snorted. “Not that you have a chance in hell of getting inside the Roadkill clubhouse.”
“Not yet, anyway. I’m working on it.” He turned to Moon. “I really am sorry about messing up your shit, but I was desperate.”
She waved him off. “You can replace the furniture but right now we need to focus. You both have a common enemy. Maybe a little teamwork is in order?”
I let my shoulders fall in resignation. I didn’t love the idea of bringing more people into the storm that was my life right now but I appreciated—more than she could know—that she thought of me when she heard his story. “Shit.”
“Yeah. What problems are you having with Roadkill?” Ripcord looked at me intently, waiting for me to spill my secrets.
I looked at Moon, who shrugged. “This is your story to tell, not mine.”
“So fucking reasonable,” I grumbled while she laughed easily. With great reluctance, I filled him in on some of the problems with Roadkill and the whole goddamn city. “It’s always something these days with the city, trying to shut down our businesses. And Roadkill, they’re just a fucking pain.”
I told him all about Vigo working with the feds because any MC worth their fucking salt would have rules against snitching. His eyes went wide when I mentioned the political corruption.
“Damn, man. Where’s Vigo now?”
“Dead.” That was all he needed to know.
“Good.” Ripcord gave a short nod of respect, which I returned. I couldn’t blame a man for doing what he had to do to find his kid sister, especially if his story was true.
“Better than good,” Moon said with a loud clap. “I’m happy to have facilitated this meeting but I need you to go so I can scrub this place and keep an eye on my son.”
Both of us stood, feeling bad to have kept her occupied when she clearly had other shit on her mind.
“I’ll take these to the cans.” Ripcord held four bags with an expectant look on his face.
“Side of the house,” I said at the same time Moon did. I turned to Moon with a look of my own. “Busy day?”
She grinned. “You could say that.”
I wanted to ask more but Ripcord’s boots were loud as fuck on the steps and I pulled back. Moon stepped around me so she stood between us, always the damn peacemaker.
“Sorry to scare you. I appreciate you trying to help, for real.” I reached for my piece when he dug into his pocket but it was just a wad of cash. Ripcord pulled off a few bills, at least three grand from what I could tell. “For furniture and cleaning,” he grinned and waved before heading back toward the door.
“Good luck finding your sister, Cordell.”
He froze and sent her a sad smile. “Yeah, thanks.”
“You have somewhere I can get in touch with you?” I still didn’t know if this guy and his MC were full of shit but Moon was right. If Roadkill was their enemy, we had common ground.
“Yeah. SoS Auto Restoration.” With a final nod, he was gone.
Moon sighed as she turned to me and wrapped her arms around my waist. “Sorry to worry you.”
“I’m sorry Beau had another attack.” I let my arms wrap around her body, rubbing one hand up and down her back before dropping a kiss on top of her head. “How are you holding up?”
She sighed and leaned further into me with a moan. “Better now that he is, but still shaken.”
“Sorry to add to it sweetheart, but we’re on lockdown which means that you and little man are coming with me. No arguments.” I inhaled her deep floral scent, closing my eyes and counted down the seconds until she pulled away and rattled off a dozen reasons why she couldn’t—or wouldn’t—come with me.
She did pull back and tired light green eyes looked up into mine, searching for an answer I was pretty sure I didn’t have. “Okay. Do you think you can put some shoes on Beau while I pack an overnight bag?”
I nodded, relieved and worried by how easily she agreed. But I’d deal with that once I was sure they were safe. “No problem, but you might want to make it a few nights.”