Silver Saints MC Volume 2

I fucking hated this place.

I held my breath, hoping it would just continue by, but I always had the shittiest luck whenever I stepped foot in this town.

The cruiser pulled up in front of me, and a cop exited the vehicle. I sighed and flipped on the overhead light, so he could see I didn’t pose a threat.

It was a warm night, so the window was already down when he approached, his hand resting on his holster.

“Evening,” he murmured as his eyes scanned all around me, looking for weapons, drugs, or booze, most likely. When he seemed satisfied that nothing illegal was in plain sight, his posture relaxed just an inch, and he finally met my gaze.

His eyebrows shot up, and he cocked his head to the side. “Nova Rossi?”

I squinted. The brightness in the car and the moon shining behind him made it difficult to clearly see the officer’s face. “Uh, yeah. Do I know you?”

“Kevin Hines, we went to high school together.”

Okay, so maybe my luck wasn’t all bad. Kevin had been a decent kid. Bit of a nerd, but he never looked at me the way the other kids did. And the two times I’d run into him on a trip home after joining the Silver Saints, he shook my hand and said hello.

I turned off the interior light so I had a better view. “Hey, Kevin. I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you with the lighting and everything.”

“No problem. Listen, man, I’m sorry to ask, but I noticed you earlier when I drove home for lunch. Is there a reason you’re parked out here?”

“Fair question,” I returned. “Do you know Chad Boone?”

Kevin’s face remained mostly neutral, but his mouth tightened at the corners and his eyes turned hard. “Yeah.”

“Apparently, my sister is friends with his stepdaughter. Arya was worried about her, so I promised to come check on her. I didn’t want to step on any toes if everything was fine, though.”

Kevin glanced at Rylee’s house and shook his head. “I shouldn’t be telling you this. But from what I hear, it’s bad. Unfortunately, he hasn’t done anything that would give me cause to arrest him. That I can prove anyway.”

I waited for a minute, mulling over my next words, then decided to be honest. “You know he’s in debt to the mob?”

“I’ve heard, but it’s all speculation.”

“Arya thinks Rylee will be caught in the crossfire.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me.” He paused, then murmured, “Haven’t seen Rylee in a couple of weeks.” His gaze came back to me, and he looked long and hard for a silent minute. Then he stuck his hand out, and we shook. Before letting mine go, he squeezed hard and brought me a little closer to the window. “You do whatever it takes to help that girl.” He smiled and shrugged. “Of course, as a cop, I can’t encourage you to do anything illegal or suggest any course of action, but...I’ll let the precinct know I’ve checked you out and not to bother you. Nobody will be sorry to see that son of a bitch gone.”

Then he released my hand and saluted me with two fingers. “Nice to see you, Nova,” he said before whistling a tune as he walked back to his squad car.

When he was gone, I sat back in my seat, a little stunned at what had just happened. As soon as the cops ran my license plate, they’d know who I was, but he assured me they would leave me alone... Well, well. Someone this town hates more than me.

The comment Kevin had made about not seeing Rylee recently stuck with me long after he was gone and the lights in her house had gone dark. The expression on her face when she’d been staring out the window meant more now.

I was willing to bet that Chad was keeping Rylee under lock and key. And, after witnessing at least five cars that practically screamed “mob” crawl in front of their house, I was pretty sure it was because he was waiting for a deal. He didn’t want the Ukrainians snatching her before he could negotiate his freedom.

Speak of the devil...I thought as another car slowed in front of Rylee’s house and inched by, before speeding up when they reached the property line on the other side and disappearing.

Thinking back, I put together a pattern and realized they were sending someone by roughly every two hours.

Which meant I currently had a window of opportunity.

Grabbing a pair of gloves and a lock pick set, I exited my car and silently made my way to Rylee’s house and then around the side where I spotted another entrance. I had the pathetic lock unlatched in seconds and crept into what looked to be their kitchen.

It was an open floor plan, though, so I immediately spotted the stairs leading to the second floor. Years of being a troublemaker, then a patch with the Silver Saints had taught me stealth. Not even a single floorboard creaked on my way up. At the top of the stairs were four doors. Two were open—a bathroom and an office. Through the one on my right, I heard someone sawing a fucking log and knew my hunch about Rylee’s room had been correct.