“They don’t want guests,” Cadence replied, her gaze sweeping side to side alertly. “Are you sure we’ll be welcome?”
“I am,” I answered, putting a helluva lot of faith in Johnny as we came to a barbed wire fence protected by a large gate and a guy who didn’t bother to hide the modified rifle he carried. I slowed the car to a crawl, but he was already opening the gate. I eased forward, suddenly regretting inviting Cadence along. “If shit goes wrong, take the car, bust the gate and get the hell out. There’s an automatic in the glove box and another one under the seat,” I murmured, unwilling to leave her defenseless.
“And you?”
“I’ll buy you time.”
There was a momentary pause, then she said, “No man left behind.”
“How did I know you were going to be difficult?” I whispered under my breath. I raised my voice. “Save yourself,” I stated clearly. “I signed up for this, you didn’t.”
“How about we just hope for the best?”
I cursed. “Dammit, woman. You really are a hellion.”
“Thank you,” she replied, sounding pleased. “I guess we’re meeting him?”
I came to a stop as a scrawny kid walked toward us, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “Remember where the guns are?” I questioned, not taking my eyes off the kid.
“Glove box and tucked in my waistband,” she answered, opening her door. “Game on.”
“Noah,” the familiar kid greeted me, nodding as he eyeballed Cadence warily. “Nobody said nothing about a guest.”
“Riley,” I sighed, unable to hide the disappointment in my voice. He ducked his head, but before he could say anything, Cadence cooed, “Sweet doggie.”
I eyed the massive black mutt, who was growling and lunging against his chain as Cadence continued to baby talk to it. “Who’s a sweet baby? Hmmm, look at you, big handsome.”
She looked straight at Riley and asked, “Can I pet him?”
“No,” I answered instantly, giving her an, “Are you insane?” glance.
“You are so mean, Noah,” she pouted, crossing her arms as she frowned at me. “Riley would let me pet him.” She smiled at the kid and I noticed her crossed arms had the effect of pushing her cleavage up. I wasn’t the only one who noticed as Riley appeared stunned speechless.
“Car,” I barked, bringing Riley’s attention back to me and away from Cadence’s abundant charms. I rested my hand against the small of her back, effectively claiming her and seeing if she really had managed to slide my spare gun in the waistband of her jeans. A small lump answered me and I had to work to keep the smile off my face.
“He’s inside,” Riley muttered grudgingly. When he turned, I could see the bruise on his cheek. Anger spiked through me and my fist clenched automatically.
“You can stop by anytime,” I commented, striving to keep my voice neutral, but Riley still tensed. “Door’s always open.”
Riley shook his head jerkily. “He’s family,” he finally mumbled before taking off across the lot to another building.
Cadence glanced up at me, her eyes lingering on my own bruised face. “All you can do is offer,” she murmured, bumping my shoulder to get me moving.
“Why is it so damn hard to look in a mirror?” I questioned rhetorically, Riley’s answer hitting me harder than I wanted to admit.
“Because sometimes the image is distorted,” she whispered so quietly I almost didn’t catch the words.
I opened the door to the small temporary building, cutting Cadence off before she could go ahead of me. I had no idea what we might walk into but she wasn’t going to get the brunt of it.
“First time I’ve ever willingly let a damn cop walk through the front door,” Dwayne grumbled, standing up from behind a cluttered desk.
I nodded to the stacks of folders covering every surface. “Didn’t realize illegal chop shops required so much paperwork.”
“They don’t,” he claimed, clapping his hands together. “It’s the legal ones that are the headache.” His gaze drifted to Cadence. “Your partner?”
“His old lady, actually,” she sniffed, appearing disinterested as her gaze bounced around the room.
“My apologies,” Dwayne murmured, his eyebrows lifting. “I hadn’t realized.”
“The car?” I questioned in a futile attempt to distract Dwayne. Him and Johnny gossiped worse than old women, and before night fell the whole county would know about me and Cadence.
“It must be a recent development?” Dwayne observed, his voice rising in question and Cadence nodded.
“When you know, you know,” she answered carelessly, her hand reaching over to pinch my side as she gave me an adoring smile. I coughed to cover a laugh and wrapped my arm around her shoulder.
“Johnny said you had a car stolen?” I tried again and this time Dwayne managed to drag his attention back to me.
“Yeah, fucking Rob.” He shook his head. “I gave the make and model to Johnny so he could get the word out to the clubs, but he wanted me to make it official.” His forehead wrinkled. “Why aren’t you in uniform?” Cadence’s elbow dug into my side and I shifted slightly.