I nod in agreement. “Some call me insane. But now you understand why I need protection.”
She cuts the wheel down a road we haven’t looped around yet, and she shakes her head. “You don’t need protection. You need to learn how to hide in plain sight, and you need expendable goons. Drex’s guys are not expendable. One Death Dealer dies because of your mess, and they’ll all come for you.”
I swallow a little nervously. I’m crazy—not suicidal. I don’t know a lot about biker clubs.
“I didn’t want Drex’s guys or assume they were expendable. I’ve been looking into building a team. They need to be more skilled than just goons.”
“I’ll make some calls for you. You need to adopt a name to work under if you’re going through with this.”
“I’ve already formed an identity—a male identity—that will be the one in charge, or so my team will think.”
Her grin only spreads. “I’ll let you know when I have some expendable goons in line for your little pet project.”
I turn to face her a little more fully. “I have a criteria that has to be met before they’re hired. And why would you help me?” I ask her, suspicious.
She turns into an apartment complex. “As of now, this is your home. You have access to your accounts that can’t be tracked by your brother?”
“I handled that immediately. But he’ll still find me if I stay in the city if I don’t have protection. That’s what I was trying to ask the club for. Protection only.”
Her smile never wavers. If anything, she smiles bigger. “Oh, that won’t be a problem. I’m an expert at hiding right under someone’s nose. I’ll teach you. It’s not hard to learn. No protection needed until the heat starts coming down. Then we’ll start resourcing that task out. It’s safer to rely on yourself as long as you can.”
As she parks her car and gets out, I follow, still suspicious. “Again, why would you help me?”
She stabs the elevator button, and I glance around the empty garage.
“No cameras out here or in the garage elevator. Two cameras are on your floor, but your new apartment is in a blind spot from both of them because of the angles,” she says, still not answering my question.
As the doors open, she steps in, and I follow her once more.
“You have the funds to replace all your clothes. Do that instead of returning to your old apartment for your things. Keep the sorority girl look,” she adds.
I run a frustrated hand through my hair.
“Why are you helping me?” I ask her again, knowing how dangerous it is to trust just anyone, but desperate enough to take the chance. If she can tell me why I should.
If I go back to New York after already failing, all hell will break loose. It’s the worst option.
She faces me just as the elevator starts whisking us up.
“Because you have a lot of money, a lot of contacts in a world that will be of use to me eventually, and it’s always smart to be owed favors from someone like you. I help you, then you help me. Understood?”
That I can work with.
“Understood. How much money do you need?”
Her grin spreads again. “Nothing right now. I’ll let you know when I need to cash in on my favors. Until then, be thankful I walked over to Snake tonight. Because I’m about to save your life.”
As the doors open, I blow out a heavy breath.
“I am thankful, as long as you’re not crazy and just jerking my chain.”
She laughs again, and uses her keys to push open a door to an apartment. My breath catches when we walk into the large apartment that looks more like a conspiracy theorist’s bunker.
Guns upon guns line the walls, along with various other things—explosive things, mostly. Pictures are stabbed to the walls, and notes are taped up everywhere.
She moves to the center of the room, crossing her arms as I take in the chaos.
“Oh, sweetie, I’m possibly crazier than you. But I love my favors, and saving your life earns me a big one. I’ll keep you alive. You just make sure your word is good.”
It isn’t until I start reading the notes that I realize the most crucial detail of who has just brought me to safety. I also realize why she seemed vaguely familiar, though I’ve only seen blurred images of her until now.
Things just got a lot more interesting.
My jaw is slack, still trying to make sense of everything I’m seeing.
“It is,” I say quietly.
It’s a small fucking world as I slowly unravel exactly who Sarah is.
She’s not Sarah at all.
“Good,” she states flatly, lifting her phone. “Because your life depends on that.”
CHAPTER 6
Present…
AXLE
“They took all of it,” Drex says calmly, although I can feel the inevitable explosion crackling close to the surface.