Reckless Road (Torpedo Ink 5)

“I don’t care what brought her here,” Player said. “She’s here and I want her to stay. I’ll figure out a way to make up for my stupidity.”

“Because we have so much to offer a woman like that,” Keys said.

Savage shook his head, his gaze fixed on Code. “There’s more to this than you’ve said, right, Code? And you don’t much like it.”

Code nodded, his whiskey-colored eyes intense. He wore his dark blond hair closely cropped, had a perpetual five-o’clock shadow and faint mustache. He didn’t carry an ounce of fat on his body, but was all defined muscle without bulk. Czar had recognized very early the genius in him and had taken him under his wing and protected him as best he could from the hungry predators in the school when they were children.

“Yeah. It’s not good. Zyah came home for a reason. Recently Anat’s home was broken into and she was beaten severely, so much so that one leg, one arm and her ribs were broken, the leg in three places. The robbers might have killed her if a neighbor hadn’t heard all the screaming and called the cops. That’s why Zyah came home. To take care of her. She didn’t just take a leave of absence, she quit that extremely lucrative job to come back and care for her grandmother.” Code indicated the report. “It’s all in there.”

There was a sudden silence. Czar broke it. “What the fuck? Someone broke into that woman’s home and beat her to the point she nearly died?”

Code nodded. “A second house was broken into two streets over from the Gamal house about three days after the attack on Anat. The occupants, an elderly couple, Benjamin and Phillis Gimble, were both beaten and robbed. Same exact MO.”

“This is bullshit,” Maestro swore.

Code kept going. “I started checking around and looked for similar robberies in other places. I believe there’s a ring of thieves targeting the elderly. They scout them out, break in, beat and rob them and then move to another town. They target smaller towns where there’s no police force and law enforcement is spread thin. Sea Haven meets those criteria.”

“Damn it.” Czar drummed his fingers on the table.

“It gets worse.”

“Don’t fuckin’ tell me that,” Czar snapped.

“The minute I realized this was Player’s woman, I put everything I had on finding out as much as I could as fast as I could. Other than working on making certain Breezy was safe, and I am one hundred percent sure she is, I stayed up all night getting into police reports and looking into every corner I could in the time I had of finding out about Zyah and her grandmother’s business.”

“Just put it on the table,” Czar said, sighing. Sprawling back.

Player leaned forward. He wasn’t liking the look on Code’s face.

“First let me say, Zyah’s intelligent and aware. She began taking courses in Krav Maga in LA when she first came to the United States and continued training throughout her college years. Her company urged her to continue those courses due to her extensive traveling, a woman alone in so many countries that can be hostile to women. She kept up her training, and I believe her company paid for it.”

“Damn right that woman is intelligent,” Storm said, flashing an admiring grin at his twin, Ice. “That company of hers really values her. They pay for everything.”

“Paid,” Steele corrected. “Past tense. She quit to come home and look after her grandmother. Keep going, Code. What happened to put that frown on your face?”

“They came back. The thieves. Zyah changed the locks on the doors. She also put a chair under the doorknob at the back door before she left and told her grandmother to have company when she was gone. She didn’t want her there alone. Inez and Frank were with her while Zyah came to the party here at the clubhouse. Apparently, Lizz asked Anat to have Zyah drive her granddaughter, Francine, so she’d have a sober driver. Francine has had two DUIs already. Zyah agreed but only if someone stayed with Anat while she was out. I know this because it’s all in the police report. Someone unlocked the back door. They had an actual key. Zyah had just changed those locks. If she hadn’t put that chair in place, I don’t know what would have happened. Inez called the sheriff, but the robbers were gone by the time they got there. Anat was pretty shaken up, but she didn’t want Zyah told until after her job interviews. She was adamant about that. I got that right out of the notes Jackson wrote in his report.”

“These women,” Alena said, “are amazing. I want to meet them. I’m with Code, Player, you don’t deserve her, but Zyah needs to be part of our club, so I’m all for you winning her back. And I want Anat to be part of us. I’m going to have to whip up something special and bring it to her. She’s got to be the strongest woman I’ve ever heard of.”