Riding the Edge
Page 9
Rick glanced over at Ava, who seemed fascinated by all the smoke and noise of the screeching tires. She lifted up on her toes to see the wheels, so he pushed his way into the crowd, pulling her along with him to give her a closer view.
“This is awesome,” she whispered when he drew her in front of him.
“Yeah, it can be.”
“They’re ruining their tires.”
“Yes.”
She tilted her head back, her hair brushing his chin. “Why?”
He laughed. “Because they want to win.”
She shook her head and waved at the smoke wafting their way. “Men. Testosterone. Competition.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
The next bike pulled up to try his burnout, and Bo came up behind Rick. “Got a second?”
“Yeah.” He leaned down to Ava. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Ava nodded, her gaze fixated on the biker who revved the throttle and started spinning his wheels. Rick moved through the crowd with Bo and they rounded the corner, away from the smoke and noise.
“What’s up?” Rick asked.
“I need you to make a delivery for me tonight.”
“What kind of delivery?”
Bo’s lips lifted. “I think you know.” He pulled a small padded envelope out of his pocket.
Yeah, Rick knew exactly what that was. “Okay, what’s in it?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
Rick frowned. “I don’t make deliveries unless I know what I’m delivering. You tell me what’s in there or I walk.”
Bo studied him for a second and Rick read the anger in his eyes. Tough shit. Rick wasn’t going to be played by anyone, including his cousin.
“Coke.”
“Fine. Where’s it going?”
Bo gave him the name and address of the delivery—some liquor store in the city, but not on the Strip.
“Ask for T-bone. Buy a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. He’ll meet you around back and hand you the money.”
Bo was specific about the amount of money Rick was supposed to get.
“I want you in my hotel room with the cash right after that.”
“What, you don’t want me spending some of the profits at the Venetian?”
“Funny. Just bring it to me and you’ll get paid.”
Rick took the package and slid it inside his jacket. “Sounds easy enough. When do you want the drop made?”
“Before midnight when the store closes. Meet me back at my room at the hotel.”
“You got it.”
Rick pivoted around the corner and went back to find Ava. Along the way, he pulled out his cell phone and sent a quick text message to General Lee, letting him know he’d just been recruited by Bo to make a drug drop. He had to maintain cover, so it wasn’t like he could tell Bo what he really did for a living, which meant he was going to have to break the law. But everything he did gathered evidence against the Hellraisers.
Not ideal, considering Bo was his cousin, but Bo had made his own bed. There wasn’t much Rick could do about that. Just like the Hellraisers had cut ties with Rick after Rick disappeared, a bond only went so far.
And it wasn’t like he could have turned down the job. To get back into the Hellraisers he had to be a Hellraiser, 100 percent. He felt a momentary shadow of guilt over what he was doing, but brushed it aside. Bo was dirty.
He dug into the crowd by the burnout demo to find Ava. She hadn’t moved, but a couple bikers had muscled in and flanked her. She was talking to them—laughing as they pointed out what was happening.
Rick pushed back his irritation at seeing the guys trying to muscle in on his woman.
He stopped himself. Ava wasn’t his woman. She didn’t belong to him. He was on a case. She wasn’t his girlfriend.
Jesus. He really needed to get a grip and remember his priorities.
Still, seeing one of the guys rub her back made him want to break the dude’s arm. Which meant he was getting closer to Ava than he should.
But wasn’t that the assignment? He just didn’t want another guy stealing her away. Then he couldn’t do his job. That was it, and that’s all it was. Nothing more.
He nudged a few people aside and elbowed the back-rubber out of the way, moving to Ava’s side. Her face brightened with a smile.
“Oh, hey, I thought I’d lost you.”
He leaned in and pressed a long, soft kiss to her lips. “Not a chance. Sorry I was gone so long.”
She licked her lips, her pink tongue darting out to sweep along her bottom lip. His dick noticed, quivering to attention.
“It’s okay. Axe and Roger kept me company.”
She seemed comfortable enough with the two guys. Did she know them? Had he been wrong about how naïve she was about the gang? Maybe she knew more than he thought. And maybe she didn’t. That’s what he was here to find out.
Either way, he didn’t like the guys being so close to her. Rick slung his arm around Ava’s shoulder and sent a very clear signal to the two men, who backed away instantly. “I’ll just bet they did.”
“No, really, they were very nice.”
“Uh huh. Let’s go.”
He’d been planning to leave her here to hang out while he ran the errand for Bo. But now that he saw two guys moving in on her? No f**king way was he leaving her alone.
He moved them out of the crowd and headed down the street where his bike was parked.
“Where are we going? And why are you so angry?”
“For a ride. And I’m not angry.”
“Yes you are. You’re all tensed up and your teeth are clenched.”
He relaxed his muscles, turned to her, and gritted out a smile. “There. Better?”
She laughed. “Not really. But nice try.”
She didn’t seem upset, instead looped her arm through his while they walked, which helped to dissolve his anger. They climbed on the bike and took off.
The ride to the liquor store took almost thirty minutes. Traffic was getting heavier because of the influx of bikers, so the streets were crowded. But at this time of night and the fact that most of the events wouldn’t start until tomorrow, it wasn’t bad. Besides, he’d grown up here, so he knew all the side roads to take.
He pulled up in front of the liquor store and climbed off. Then turned to Ava, hating that he’d brought her along. This wasn’t the place for her. Shitty neighborhood. But he couldn’t very well drag her inside with him.
Fuck. He had to do this quick.
“I’ll be right back. Just hang out here.”
Ava looked around, probably not thrilled with the prospect of being left alone in this part of the city. He couldn’t blame her but there wasn’t much he could do about it. If for some reason this sale went bad and he got busted he didn’t want her in there with him.
“I promise, I’ll be right back.”
She nodded and he strolled inside, the envelope tucked into the inside of his jacket.
The only person working was a guy sporting a red Mohawk and more tattoos than he could count.
“I need to see T-bone.”
The dude lifted his head. “Yeah? Why?”
Rick shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess Bo thought I could get a good deal on whiskey here.”
T-bone eyed him up and down. “I’m T-bone. What kind of whiskey you like?”
“Jack Daniel’s.”
T-bone nodded. “That’ll work.”
T-bone rang up the small bottle of Jack. Rick put it in his jacket, then circled out the front door, raised his hand to Ava to tell her to stay put. He strolled around the corner and toward the back of the store. T-bone was waiting for him. Rick handed him the package. T-bone opened it, nodded, and handed Rick an envelope. Rick pulled it open and flipped through the bills. Satisfied it was the right amount of money, Rick slid the envelope into his inside coat pocket. Without a word he went back to the bike.
“Where did you go?” Ava asked as Rick put on his helmet and got back on the bike.
“I had to take a leak.”
She laughed, which meant she’d bought his excuse. “Oh. How convenient to be a guy where the world is your urinal.”
He shot her a grin over his shoulder. “Isn’t it?” He started up the bike and headed out of there, hating that he’d just broken the law, even if he was undercover and therefore immune from prosecution. It still didn’t sit right with him. But he had to do what was necessary to stay with the Hellraisers, and saying no to Bo wasn’t an option.
“Where are we going now?” Ava asked over his shoulder.
“Back to the hotel.”
“Oh. Okay.”
They parked the bike and headed to the elevators. Ava frowned when Rick pushed the button.
“That’s not our floor.”
“No, it’s not. I need to stop at Bo’s room for a minute.”
“Why?”
“I need to talk to him.”
“Couldn’t you just call him?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
He rolled his eyes as they walked down the hallway. Intelligent women were really difficult sometimes. “Because I need to talk to him in person.”
“Why?”
Fortunately, they got to the door just in time. He was running out of lame responses. He knocked. No answer. Knocked again, harder this time, hoping he’d be heard over the loud music and laughter coming from Bo’s room. The door finally opened. Bo stood there, shirtless, a bottle of beer in his hands, his jeans unbuttoned.
“Oh, hey. Come on in. We’re partying.”
Yeah, partying was right. Rick smelled the pot as soon as Bo had opened the door. Lacey was on the bed, obviously drunk—or maybe stoned—laughing her ass off with some other girl. Another guy sat on the chair smoking a joint and drinking a beer.
Lacey wore only her jeans and her bra. She was barefoot. Her jeans button was undone. The other girl was in her underwear. The guy in the chair had his shirt off, too.
And the room wasn’t so hot they needed to be stripping due to the room temperature, so there was some fun going on in here.
He should have taken Ava to her room first.
Then again, this was a good opportunity to gauge her reaction to hard-core partying.
She didn’t seem uncomfortable, just went into the room and sat on the edge of the bed and started talking to Lacey and the other girl. Lacey introduced Ava to the girl and they engaged in conversation.
So far, so good.
“How about a beer?” Bo asked, motioning Rick into the bathroom where there was a cooler in the tub.
“Sure.”
Rick followed, and Bo turned to him. “Did you make the drop?”
“Yeah.” He pulled the envelope out and handed it to Bo, who pulled out the money, counted it, then handed some over to Rick.
“Any problems?”
“None.”
“Good.” Bo pocketed the cash and fished into the cooler for two beers, handed them to Rick. “I’ll have more work for you, then.”
“You can count on me. I need the cash.”
Bo slapped him on the back. “That’s what I like to hear, buddy.”
They stepped into the room again and Rick handed Ava a beer as he walked by. She looked up at him and smiled. He took a seat on one of the chairs and propped his feet on the edge of the other bed to watch her, conscious of her watching Lacey interact with the other girl, whose name was Rachel.
Rachel was a hard-core biker chick, born and bred to the lifestyle with bleached blond hair that fell to her shoulders, well tattooed on various parts of her body, and a scar or two that said she’d had to fight for her life on several occasions. She looked tough, like she’d seen a lot and been a lot of places—places a nicely bred daughter of a senator had probably never been.
Ava seemed to be studying Rachel, too, and not saying much to either Rachel or Lacey, just watching the way the two women interacted with each other. Ava was more of an observer, though Lacey seemed to be trying to get Ava involved in whatever game Lacey was trying to play.
Rick wondered just what kind of game that was—and how into it Ava would be.
Ava sat back and watched Lacey interact with Rachel, wondering if Lacey had undergone an entire personality transplant. Because Lacey had transformed into a complete stranger.
Gone was the shy, introverted best friend she’d always known. In her place was a wild party girl, obviously drunk, stoned, or possibly both. She was half na**d and lying on the bed with a tattooed, gorgeous woman and about to do—well who knew what had been going on between the two women and two men in this room when they had walked in? From the various states of undress, Ava could only guess at what had been going on.
She had to ask.
“Lace, what are you doing?”
Lacey turned glazed eyes in her direction. “Partying, honey. Come join us.” Lacey raised a bottle of beer and saluted Ava, then guzzled the remnants of the bottle and put it on the nightstand. “Hey, Bo, I need another brew. And another buzz.”
“Sure, babe.” Bo rose from his seat, went into the bathroom, and came back with an open bottle of beer. In his mouth was a lit joint, its pungent smell filling the small suite. He took a toke and handed it to Lacey, who inhaled deeply, held it, and blew out the smoke with a satisfied smile before holding it out for Ava.
“You want some?”
Ava shook her head. “No, thanks.”
Lacey shrugged, giggled, and handed the joint off to Rachel.
Ava was no prude. She’d seen her fair share of wild sex and partying at college, though she hadn’t participated. She’d been exposed to plenty of drugs and alcohol at those parties, too. It was easy to just say no. And they both had. She and Lacey had been to a ton of parties, some of which had gotten pretty out of control. She’d admittedly stayed and watched a few that had gotten into full-on orgy mode, though she was mostly a sideline viewer. And Lacey hadn’t wanted part of any of it, including drinking, doing any kind of drugs, or participating in the unbound sex romps that always seemed to be happening in the dorms or the frat houses.
“This is awesome,” she whispered when he drew her in front of him.
“Yeah, it can be.”
“They’re ruining their tires.”
“Yes.”
She tilted her head back, her hair brushing his chin. “Why?”
He laughed. “Because they want to win.”
She shook her head and waved at the smoke wafting their way. “Men. Testosterone. Competition.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
The next bike pulled up to try his burnout, and Bo came up behind Rick. “Got a second?”
“Yeah.” He leaned down to Ava. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Ava nodded, her gaze fixated on the biker who revved the throttle and started spinning his wheels. Rick moved through the crowd with Bo and they rounded the corner, away from the smoke and noise.
“What’s up?” Rick asked.
“I need you to make a delivery for me tonight.”
“What kind of delivery?”
Bo’s lips lifted. “I think you know.” He pulled a small padded envelope out of his pocket.
Yeah, Rick knew exactly what that was. “Okay, what’s in it?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
Rick frowned. “I don’t make deliveries unless I know what I’m delivering. You tell me what’s in there or I walk.”
Bo studied him for a second and Rick read the anger in his eyes. Tough shit. Rick wasn’t going to be played by anyone, including his cousin.
“Coke.”
“Fine. Where’s it going?”
Bo gave him the name and address of the delivery—some liquor store in the city, but not on the Strip.
“Ask for T-bone. Buy a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. He’ll meet you around back and hand you the money.”
Bo was specific about the amount of money Rick was supposed to get.
“I want you in my hotel room with the cash right after that.”
“What, you don’t want me spending some of the profits at the Venetian?”
“Funny. Just bring it to me and you’ll get paid.”
Rick took the package and slid it inside his jacket. “Sounds easy enough. When do you want the drop made?”
“Before midnight when the store closes. Meet me back at my room at the hotel.”
“You got it.”
Rick pivoted around the corner and went back to find Ava. Along the way, he pulled out his cell phone and sent a quick text message to General Lee, letting him know he’d just been recruited by Bo to make a drug drop. He had to maintain cover, so it wasn’t like he could tell Bo what he really did for a living, which meant he was going to have to break the law. But everything he did gathered evidence against the Hellraisers.
Not ideal, considering Bo was his cousin, but Bo had made his own bed. There wasn’t much Rick could do about that. Just like the Hellraisers had cut ties with Rick after Rick disappeared, a bond only went so far.
And it wasn’t like he could have turned down the job. To get back into the Hellraisers he had to be a Hellraiser, 100 percent. He felt a momentary shadow of guilt over what he was doing, but brushed it aside. Bo was dirty.
He dug into the crowd by the burnout demo to find Ava. She hadn’t moved, but a couple bikers had muscled in and flanked her. She was talking to them—laughing as they pointed out what was happening.
Rick pushed back his irritation at seeing the guys trying to muscle in on his woman.
He stopped himself. Ava wasn’t his woman. She didn’t belong to him. He was on a case. She wasn’t his girlfriend.
Jesus. He really needed to get a grip and remember his priorities.
Still, seeing one of the guys rub her back made him want to break the dude’s arm. Which meant he was getting closer to Ava than he should.
But wasn’t that the assignment? He just didn’t want another guy stealing her away. Then he couldn’t do his job. That was it, and that’s all it was. Nothing more.
He nudged a few people aside and elbowed the back-rubber out of the way, moving to Ava’s side. Her face brightened with a smile.
“Oh, hey, I thought I’d lost you.”
He leaned in and pressed a long, soft kiss to her lips. “Not a chance. Sorry I was gone so long.”
She licked her lips, her pink tongue darting out to sweep along her bottom lip. His dick noticed, quivering to attention.
“It’s okay. Axe and Roger kept me company.”
She seemed comfortable enough with the two guys. Did she know them? Had he been wrong about how naïve she was about the gang? Maybe she knew more than he thought. And maybe she didn’t. That’s what he was here to find out.
Either way, he didn’t like the guys being so close to her. Rick slung his arm around Ava’s shoulder and sent a very clear signal to the two men, who backed away instantly. “I’ll just bet they did.”
“No, really, they were very nice.”
“Uh huh. Let’s go.”
He’d been planning to leave her here to hang out while he ran the errand for Bo. But now that he saw two guys moving in on her? No f**king way was he leaving her alone.
He moved them out of the crowd and headed down the street where his bike was parked.
“Where are we going? And why are you so angry?”
“For a ride. And I’m not angry.”
“Yes you are. You’re all tensed up and your teeth are clenched.”
He relaxed his muscles, turned to her, and gritted out a smile. “There. Better?”
She laughed. “Not really. But nice try.”
She didn’t seem upset, instead looped her arm through his while they walked, which helped to dissolve his anger. They climbed on the bike and took off.
The ride to the liquor store took almost thirty minutes. Traffic was getting heavier because of the influx of bikers, so the streets were crowded. But at this time of night and the fact that most of the events wouldn’t start until tomorrow, it wasn’t bad. Besides, he’d grown up here, so he knew all the side roads to take.
He pulled up in front of the liquor store and climbed off. Then turned to Ava, hating that he’d brought her along. This wasn’t the place for her. Shitty neighborhood. But he couldn’t very well drag her inside with him.
Fuck. He had to do this quick.
“I’ll be right back. Just hang out here.”
Ava looked around, probably not thrilled with the prospect of being left alone in this part of the city. He couldn’t blame her but there wasn’t much he could do about it. If for some reason this sale went bad and he got busted he didn’t want her in there with him.
“I promise, I’ll be right back.”
She nodded and he strolled inside, the envelope tucked into the inside of his jacket.
The only person working was a guy sporting a red Mohawk and more tattoos than he could count.
“I need to see T-bone.”
The dude lifted his head. “Yeah? Why?”
Rick shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess Bo thought I could get a good deal on whiskey here.”
T-bone eyed him up and down. “I’m T-bone. What kind of whiskey you like?”
“Jack Daniel’s.”
T-bone nodded. “That’ll work.”
T-bone rang up the small bottle of Jack. Rick put it in his jacket, then circled out the front door, raised his hand to Ava to tell her to stay put. He strolled around the corner and toward the back of the store. T-bone was waiting for him. Rick handed him the package. T-bone opened it, nodded, and handed Rick an envelope. Rick pulled it open and flipped through the bills. Satisfied it was the right amount of money, Rick slid the envelope into his inside coat pocket. Without a word he went back to the bike.
“Where did you go?” Ava asked as Rick put on his helmet and got back on the bike.
“I had to take a leak.”
She laughed, which meant she’d bought his excuse. “Oh. How convenient to be a guy where the world is your urinal.”
He shot her a grin over his shoulder. “Isn’t it?” He started up the bike and headed out of there, hating that he’d just broken the law, even if he was undercover and therefore immune from prosecution. It still didn’t sit right with him. But he had to do what was necessary to stay with the Hellraisers, and saying no to Bo wasn’t an option.
“Where are we going now?” Ava asked over his shoulder.
“Back to the hotel.”
“Oh. Okay.”
They parked the bike and headed to the elevators. Ava frowned when Rick pushed the button.
“That’s not our floor.”
“No, it’s not. I need to stop at Bo’s room for a minute.”
“Why?”
“I need to talk to him.”
“Couldn’t you just call him?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
He rolled his eyes as they walked down the hallway. Intelligent women were really difficult sometimes. “Because I need to talk to him in person.”
“Why?”
Fortunately, they got to the door just in time. He was running out of lame responses. He knocked. No answer. Knocked again, harder this time, hoping he’d be heard over the loud music and laughter coming from Bo’s room. The door finally opened. Bo stood there, shirtless, a bottle of beer in his hands, his jeans unbuttoned.
“Oh, hey. Come on in. We’re partying.”
Yeah, partying was right. Rick smelled the pot as soon as Bo had opened the door. Lacey was on the bed, obviously drunk—or maybe stoned—laughing her ass off with some other girl. Another guy sat on the chair smoking a joint and drinking a beer.
Lacey wore only her jeans and her bra. She was barefoot. Her jeans button was undone. The other girl was in her underwear. The guy in the chair had his shirt off, too.
And the room wasn’t so hot they needed to be stripping due to the room temperature, so there was some fun going on in here.
He should have taken Ava to her room first.
Then again, this was a good opportunity to gauge her reaction to hard-core partying.
She didn’t seem uncomfortable, just went into the room and sat on the edge of the bed and started talking to Lacey and the other girl. Lacey introduced Ava to the girl and they engaged in conversation.
So far, so good.
“How about a beer?” Bo asked, motioning Rick into the bathroom where there was a cooler in the tub.
“Sure.”
Rick followed, and Bo turned to him. “Did you make the drop?”
“Yeah.” He pulled the envelope out and handed it to Bo, who pulled out the money, counted it, then handed some over to Rick.
“Any problems?”
“None.”
“Good.” Bo pocketed the cash and fished into the cooler for two beers, handed them to Rick. “I’ll have more work for you, then.”
“You can count on me. I need the cash.”
Bo slapped him on the back. “That’s what I like to hear, buddy.”
They stepped into the room again and Rick handed Ava a beer as he walked by. She looked up at him and smiled. He took a seat on one of the chairs and propped his feet on the edge of the other bed to watch her, conscious of her watching Lacey interact with the other girl, whose name was Rachel.
Rachel was a hard-core biker chick, born and bred to the lifestyle with bleached blond hair that fell to her shoulders, well tattooed on various parts of her body, and a scar or two that said she’d had to fight for her life on several occasions. She looked tough, like she’d seen a lot and been a lot of places—places a nicely bred daughter of a senator had probably never been.
Ava seemed to be studying Rachel, too, and not saying much to either Rachel or Lacey, just watching the way the two women interacted with each other. Ava was more of an observer, though Lacey seemed to be trying to get Ava involved in whatever game Lacey was trying to play.
Rick wondered just what kind of game that was—and how into it Ava would be.
Ava sat back and watched Lacey interact with Rachel, wondering if Lacey had undergone an entire personality transplant. Because Lacey had transformed into a complete stranger.
Gone was the shy, introverted best friend she’d always known. In her place was a wild party girl, obviously drunk, stoned, or possibly both. She was half na**d and lying on the bed with a tattooed, gorgeous woman and about to do—well who knew what had been going on between the two women and two men in this room when they had walked in? From the various states of undress, Ava could only guess at what had been going on.
She had to ask.
“Lace, what are you doing?”
Lacey turned glazed eyes in her direction. “Partying, honey. Come join us.” Lacey raised a bottle of beer and saluted Ava, then guzzled the remnants of the bottle and put it on the nightstand. “Hey, Bo, I need another brew. And another buzz.”
“Sure, babe.” Bo rose from his seat, went into the bathroom, and came back with an open bottle of beer. In his mouth was a lit joint, its pungent smell filling the small suite. He took a toke and handed it to Lacey, who inhaled deeply, held it, and blew out the smoke with a satisfied smile before holding it out for Ava.
“You want some?”
Ava shook her head. “No, thanks.”
Lacey shrugged, giggled, and handed the joint off to Rachel.
Ava was no prude. She’d seen her fair share of wild sex and partying at college, though she hadn’t participated. She’d been exposed to plenty of drugs and alcohol at those parties, too. It was easy to just say no. And they both had. She and Lacey had been to a ton of parties, some of which had gotten pretty out of control. She’d admittedly stayed and watched a few that had gotten into full-on orgy mode, though she was mostly a sideline viewer. And Lacey hadn’t wanted part of any of it, including drinking, doing any kind of drugs, or participating in the unbound sex romps that always seemed to be happening in the dorms or the frat houses.
