––––––––
I found Gabriel smoking a cigarette by the casino entrance. His dark eyes watched the crawling line of taxis, but he stayed leaned against the wall.
“I thought you were getting a cab,” I said.
Gabriel shrugged. “Can’t leave my bike here. I’m trying to figure out what to do.”
It figured. Biker boys were predictable. Luckily, I’d managed to find someone willing to help us out, and he chose that exact moment to pull up to the curb in his pick-up truck.
Gabriel tossed his cigarette aside and jumped up when he realized who it was. “You!” His eyes flashed wildly, passing from him, to me, and back.
Adrian rolled down the window and strained to look at us. “So where’s this motorcycle, huh?” His face fell when Gabriel began walking toward him with the slow intent of a man on a mission to kill. “Oh, shit—”
Gabriel wrenched the passenger side door open. “What did you do to my ride, man?” he asked.
“What?”
I rushed over and placed a hand on Gabriel’s back.
“It wasn’t me! How could I when I didn’t even know where you fucking were?”
“He’s right, Gabriel.” I felt his heart pounding in his back, but its pace was slowing down. “Let’s just get the bike in the truck. Okay?”
Gabriel turned to look at me, surprising me. The fire was still in his eyes, but it was down to a smolder. For a brief second, I glimpsed the same Gabriel who had been with me upstairs in the hotel room. I shook the image out of my mind. It had only been last night, but it was like a dream.
Adrian drove us through the parking structure to where Gabriel had left his bike. I made sure to sit in the middle, between the two guys. Adrian waited in the driver’s seat and let the engine idle, leaving me and Gabriel to try and heave the bike into his truck bed.
“What now?” Gabriel asked after we slammed the tailgate shut.
I wiped a bit of sweat off of my forehead and put my hands on my hips. “Are you going to be nice now?”
Gabriel made a face. “Don’t do this. I’m sorry if I was an asshole earlier. It’s just that...”
Something tightened in my chest. I was reminded again of last night, and I was afraid he’d bring it up. But when he didn’t, I realized that I wasn’t afraid at all. I was actually disappointed.
“”I made a promise that I’d help you.” He lifted his chin to look me square in the face. “And I don’t break my promises. I’ll see things through ‘til the end.”
There was something temporary about his tone, like he was telling me that after “the end,” he’d be gone for good. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, so I could only nod along with him.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s get going.”
* * *
The ride back to the tattoo shop was mostly silent. Adrian kept the radio tuned to an alternative rock station, which we all pretended to listen to. I spent the time imagining that I could read the guys’ thoughts.
Gabriel was probably regretting the moment he befriended me. I glanced sidelong at him. He leaned against the window on an elbow, picking at his lips. I noticed his fingernails were a little ragged, like he had a habit of chewing them off.
Slowly, I turned my head toward Adrian at my left. His eyes were narrowed and focused on the road, but they seemed troubled. I didn’t know much about him, but I did know that he cared about his sister. Of course, Anna was in the middle of all this. She probably enjoyed everyone crowding around her, worried for her safety.
After all we’d been through, I felt like I owed Anna something. I couldn’t just ditch her in Vegas after fate worked so hard to make our paths cross. But this is the last time, I promised myself. And with a start, I realized that that was probably exactly how Gabriel felt about me.
We drove past the shop so Adrian could park in a side alley.
“You guys can chit-chat with Anna or whatever,” he said. “I think I have a mechanic I can call about the motorcycle.”
The three of us shuffled down the stairs to the basement entrance. That was when Adrian stopped suddenly, almost causing me and Gabriel to collide into him.
“What’s up?” Gabriel asked.
Adrian was frozen, staring at the door. He reached out and pulled it open about an inch before letting it fall shut again. “I could’ve sworn I locked up before I left.”
The tone in his voice made my blood freeze. Gabriel and I exchanged troubled glances. Then, with a curt nod, Gabriel shouldered past Adrian and tried the door. Without even looking, I knew he was reaching for his hidden blade. I just hoped it would be enough for whatever was waiting for us inside.
Gabriel swiftly opened the door and brandished his knife. Adrian and I followed him in.
“What the fuck?” Adrian cried.
It took a moment for me to realize what I was looking at. The entire place was trashed. Workstations were overturned, posters were torn off walls, and to top it all off, the register was still in the process of being raided. I blinked a few times, unable to believe who I was seeing.
“Larry?”
Larry jumped back from the register, his face pale. There was a wad of cash in his hands. Adrian made a strangled, outraged noise and lunged forward. I grabbed him by the back of his sweater, merely on instinct. And fortunately, my instinct was right on point. After the initial shock of being caught, Larry smirked and lifted his shirt to stuff his cash in his pocket, flashing the pistol tucked into his belt.
“What are you doing here, Larry?” Gabriel asked, lowering his knife.
Larry snickered. “I should ask you the same thing. I came by with a bunch of your cohorts to pick up something...or someone that our boss happens to be interested in.”
Adrian gasped sharply. “Anna!”
Gabriel growled. “Then, why are you still here?”
“To deliver a message.” His black, beady little eyes turned onto me. “To you, Lisbeth.”
I caught the generic, pre-paid phone he tossed at me.
Larry kept the end of his shirt hooked on his thumb so we could all see the heat he was packing. “There’s just one contact number in that phone. I’m going to walk out that door, and you are going to start counting to thirty. When you get to thirty, you hit ‘call.’ You got that, Lisbeth?”
My hands were shaking. I wrapped my fingers so tight around the phone that my fingerpads turned white. I swallowed. “Got it.”
Larry narrowed his eyes, scanning us as he backed away toward the door. He kicked it open with one foot. Then, Adrian said, “One,” and Larry turned tail and scurried up the steps. We listened to him disappearing into Las Vegas traffic.
“Call that number right. Now,” Gabriel ordered.
My fingers shook. I jabbed at the little green button and held the phone to my ear. The air stilled around me. It was as if all three of us had stopped breathing. The phone rang three times before somebody picked up.
“Li-Lisbeth?” Anna’s voice crackled through the speaker.
My gut wrenched. “Anna! Where are you?”
I thought I heard a muffled sob followed by some heavy breathing. Then, Anna half-whispered, “I’m with him!”
I heard the fear in her voice and I knew exactly who she was talking about. My eyes turned wide. The first person I looked at was Adrian. I watched him bite his lip and shake his head. Things weren’t looking very good for any of us.
“How did he find you?” I asked.
“Somebody followed you to the shop,” Anna whispered. “But that’s not important. Listen to me, Lisbeth. The Boss, he wants you. He won’t let me go unless you’re the one who comes to get me.”
“How? Am I just supposed to show up by myself?”
“Remember that story I told you yesterday?”
“What?” I frowned. Her voice sounded funny.
“The story I told you about what I’d been up to.”
I struggled to think faster. The FBI. There had been an agent working with Anna.
“I have to go now, Lisbeth—”
“Wait—”
I stared at the phone after she hung up. It wasn’t enough.
“What did she say?” Adrian asked urgently.
I righted an upturned chair and sank down into it. “We need to find the FBI agent who was working with Anna.”
“Pft,” Gabriel snorted. “Well, our only other lead is Gloria, who’s dead. Unless she told you anything.” He looked hopefully to Adrian, who shook his head.
“I don’t know any more info than you guys,” he said, his voice quivering. He fell back against a counter. “Oh, god...my sister!”
“Quiet,” I said, lifting a hand. “Give me time to think.”
“What, do you know something we don’t?” Adrian asked sarcastically.
“Shh!”
“Or maybe you have an FBI agent of your very own, like hidden away in your back pocket or something?”
I brightened. “Actually, I do. Thanks for the idea.” It was a long shot, but it was the best shot we had.
Gabriel and Adrian only regarded me with confused expressions. I turned around to fish my phone out of my backpack. The missed call from Carmen was still blinking on the screen.