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Help?
“How exactly can I help you, Special Agent Michael Holder?”
“Come on, I’m serious.”
I crossed my arms. “Well? What do you want from me?”
Logan rested his elbows on his knees and laced his fingers together. He chewed on his bottom lip. “It’s about Lisbeth.”
A flare of irritation broiled up inside of my chest, but I calmed it back with a few deep breaths. “Okay. It’s about that tattoo, isn’t it?”
“It goes deeper than that,” Logan said, sounding exhausted. He sighed and began rubbing his eyes. “I recognized the compass from my days as a research assistant. It didn’t mean anything to me at the time, but when Lisbeth came back into town with that image on her arm, something clicked. You see, the Scorpions were the dealers, but we never found the supplier. That’s part of the reason why I’m still here.”
“And what do Lisbeth and a bunch of prostitutes have to do with it?”
“Remember I told you the rose was a symbol for the prostitutes? It’s just a small fraction of what the compass gang does. They have their hands stuck in a lot of cookie jars: money laundering, gun trafficking, prostitution, drugs. I know it’s kind of a long shot, but I got a hunch that Lisbeth showing up in town was not a coincidence.”
“And?”
“And obviously, I can’t out her to her brother or the rest of the MC because we have no idea how deep this goes. But until I find out, she might be in danger.”
My mind worked quickly, piecing the odds and ends together. “So, you want me to convince Lisbeth to tell you what she knows.”
“You’re the only one who can get the truth out of her. There’s got to be more to her story than what she told you, don’t you agree?”
I wasn’t exactly sure, or maybe I just didn’t want to know. Thinking about what Lisbeth had to do to get inked with the rose was horrible enough. But if there was something worse coming, then Lisbeth really was in danger.
“I don’t know if I can, Logan.”
Logan nodded. Suddenly, he looked tired. He looked old. “I understand. We’ll talk about it some other time. But think about it, okay? And keep an ear out. The compass affiliates have a sort of code that they use to recognize each other in the streets. They call themselves ‘True North.’”
“True North,” I whispered.
“And this goes without saying, but don’t tell anyone we had this conversation or I’ll have to kill you.”
I burst out laughing. It was from the tension. It was from the uneasiness I’d felt from the moment we walked into that house. Or maybe, I laughed hoping Logan would join me, assuring me that he was just kidding around about the killing part.
But he kissed me instead. And it was miles away from every single kiss he’d given me before. His lips groped, his tongue probed desperately. He communicated through that kiss what neither of us could put into words. He was seeking comfort from me, the way I did from him.
I peeled off my shirt and bra. Logan licked my nipples as I stretched out on my back on the futon. We were both drunk from the heat, unable to tell whether our sweat was from the balmy house or each other. He undressed the rest of me, and I pushed down his jeans.
“Baby,” he whispered.
I grasped his hard cock and guided it into me. I scratched his back, and he pulled at my hair. We weren’t just fucking; we were crashing into each other.
“Carmen! Give it to me,” Logan said, his voice low against my ear.
I rocked my hips, holding our bodies together. His mouth, my skin, my heat, everything was damp from our sex. My eyes fluttered as I let myself go, falling into the waves of pleasure.
Logan pushed his arms straight, his spine curling up toward the ceiling. His hips plunged into me one last time before he jerked himself out. The skin of his tight, muscular chest and hard abs flushed with color as he came, laying his thick, sticky ropes across my belly.
“I’m sorry,” he said, still breathless as he rummaged through his piles of clothes. He wiped off the mess with the inside of his boxer briefs.
I laughed, and my belly trembled under his hands. “You’re just spreading it around.”
Logan caught my eyes and smiled. Well, I tried, he seemed to say. And somehow, it was the perfect ending to a very unusual day.
Luckily, I had some baby wipes stashed in my purse. After cleaning each other up, we got dressed, locked up the house, and climbed on the Harley. There was a tinge of pink on the horizon as the last of the sunset drained away. Only a couple of hours had passed, yet it seemed like a lifetime. Armed with new knowledge, I was going back into town as a different girl.
I tried to sort through Logan’s wild story as we cut a dusty path through the desert. Part of me still couldn’t believe it, but seeing his old pictures and badge had helped somewhat. At least I didn’t doubt him anymore. Now, it was a question of whether or not I’d decide to help him.
I was afraid to admit it, but I already knew that I would.