––––––––
Logan was wrong. I wasn’t scared. I was being smart. But he was right about one thing.
I gave up on Lisbeth.
The letter weighed heavily in my mind as I finished my Buddy’s shift in a haze of indignant fury. The fact that Logan blamed me for leaving a dangerous situation when I had a son to protect was just annoying, but pointing out that I’d abandoned Lisbeth was a bit too much.
Oh, he was good with his words all right. But he only reinforced the fact that I’d never want to speak to him ever again.
I knew I had to call Lisbeth, and it was the first thing I did when I got off work. I started dialing the moment I exited through the doors, listening to my call connecting as I walked across the parking lot.
“Hi, this is Lisbeth’s phone...”
I hung up. Maybe she was asleep. Or maybe, she was screening my call. If she was, I didn’t blame her. I blew out my cheeks as I got into my car and started the engine.
I forced myself to think about all the apologies I owed as I drove home. Lisbeth was at the top of the list, obviously, but Aspen deserved one, too. Sure, I wasn’t biker girlfriend material, or FBI girlfriend material for that matter, but that didn’t mean that Aspen and I had to give up being friends. Normally, friendship required a little effort.
My phone rang in my purse as I turned a corner, and I practically lunged for it, sending my car wobbling. I hoped with all my guts that it was Lisbeth calling. Eerily enough, it was actually Aspen’s picture that popped up on my caller ID screen.
“Hello? Aspen?”
“Carmen.”
My relief was swiftly replaced with apprehension. Her voice sounded strained, like a string pulled taut, threatening to break at any moment. “Something wrong?”
“Can I come over? We really need to talk.”
“What is it? Did something happen to Lisbeth?”
“I should really wait to tell you in person.” She paused to swallow so hard I could hear it through the phone. “It’s Liam. And Logan.”
My stomach turned to lead. “Okay. I’m on my way home right now. You can meet me there.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
I hung up, tossed my phone aside, and stepped on the gas pedal. “Jesus,” I muttered. How much more drama did my poor house need in a year? But something inside me told me that this was important. Aspen sounded worried.
She sounded scared.
* * *
I found Aspen wringing her hands in my driveway, washed in the light of my car’s headlights. I shut off the engine and rushed out to meet her.
“What happened?”
Aspen’s forehead creased. “Logan—Logan, he—”
I gathered her under one arm. “Maybe you should come inside.”
Xander ran up to greet us when I opened the door. Gia, his sitter, rose from her seat on the couch, preparing to leave.
“Hon, can you stay another hour? I’ll pay you ten extra.”
Her thin eyebrows jumped in surprise. “Sure. Um...should I take him to his room?”
“That might be a good idea. I’ve been reading him Holes before bed. It’s on his bookshelf.” When Xander began pulling her away, I whispered, “A chapter and a half should put him to sleep. Just knock on my bedroom door when you’re done.”
Aspen and I retreated into my room. I closed the door behind us and heard her flop onto the end of my bed.
“Take some deep breaths,” I said. I had to take some deep breaths of my own before I could even turn around to face her. “Tell me what happened.”
Aspen shook as she stared at me unblinkingly. “Liam and I got into a big fight.”
Shit. “Was it about Lisbeth?”
Aspen nodded. Her eyes looked shiny all of a sudden. I sat down beside her as she prepared to explain further.
“I told him I wanted to help, but he seemed so determined to fix everything all on his own. He’s always been alone. Well, except for his brothers in the club, but—”
“Aspen,” I said softly, “you can’t help him, Lisbeth, or Logan. It’s way beyond anything you can handle.”
“You don’t understand. They’re going into it on their own. Without anyone else. Without the rest of the Skull Kings. They left two hours ago and I made him promise to call—”
I pulled back. “What are you talking about?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about Lisbeth and the fact that Liam and the Kings were going to fix her mess.”
Aspen scoffed. “No, Carmen,” she said, shaking her head. “There’s way more than that.”
I detected a sliver of resentment in her words. She might as well have said, You would’ve known all this if you stayed with Logan. She could have, but she didn’t.
“Aspen,” I began, “I’ve been a real shithead.”
“Huh?” Obviously, it was not what she’d expected me to say.
Suddenly, I had to get everything off of my chest. “Things were going south with Logan, and I lashed out at you because you happened to be nearby. I’m sorry.”
Aspen gave me a strange look. “Are you seriously bringing this up right now?”
“I just have to get it out, okay?” I said in a rush. “I’ve felt horrible about it all day. And then you called me, and you said something about Logan, and now...” I faltered. “Now, I realize that I care about him, even though he’s a big fat liar.”
I felt like punching myself.
“Well, I’m sorry, too. I should’ve told you about him. It was a huge secret to keep from you. But seriously—”
“Yeah, let’s get back on topic.” I waved my hands at her. “Just spit it out.”
“Logan, Liam, and Lisbeth left for Phoenix two hours ago. They said they were meeting some girl down there.”
“Anna,” I whispered, remembering.
“You know her name? What else do you know?” Aspen grabbed my shoulders. “You have to tell me, Carmen. I have no idea what they could be getting themselves into.”
“I don’t know much,” I said quickly. “I mean, from what Lisbeth told me, it’s likely that they’re going to meet Anna at a drop house.”
“What’s a drop house?”
Oh god. My stomach sank. I studied Aspen’s smooth, naïve face. How could she not know about drop houses, coming from a past like hers? It had to be Liam’s doing, thinking he was protecting her by keeping her sheltered. I reminded myself to give him a speech about that.
“It’s a house where smugglers drop off huge loads of drugs. It’s like a hub.”
All the color drained from Aspen’s face. Her earlier words filtered through my mind, and I began to feel just as flushed as she looked.
“The rest of the club doesn’t know,” I said.
Aspen pressed her lips together.
“Why wouldn’t they tell them? Or Noah, at least?”
“I have no idea!” Aspen said, her voice rising high and shrill.
We stared at each other, panic evident on both of our faces. It wasn’t what we knew already that was dangerous, it was the unknown. We had no idea how powerful and far-reaching the True North gang really was. We had no idea whether the drop house was still in operation, whether it was empty at the moment, whether Anna was even alive. Neither did the boys, yet they’d agreed to drive down there without telling anyone else, on a random night based on Lisbeth’s word.
“He promised to call me,” Aspen whispered.
But he never did.
The more I thought about it, the sicker I felt.
Something was very wrong.