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Lieutenant Gomez spoke with Thad in Wayne's garage. Lena's attention wandered from the conversation going on between Clara and Gracie, Clara's twin sister, and Ingrid, Glen's wife. She'd only met Clara once before, briefly at Vavoom's Bar, and already understood the women all belonged to Notus Motorcycle Club.
While they'd welcomed her into their tight circle at the house—the beer she held in her hand had broken the ice— her inability to adapt to other people's friendships had her standing off to the side.
"You must have nerves of steel, Lena." Ingrid, cute and small, owned her spunky hairdo. "I'd go home from work every night broken hearted hearing all the emergency calls if I was a dispatcher. Probably freak out right along with them if they called in hysterics."
She plastered on a fake smile. "They train us to disassociate with the caller's emotions and focus on the emergency. It's not as bad as it sounds."
"Have you ever talked someone through delivering a baby?" Clara grabbed two dirty glasses off the desk and the empty candy bar wrappers off the surface, dumping everything into the garbage can.
"Once." She relaxed. "The woman was a mile away from the hospital, trying to drive herself because her husband was out of town. The officer who arrived delivered the baby. It was also his first."
"Ah, that is so cool. I bet those kinds of calls make your day." Clara brushed off her hands.
She nodded, finding it easier to act like others expected. Her main goal at her job was making sure she successfully followed the rules for each call, so the policemen, firefighters, and paramedics weren't harmed and people promptly received help. They depended on her, and one mistake could cost them their life. She'd seen other dispatchers on the other end of making a big mistake and getting yelled at, and it wasn't pretty. She only wanted to do her job and receive a paycheck.
"What's the deal with you staying with Thad?" asked Gracie, who wore her hair in a braid, which was the only reason Lena could tell her apart from her twin sister.
Clara slapped Gracie's arm. "Rude."
"It's okay." Lena glanced over at Thad, he'd grown serious in his private conversation with the lieutenant, considering Lieutenant Gomez came to talk to her and still hadn't. "We see each other, and I'm staying with him because I received a couple threats made against me by a known gang in the area."
Gracie smiled, transforming her serious expression to joy. "I'm so happy for Thad...and you, of course."
"Wait. You're in danger?" Ingrid's eyes narrowed. "Why haven't I heard anything about this? Is anything being done?"
"Yes, that's why Lieutenant Gomez is here." She smiled, seeing her break into the conversation. "I should go find out what is happening. Excuse me."
Lena set down the beer on the table, walked over to Thad's side, looked up at him and was rewarded with him putting his arm around her shoulders. "What's up?"
"There's been some information that came in over the last twenty-four hours." Lieutenant Gomez adjusted the sunglasses sitting on the top of his head. "Yvonne and Shannon also had bandana's placed near their homes. Gabi had one tied to her truck in the parking lot of the P.D. overnight."
Her pulse raced, and she put her hand on Thad's stomach. "Are they all okay?"
Gomez nodded. "We believe it's not a warning to the individuals, but a mark on the territory."
"That's what we were discussing. Your house and the police department are in Tigres territory," said Thad.
The lines around his eyes deepened. Lena turned toward him. He wasn't saying something. The news should've relieved him of any duty to protect her. If Gomez was right and it wasn't a personal threat against her or the others now, she had nothing to worry about.
"Thad's not wrong, but if the other gangs are trying to encroach on streets that are currently being run by Tigres, they will mark to reinstate the areas they do possess to stop any turf wars from breaking out." Lieutenant Gomez mouth hardened. "Anyone caught encroaching knows Tigres will come after them."
"I remember the 911 calls several years ago during Rose Festival." She looked up at Thad. "There were four murders resulting from turf wars, and it happened with a huge crowd celebrating down at the waterfront."
"Right," he mumbled, his arm tightening around her.
She studied him. The news was good, and yet he appeared irritated.
Lieutenant Gomez's radio squawked, and Lena recognized the tone for an informational call. "I need to call in, but I wanted to update you. I thought it'd bring you some relief."
"Thanks for coming by and letting us know," said Lena. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Lena waited until the lieutenant was out of sight and then pivoted until she stood in front of Thad. Tension rolled off him. He continued to look across the room in thought.
"Hey," she whispered.
"What?"
"Why are you mad? This is a good thing. I can go back home. You can come over when you want, and I can go to you if I want. I won't be interrupting your life as much. You won't have to see me with my hair all messy and no makeup. I can show you my sexy lingerie," she said, trying to tease him into a better mood.
His eyebrow twitched. "We'll talk about this after I discuss the drifter case with the guys."
She kissed him. "I'll go sit outside and wait for you."
"No need. The other women are visiting and what we have to go over isn't classified. You can join them and wait for me." He patted her ass.
She turned away and sighed. Her need to go home and chill outweighed her desire for chitchat. Approaching the table where the women now sat, she pointed at a chair and received a welcome to join them.
Chips and salsa sat in the middle of the table. She barely got her ass planted in the chair, and Clara passed her the can of beer she hadn't yet taken a sip of.
"Thanks," said Lena.
"Have some chips, too." Ingrid dipped and popped one in her mouth. "Gracie brought the salsa. It's made with peaches, which sounds disgusting, but is totally addicting."
She scooped and took a bite. The sweet mixed with a mild hotness was surprisingly good, and she reached for another chip bringing laughter out in the women. She rolled her eyes and swallowed. "You need to sell this."
"We do." Gracie grinned. "At Vavoom's."
"Okay, then I'm going to become a regular." She wasn't lying. The dip was great. Calculating how many extra miles she'd need to run if she stopped by the bar on her way home from work once or twice a week, she brushed her hands off and sipped her beer.
The men's conversation grew louder. Clara leaned toward her and whispered, "We sell them by the pint. I'll put a couple aside for you...on the house. Thad likes it, too."
"Thanks." She smiled, enjoying the perks of being Thad's girlfriend.
Ingrid talked in a low voice, filling the others in on her dad's condition. Lena leaned back in her chair, unsure of what was wrong with her father. Whatever medical problems plagued Ingrid's dad, it took all of Ingrid's family's attention.
Instead, she strained to hear the conversation taking place on the other side of the garage.
"Jack found another picture of his sister. Apparently, he went to the library and looked through a stack of yearbooks and found one from her senior year," said Wayne.
Chuck leaned back and latched his hands behind his shaved head. "That'd make her eighteen years old. Not a huge jump from the picture we already have. Now, say, he sent one of her when she was thirty, we'd have something to help us."
"Let me see the new photo," said Glen.
Wayne exhaled. "I don't have it yet. He's going to email it tomorrow. Yearbooks can't be checked out of the library, and he was in a hurry or some bullshit."
"This is why we called a meeting?" Thad shook his head. "Anything else?"
Lena looked away from the men. She couldn't understand Thad's sudden bad mood. Everything was fine when they'd left his house, and Lieutenant Gomez's news was good.
"Chuck wants to visit Lane County and search the database for a name change. While that rarely helps, because records can be sealed. Our best hope is she's gotten married or divorced in the last sixteen years. That would make the trail a little easier to follow," said Wayne.
"I also found a Swift Mart outside of Eugene where Lena Grayson worked two years after she left home. I'd like to talk to the manager and see how far back I can trace employee records," said Chuck.
The beer bottle slipped from Lena's hand. The glass shattered on the concrete floor of the garage. Blood rushed through her veins deafening her to Clara jumping up from her chair and Ingrid talking to her. She stared at the spilled liquid.
Jack.
Lena Grayson.
Strong hands grabbed her arms and pulled her away from the table. "Are you okay?" said Thad.
Oh, God.
She couldn't breathe.
She couldn't think.
She couldn't move.
The woman Thad was searching for was her.