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.