Kyler Vance was a Baltimore police detective. He’d earned the team’s trust after Nick’s longtime friend, private investigator Miguel Olivero, vouched for the guy. Vance had proven his trustworthiness when he’d shown up to help during the attack. When Miguel had been gunned down as their enemies fled, Vance had vowed to help them however he could, starting with forming a cover story for the building’s explosion and setting up a roadblocked perimeter that would, hopefully, keep them safe and allow them to stay put.
Nick sighed and frowned. A wave of grief knotted Jeremy’s stomach. Miguel had been a good friend and something of a mentor to Nick since his discharge from the Army. But this situation allowed no time for grieving, did it? The thought had Jeremy turning to Emilie Garza, who sat in a folding chair behind Marz. Less than twenty--four hours earlier, she’d found her brother Manny’s dead body in a gutter outside of Hard Ink. Her brother had worked for their enemy, Seneka, which was what led Marz to Emilie in the first place. But Manny had apparently become a liability, because Seneka had dumped him on the street during the attack. Jeremy wasn’t sure he’d ever seen anything more gut--wrenching than Emilie’s reaction.
“Third,” Nick finally said, “Beckett is going to set up snipers’ roosts in abandoned buildings across the street so we have a better chance of seeing what’s coming at us.” Nick turned to Jeremy. “You have more knowledge than anyone of the surroundings. Will you help Beckett?”
“Absolutely,” Jeremy said, giving the other man a nod. At this point, there really wasn’t anything Nick could ask that Jeremy wouldn’t give to keep his brother and their friends safe. Jer’s tongue flicked at the twin piercings on his bottom lip as he began brainstorming locations. He’d explored a few of the abandoned buildings in the neighborhood over the years, and one place leaped to mind as a good possibility.
Gesturing toward Dare Kenyon, the president of the Raven Riders, Nick continued, “Dare will help with that, too, since his guys will be taking shifts with us. And he’ll work up a security detail schedule using his men and ours.”
Tall with long, dark hair, Dare always seemed serious and reserved. There was a stillness about him that revealed he was always watching, always observing, always assessing. And nice as he’d always been to Jeremy on the few occasions when they’d met, Dare gave off a dangerous, lethal vibe that commanded respect, if not a little fear. “The rest of the club will be here in a few hours,” he said, his face set in a dark scowl. The Ravens were out for blood after two of their guys died yesterday. If they knew it was because of Jeremy . . . “So we’ll be up and running later today.”
Nick nodded. “Appreciate it—-”
“We’ve got company,” Marz said, stretching to look at one of the monitors. Jeremy’s gaze followed to the screen, which showed Ike rolling in through the gate on his Harley. A helmet hid the identity of a passenger behind him. “Ike’s here.”
“Already?” Dare asked, frowning further as he exchanged glances with another Raven.
Moments later, Ike came through the gym door, his bald head making him identifiable even from a distance. Jessica Jakes, Jeremy’s piercer and doer--of--whatever--needed--done down at Hard Ink, followed after him. What the hell was she doing here?
Ike’s expression was so pissed it was almost glacial, whereas Jess, usually full of sass, was subdued. Almost . . . scared?
Jeremy came around the desk. In addition to being his employees the past -couple of years, they’d also become good friends. And something was very definitely not okay. “What’s going on?” Jeremy asked, looking from Ike to Jess. “Why are you here?” he asked Jess. He’d closed his shop to keep his employees and customers safe, so the last thing he expected was to see her back here.
She tucked her wavy black hair behind one ear, which highlighted one of the bright red streaks that ran through it, and looked to Ike.
“Someone broke into Jess’s house last night,” Ike said. “Ransacked the place.”
Jesus. Would the madness never stop? “Are you okay?” Jeremy asked as Nick stepped beside him.
She blew out a breath and nodded. “I hid in a crawl space at the back of my bedroom closet until they left, and then I called Ike.” Her brown eyes cut to Jeremy. “I knew you guys were shut in over here after what happened yesterday.”
Nick nodded. “Did they take anything?”
Ike nailed Nick with a cold stare. “Only her computer.”
“This makes no sense,” Jeremy said, guilt flooding his gut for a whole new reason.
“Unless someone knows she works for you,” Nick said. “And thought she might know something about me and the team.”
“That’s why I brought her here,” Ike said. “They didn’t steal enough to make it feel like a run--of--the--mill robbery, and the way they tossed the place seemed like they were looking for something.”