“Ah. The loyal hound.” Michael chuckled, his bruised and battered face contorting into something like a smile. “I think he’d probably take a run at us if he thought he’d be able to dodge my bullet.” His gaze flicked to Holt and his eyes hardened. “But then, Viper said you would do the same for him, which is why it was so easy to separate you from Naiya after Ella caught him in her web.”
“What the fuck?” Tank growled.
“Still trying to catch up?” Michael glanced over at Ella and shrugged. “You didn’t tell him?”
Her face tightened. “Tell him what? Viper didn’t confide in me. We had a deal. He gave me a story and I gave him T-Rex … among other things.” She swallowed hard. “My job is done. I got my story and paid for it with my damn soul and all my living-room furniture.”
“Why?” Tank muttered. “Why does he want Holt so bad? Wasn’t three months in the dungeon enough to punish him for saving Evie?”
“Viper doesn’t want him.” Michael smoothed his black suit jacket, and Tank wondered what had happened to the torn, bloodstained suit he’d been wearing when the Sinners tossed him in the alley behind Rider’s Bar after teaching him a lesson about touching their women. Too bad they hadn’t just offed him when they had the chance.
“He wants Naiya,” Michael continued. “But Holt rarely left her side. And every time she was alone, Holt showed up to save her. He said you were the one person Holt called for in the dungeon; the person he thought would be coming to save him. Viper figured you were the only reason he’d leave her alone.”
“You work for Viper?” Holt’s lips curled in disgust. “He’s got the fucking ATF in his pocket?”
Michael shrugged. “He’s got everyone in his pocket. He owns most of the state police, a handful of ATF agents, judges, senators … Soon his reach will extend beyond the state. He’ll lead the Jacks not just in Montana, but nationwide. But that kind of power requires money. A lot of money. The kind of money Naiya will have in a few short months.”
Tank automatically turned his gaze to Holt. He looked calm, composed. And yet, a vein in his neck throbbed and his jaw was clenched tight.
“Naiya doesn’t have any money,” Holt said.
“Not yet. But, she will. And as soon as it’s hers, she’ll be transferring it all to her new husband.” Michael cocked his head to the side, and for a moment he looked almost sympathetic. “Viper is on his way to meet his bride-to-be as we speak, and then they’re heading down to Sandy Lake’s city hall.”
Tank glanced over at Ella. Her expression had changed from bitterness to disgust.
“That’s why he wants her?” she spat out. “He’s going to force her into marriage to get her money? I thought misogyny was dead, but now I see it’s alive and well in the biker world.”
“Don’t be such a hypocrite,” Tank snapped, seeing an opening. Ella may have been prepared to cross lines for her story, but she was a professional, educated, modern woman, and it was clear she was appalled by Viper’s plan. “We’re here because of you,” he continued. “He’s going to get her because of you. Was the story worth it? I know he was at your place the other night when I showed up. You sold your body and your soul. You’re as much a part of this as he is.”
His barb hit home, and she winced but recovered quickly. “I didn’t want him there. It was just supposed to be about getting something to blackmail you with to keep you in line in exchange for a story. But Viper wanted more and more, and he had something on me.”
“Shut the fuck up, Ella.” Michael swung his gun to point at Tank. “And you shut the fuck up, too. Enough talking.”
But the damage had been done. Tank had clearly rattled Ella, and she was no longer fully on board with Michael’s plan, whatever that might be. Tank glanced over at Holt, flicked his gaze to Ella and back again. Holt gave an almost imperceptible nod. They might have an ally, but with Michael to contend with, the odds still weren’t in their favor. And time was ticking. Naiya was in danger.
And now, she was alone.
TWENTY-NINE
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Naiya startled, yanking the curtains closed and casting her hotel room into semi-darkness.
“Look through the peep hole,” she whispered to Ally. “Tell me who it is.”
After waking alone with Holt’s note on her pillow, Naiya had called Ally to come and help her track him down. But after making her way across town from the hotel she shared with Doug, Ally had convinced her not to go. Sandy Lake was swarming with Jacks, and there was no way Naiya would be safe once she left the hotel.
“It’s an old guy with a long, dirty beard. He looks like a vagrant except he’s wearing a Sinner cut.” Ally turned and pulled her phone from her pocket. “I’ll call Doug. He’s on patrol, but he said he’d come if we needed him.”
“No. It’s okay. Let him in.” Naiya let out a relieved breath. “It’s Shaggy.”