“Shaggy is right,” Ally muttered as she undid the lock. “He looks like some kind of sheep dog.” She pulled open the door and stepped back. “Smells like one, too.”
“Viper’s in the hotel.” Shaggy waved his gun in Naiya’s direction, his voice frantic. “Holt asked Benson and Shooter to keep watch downstairs. They just texted me. We gotta get you out of here, and take you someplace safe. He’s coming for you.”
“Why?” Ally stared at Shaggy aghast. “Is he that desperate for a woman? Is he that obsessed with fulfilling a debt?”
“I don’t think it’s about the debt.” Shaggy’s voice thickened. “Or about getting a sweet piece of tail. But he wants her bad.” He pulled open the door as Naiya stuffed her few belongings into her bag.
“Leave the bag,” Shaggy barked. “We gotta go. Now.” His gaze flicked to Ally. “They don’t know who you are, and you’d better keep it that way. You need to be somewhere Naiya is not.”
“I’m not leaving her.” Ally pulled the door closed behind them as they exited the room.
“You’ll be a liability.” Shaggy gestured to the stairwell. “Viper won’t give a damn that you’re a civilian. He’ll use you to get to her. And it’s harder to hide two people.”
“You go, Ally.” Naiya followed Shaggy down the hallway. “I’ll be okay.”
Ally hesitated before turning toward the elevators. “I’ll get Doug. Tell him something’s going down. The police will protect you.”
“C’mon,” Shaggy urged. “No time to waste.”
Naiya clasped his offered hand and they ran down the hallway. Shaggy pushed open the fire door and they raced down the concrete stairs.
“Where’s Holt? Does he know about Viper?”
“No one can get in touch with him. Or Tank for that matter.” He bounded down the stairs with the energy of a man half his age. “We’ve left messages for them. Holt knows I would never leave you alone. I’ve been in the hotel since he left.”
“Why?” She’d been wondering about Shaggy since they’d first met in the bar. He had volunteered to help with everything from beating up Michael to looking for Holt, and from teaching her to shoot to being her bodyguard. He had no connection to her, and from what Holt had said, no real connection to Holt. He was the club enigma, a wild card. Not even Jagger knew his story, and the Sinners who did were all dead.
“I gave my word.” He jerked to a stop, put out an arm to hold her back, and a finger on his lips to quiet her.
Naiya held her breath. Above, on the stairwell, she heard the thud of boots on concrete, the clang of metal, heavy breathing.
“This way.” Shaggy pulled on the fire exit door leading to the fifth floor. The metal lock thunked, but the door didn’t budge. “Fuck. It’s locked.”
They ran down the stairs, trying the doors for each floor without success. When they hit the ground floor, Shaggy gestured her toward the back exit and she ran full tilt into the alley and smack into a broad, hard chest.
“That was almost too easy.” Viper grabbed Naiya’s ponytail, pulling her to a stop, while his bodyguards slammed Shaggy against the brick wall. “Walk around the lobby so any Sinners watching will send a message up to warn you. Lock all the exit doors. Chase you down the stairs. Like flushing rats out of the sewer.”
“Let him go.” Naiya gestured at Shaggy. “He has nothing to do with this.”
“He’s a Sinner. Can’t have him running off to bring in the cavalry.” One of the bodyguards backhanded Shaggy, snapping his head to the side.
“Stop it.” Naiya drew in a breath to scream, and Viper clamped a gloved hand over her mouth. She gagged on the taste of leather, the scent of sweat and diesel burning her nostrils.
“Tsk. Tsk. Don’t you know better than to involve civilians in biker business? You don’t want civilians to get hurt. You’re already responsible for two deaths today. Three after we deal with the old man.”
Naiya’s eyes widened, and she bit his finger, her teeth finding flesh through his leather glove.
“Fucking bitch.” Viper tore his hand away and cuffed the side of her head, knocking her to the ground. “You want to know who died today because of you? Your new boyfriend and his pal.”
“No.” She stared at him aghast. “They aren’t dead. I don’t believe you.”