Reaper, Jason, and Diesel are all sitting out in the main room. I stop briefly to explain to them what's going on. "Look, I'm going to go into the diner, but I don't think we need to cause a commotion by all of us going in. I'm going to need you all to be parked a few blocks away, and I'll call you if I need backup."
They're all up instantly to follow behind me. I'm on my bike and drive into town in minutes. As I pull up to the front of the diner, Violet meets me on the sidewalk. She smiles at me. "That was quick."
I nod but don't say anything. I probably need to work on my communication skills, especially when it comes to the opposite sex. I follow behind her and walk in the front of the diner. All heads turn to me, and Violet points over to a booth. "Have a seat. You want your usual?" I realize then that we're going to take the slow route. The wife that’s on the run must not be ready to trust me yet. Either that, or Violet’s not ready to let me take her.
"Sure, I'll take the usual."
"I’ll be right back," she says.
I take a seat with my back to the wall and look out at the restaurant, searching for a single woman in a booth. I avoid the glances from the few people sitting and eating, and when I don't find a woman on her own, I start to look around the rest of the restaurant. There's a woman that comes out from behind the counter who obviously doesn't belong here. She has high heels on and some kind of silky blouse. She leans over to clean a table, and I can't take my eyes off of her. She has a worried look on her face. Violet sets a glass of water down in front of me with a piece of apple pie. I gesture to the woman, and Violet shrugs.
"She insisted on helping." She watches me as she tucks a notepad in the front of her apron. "She's innocent, right? You know that? She says that she's one of the suspects, but I don't believe she did it."
I take a bite of the cake. "I know."
Violet puts her hand on her hip. She’s obviously frustrated with my one- or two-word answers. “You know I don’t believe she did it or you know she didn’t do it?”
“I know she didn’t do it.”
Violet seems surprised and crosses her arms over her chest. "How do you know she's innocent?"
I'm a man of a few words, and I don’t really want to discuss it with her in the middle of her restaurant. All that should matter is that I believe her. I shrug. “I just do.”
That’s all I say to Violet, but in my head, I list the reasons why I think this woman is innocent. Only two minutes have gone by since I first laid eyes on her, but I know she’s not a killer. It’s obvious she has real fear on her face, and the way she keeps looking out the front windows as if she’s waiting to be shot down tells me that she truly does believe that someone is after her. She looks like someone that has seen death up close and personal and is now fearful for her life. I've seen it a lot in my years.
Violet leans down and puts her hands on the table to look at me. "So you won't turn her in. You'll protect her," she insists.
I nod my head yes. I take my eyes off the woman across the room. "Did she tell you anything?"
Violet shrugs. "Only that her husband died. She found him, and now someone is after her. That's it. She wanted to leave after she confided in me, but I convinced her to stay. I don't know if she's going to just trust you." I nod, knowing all of this already, but Violet continues, "Especially with that look on your face. You think you can lighten up a little bit?"
There's a hint of a smile that has my lips turning up. "Yeah, I can try."
Violet nods her head, satisfied. I point over at the woman. "So are you going to introduce us?"
Chapter3
Allison
Iheard the bike when it pulled up to the front of the diner and almost freaked out. My thoughts instantly went to the man that’s after me. I looked outside and watched the big, muscular, tattooed biker climb off of the bike. For just a second, I was fearful as I watched him look around outside of the building and then come in. He looked as if he was looking for someone, and I hope it’s not me.
Violet walked out to meet him, and then it hit me that this must be the help that she was talking about. He sits over in the corner, and I can feel his eyes on me as I work.
Violet calls my name from across the room, and I clench the towel in my hand. I turn and walk over toward her and the man, feeling both of them staring at me. She smiles at me, trying to soothe me. "Have a seat," she says.
I take a seat in the booth, and Violet sits down next to me. "Allison, this is Kane. He's the president of the Guardians."
When she stops, I look at the leather vest that the man is wearing. It saysGuardians MCon it, so I make the assumption that he's part of some kind of motorcycle gang or something. He's watching me closely, his soulful brown eyes big and examining. His expression is guarded, and it makes me wonder if it's me or women in general he doesn't like.
His voice is deep when he asks me, "Do you think anyone followed you here?"
I clench the towel in my hand under the booth. "I don't think so. I ditched my phone and my car back in town, and then I walked five miles through the woods to get to the bus station. I paid cash and gave them all of the money that I had to get as far away as I could." I grimace. "I ended up only being two hours away. That's how I ended up here."
He nods approvingly. "Smart thinking ditching your phone and using cash. Do you know who's after you?"
I shrug. "I guess whoever killed my husband."
He nods almost impatiently. "Do you know who that is?"