Page 41 of Vapor

“And?” Ice prompts.

“They’re furious about what happened with the girls. They were speculating about who might have rescued them. Broussard’s worried that it could be connected to a motorcycle club. Your club, specifically.”

“Damn,” Tank mutters.

“What else?” Diablo asks in a low, gravelly tone.

“My father sent some men to ask the locals if anyone saw anything. Someone saw a bunch of bikers leaving the area.”

“But they don’t know it was us, right?” Fang asks, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

“No. Not yet. But they have their suspicions.” I pause to make sure they’re all listening to what I’m about to tell them.“Broussard told my father that he’s working with Vapor from the Underground Vengeance MC to launder money. He’s going to try to trap Vapor. Broussard wants to know if your club was involved.”

“So, they don’t have anything solid?” Vapor asks.

“No. Just suspicions based on what some locals told them.”

“I can work with that.”

“When’s your next meeting with Broussard?” Ice asks.

“We don’t have one set up yet. I was expecting to hear from him in a few days. We didn’t discuss business at the charity gala.” Vapor stroked his beard, and all I can think about is how scratchy, but in a sexy way, it felt against my chin when we kissed.

“There’s one more thing,” I begin.“While they were in the office, they called another man. He sounded Hispanic. Juan-something. I can’t remember his last name.”

“Vasquez? Juan Vasquez?” Vapor asks, taking a step closer. The dark look in his eyes frightens me enough that I shrink back from him.“Was that the name you heard?”

“I—I think so.” A sharp look passes between the men. Clearly, they know this man.“Who is he? I mean, I know he works with the cartel, but—”

“Los Serpientes de Cristal,” Vapor spits out each word.“We suspected that they were trafficking the girls.”

“Sounds like you were right,” I say softly.

“Anything else?” Fang asks.

“I think I overhead something about the cartel putting a hit out one of the members of your club, but before I could catch the name, I heard one of the servants walking up the stairs. I had to leave before they caught me snooping outside the room.” I hang my head, wishing I had better information for them.

“Hey,” Vapor gently lifts my chin and looks deep into my eyes.“You did a brave thing coming to us with this. We didn’t know the cartel was on to us. As far as we knew, there weren’t any witnesses in the bayou. Apparently, we were wrong.”

“I’m sorry my father’s doing this to you. Broussard, too. They’re equally responsible.”

“Nothing to be sorry about.”

“I need to get home before someone realizes I’m gone. Taking the car was a huge risk, but I had to warn you.”

“You didn’t give her your phone number?” Fang asks, shaking his head.“Luddite.”

“What’s that mean?” Tank asks.

“It’s someone who doesn’t like technology,” I say.

“Impressive. Not everyone knows that.” Fang smiles.“I like her. You should bring her to the clubhouse sometime.”

“Uh…” I slide my gaze to Vapor, who looks uncomfortable.

“We need to get you home,” he says.“I’ll take her. The rest of you should head back to the clubhouse. If the cartel put a hit out on one of us, I want us to stay together as much as possible. We must watch each other’s backs until we’re sure the cartel isn’t suspicious of us anymore.”

“That might never happen,” Diablo says.