Page 71 of Creed

“I don’t know what to tell ya.” I was frustrated as hell, but I tried to keep my voice low as I told him. “All I know is the girl was being trafficked. She thought Devin and her partner were going to save her, but the partner got shot and Devin got the hell beat out of her before either of them got the chance.”

“Damn, that was rough.” Shep glanced across the lot as he asked, “Devin ask you to do this?”

“No. She doesn’t even know I’m talking to you about this.”

“I can try to hunt her down, but I’m gonna be real with you, brother. The likelihood of finding her is slim at best. You know how that trafficking shit works. There’s no telling where this girl ended up. For all we know, she’s at the bottom of some lake.”

“I get it.”

“See what you can find for me. I need a name or photo. Something that I could match up to the missing persons list. But even then, it’ll be a stretch.”

“I’ll talk to Devin and see if she has something that might help.”

“Sounds good, but don’t get her hopes up because…”

“I know. I get it. I appreciate the help.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

I didn’t get the answer I wanted, and there was a good chance I would never get an answer. But I had to try. Devin deserved that, and so did the girl who went missing. I wasn’t feeling very hopeful as I made my way back over to my bike. Thankfully, the guys were there to distract me from my heavy thoughts.

I overheard Goose giving Rusty shit about his bike. “Still got that two-up on there, huh?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“You keepin’ it warm for your imaginary girlfriend or what?”

“I’ve got options.” Rusty shot him a look. “I’m just taking a break.”

“Man, you ain’t had a girl on that thing inmonths.”

Rusty’s jaw tightened, and he flipped Goose the bird before grabbing his helmet off the handlebars. “You’re a real asshole, you know that?”

Goose just kept laughing, clapping him on the shoulder hard enough to make Rusty stumble a step. “Hey, don’t get salty, brother. I’m just sayin’ that bike’s probably gettin’ more action than you.”

Rusty muttered something under his breath, but Goose was already laughing and turning away to his next victim. I shook my own head and chuckled as I passed by Preacher and Tabitha. Preacher raised an eyebrow like he wanted to know what the hell was so funny, but I didn’t bother explaining.

“Morning.”

“Morning.” Preacher was leaning against his bike with his coffee in hand, watching the lot fill up. “I saw you brought your girl with you.”

“I did.” I gave Tabitha a nod as I said, “I see you brought yours as well.”

“Hell, yeah.” He gave her a wink. “Hoping to get a peek of her in her bathing suit.”

Tabitha gave him a playful nudge. “You’re terrible.”

“I’m just telling it the way it is.”

“You’d think she’d be used to that by now,” I teased.

“You’d think.”

“Have you heard anything from One about his snooping friends?”

Whenever we were around Tabitha and didn’t want her to know that we were talking about her boys, we’d reference them by number. And of course, since Sergei was the oldest, we called him One. Tabitha was a smart girl, and I had no doubt that she’d eventually figure out what we were up to. But for now, she hadn’t caught on.

Preacher glanced over in her direction, with a look that let me know this wasn’t the time as he said, “No. But I’m hoping he’ll have something for me by the time we get back this afternoon.”