Page 156 of Things We Hide from the Light

I started to rub my thumb between my eyebrows, then stopped. “Think I wanna go back to numb.”

“No, you don’t.” Her soft smile disappeared and her eyes went serious. “You need to hear Grim out. I called you for a reason.”

She’d called me this time. And that counted for something.

“I’ll hear him out, but I can’t guarantee I won’t take a swing at him or slap cuffs on him.”

“Pretty sure a motorcycle club president willingly inviting an officer of the law into his lair is a big deal. Maybe leave the cuffs out of it,” she suggested.

We found the others in what was indeed a conference room seated at a long wood table with raw edges and black metal legs.

Grim sat at the head with two of his crew at his back, a short, tatted white guy with a barrel chest and a tall, willowy Black woman with bloodred nails.

Lina waved to the woman and she nodded back.

Knox and Lucian were seated across the table on Grim’s left. I claimed the seat to his right and pulled out the chair next to me for Lina.

“Let’s get this over with. Don’t much care for cops in my house,” Grim announced.

“It’s not exactly a picnic for me either,” I said.

Knox rolled his eyes and Lina kicked me under the table.

I gave her thigh a warning squeeze.

“What Nash means to say is he appreciates you sharing this information,” Lina said pointedly.

Grim grunted.

“What have you got?” I asked in a marginally more polite tone.

“My club has had an interest in Duncan Hugo’s operations since his split from the family business. We keep our ears to the ground and keep our eyes on wild cards like that little prick,” Grim began.

“Especially after he decided to set up a chop shop in your territory,” Knox pointed out.

Hugo’s original shop had been raided. He’d set up another in the warehouse where Naomi and Waylay had been taken and terrorized. Grim had been the one to alert Knox to where they were being held.

That combined with the fact that Lina was unharmed were the only two reasons my fist hadn’t met the man’s face.

“That was a factor,” Grim admitted. “Our interest remained even after he disappeared. And when a certain persistent insurance investigator made it clear she wanted to chat about Hugo, our interest deepened and we started listening to the whispers.”

I didn’t have the patience for this tap dance. “What whispers?”

Grim put his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers. “The official word on the street is that Duncan Hugo left town immediately after the shit that went down and bought a one-way ticket to Mexico.”

“What’s the unofficial word?” Lucian spoke for the first time.

“He never left. He went to ground and started thinking.”

“That would be a real stupid move on his part,” Knox said.

“The feds are still looking for him. I’ve got a U.S. marshal up my ass, and Hugo decides to stick around?” I prompted. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It does if he’s planning to move on the family business,” Grim said.

Lucian and Knox exchanged glances.

Lina’s hand found mine on her leg and squeezed.