I pull open the very bottom drawer and spot an array of elastic-waisted workout clothes. That should do the trick. I rifle through the drawer, digging to the bottom in my search. But in the middle of my hunt for something cottony and soft, my fingers close around tough, thick leather. Curious, I pull the stray garment out of the drawer for appraisal.
“Oh my god...” I gasp, as a jolt of recognition slams into my gut. In my hands is a slightly worn woman’s leather jacket. I’d know it anywhere. This is Kassie’s jacket. The one she’s been wearing since arriving in Vegas. The one she was wearing the night of the abduction.
The sudden material reminder of my best friend brings hot tears stinging to my eyes. It’s scarcely been forty-eight hours since she was taken, and I’ve been doing a decent job at keeping my emotions in check. I haven’t allowed myself to feel scared, or angry, or confused. I haven’t let myself pause to think about what Kassie must be going through. It would be too painful to consider, after all. But now, sitting in Leo’s home with Kassie’s beloved jacket in my arms, everything hits me at once.
“Fuck...” I mutter, as the tears begin to roll down my cheeks. “Oh, fuck.”
I can’t lose it now. Leo can’t have any idea that I know Kassie. If he figures that out, then my plan with Dante’s Nine goes to shit—to say nothing of the danger I’d be in if Leo discovered I was lying to him. What would he do to me, if he found out the truth before I could break it gracefully? Would he toss me out, or worse? I can’t imagine Leo truly hurting me, but as close as we’ve gotten these past couple of days, he’s still essentially a stranger to me. I have no idea what this man is capable of, if pushed. No idea.
My ears prick up as they catch the sound of Leo’s raised voice from downstairs. His phone conversation has morphed into a shouting match. My heartbeat ticks up a notch at the intensity of his angry words.
“You fucking serious, Buck?” he bellows from the ground floor, “You can’t deal with a little girl on your own? What’re you, afraid she’s gonna give you cooties, you idiot?”
I’m frozen in place, listening close. Little girl? Could he be talking about Kassie?
“You seriously going to drag me out to the Nest just because your balls haven’t dropped yet?” Leo goes on, “What the hell do we even keep you around for? Or Dewey? You guys wanted to be in charge of this charade, remember? I had to chaperone your kidnapping, now I have to come take over your hostage situation? I told you this was a shit idea.”
My mind spins, listening to Leo go on. No doubt about it now. Something’s happening with Kassie. I seriously doubt there’s another hostage in the Wraith’s grasp. Or at least, I’d like to hope there isn’t. It sounds like Buck and Dewey are at the Wraith’s Nest right now, failing to “deal with” their captive. But what could that mean, “deal with”?
Do I even want to know...?
“Buck. Buck. Stop talking, jackass,” Leo growls, “I don’t want to hear any more excuses. I never should have given you this job. You and Dewey just get the hell away from her, make sure she’s locked up real tight, and wait for me to get there. I have an idea. And don’t touch a hair on her head, you hear me? That’s Declan’s old lady. She’s not to be hurt. That’s not how we do things.”
“Thank god,” I whisper, clutching Kassie’s jacket to my chest. Whatever’s going down at the Nest, Leo’s not going to let anything happen to my friend.
“I’m comin’ to clean up your mess,” Leo says, “Just don’t do anything stupid. Stupider.”
Heavy footsteps ring out through the house as Leo hangs up the phone and springs into action. I hear him barreling up the stairs, and feel my stomach turn over. A surge of terrified energy shudders through my body as I hurry to stuff Kassie’s jacket back into the dresser drawer, but it’s no use. The garment is still in my hands as Leo bursts into his bedroom, ire burning in his golden gaze.
“What are you doing?” he snaps, shoulders rippling with tension.
“I was...looking for something to wear...” I say, my voice a strangled whisper.
“Why do you have that?” he goes on, staring at Kassie’s jacket.
“It was just...in here...” I stammer, smiling weakly, “I thought it was strange...a woman’s leather jacket stuffed in with your sweats...”
“Right,” he mutters, “Shit. I didn’t mean to bark at you. There’s just a bit of a situation going down at the Nest.”
“Oh?” I ask, my eyes wide with feigned ignorance.
“Yeah. It has to do with that jacket you’re holding. You must’ve overheard,” Leo says, cooling slightly, “I’m not very good at keeping my voice down, am I?”
“Not particularly,” I say, “I heard something about a girl being held hostage in the Wraith’s Nest. Is this her jacket?”
“Yup,” Leo sighs, shoving a hand through his hair, “And yeah. We may be holding onto someone in the Nest right now. Just a bit of leverage against that problem club I was telling you about earlier. Routine kind of stuff.”
“You...routinely kidnap people?” I ask, my voice hollow.
“You know what I mean,” he goes on, “We don’t have any plans to hurt her. We’re just keeping her until the other club can repair the damage it’s done. Or at least prove to us that they’re not trying to sabotage our reputation.”
“Are they doing that? Proving themselves innocent, or whatever?” I ask.
“Not yet,” Leo says, “We’ve had radio silence from them since we, uh, borrowed the girl. But it’s been almost two days now, she’s starting to get antsy. And we’re starting to wonder why they haven’t reached out yet.”
“So...what are you going to do?” I ask, “Get in touch with the other club?”
“Not just yet,” Leo says, moving toward me. “Right now, I just want to calm the girl down and see if I can get her talking. Maybe she can help shed some light about the situation with her old man’s club.”
“OK,” I say slowly, “You’re just going to talk to her, then?”
“Actually,” Leo says, pulling me up off the ground, “I thought maybe you could talk to her instead.”
My jaw falls open at Leo’s words. I can’t believe I’ve heard him correctly.