Chapter 2 - Clara forgot how to breathe.“Tommy?”
The biker nodded.
“Alive.”
For one second, relief flooded through her.
Then he continued.
“Barely.”
Liam's expression hardened.
“Where?”
“Warehouse district.”
Liam looked at Clara.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I said stay here.”
“He's my brother.”
“He might be the reason people are after you.”
“I don't care.”
Liam stepped closer.
“You should.”
Clara stared up at him.
“I've spent three months wondering whether my brother was dead.”
Her voice cracked.
“You're not leaving me here while you go find him.”
Liam studied her for a long moment.
Then he turned to Bobby.
“Bring two bikes around.”
Clara followed.
Lily immediately ran to her.
“Where are we going?”
Clara crouched.
“To get Uncle Tommy.”
Liam looked at the little girl.
Then at Clara.
“You bring her with you, she's your responsibility.”
“She always is.”
Liam nodded.
“Fine.”
Twenty minutes later, the convoy moved through Barstow.
Clara sat behind Bobby while Lily rode with another woman from the chapter.
The desert wind cut across her face.
She couldn't stop thinking.
Why would Tommy borrow money from Ray?
Why disappear?
Why leave a note?
And why had someone nearly killed him?
The warehouse appeared at the end of an empty road.
Several men were waiting outside.
Liam raised a hand.
The bikes stopped.
Clara climbed off.
Inside the building, she found Tommy tied to a chair.
His face was swollen.
One eye was almost completely shut.
“Tommy!”
His head lifted.
“Clara?”
She rushed toward him.
Liam caught her shoulder.
“Wait.”
Tommy looked past her.
When he saw Liam, terror flashed across his face.
“Get her out.”
Clara stared.
“What?”
Tommy struggled against the ropes.
“Clara, leave.”
“I'm not leaving you.”
“You don't understand.”
Liam crouched in front of him.
“Tell me who did this.”
Tommy shook his head.
“It's not Ray.”
Clara froze.
Liam's eyes sharpened.
“Then who?”
Tommy looked at Clara.
His voice dropped.
“The debt isn't forty thousand.”
Clara frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Tommy swallowed.
“I stole something.”
Liam went still.
“What?”
Tommy looked toward the warehouse door.
“The Red Ledger.”
Silence.
Bobby's expression changed instantly.
Liam stood.
“Who has it now?”
Tommy whispered.
“Clara.”
Clara's blood ran cold.
“What?”
“I hid it.”
“Where?”
Tommy stared at her.
“In your apartment.”
Clara's mind raced.
“What is the Red Ledger?”
Nobody answered.
Then the warehouse lights suddenly went out.
A gunshot cracked through the darkness.
Lily screamed.
Clara spun around.
Someone shouted.
“GET DOWN!”
Liam grabbed Clara and pulled her behind a concrete pillar.
Bullets struck the metal wall.
Tommy yelled.
Then another shot.
The room filled with smoke and confusion.
Liam moved with terrifying calm.
“Bobby, left!”
“Got it!”
More shots.
Then silence.
One of the attackers was lying unconscious near the door.
Another had escaped.
Liam searched the man's jacket.
He pulled out a photograph.
Clara saw it.
It was a picture of her.
Standing outside the diner.
Holding Lily's hand.
Taken only hours earlier.
Clara's stomach dropped.
“They're watching us.”
Liam looked at the photograph.
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“They've been watching you for weeks.”
Then Tommy whispered from the chair.
“There’s something else.”
Liam looked at him.
“Tell me.”
Tommy stared at Clara.
“The ledger wasn't the only thing I took.”
“What else?”
Tommy's eyes filled with fear.
“A list.”
“What list?”
Tommy swallowed.
“Names.”
Liam's expression went cold.
“Whose names?”
Tommy whispered the answer.
May you like
“People inside the police department.”
And then the warehouse door exploded open.
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