Don't Say It: Ronacks Motorcycle Club Page 7

  She frantically searched the darkness for anyone on the residential street. Anyone who would notice the man on the Harley taking her away from the duplex and safety.

  Swiss shifted the Harley and instantly slowed. The momentum pressed her against his back. Unable to right herself, she could only use his large body to keep her place on the back of the motorcycle.

  The second the bike stopped completely, and her upper body rebounded. She pushed against Swiss and slid her ass toward the side of the seat to get off.

  His hand clamped down on her leg. "Sit."

  She barely heard the order through her helmet and her adrenaline screamed for her to run. He'd taken her only a few streets away from the duplex, but she was lost. She had no idea which way to go.

  Swiss removed his phone and put it to his ear without letting go of her leg. "I need everyone at the duplex. Ride in and secure the area. I'm three blocks west on Sycamore Street."

  Gia tugged against the firm hold he had on her leg and failed to get away.

  "Yeah, she's with me," he said into the phone.

  She stilled, leaning back. Was the whole club helping him?

  Swiss pocketed his phone and turned to her. "I need you off the bike."

  She scrambled to her feet and moved away from him. "Wh-what do you want from me?"

  "Gia, you need to calm down." He held his hands out at his sides and stepped toward her.

  She backed away, keeping distance between them.

  "Whoa, sweet." He stopped. "You're scared of the wrong person."

  "You didn't take me to the duplex." She flickered her gaze around the area. "Who did you call? Who is after me?"

  In the silence, the houses glowed with their inside lights on, and shadows dotted the areas where the streetlights failed to reach. Her heartbeat raced, thundering in her ears, and she swallowed, attempting to draw moisture into her dry mouth.

  "We've got a problem." He softened his voice. "Give me twenty minutes to sort everything out, and I'll take you back to the duplex."

  "Problem?" Her heel hit the curb of the sidewalk, and she sidestepped to keep away from his hands. "The problem is you told me you'd take me back to the duplex, and you rode right past it, and you're forcing me to stand outside in the dark. You called someone, and you're holding me here. That's the problem."

  She turned and stepped up on the sidewalk, planning to walk until she found the right street, pick up her bag, and get out of Montana.

  He grabbed her arm. "You need to stay here with me."

  "Let me go." She jerked on her arm and broke free. "Don't touch me."

  "Gia, Ronacks members are coming through to make sure everything is safe for you to return to the duplex. While we wait, you need to stay here with me so I can make sure no harm comes to you." Swiss hooked her neck and brought her forward. "You're safe."

  Her whole body pulsed. She had no idea what he knew or what was happening. The only person she halfway knew in Haugan was Swiss.

  "What do you mean Ronacks members are making things safe?" she whispered. "They're coming after me?"

  His fingers kneaded her neck muscles. "No, sweet. Someone has been at the duplex and slashed at least two of the tires on your car, including the brand new one. That's what alerted me that something was wrong. It also looks like whoever vandalized your car also left you a message on the window. I didn't get a good look, cause it was more important to keep you away from any activity until we know what we're dealing with."

  Her tires? She couldn't leave?

  "Oh, God. You're not working for them but helping me," she mumbled, sagging forward in relief.

  Her helmet hit his chest, and his fingers came up under her chin to unlatch the clip. She pulled back and shook her head to get the helmet off her faster.

  As soon as she was free, Swiss pulled her against him, and she leaned against his broad chest, thankful for the strength to keep her on her feet. The men trying to kill her had found her. They weren't supposed to follow her. Montana was two states away from Seattle. How had they caught up with her?

  Whether they wanted to warn her or kill her tonight, they'd done a good job of scaring her to death. Thank God, Swiss was with her.

  "We need to talk, Gia." Swiss's hand cupped the back of her head, soothing her. "If you don't feel comfortable discussing what is going on with the club, then later you're going to talk to me. If you're in trouble, we can help."

  He was right. She'd failed to outrun and hide the killers. Living beside Swiss had placed him in danger, and he had a right to know what she'd done. He was going to hate her.

  She nodded, aware of what he was offering and knowing he would stand between her and the killers if she found herself in the predicament of needing him. That'd been her plan all along. She never expected the men to follow her or allowed herself to believe nowhere was safe.

  She never expected the guilt of bringing trouble to Swiss's doorstep to bother her or to ever tell him what she was going through. Her coming to Montana wasn't supposed to end this way.

  She'd come to Haugan to be safe. Swiss was supposed to be her beacon of light in a world that scared her to death.

  A slow rumble in the distance brought Gia's head off Swiss's chest. She gazed down the street in dread as the sound grew in intensity. She placed her hand on her chest to keep the fear buried deep. The thrum of the engines vibrated her inside and out, and she lost the ability to show no fear.

  Swiss kept his hand on the back of her neck, and she was grateful for the support when it appeared as if every member of Ronacks rode down the street, two at a time, taking up the whole block and prohibiting anyone else from traveling by.

  One after the other, the engines turned off. The residual noise hummed in her head. On top of the events that forced men to come after her, she had a biker club chomping to protect her.

  Everything centered around her, and it was too much.

  A biker strode forward and stopped in front of her. A member she couldn't remember seeing at the party. She stared up into a rough bearded face that focused over her head at Swiss.

  "There's nobody around the duplex, and we cleared the block. I'll have half the members secure the area for the night, and you can get some sleep." The biker looked down at her, then up at Swiss. "All four tires on a Honda were slashed. They left a message in lipstick on the back window."

  "Lipstick?" said Swiss.

  "Yeah." The biker's gaze intensified. "We can throw together a meeting now or wait until tomorrow when the sun is up. Your call, considering it has to do with your girl."

  His girl? Gia shook her head and looked up at Swiss. His hand tightened on her neck, reassuring her he'd hold to his word. She couldn't talk to the bikers. Only him.

  Once Swiss found out the whole truth, she'd ruin his life. He never asked for her to show up on his doorstep, dogging his every step. The danger was real. The murderers were in Haugan, and she'd brought them.

  "I'll talk with Gia tonight, and meet with the club in the morning." Swiss pulled her closer. "In the meantime, tell the others to watch for both males and females."

  Gia pressed her hand to her stomach. He had no clue what he was getting into or who he would need to deal with if he aligned himself with her. The best thing she could do would be to find a way out of Montana and keep moving. The two men had taken over a week to catch up with her. Maybe Swiss could distract them while she got a head start.

  Except, her stupid car wasn't moving away from the curb until she could purchase new tires and even if she counted the money she had left after paying the lease on the duplex, she knew it wasn't enough for four brand new tires.

  Chapter Twelve

  Gia sat on the edge of the couch, unable to sit still. Swiss put a tumbler of whiskey in her hands and ordered her to drink. It would do no good jumping up to look out the window every thirty seconds. He needed her to focus.

  "Trust me, sweet." Swiss sat on the couch beside her. "The duplex is covered by Ronacks members. Nobody is going
to get close to you."

  "You don't know that." She drank from the cup, shuddered, and looked at him. "I'm so sorry."

  "Stop." He lowered his voice to make a point. "Why don't you let me make up my own mind if I have an apology coming to me."

  She shook her head. "I'm scared."

  "About...?"

  "If I tell you, I have to face the fact that everything I've done up until now was for nothing." Her forehead wrinkled. "That there's no way out and the police can't do a thing for me."

  "The police are involved?" That information got his attention.

  She showed up in town without food and any possessions. Either on the run or wanted by the police, she decided to hide out on the other side of the duplex. His duplex.

  "It's an open case. The police and detectives know the reason behind the crime, but they have no proof to go after the person or people." She drank more of the whiskey, steadier that time. "The police, no matter what they tell me, can't protect me unless a crime has been committed against me and for that to happen, it'll be too late. I'll be dead. They've told me over and over, they are not a security firm. They don't guard people but come when help is needed. All I have to do is call 911 and wait for the policemen to arrive."

  "Someone is after you?" he asked.

  She nodded, sipping the alcohol. "L-law enforcement said they'd send extra patrol cars to my area as a courtesy. If that was true, their presence never stopped the men from breaking into my condominium or running me off the road. I thought if I left the state, the men after me would leave me alone."

  "Men?" Swiss focused on the facts. Crime, killings, stalking.

  She nodded. "There were two of them in my condominium. I have to believe those two men are the ones involved, or they were hired to take me out of the picture."

  "Okay, hold on, now. I'm trying to understand, but you're only giving me glimpses into your life, and I can't put the pieces together." Swiss ran his hand across his jaw. "You mentioned a crime. Let's start there."

  Gia put the glass down on the coffee table and folded her arms across her waist, leaning forward. "It's in the Seattle paper if you don't believe me."

  "I'm not questioning your honesty, sweet. I need to know what the crime was and how you're involved." He softened his voice. "Can you start at the beginning?"

  She moistened her lips. "I worked at Loans by Day, it's a—"

  "I know what it is." There were Loans by Day companies popping up all over cities nationwide. They specialized in secured loans, usually smaller amounts where customers handed over a title for a car or took a second mortgage out on their house, going more in debt than they'd started out. He suspected the company made most of their money going after the car or house the customer put up against the loan when they failed to make their high payments, coupled with high-interest rates.

  "Right. Of course." She gazed at him and took a deep breath. "I enjoyed my job and loved helping people secure money and purchase their dreams. I know a lot of them came to see me because they were so far in debt, I was their last option. They borrowed money at a high-interest rate to keep their electricity on or make a car payment, but even more, people came in to purchase a house, a vacation, a wedding, and they walked out with a smile. I really felt like I was helping."

  Swiss rubbed her leg. "What happened, Gia?"

  She rotated her shoulders, working her neck. "I arrived at work about a month ago. The backdoor was unlocked, but that wasn't unusual. The manager was often there before any employees. I went down the hallway, and something was off. I don't know what clued me in, maybe the smell or the music wasn't on—there was always elevator music plumbed throughout the office. I walked into the lobby and...and I..."

  He reached over and gathered her hand in his. She trembled. Whatever she'd walked in on left her petrified.

  "The manager, Sean, and Trinity, a loan officer like me, were shot dead, laying on the floor," she said, gushing out the words. "I called the police from my desk. I was afraid to leave the office in case the killer was outside or in another part of the building, so I locked my office door and sat on the floor out of view—there was a window on the top half of the door, and I could see out. God, I was so scared. It was like a dream. I couldn't understand what I saw in the other room, but I had blood on my clothes and hands." She grabbed onto his hand tighter. "I-I must've touched them to see if they were still alive, but I can't remember doing so."

  "Okay," he whispered. "What happened next?"

  "That's all I did. I called the police, but I couldn't identify who it was that killed Sean and Trinity. I don't know. I just don't know."

  "Sh." He brought her closer and held her to his chest. "You did the right thing."

  She laid her head down on him. "I've told the police and the detective in charge everything I can remember. I even voluntarily took a polygraph test to prove I was telling the truth, and I didn't know anything else."

  "They thought you killed two people?" He understood police procedure. They never polygraphed witnesses, only suspects.

  "At first, I think so, or maybe they wanted to make sure I was innocent. I was the only one there, so I understand why they needed me to tell them everything. They asked me lots of questions about the business and wanted to know if I held a grudge against the manager or if I was involved in the Ponzi scheme that was going on in the company." She lifted her head. "I knew nothing about any scheme. That was the first I'd heard that word, and the officer had to explain to me how it was illegal. I only gave small personal loans to customers. I had no idea the manager was running something else besides business within the company. I still find it so hard to believe that Sean would do something like that. He was a nice guy, and I thought he cared about Loans by Day."

  "Ponzi scheme?" He needed her to stay focused on the story. "That was the motive behind the killings?"

  "That's what the police called it. I have no idea if that's true or not. It was about a week after the murders, and the detective working the case traced some of the money coming into Loans by Day to an underground organization in Seattle, but the paperwork at the office was all done to cover what Sean was really doing. Th-they said Sean was laundering money using the company's business, and yet they can't point to who was involved with him or his purpose for the Ponzi scheme." She lifted her head. "Everything I'm telling you has been on the news and in the paper. Like many murders in Seattle, if the police can't solve the case after two weeks, they move on and eventually it becomes a cold case."

  He'd seen Ponzi schemes work before. Quick money for a few investors, while the main contributors investing the big money took a huge loss. A quick scheme that usually broke up after a few months, because those investing their money would start to demand why they weren't receiving their fair share of promised kickbacks.

  "You believe whoever killed your coworkers is after you?" Now that he had the root of what she'd experienced, he still had no idea who was terrorizing her and had followed her to Montana.

  "Yes. That's the only people I can think of who would want me dead." Her gaze pleaded with him to believe her, and he had to wonder what the cops put her through.

  From everything he'd witnessed, Gia wasn't a woman who let her imagination take over reality. She was scared, and from the sounds of it, rightfully so.

  "Was your name in the paper during the investigation?" he asked.

  "No, but it wouldn't be hard to figure out I worked there during the time of the murders. For all I know, the people who were involved in the Ponzi scheme came in and met with Sean while I was there. I could've even talked to them because I still don't know who was involved." She inhaled deeply and shook her head. "I've thought of nothing else since it happened."

  "I'll do some research and see what is printed in the papers during that time." He cupped the back of her neck. "Who were the police investigating?"

  "Besides asking me questions, I honestly don't know." She grabbed his arm. "But while at the police department, in one of their bac
k rooms, I heard others talking. I can't be sure if it was tied to the case at Loans by Day, but they mentioned Sparrows and Ponzi scheme in the same conversation."

  "Sparrows?"

  "They're bad people, Swiss. Everyone in Seattle knows they have their hand in businesses and work underground. There're even rumors that they have people in the police force." She pressed his hand to her face, holding it there. "That's all I know, and I can't be sure I've connected the right people to what happened to Sean and Trinity."

  "What's the name of the organization?" He shifted to his hip and removed his phone from his pocket.

  "Yesler Street Gang. They go by Sparrows on the street," she whispered. "Who are you texting?"

  "Battery." Swiss glanced at her and sent the message with the name of the organization. "He's the one who talked to us earlier when the club rode in to clear the duplex. He's the president of Ronacks...Bree's husband."

  She pushed off his chest. "I should leave."

  "You're not going anywhere." Swiss set his phone on the coffee table. "He or she could be out there expecting you to go. It's better that you're here with me."

  "She?" She stood. "I told you it's men after me."

  Swiss got up from the couch, held her shoulders, and said, "The message on the car was done with lipstick."

  "So?"

  "Women use lipstick."

  She sighed. "Then the men bought lipstick for the sole purpose of writing 'dead' on the back of my car. I don't know what to tell you, Swiss. But, the men who broke into my place back in Seattle were definitely men. It's not a woman behind everything. If it were a woman, I never would've left Seattle."

  Swiss studied her. Adamant about who was behind tonight's attack, she became frustrated with his lack of understanding the situation. By morning, he would know every detail and have a plan on what to do to make sure she remained safe.

  "They broke into your house? You've seen them?" His chest tightened. He instantly wanted to know who was responsible for taking care of her and making sure she was safe. Who failed?