Hard to Be Good (Hard Ink #3.5) (3 page)

Chapter 3

J
EREMY DESPERATELY WANTED
a few more quiet moments with Charlie. He didn’t think he’d imagined the guy’s embarrassment after their phones had interrupted their almost kiss. Hell, Charlie hadn’t even wanted to look at him. So Jeremy really needed to let him know the only thing he regretted was that it
hadn’t
happened.

Because Jeremy’s heart was still racing at how close he’d been to getting something he’d wanted for weeks. If he closed his eyes, he could almost feel Charlie’s breath teasing his lips. And since he was standing right behind Charlie’s seat at Marz’s big makeshift desk, he actually could smell the cool, clean scent of the Ivory soap with which he’d showered.

But there wasn’t a damn thing Jeremy could do right now. Not when they were surrounded by Nick’s team, all their girlfriends, and a handful of the Ravens, too. The only person missing from their usual group was Ike Young, who had worked as a tattooist for Jeremy the past couple of years and was also a Raven. Ike had facilitated the alliance between the motorcycle club and the team and was bringing the rest of the club to help them later this morning. That alliance had finally given Nick and his guys the manpower they needed to fight the Church Gang, who’d kidnapped Charlie, and a defense contractor named Seneka they’d only recently realized was somehow involved.

“Okay, let’s get started,” Nick said, standing in front of Marz’s desk. His gaze ran over the group. “We’ve got a lot on our plates today.” He counted off on his fingers. “First, Marz and Charlie are going to network more computers this morning so that more of us can read the documents we uncovered at the same time. I’d like all hands on deck for that so we can get through as much as possible in the next few days and ascertain what we’ve got and how we can use it.”

Nods all around. Everyone had volunteered to help. Jeremy was just glad to have something he could do that actually contributed.

“Second, we have a number of security measures getting put into place today. Detective Vance will be here shortly to set up roadblocks around the neighborhood. The official story is that a major gas-main break caused yesterday’s explosion and the area needs to be cordoned off while authorities assess safety and undertake maintenance. He thinks that should buy us a few weeks of security, especially since this area is so sparsely populated and there aren’t many people to protest the roadblocks.”

Kyler Vance was a Baltimore police detective. He’d earned the team’s trust after Nick’s longtime friend, private investigator Miguel Olivero, vouched for the guy. Vance had proven his trustworthiness when he’d shown up to help during the attack. When Miguel had been gunned down as their enemies fled, Vance had vowed to help them however he could, starting with forming a cover story for the building’s explosion and setting up a roadblocked perimeter that would, hopefully, keep them safe and allow them to stay put.

Nick sighed and frowned. A wave of grief knotted Jeremy’s stomach. Miguel had been a good friend and something of a mentor to Nick since his discharge from the Army. But this situation allowed no time for grieving, did it? The thought had Jeremy turning to Emilie Garza, who sat in a folding chair behind Marz. Less than twenty-four hours earlier, she’d found her brother Manny’s dead body in a gutter outside of Hard Ink. Her brother had worked for their enemy, Seneka, which was what led Marz to Emilie in the first place. But Manny had apparently become a liability, because Seneka had dumped him on the street during the attack. Jeremy wasn’t sure he’d ever seen anything more gut-wrenching than Emilie’s reaction.

“Third,” Nick finally said, “Beckett is going to set up snipers’ roosts in abandoned buildings across the street so we have a better chance of seeing what’s coming at us.” Nick turned to Jeremy. “You have more knowledge than anyone of the surroundings. Will you help Beckett?”

“Absolutely,” Jeremy said, giving the other man a nod. At this point, there really wasn’t anything Nick could ask that Jeremy wouldn’t give to keep his brother and their friends safe. Jer’s tongue flicked at the twin piercings on his bottom lip as he began brainstorming locations. He’d explored a few of the abandoned buildings in the neighborhood over the years, and one place leaped to mind as a good possibility.

Gesturing toward Dare Kenyon, the president of the Raven Riders, Nick continued, “Dare will help with that, too, since his guys will be taking shifts with us. And he’ll work up a security detail schedule using his men and ours.”

Tall with long, dark hair, Dare always seemed serious and reserved. There was a stillness about him that revealed he was always watching, always observing, always assessing. And nice as he’d always been to Jeremy on the few occasions when they’d met, Dare gave off a dangerous, lethal vibe that commanded respect, if not a little fear. “The rest of the club will be here in a few hours,” he said, his face set in a dark scowl. The Ravens were out for blood after two of their guys died yesterday. If they knew it was because of Jeremy . . . “So we’ll be up and running later today.”

Nick nodded. “Appreciate it—”

“We’ve got company,” Marz said, stretching to look at one of the monitors. Jeremy’s gaze followed to the screen, which showed Ike rolling in through the gate on his Harley. A helmet hid the identity of a passenger behind him. “Ike’s here.”

“Already?” Dare asked, frowning further as he exchanged glances with another Raven.

Moments later, Ike came through the gym door, his bald head making him identifiable even from a distance. Jessica Jakes, Jeremy’s piercer and doer-of-whatever-needed-done down at Hard Ink, followed after him. What the hell was she doing here?

Ike’s expression was so pissed it was almost glacial, whereas Jess, usually full of sass, was subdued. Almost . . . scared?

Jeremy came around the desk. In addition to being his employees the past couple of years, they’d also become good friends. And something was very definitely not okay. “What’s going on?” Jeremy asked, looking from Ike to Jess. “Why are you here?” he asked Jess. He’d closed his shop to keep his employees and customers safe, so the last thing he expected was to see her back here.

She tucked her wavy black hair behind one ear, which highlighted one of the bright red streaks that ran through it, and looked to Ike.

“Someone broke into Jess’s house last night,” Ike said. “Ransacked the place.”

Jesus. Would the madness never stop? “Are you okay?” Jeremy asked as Nick stepped beside him.

She blew out a breath and nodded. “I hid in a crawl space at the back of my bedroom closet until they left, and then I called Ike.” Her brown eyes cut to Jeremy. “I knew you guys were shut in over here after what happened yesterday.”

Nick nodded. “Did they take anything?”

Ike nailed Nick with a cold stare. “Only her computer.”

“This makes no sense,” Jeremy said, guilt flooding his gut for a whole new reason.

“Unless someone knows she works for you,” Nick said. “And thought she might know something about me and the team.”

“That’s why I brought her here,” Ike said. “They didn’t steal enough to make it feel like a run-of-the-mill robbery, and the way they tossed the place seemed like they were looking for something.”

Jess hugged herself, the position highlighting the colorful ink that ran up her arms—a lot of which Jeremy and Ike had done themselves. “But that’s just it. I don’t know anything. Hell, I didn’t even know what all of you were doing here until Jeremy told me a few days ago.”

Yeah, and that conversation hadn’t gone great. He and Nick had lied to Jess initially, which Jeremy had hated. They’d thought she’d be safer if she remained in the dark regarding the team’s investigation and enemies. In hindsight, Jeremy should’ve known better. Jess had made it crystal clear what she thought of their secrecy.

“Did you see the people who broke in? Did they say anything?” Nick asked.

“I didn’t see anyone,” Jess said, “but when they searched my closet, one of them said they needed me, whatever that means.”

Becca came up beside Nick, and Jeremy was glad for the millionth time that they’d found each other in the midst of all this chaos. Because Becca was awesome and so damn good for his brother. “This feels like what happened to my and Charlie’s places all over again. Someone looking for us and information they thought we had.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Charlie said in a quiet voice from his seat at the desk.

“Shit,” Nick bit out. “Yeah.”

“Goddamnit,” Ike said in a tone close to a growl. He scrubbed his hands over his bald head.

Jess’s bottom lip quivered. “What now?”

Jeremy hadn’t seen Jess this rattled in years, not since her dad had died within a few months of her starting at Hard Ink, and he couldn’t hold back wanting to make her feel better for even one more second. He pulled her into his arms and petted his hand against her silky hair. She was so short that her head just touched the bottom of his chin. “For now, you stay here. I’ll help you put your place back together when all this is over. Okay?”

A quick nod. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it, Jess.” Her muscles trembled within Jeremy’s embrace, and it was clear she was trying with all her might to hold back her emotion. But after having her house broken into and tossed in the middle of the night, who would blame her for falling apart? No one here, that was for sure. Jeremy looked toward Ike. “Thanks for being there for her, man.”

His face still set in a deep scowl, the guy gave a single tight nod. Jeremy wasn’t surprised at how angry Ike seemed. He’d always been protective of Jess.

“I’m sorry you got sucked into this mess,” Nick said, bending down to peer in her eyes.

“Thanks,” Jess whispered. And the civility of their exchange—when they usually drove each other crazy—proved just how serious this situation was.

Ike crossed to Dare, and they clasped hands. “When Jess called, I came into the city early. But the rest of the guys will be down by eleven.”

Dare nodded, and looked to Beckett. “That’ll give us time to set up those lookouts.”

“Roger that,” Beckett said.

“Hold up a minute,” Nick said. “Before everyone scatters, I want Marz to show y’all something he’s been working on. Marz?”

“I’m going to project some images on that wall,” he said, pointing to the stretch of brick that ran along the side of his desk. Easy, his girlfriend Jenna, and Beckett moved out of the way. “These are stills I grabbed from the video surveillance footage during yesterday’s attack.” Marz was the team’s computer expert, and the guy among all Nick’s teammates that Jeremy had gotten to know the best. He was hilarious, dedicated to the point of pulling multiple all-nighters to get done the research they needed, and almost always upbeat.

Grainy images appeared on the wall next to a giant whiteboard filled with maps and questions and lists of information.

“Well, that wasn’t too bright an idea, was it?” Marz said, chuckling to himself.

The brick obscured the images so that Jeremy couldn’t really make out what they were. But it was more of the same all around, all the way up to the tall ceilings. “How about this?” Jeremy said, coming around to Marz. “Can I borrow your chair?”

“Sure, hoss. What do you have in mind?” Marz asked as he rose. The slight limp he had was the result of the prosthetic he wore. The ambush that had killed so many of the guys on Nick’s SF team had claimed the lower half of Marz’s right leg, too.

Jeremy climbed up on the chair, grabbed the small cube of the projector, and shined it down at the light-colored concrete floor right in the center of the group. Much clearer.

“Genius, Jeremy,” Marz said, grinning.

“But, of course.” Jeremy waggled his eyebrows and lifted the projector higher to enlarge the image. Everyone gathered around, those in the front taking a knee so people behind them could see.

“Okay, these first ones show that the license plates of the three Suburbans are all blacked out,” Marz said, switching among images. Each one showed a version of the last—their attackers had smeared something dark over the plates. “So there are no leads there. Just an FYI.” Marz glanced over his shoulder to Emilie. The pair exchanged some sort of silent communication and, finally, Emilie nodded and averted her gaze. “This image,” Marz said, switching again, “shows the moment the attackers fired on one of their own.” A flare of light was just visible on the far side of the middle Suburban.

“Manny,” Nick said quietly, his tone full of regret. For Emilie. Even though her brother had been their enemy, they’d all gone out of their way to express their sympathies to her. Not only were she and Marz together now, but Emilie hadn’t had any knowledge of Manny’s criminal activities until Marz and the team told her.

Marz nodded. “Yeah. So it was clearly an execution.” From what Jeremy understood, both the authorities and the Church Gang were hunting for Manny after he’d gone on a spree and killed a cop and several Church-Gang henchmen, so these guys had apparently decided he’d become a liability. Scary to imagine what they’d do to Nick and the team if this was what they did to one of their own. Marz switched images again. “Now,
this
is the best thing I found in reviewing all the footage.”

The image showed a man firing from the rear passenger seat of one of the Suburbans, an automatic weapon in his hands.

“If you look at the guy’s bicep, you’ll see there’s a mark,” Marz said. “I spent at least an hour trying to enlarge and clarify it, and this is what I managed.”

The new image that appeared featured a detail of that mark. Everyone leaned in. It appeared to be a silhouette of a man’s head.

“I know it’s not great, but when I pair the enlargement with this image—” A logo of a knight’s helmeted head in profile appeared next to Marz’s photograph. “—I think it becomes clear what we’re looking at.”

Murmurs rose up from among Nick’s teammates.

“A tattoo of the company logo for,” Nick said. “Sonofabitch.”

“That’s some of the best evidence we have, right there,” Beckett said, leaning in to compare the images, “that Seneka was behind yesterday’s attack. Which only makes sense if they were also involved in what happened to us in Afghanistan.”