Silver and Chrome: A Bad Boy MC Romance (14 page)

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

EVELYN

Why the hell does Jackie
want me to meet her at the one place I’m not supposed to go?

Hey,
can you meet me at that bar we were at Saturday? It’s really important. I’m
heading out now but I lost my phone so I can’t call or text you. Please meet me
ASAP.

Jackie

Talk
about cryptic. The problem with Jackie is that she can be a bit melodramatic
sometimes, and I have no idea if this is one of those times. For all I know,
she had a fight with the bartender from Axle’s, who I know she’s been seeing,
and just wants me there to back her up as she confronts him. But what if this
time, it’s something actually important? The fact that I can’t call or text her
back is frustrating. I can’t just leave her hanging, though. If the situation
were reversed, she’d be there in a heartbeat.

I
did promise Sebastian that I wouldn’t go back to his club hangout, but he’s not
there now, and he’s coming back here to the office next. I can get there, meet
Jackie, and quickly get her out of there—or at least, get myself out of there—long
before Sebastian ever gets done for the day here. He’ll likely head back to the
bar tonight, but by then, I’ll be long gone.

I
don’t like having to do what he told me explicitly not to do, but what choice
do I have? Jackie’s the closest friend I have in this city, and she may really
need me. If he wasn’t so secretive about everything, I would have already told
Jackie about him and she would know that I couldn’t be seen at Axle’s. As it
is, I’ve had to dance around everything with her and start to keep secrets of
my own. Far fewer than Sebastian has to keep, but already I don’t know how he
does it. I hate lying to people.

Grabbing
my purse, I head into the hallway and down toward Beverly’s office. I was
briefly introduced to her yesterday when Sebastian found time to take me around
to meet people on the floor, so I know that her office is next to Hans’. I’ll
pop in quick to tell her about the Germany trip and then get to Axle’s. I can
get in, shuffle Jackie out with some excuse and be out of there within the
hour. No problem.

“Beverly?”
I knock on the door and the cherubic face of Hans’ assistant looks up at me
from behind her monitor with a smile.

“Evelyn!
They have you working today, too? Welcome to the company, I guess!” Despite the
words, her face doesn’t lose its smile, nor does her voice lose its
enthusiastic lilt. “I’m so glad you stopped by. I’ve been meaning to come and
say hello, but you know everyone is just in such a tizzy about this whole Velocity
Motors fiasco.”

“Right.”
I nod, flashing her a smile to match her own. Beverly is very friendly, and
it’s hard not to return her amicability, even though I’m in a rush. “That’s
actually why I’m here—”

“Oh,
of course,” she interrupts, “I bet Sebastian has got you working on the same
problem. He’s been in here talking to Hans a lot lately. We’ve never had
something like this happen before, so as you can imagine, no one has any idea
what to do about it. How bizarre, right—someone stealing a whole truck load of
engine parts? Who would do such a thing? Hans told me that the police don’t
seem to have any leads yet, either. They told him not to expect to get them
back. They said they’re probably on a boat to China or something already. Isn’t
that crazy?”

“Yes,
that is pretty nuts,” I agree, the smile on my face feeling a little bit more
forced now.

“You
know, my neighbor had his car stolen last summer, and it was the same thing. The
police told him that he would probably never see it again. Then, just a few
weeks ago, he got a call from a detective that said that his car had turned up,
but you’ll never guess where it was.”

“Where?”
I ask, playing along.

“Africa.
Can you believe it? They got a call about the VIN number on a car seized in
Algeria or Angola, or one of those places, matching the VIN number on a list of
missing cars that they had from the US. Imagine that—someone steals a car from
here and ships it all the way across the world. How could that be any cheaper than
buying a car over there? Why, I ordered some hair curlers from someone on eBay
in England, and the shipping was actually more than the curlers themselves. And
England isn’t nearly as far as Africa...”

I can’t believe that
Beverly wasted thirty minutes of my time. Wow, that woman can talk. I’m not
sure if she thinks I was rude or not, after finally having to interrupt and
then refocus her on the Hans flight issue three times before I was able to
confirm that she was going to take care of it. Maybe she just figures that it’s
Saturday and there is more room to socialize than normal, but I’m in a hurry to
get out of here.

Aside
from making Jackie wait, I’m even more worried I might run into Sebastian when
he comes back to the office, but luckily I make it out before he returns. It’s
only three p.m. now, and the bar parking lot looks pretty empty, so my plan
should still be okay. Just get in, get out with Jackie, and then get the hell
away from here.

I
wonder why I don’t see her car, though. Maybe her bartender boyfriend drove her
and she needs a ride home? If she lost her phone, maybe she lost her whole
purse. Wallet, car keys, everything. Maybe that’s why she needs me. I wish she
would have just called me instead of sending that e-mail, though. Wherever she
was must have had a phone. Hell, she could have called me from here.

Even
during the day, the dim light of the bar makes everything inside seem dirty and
moody. Maybe that’s the way the MC like it, although none of them are here
right now. Probably too early for them. Jackie is nowhere to be seen, either. The
place is all but deserted save a few old men sitting around and nursing drinks as
they stare at a golf game on the television.

It
took me a lot longer to get here than I expected. Maybe Jackie ended up solving
her own problem without me. No messages on my phone from her, and she was the
first one I gave me new cell number to. It would be pretty rude, and unlike her,
not to call and let me know.

“What
can I get you?” The bartender at Axle’s today is a woman. She’s small and has
dark hair and a couple of piercings in places that don’t normally get pierced. I
expected to see the guy from last week, Andy, that Jackie is dating. Or
fucking. I’m not sure how serious they are beyond having a lot of hot sex that
she’s been pretty graphic in describing to me every time we talk. Maybe he only
works the night shift.

“Uh,
just a water for now.” She frowns at me, but then turns to fill a glass. I
haven’t gotten a paycheck yet and I don’t plan on staying long enough to finish
a drink. If Jackie isn’t here in a few minutes, I can’t stick around and wait. I
pull out my phone and stare at it, willing it to ring as I ease onto one of the
well-worn stools and wait for my water.

“If
you’re waiting for my call, I’ll need your new number first.”

A
chill runs up my spine as I spin around. “What the hell are you doing here
again?” How the hell is Edward tracking me now? Is he stalking me?

“Why,
meeting you, of course.” His smile used to seem charming, now it just makes my
stomach turn.

“I’m
here to meet… oh. Fuck you, Edward.” I stand up to leave as the sick
realization of being played for a fool hits me. It all makes sense now. Jackie
isn’t coming, and she never was. “Your IT group hacks e-mails now?”

Edward
laughs as he shifts his body to block me. “No hacking required here, either. Changing
the ‘from’ field of an e-mail is something even I can do without help.”

“That
makes sense,” I agree. “You’re probably used to people not wanting to return
your messages. Besides, if I were you, I’d want to pretend to be anyone other
than Edward Stonewall as often as possible, too.”

The
smile on his face falters just a touch, but then he laughs again. “Ah, see? I
missed your quick wit. But how else would I have convinced you to meet with me?
So it was all for the greater good.”

“You’re
right, I wouldn’t have met with you, and now I’m going to leave. Get out of my
way, Edward.”

“Now,
now, no need to be rude,” Edward says, shifting his position again to stand in
my way as I try to go around him. “I’m here for your benefit, Evelyn. Things
must be getting pretty desperate by now. An expensive apartment, no family, and
hardly any friends in town. No job prospects. Why do you have to be so
stubborn? Just come back with me to VI and we’ll pretend all this nastiness
never even happened. You can have your old job back, and I’ll even pay you for
the last few weeks as if you were on vacation.”

“I
realize that the word is foreign enough to you because you surround yourself
with people afraid to use it, but let me say it again: no. Speaking of which,
where are dumb and dumber? I didn’t think you’d set foot in this place again
without them. Although, with what little they did last time to protect you, I
actually would have expected you to bring even more of them.”

“I’ve
had this place checked out. It’s dead during the day. Perfect for our
conversation. No need for interruptions.”

“Whatever,
Edward. There is no more conversation. I’ve told you no for the last time. Now
please get the hell out of my way so I can go back to my job.”

His
eyes widen and I feel a sense of smug satisfaction. That was the response I was
hoping for. “With who? McDonald’s? They’re about the only place I didn’t bother
blocking, because frankly, I didn’t think you’d stoop that low. You’re going to
make me sad now, Evelyn. I don’t want to see you debase yourself drastically.”

“I
don’t need to explain myself to you.” I’m so over Edward and his crap. I don’t
even care what he thinks anymore, but when I try to walk past him again, he
grabs my forearm. It reminds me of last weekend, only this time there isn’t
really anyone around to come to my rescue. I quickly glance over at the
bartender but she’s playing on her phone. I’m sure if I yell she’d at least
call the cops. Then again, Edward isn’t much of a fighter. She’s small, but it
wouldn’t surprise me if she could take him herself anyway. She looks scrappy. I
must have smiled at the thought.

“This
isn’t a joke, Evelyn,” Edward hisses at me as his fingers dig into my arm. “I
mentioned last week that there are deals that are hanging in the balance here. I
don’t have time to train anyone else, and frankly, you dealt with some of these
accounts personally, and they’re looking to have you come back. I can only make
excuses for so long before I start to look bad.  Don’t make me sue you.”

“For
what?” I scoff.

“You
left with key information about these accounts. Information that you neglected
to record and took with you illegally. Perhaps wherever your new job is only
took you in because you promised to give them inside information about VI.”

“That’s
bullshit, Edward. You’re only mad because I was doing work outside of a regular
EA. I was running accounts, and you were paying me an EA salary. You didn’t
recognize the work I was doing until I left and now you realize how badly you
fucked up and what you lost.”

Edward
is staring at me, his thin lips pursed and green eyes narrowed. “Fine. You’re
right. Come back and I’ll give you a proper title. You can help me hire a new
EA and you can continue working with your old accounts, as well as new ones.”