ARROW

  By eight, I’m at my desk and wondering if I should check on Annie. I know I should let her sleep. She’s a full-time student, something I’ve never been, so for all I know, she sleeps until noon and works through the night. I walk over to the coffeemaker I keep in my office and brew up a full pot.

  I feel like I hardly slept a wink last night. When I wasn’t checking my phone for texts, my dreams were more than stimulating. It’s unnerving, the effect Annie has had on me. I have other clients and other work to do, so I put the golden-legged artist out of my mind and log in to my email.

  Yeah, scratch that. I have no other clients. No other work. More of the same. Empty inbox. I do have a message from one of the guys I work with at an insurance company, but the news is worse than just the usual—no, we don’t have any new cases right now.

  Mike tells me the insurance company he works for is going to start using more in-house investigators for their suspected workers’ comp fraud cases. Something about standardizing training and procedures to ensure more consistent investigation methods across the open cases.

  Great.

  That’s corporate speak that means they want to roll what I do into the jobs of overworked guys who are already on the payroll. It’s a cost-cutting measure. That’s all that is.

  I do good work. Honest work. Some of the cases I’ve handled have saved the company hundreds of thousands of dollars. Claim payments weren’t made—didn’t go out the door to people milking their injuries or trying to extend benefits longer than they were entitled to. Those are big wins for the company, considering they don’t pay me a percentage of what I save them. They pay me my flat hourly rate plus expenses, which still nets them big gains.

  But they don’t see it like that.

  I storm over to the coffeepot and fill the biggest mug I’ve got. Looks like there’s no reason not to put all my time and energy into Annie.

  She’s literally all I’ve got now.

  I decide to start my day with research. While I down my coffee, I look up everything I can find, starting with Annie herself. But after an hour, I find very little that I didn’t already know. All of her social media profiles are discreet and art-related. She doesn’t have any weird engagements on her posts, and even a search of her followers and people who have communicated with her publicly online reveals most are female artists. Which brings me back to my original line of thinking.

  The school is the logical tie to what’s happening.

  I spend another hour researching the school, complaints about the school, crime stats, but nothing. The school is small and doesn’t have much of an online footprint. June, her thesis adviser, has a website, so I learn what I can about her. She definitely has had an interesting career. She started out as a sculptor but has been teaching in some capacity for more than twenty years. She has sold work to a number of businesses and hotels but, otherwise, nothing remarkable or revealing.

  That brings me to Annie’s resident adviser, Neveah. I don’t know her last name so I can’t do much more than search for information about her on the school site. I don’t find anything.

  My phone rings, and my heart practically leaps out of my chest. I expect to see Annie’s name on the caller ID, but it’s just Alice, one of the owners of the building.

  “Alice,” I say, picking up after the first ring.

  “Josh, hon, are you busy this morning? I wanted to drop by with a copy of the new lease. Go over a couple of the terms with you.” She sounds like she’s got me on speaker.

  I imagine her husband Morris is with her. I’m due to renew my lease, and I’m sure the rate’s going up. When Morris and Alice bought this strip mall, they needed to fill it, so they put a lot of tenant-friendly terms in the initial lease. But they warned me that could change. And like anything that’s going to cost me money, these changes are not ones I’m ready for.

  My lease renews in ninety days, and if I can’t turn things around, I’m not sure I can re-sign. I don’t have to provide any notice if I decide not to renew, but Alice and Morris have to give me notice of the changes coming.

  I guess right now is my notice.

  “Come on by,” I tell Alice, feeling the coffee slosh around in my gut. “I’ll be here.”

  I hang up the phone and walk into the tiny office bathroom to dump the last of my now-cold coffee down the sink. I splash water on my face, wash my hands, and smooth back my hair. The guy looking back at me has one thing going for him—he works.

  I’m tenacious and smart, but that means fuck all if I don’t have any clients. Well, more than just Annie.

  Morris and Alice arrive a few minutes later. I clap Morris on the back and shake his hand while I give Alice a smile.

  She’s a sweet lady. I’m the only tenant they have who isn’t somehow in the MC that her husband runs with Tiny. Alice never makes me feel like an outsider. I’m friends with Leo, who’s not fully patched in, as well as Lia, Tiny’s daughter. But being friends doesn’t bring me close enough to feel like they ever fully trust me.

  “How’s business, man?” Morris looks comically suburban in his tight black golf shirt. He’s got kids now—Zoey, Alice’s daughter from a previous relationship—and they recently added another little one to the family, another girl just a few months younger than Leo and Lia’s son, Rider.

  Morris stretches his thick legs out in front of him and pushes the chair back a few feet from the desk.

  “Business as usual,” I tell him, not willing to reveal anything that will make my landlords worry about my ability to renew. We’ll all cross that bridge when and if we have to.

  “Glad to hear it.” Morris has a file folder in his heavily tattooed hands. He sets it on the desk, but I’m not quite ready to get the bad news yet.

  “How’re the kids?” I ask, not really directing the question to him or Alice, but both. “I saw Rider yesterday.” I shake my head. “They grow up fast.”

  I don’t know what the hell to say to parents. They grow up fast. The kids are cute. I don’t have much in the way of family anymore, and none of my buddies have kids.

  To me, Rider’s a cute, screaming mess of juice and snot. Half the time when I see the kid, he’s waddling like he’s got a diaper full of shit. The rest of the time, he’s moving so fast, I don’t get how legs that tiny can propel a body that quickly.

  It’s not that I don’t like kids. There’s nothing wrong with them—they’re just not my people.

  Morris’s grizzled beard softens as he grins. He laces his fingers together behind his head and smiles. “Girl dad, best job on earth,” he says.

  “And you’re the best at what you do.” Alice leans down and kisses Morris’s cheek.

  I lean forward and reach for the file folder. “So, what’s the damage?” I ask, moving on to the business at hand.

  Before any of us can start talking, the front door to my office flies open.

  “Josh! Josh!”

  I recognize the voice and leap from my chair. “Excuse me one sec.”

  I hurry into the lobby where Annie is clutching a piece of paper in her hands. She’s pale, and soft smudges under her eyes make her look like she’s slept about as much as I did.

  “Annie.” I rush up to her and instinctively take hold of her arms. “What happened? Are you okay?”

  She’s trembling so hard, I can’t imagine what the fuck has got her so worked up. And worse, why she didn’t fucking call.

  “Talk to me,” I say, peering down into her face. “Whatever it is, I’ll take care of you. Just tell me what happened.”

  “They found me,” she squeaks out, the hand that’s gripping the letter trembling. “But it’s so much worse. Josh, they found you.”

  I release her arms and take the letter from her hand. In the same printing I remember from the other letters is a simple message.

  Annie, you’re pathetic. Josh can’t stop what’s coming for you.

  I start to see red as rage erupts from my gut. “Where was this? Where did you find this?”

  “Tucked under my wipers,” she says. “That’s why I didn’t call. I went out to my car after I checked out. I was planning on texting you and heading into school, but I saw this under my wipers and freaked the fuck out.”

  “Fuck,” I curse and press at the splitting pain behind my brows with two fingers. “Tell me everything. What happened last night. Who you’ve talked to, where you’ve been.”

  She tells me in a shaky voice about Neveah, texting and calling at the hotel last night. How she went to sleep but kept dreaming that Neveah would show up at the door looking for her.

  “And then this morning, my father called me.” She looks so young and so scared, I want to pull her close, protect her from whatever shitstain is tormenting her.

  “What’d your dad say?” I demand. “Does he know what happened in the dorm?” I realize Alice and Morris are waiting for me, but this can’t wait.

  “It was so weird, Josh,” she tells me, sounding lost. “He asked me if everything was okay at school. I told him, yeah, everything was great. I didn’t say anything about the dorm or the letters. Nothing. He said he was between meetings, but before he hung up, he told me he slept better at night knowing I’m safe at school. He sounded weird. Like he wasn’t alone. It just left me with the weirdest feeling.” She looks up at me, tears in her eyes. “Josh, do you think my dad put a tracker on my car? Why would he do that? But how did the letter get on my car in the hotel lot? How do they know your name?”

  She’s full-body trembling now, and I have to admit, I have all the same questions.

  If they know who I am, that means they know she’s hired me. That means not only the hotel, but my office, my home… Any place that I once considered secure might be compromised.

  “Fuck,” I say, and when the reality of what I’m feeling crosses my face, Annie bursts into tears.

  “I’m so sorry. I don’t even know why this is happening.”

  I do it then. I open my arms, and she crashes against my chest, wrapping her arms tight around my waist.

  “I’m so scared,” she says, her breath warm against my shirt. “And angry and paranoid. I brought this down on you. I don’t understand. I just don’t get it.”

  I hold her tight and press my chin to the top of her head. “It’s going to be all right. We’re going to work this out, I promise.”

  A throat clearing behind me has me turning my neck, but I don’t release Annie.

  “Josh, we can come back another time,” Morris says at the same time Alice asks, “Who is this? Is everything okay?”

  Annie pulls back a little and then a look of horror comes over her face. “Oh my God, you’re busy,” she says, looking from Morris to Alice. “I never even thought you’d be with clients, I’m so, so sorry…”

  “Annie, these are my landlords. It’s okay.”

  Annie smooths down the front of a purple-patterned flowy dress that hugs her tits and ties around the back of her neck. Her hair is loose and free, and she’s wearing flip-flops again. She wipes the tears from her face. “I’m not usually this much of a wreck,” she says. “I’m in a bit of trouble, but I’m sure you’re used to that.”

  “We can come back later, Arrow,” Morris says, using the nickname most of my friends and the MC guys call me. “Sorry for your troubles, miss.”

  Morris looks ready to haul ass out of there, but Annie shakes her head. “No, please. I can…I can wait. I can’t go home anyway. I…I can’t go anywhere.”

  I lift her chin so her eyes meet mine. “You’ll be safe here. Just sit at my desk and don’t talk to anyone or leave this office until I’m done. You got me?”

  She nods. “Are you sure?”

  I point to the desk where I met with her yesterday. “I’ll be quick. Then I’ll take you for some coffee and we’ll figure this out.”

  My mind is already spinning with shit we have to do. But first, I need to get Morris and Alice taken care of.

  “Come on back,” I tell them. “Annie, don’t leave my sight, babe.”

  When I say babe, the light finally comes back into her face. She smiles and nods, then sits in the chair behind the desk facing the door.

  Smart girl.

  I close my office door, grateful it has a window so I can see Annie, after Alice and Morris come back inside.

  “Josh,” Alice says, her voice a mixture of teasing and surprise. “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone. Is everything okay?”

  I sigh, figuring it’s a lot easier to keep up the charade that I’m dating Annie than it would be to explain it. “I’m helping her with what I think is an emerging stalking situation,” I tell them. “We’d thought whoever it is didn’t know about me, but…” I motion toward Annie. “She found out this morning that’s not the case. That means she can’t go home. And now, well…”

  I rake a hand through my hair and curse.

  “Looks like my home and office address have been compromised. I don’t know if there’s a threat to me personally, but you might want to notify the other tenants to be cautious. Until this gets sorted, I don’t know what kind of danger she or I might be in.”

  “Fuck it, Arrow. I don’t like that one bit.” Morris’s expression is dark. “My wife is here alone most days.” He scratches his fingers through his gray stubble. “What can we do?”

  I look from him to Alice and back. “What do you mean?”

  The question takes me by surprise. I’m not friends with Morris and Alice. While I get that they want to secure the property, there have been cameras on the premises since Alice’s ex tried to burn the damn place down right after they bought it. And since my office is right next to Alice’s, I can confirm I’ve seen the setup. The cameras work. Anything that happens, there will be a record of it.

  But cameras only catch what they can. They don’t stop crimes from happening. If I were Morris right now, I’d be worried sick and wanting to help too.

  Morris looks at Alice. “We could post a fake eviction notice on the door. Make this stalker fuck think Josh doesn’t work here anymore.”

  The idea has merit, but I don’t like the idea of any potential clients who show up thinking I got evicted. That’ll drive the last nail in the coffin of my business for sure.

  “I don’t know about that, man,” I say.

  “What if you put a sign on the door that says ‘Out of town for family emergency. Accepting phone calls only at this time’?” Alice looks more troubled than I’ve ever seen her. She is twisting halfway in her chair, one eye trained on Annie.

  “I like that,” I say. “That could work. That way, if anyone comes here, it might stop them from trying anything.”

  Morris nods. “I’ll get a couple of the brothers down here. Crow’s working now, but Eagle and Dog can spare the time. Tiny won’t let anything happen with his baby girl and grandson right here.”

  For the first time since I’ve known these guys, I see the power of the brotherhood. I don’t have anyone to call at a time like this. No one to watch my back. I don’t mind being a lone wolf, but I can’t deny that I want the kind of help the guys can bring to this situation.

  “Seriously appreciate that, man,” I tell him.

  We spend a few minutes going over the changes in the lease, while Alice continues to look like she wants to go hug Annie. I know that feeling all too well.

  When we finish, Morris stands and shakes my hand, leaving a copy of the new lease on my desk. “You know the deal, man. Just get the signed copy back to us by the time the lease turns over. Unless you’re not planning to stay, then let us know when you can.”

  I thank him again and get up from my chair. “Can I ask a favor? You think we could leave Annie’s car in the lot here for a while? I suspect she’s got a tracker installed on it, and until I have a chance to look it over and find the fucking thing, I’d like to keep the car someplace Annie and I won’t be.”

  “Josh,” Alice says quietly. “What happens now? Where will you and Annie go?”

  I pinch my nose between my thumb and forefinger. “I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

  And it’s true. I know we can’t stay here, she can’t go back to the dorms, and I’m going to bet my condo won’t be any more secure. If this asshole knows my name, a simple Google search will be all it takes to find me. Property tax records, utilities… As much as I maintain as low a profile as possible, I’m findable. And it looks like this stalker is a little too motivated to get under Annie’s skin.

  Alice looks at her husband, then strokes his massive, tattooed forearm. “Honey,” she says quietly. “Can we talk a second?”

  Morris cocks his chin at her but nods. I feel like I’m interrupting a private conversation, so I push back from the chair and motion toward Annie. “I’m going to check on her,” I say. “I’ll give you two some time.”

  I close my office door behind me and walk over to the desk at the front of the office. I lean against the side of the reception desk and cross my legs.

  “What do you need?” I ask. “Caffeine? Pancakes?”

  She laughs, the golden bronze of her bare shoulders shaking. “I don’t think I could eat. Maybe we can grab coffee and figure out what to do next?”

  I’m about to tell her what I learned this morning, when Alice opens the door to my office. “Josh, Annie,” she says, smiling sweetly. “I think we can help.”

  9

  ANNIE

  The last place I ever imagined I’d find myself is on the back of a motorcycle. Which makes the idea of moving in to a motorcycle club compound absolutely ridiculous.

  “Is it like on TV?” I ask, looking from Josh to Morris.

  While Josh has the sexy bad-boy vibe in spades, Morris looks every bit the craggy, crusty biker. He’s attractive—don’t get me wrong—with a great body, tattoos, and thick, trim hair that puts him in the silver fox category. The sun lines around his eyes and his work-weathered hands were formed through years of riding the open road.

  The massive man takes one look at Alice, bends over, and bursts into full-belly laughter. “Oh gosh, I wish. The Disciples compound looks more like a day care than a club hangout these days.”