Road Tripped (Satan's Devils MC Utah #1) - Manda Mellett Page 0,69

from that day, my recommendations and observations disavowed, as was I myself. After a career hunting the bad guys, I was a wanted man myself.”

I hadn’t expected that. I cock an eyebrow at him. “So you had to hide? What the fuck brought you to the Satan’s Devils?”

“It’s a longer story than that. Goes back to that final kidnapping.” A wave of visible pain washes over Pip’s face. “You had any dealings with Cowboy while you’ve been here?”

I shrug. “Only enough to know he was a Navy chef who was going to open his own place when he’d done his time. It was strange to discover he’s cooking for an MC instead.”

Pip nods, acknowledging my point. “As one of the Navy’s top chefs, he not only provided meals for the sailors on the ship, he also was personally responsible for providing gourmet food for admirals and visiting dignitaries. A senator brought along his assistant to one of those dinners. The food was excellent, I’m led to believe, and the senator wanted to pay his compliments to the chef. His assistant was pretty, and she caught Cowboy’s eye. Well, the attraction was mutual, and phone numbers were exchanged. Cowboy caught up with her when he had shore leave, and things progressed quite fast. They married, and shortly after, a daughter was born.”

Pip pauses to take another sip of his whisky, while my brain puts things together. What he’s going to say next won’t be good hearing. Cowboy made no reference to a family he clearly once had.

Pip replaces his glass on the table and resumes. “Cowboy obviously had to conduct a long-distance relationship, spending long periods apart. He’d decided to end his time with the Navy, and he and Gianetta had plans. She was going to give up her job and they’d open a restaurant together. She’d do the admin, and Cowboy would concentrate on creating the delicacies he was famed for. But it didn’t work out. The senator went out on a trip to Paris. It was there, Gianetta was kidnapped, along with her little girl.”

“Your last case?” I put two and two together. “Not a genuine kidnapping, but someone wanted her out of the way? Why had she taken her daughter along?”

“She always did when she could if she travelled. She didn’t like leaving her at home, and Cowboy was doing his last tour. France is safe. Cowboy thought she wanted to show her the sights like the Eiffel Tower.” Pip raises his chin then dips it. “As his assistant, she had access to the senator’s paperwork, often being called into meetings to take notes. She was an intelligent woman, too many brains as it turned out. She got to know too much about things the senator didn’t want getting back to the States, in particular a large payoff from the Russians.”

When Pip pauses and takes another large sip of his whisky, I know we’re getting down to the details now.

He picks the story up again. “It was made to look legit—they were kidnapped, snatched from her apartment, ransom demands came in. As a coincidence, I was close by, having just completed another mission. I was called in as negotiator. I was taken in by the senator’s crocodile tears for a while, then things began to smell off. But I was an agent, and he was a politician.” Pip shrugs. “Clearly, he was being protected by powerful people who also didn’t want her info to circle back this side of the Atlantic, and by people who didn’t appreciate me sticking my nose in.”

“Cowboy’s wife and kid were killed.” I don’t ask, I make the obvious statement.

Pip doesn’t bother to confirm it. “I’d been dealing with Cowboy, liked the man. He’d been given leave as his woman was missing. He was a frantic, desperate man, while we were waiting. When their bodies were found, he was devastated. To this day, he’s never gotten over it. He wanted revenge, especially as he’d put the situation together the same way as I had, and he had the benefit of knowing that woman of his. He told me if she knew something, something so important it could bring the senator down, she’d have backed that up. He found it, gave it to me. I told him…” Pip wipes a hand over his face. “I told him I’d deal with it. Instead, I was kicked out and had to go underground. But I stayed in contact with Cowboy. I knew there was only one