Thrill Seeker (Kings of Vengeance MC Book 5) - Winter Travers Page 0,34

the direction of the bushes. “Who’s there?” I demanded.

“Me,” Deedra hiccupped. “I’m in the stones.”

Fucking hell. Now was not the time for Deedra to be so drunk she didn’t know what the hell was going on around her.

The bushes moved, and then, a figure stepped into the light. “What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded.

The kid Deedra had been talking to outside of the diner held up his hands. “I came to talk to Deedra. I tried to call her, but she didn’t answer.”

“Joseph?” Deedra called. She wrapped her arms around my waist and ducked her head to see around me. “What are you doing here?”

“I asked him the same thing, Dee.”

She hiccupped. “I know. I thought you were talking to me.” She shook her head. “Remind me not to drink again.”

That wasn’t going to happen as long as she hung out with the Book Club.

“What the hell are you doing here, kid?” I had enough to deal with. This kid needed to get the hell out of here and come talk to Deedra when she wasn’t drunk as shit.

“I didn’t know where else to go.” The kid looked around. “I messed up.”

“Oh, no,” Deedra gasped.

“And you brought your trouble to Deedra’s doorstep?” I growled. This kid needed to get his ass off Deedra’s front step and figure his own shit out.

“No one knows I’m here.” He looked around nervously. “I lost them when I jumped the train bridge.”

Fucking hell. This kid has someone fucking chasing him, and he possibly led them straight to Deedra’s door. “Who the hell did you lose?” I demanded.

The kid looked me up and down. “Look, I don’t know who the hell you are, man, so I’d much rather just talk to Deedra.”

I took a step toward him.

Deedra gripped my shirt. “Point,” she whispered.

“I’m her husband, kid. Who the fuck are you?” I didn’t need to explain anything to this kid. I only took a breath because I knew Deedra had some connection to him.

“What did you do?” Deedra asked. “What happened?”

The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and an uneasy feeling washed over me. I stepped back and snaked my arm behind me around Deedra. “Get in the house, Deedra.”

“What? No,” she grumbled. “I want to know what’s ha—”

Shots rang out, cutting off Deedra. I spun on my heel, wrapped my arms around her, and tackled her to the ground. Deedra screamed as more shots sounded, and one hit the stones next to us.

A guttural grunt came where the kid had been standing, and I heard the thud of his body hitting the ground.

The shots stopped, and tires squealed.

“Point!” Deedra shouted.

I kept her covered with my body and raised my head to look around. I didn’t know who they were shooting at, but it felt like the threat was gone. “Stay still,” I grunted.

What in the fuck just happened?

My eyes dropped to the lifeless body lying on the sidewalk where Deedra and I had just been.

Fuck.

“Joseph,” she gasped. She wiggled out of my hold and crawled over to the kid. “Oh, my God.”

She managed to press two fingers to his neck.

I already knew what she was discovering.

The kid was dead.

*

Chapter Fourteen

Better or worse…

Deedra

“Why?” I numbly sat on the edge of my bed and sighed. “Why did this happen, Point?”

He pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it on the floor. “I don’t know, Dee. The only people who know are the ones who shot him.”

“Joseph,” I whispered. “His name was Joseph.”

“I know, babe.” He toed his boots off and unbuttoned his jeans.

“But I didn’t know his last name.” I wiped my nose with the back of my hand.

Three and a half hours ago, Joseph had been alive, and I had been blissfully drunk.

Now I was sobered up, and Joseph was dead.

And we didn’t know why.

“Get undressed.”

I looked up at Point. “I don’t think I can sleep.”

“Try, Dee. It’s late, and you’re gonna have a busy day tomorrow.”

I blinked. “I’m part of the news instead of reporting it, aren’t I?”

Point dropped his pants. “Yeah.”

That was a switch. “Are we going to have to talk to the police more?”

They had taken a statement from both Point and me, but that was it.

“Probably. They’re as clueless as we are about why there was a drive-by shooting in your neighborhood.”

“We have to figure out what happened to Joseph.” That was all I could think about. Why was this young man killed on my front step? Did it have anything to do with