Page 3 of Hades

I stared at the screens, taking in all the details I could despite the shitty resolution. “It looks like that silver Jeep is going somewhere in a hurry.”

“Exactly.” Slate showed me all the places he managed to get footage of the car. “Even small businesses have cameras these days, not all of ‘em, but enough.” He pointed out all the city and private cameras throughout town. “Knowing where they are is helpful in our line of work. Remember that.”

I nodded, still staring at the screens until I figured out where each camera was and stored it for later. “You just hack into this shit?”

He shrugged. “We put up a lot of the cameras belonging to the businesses in town, so I have backdoor access. It doesn’t hurt them in any way, and it helps us even more.”

“You gonna teach me to be you?” I asked only half-joking.

He nodded. “Yeah. It’d be nice to sleep through the night. I have kids and a wife who actually likes me. Having a backup means she’ll be pissed off less often.”

We shared a laugh, but it was cut off when Macy rushed into the office with wide eyes that bounced all over the room. “You guys seen Falcon?” Her petite frame vibrated with worry and fear.

“He’s with Rocky and Hawk taking care of a delivery.” Slate’s voice was cool and even. “What’s up?”

“Raven called,” she whispered. “She needs us now.” She shook away the urge to cry, gathered herself and met my gaze head on. “She found a body at the community center, a girl she knew and she called me.”

Raven never asked anybody for help, not even her brother, Falcon. She stayed at the clubhouse, but the safety of these walls was as much as she ever asked, and I admired the hell out of her for that. “I’ll go with you.”

“If you need more hands, call me,” Slate called at my retreating back.

“Got it.” Unlike Raven, I had no problem asking for help and I would if it was necessary, for now, that Raven needed us.

On the ride over, I allowed my thoughts to shift to Raven, the tough girl with full pink lips, a smartass mouth, and a shit ton of tattoos. She laughed and smiled, and gave everybody shit but she kept herself apart like she was afraid to get close to anyone. Except Macy. Maybe it was because they were more similar beneath the surface than most people realized. I liked Raven, probably more than I should considering her brother was my best friend. He’d kick my ass if he knew how often I jacked off to thoughts of his hot-as-fuck sister.

When we arrived at Steel City Community Center, I shoved those thoughts aside and focused on the police cars, the detectives in suits, the forensic team and an ambulance filling the parking lot. Other people milled about looking scared and worried. “Where is she,” I grumbled.

“Probably upstairs,” Macy answered when she joined me. “She stays here sometimes when people need a place to stay for the night.”

That was news to me. “She does?”

Macy nodded but she was on the move, forcing me to follow her around back and up a narrow staircase. “Yeah. Sometimes it’s to stay away from temptation and other times it’s to stay safe, but she always stays even though she hates it.”

That was interesting but I tucked it away to think about later when we stepped through the second door and found Raven on the sofa with a blanket draped over her shoulders. She looked so fucking small and so scared she barely looked like the feisty woman I knew.

“Raven!” Macy rushed to her, dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms around Raven. “Shit, girl. Are you okay?”

She shook her head. “No, but I’m doing better than Katya.”

I stayed back and watched the women interact. There was a closeness there that didn’t exist with anybody else. I watched her face as she told Macy about the victim, Katya, and her slit throat. Her fear was genuine, but she was hiding something.

“Ms. Marconi,” a forty-something detective sighed. “What do you know about this woman?”

“Nothing,” she answered quickly. “She came here for one of the support groups offered. All I know is her first name and that she wasn’t from Steel City. That’s it.” That was another lie, but I wouldn’t call her out in public and definitely not in front of the fucking cops.

“Look lady,” the younger detective began in a tone I didn’t like.

I stepped forward, getting between the law men and the women. “She’s obviously shaken up so why don’t you back the fuck off.”

“And who are you?” he asked.

I ignored the young asshole and turned to the older detective. “Look at her, man, she’s shaken the fuck up. You’re not getting anything out of her until she’s calm. I’ll get her to the clubhouse, and you can come by in an hour to get her statement.”

“She’s a witness, she’s not going anywhere,” the younger detective started but the older one cut him off with a glare.

“Yeah, that’s fine. If you hear anything that can help, let me know.” He handed me a business card. “This was personal.”

Fuck. “I will. Thank you, Detective.”