Page 19 of Inferno

Knight turned a page. “These are timestamps from traffic cameras near Juniper’s bakery this week.” He laid out printouts of grainy stills. A black Audi circled the block six days running. The camera was at a perfect angle to catch the license plate to confirm the car was the same Audi. “The car matches his lease, the driver matches his general description, though a blurry profile wouldn’t be proof in itself. Given his recent breakup with Juniper, the fact the car is his lease, and his past pattern of aggression, I’m going to go out on a limb and say the fuckin’ bastard is stalking her. He circled the block several times, parked across the street, and watched the shop. The only time he went inside was Thursday morning, but he didn’t stay long.”

She never mentioned it. Not once. My hands curled into fists on the table. The knuckles turned white. “Son of a bitch,” I said.

Gunnar cleared his throat. “If we hit him tonight, we buy a police problem. That doesn’t help her. It helps him.”

He was right. I knew he was right. It didn’t make the anger any easier to swallow.

Tiny leaned forward, elbows on the table. “I’ve got coverage on her shop. Skidrow and Cobra are on rotating shifts, and they’re careful. She won’t see them.” He nodded at me. “I sent Zero to tail her when she leaves and to keep watch at her place when you can’t. Everyone knows to stay out of sight.”

“Men who put hands on women are club business.” Oktober’s voice cut through the room. He didn’t raise it. Didn’t need to. “That’s not up for debate. What do you need from us?”

Knuckles looked at me. “You got the club behind you, Inferno. Nobody moves on this guy until we know what we’re dealing with, but we’ll keep your girl safe.” He tapped the folder. “Knight, keep digging. I need to know everything about this guy before we move. If I need to, I’ll call Antonio. The last thing I want to do is walk in without a plan.”

“Appreciate it, Prez.” I nodded at Knuckles in acknowledgment.

When the meeting broke, I gathered the pages Knight had printed and rolled them up to look at in my apartment. I was most interested in the storage fire summary. I could dissect that at least. Maybe I’d know who authored it and could talk with them.

Once upstairs, I sat at a table next to the window. Security lights provided adequate lighting at night while the camo netting over most of the paths between buildings maintained our privacy. I liked to look out over the courtyard and think when I felt myself losing control over my emotions. Every single emotion right now was centered on Juniper. She’d never mentioned the Audi. I spread the printouts on the table and stared at them until the timestamps blurred.

After a while, I moved to my bedroom, killed the overhead and used the bedside lamp to cut down on the glare. I’d read the fire report three times and learned nothing I didn’t already know.

Undetermined meant they couldn’t prove it wasn’t an accident. Couldn’t prove it was, either. The language was careful and more than obvious someone had doubts about something.

My phone sat beside me on the bed. I picked it up and scrolled through contacts I hadn’t used in more than five years but never purged. I knew a guy who could possibly get me the actual case file if I needed it. Knight could do it, and I’d never have to reopen old wounds.

I stared at the names for a couple seconds and started to set my phone back down. Instead, I called Juniper.

She answered on the third ring. Her voice was thick with sleep and I had a pang of guilt. She had to work. Shit. “Inferno?” A pause. Sheets rustling. “It’s one in the morning.”

“I know.” I sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on my knees, phone pressed to my ear. “I’m coming to get you for work in the morning.”

There was a brief silence before she spoke. “Why?”

“We need to talk.”

“About what?”

“About Brett casing out your bakery and even going inside. A storage fire he might be linked to. About the fact the more Knight digs into this guy, the worse I’m feeling about the whole situation.” I knew I needed to stop and take a breath, but the familiar spiral rode me hard. I needed to protect this woman, and not being able to was messing with my head.

Another pause. Longer this time. I could hear her breathing while she tried to put the pieces together.

“What storage fire?”

“It was a couple of years ago. They ruled it undetermined, but someone suspected something was off. But the unit belonged to a recent ex-girlfriend.”

She was quiet for so long I thought she might have hung up. Then she stated the obvious. “You know, right now, you’re the one stalking me.”

I gave a long sigh. “Yeah. I’ve told myself that. Several times,” I muttered. “There’s a reason I am the way I am. I lost someone important to me once and never want that to happen again. Doesn’t make stalking you right, but…”

Again, there was a prolonged silence. “I have to be at the bakery by three-thirty.”

I let out a breath I’d been holding. “I’ll pick you up at three.”

“I’m giving you this, Inferno. I happen to believe you mean well. But I will take my own car, and I’m not going to hide out somewhere. You can escort me or ride with me or whatever else you need to do within reason.”

“I’m not asking you to hide. That’s why my brothers are going to help. I promise they’ll stay out of sight. The only thing I want is to make sure Brett can’t get to you. We’ll figure it out from there.”

“OK,” she said. “I’ll see you at three.”