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Her pussy spasmed and tightened, and Ash brought his hand to her breast, kneading it roughly as he seemed to lose his own control. He thrust, his movements losing their rhythm until he was rocketing into her, pumping the condom full as they both spilled over the edge, tangled up together.

Chapter Twenty-Six

The day passed in a whirlwind. Tori showed up with a few bags of clothes from the store, along with a mountain of comfort food, and the two of them sat on the small front porch of the safehouse in the kind of comfortable quiet they had sat in so many times before. If Tori had noticed the bruises along Hanna’s collarbone or the puffy, swollen state of her lips, she hadn’t said anything.

I’ll tell her. When the time is right.

Because with everything else in her life lived out loud on the dispatch channels, and with the specter of grief hanging around the shadows, waiting for Hanna to drop her defenses, she wanted one thing to call her own, even if that thing was a dangerous touch from two dangerous men.

The more obvious reason she kept the truth to herself was because Hanna knew Tori would want answers, and not just the sordid kind, but the kind Hanna didn’t have, like what happened next.

And worse yet, what did Hanna want to happen next.

That was a question Hanna couldn’t even begin to contemplate, not when the ground was already so very unsteady under her feet.

After Tori left, Jinx, Gray, and Xander showed up, and they spent half the afternoon discussing the kind of next steps Hanna could help with. Grace hadn’t been at her house, which might have been a pipe dream from the start, but now they needed to figure out exactly where she was, and how they were going to help her.

For the first time since meeting him, Jinx looked something other than his amused, funny self. He loudly popped his gum while splitting his attention between two different computer screens and the tablet on his lap. “I’m tracking Iverson’s computer and phone. It’s going to take a little while, but with enough time, I’ll be able to find any trace of Grace that might be there.”

He had dark circles under his eyes, and Hanna knew that he felt guilty for what had happened to her house, but it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t any of their faults. She had always known that the powerful men of Bitterroot had a big reach, and it hadn’t stopped her from barreling forward, fists flying. Even if she had known what was going to happen, it wouldn’t have stopped her from trying to save Grace.

“What about the Iron Daggers?” Ash asked, handing Hanna a glass of water without her asking for it. “Do we know whose pin we found?”

“We can help with that,” Gray murmured. “We’ve been tracking the Iron Daggers since last night, and there’s been a lot of commotion at their clubhouse. They definitely have a trade of some kind set up through there, but we’re pretty sure they have other drop houses for contingency.”

Just like The Princes did.

“Did you find Karter Vance?” Hanna hated how small her voice was.

“Yeah,” Xander replied quietly. “He’s running the whole operation now, whatever it might be. He was in and out most of the night. Probably passed out now, with how much he was drinking.”

“Celebrating,” Hanna muttered. “You think it was them, then?”

Gray and Xander exchanged a look, but it was Jinx who finally replied. “Fire department puts the explosion somewhere between fifteen minutes after we left your place and half an hour before we got back. I have Vance and at least two other Daggers on traffic cameras headed to that part of town at that time of the night.”

“Circumstantial,” Hanna tried. It might get them close, but it certainly wouldn’t get them a conviction.

Although, that gave her pause. Because, Bitterroot Sheriff or not, nothing she was doing right now, with the help of an out-of-town motorcycle club, was above board. Maybe her house blowing up could lead to charges and convictions, if they got enough evidence, but no doubt it would also lead to questions about why she was gone that night, and who she was pursuing that would levy that kind of firepower against her. She was off-roading completely now, and hoping that it wouldn’t blow up in her face.

“I can check for doorbell cameras,” Jinx offered.

Hanna bit her lip. “That would help, but the nearest neighbors are still pretty far out. Have you had any luck with…” She choked on the words. “My team?”

Jinx popped his gum. She was starting to understand it for the nervous habit that it was. “Still working on that. What can you tell me about your Deputy Wyatt?”

Hanna gave him the rundown, first on Wyatt, then Lou and Doug, and even on Carson, and Jinx made notes with a quick tap, tap, tapping on his machine.

“So what’s next?” Gray asked. “We could go back to the clubhouse, see if there’s anything we missed.”

“Don’t engage,” Nicco said thoughtfully. “But continue surveillance on Karter Vance. See who his people are, the ones he really trusts. If they’re running a criminal operation on Iverson’s and Ralston’s behalf, there’s sure to be a paper trail of some kind.”

“And it’s my job to find that,” Jinx said, shutting one of his computers. “This will be easier with my desktop setup, so I’m going to head back toward the house in town.” He glanced around the cabin. “Thanks for taking this one. Internet up here is spotty, at best.”

Hanna wanted to thank him, thank Gray and Xander, for leaving her alone in the cabin with two men determined to turn her life upside down, but there was no reason anyone besides them needed to know the truth.

Jinx busied himself with his computer as the others got up to leave, and Hanna got the sense he was stalling. When the others were out of earshot, he leaned in, his eyes full of sympathy.

“I…learned about your sister…when I was looking into the Daggers. I’m really sorry, Sheriff.” He glanced to Gray and Xander, who were standing on the porch with Nicco and Ash. “Every single one of us knows what it’s like to scratch and claw for a family of our own, and The Princes make it all worth it. But…”