Hell for Leather: Black Knights Inc. Read Online Free Page B

yesterday evening.” Was it her imagination, or was her voice a little steadier than it’d been only seconds ago? “We checked into a motel because Uncle Theo said Charlie’s house is a dump not fit for company. I gather Charlie doesn’t actually live in Marion but outside of it somewhere. And the fact that I have no idea where is another part of the problem.” She shook her head at herself. Why, why hadn’t she asked her uncle more questions? “But anyway, this morning Uncle Theo woke up early to drive out to Charlie’s. He told me they’d likely do nothing but talk about the old days and I’d be bored to death. So, he left me to sleep in and catch up on some reading. He was supposed to come back for lunch. We were going to go to the diner across the street to grab a burger before hopping on the bikes to make the return trip. It was all going to be easy peasy.”
    It occurred to her then that it was funny—not funny “ ha-ha ” but funny “ sucky ”—how quickly things could go from easy peasy one minute to freakin’ shitty the next.
    “He didn’t show up for lunch. He’s not answering his phone. The local hospitals haven’t admitted a man with his description. And the Marion police told me I’d have to wait twenty-four hours before they’d open an investigation. But I can’t wait twenty-four hours.” She reached out to grab Mac’s muscular forearm where the sleeve of his motorcycle jacket was shoved up. His coarse male hairs tickled her palm, and his flesh was hot against the pads of her fingers. A zing of awareness shot up her arm. She tried to ignore it. It worked. Sort of… “I know something’s wrong. He wouldn’t just disappear like this. Something’s happened to him, Mac. S-something bad .”
    And just like that, all her momentary calm disappeared. A sob she fought desperately to control strangled the back of her throat.
    Don’t panic.
    The words of the mantra had lost their meaning and, with that, their power. Truth was, she was beyond panicked. She was straight-up, without-a-doubt terrified. Terrified with a capital T. Terrified right down to her very soul.
    A muscle ticked in Mac’s five-o’clock-shadowed jaw, and the look on his face was—
    “Shh, now. You don’t know that for sure,” Zoelner whispered, throwing an arm over her shoulders.
    “But I do know that for sure,” she insisted, her eyes imploring Mac to believe her. Despite all rationale, despite their rocky relationship—or more like their rocky non -relationship—it was only his opinion that mattered.
    She thought she saw him nod, just a quick jerk of his dimpled chin. Then again, perhaps the dim light of the street was playing tricks on her, because the words he growled were, “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
    She opened her mouth, but she was stopped from pressing her case further because suddenly and unceremoniously Mac grabbed her wrist and yanked her out from under Zoelner’s arm. Then, before she could utter a squeak of protest or, more likely, slug him on the shoulder for manhandling her, he hustled her up the steps until they were standing in front of the brownstone’s wide wooden door.
    “Geez,” she huffed, rubbing her wrist. Although, in all honesty, she didn’t really mind his manhandling. Because his manhandling meant that he was touching her. And the feel of his calloused palm was—
    Holy shit! Seriously, Delilah? How pathetic can you be? How many times does the guy have to tell you “no” before you’ll get the hint? And how screwed up are you to be mooning like some lovesick teenager when Uncle Theo is freakin’ MIA?
    The answers to those questions were simple. In order, they were: one, very pathetic; two, apparently at least one more time; and three, pretty darned screwed up. Then all thought flew from her head when Mac used the keys to unlock the front door and the smell of sawdust mixed with cigar smoke immediately assaulted her nostrils. Those two scents would always remind