Chapter 6: Edge

6

EDGE

I forgot to ask Evie for the details about her car, so I opened the glove box, hoping to find the car's manual inside. Thankfully, it was there with the information I needed. What was also there was the car's registration, with Evie's full name and previous address on it. I wasn't intentionally snooping, but I'd already read it before I realized I might be invading her privacy. Once the damage was done, I couldn't stop myself from trying to find out more. I truly believed she was running from something, or someone, and wanted to help her. If I was right and those black eyes came from a person instead of a surgery, she needed more than help; she needed protection. I also didn't want her troubles to become a problem for Irene. And that's how I rationalized what I did next.

I knocked on Byte's door. "Hey, man. You got a second?"

"Yeah. Come on in," he called through the door.

I let myself in and took a seat in an empty chair.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I wanted to see if you would look into Evie Sinclair," I said. "She's from Fairbanks, Georgia."

"As in Evie from the diner?" he asked.

"Yes."

"What am I looking for?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "She showed up in Cedar Valley with no money and no place to stay. She was living in her car and looking for a job that would pay her under the table. And she had two black eyes. She said she just had sinus surgery, but I'm not buying it."

"You think she's running from something," Byte mused.

"She has to be."

"Does Irene know about any of this?"

"Sort of. She knows something's going on with Evie, and that the sinus surgery story was bullshit, but she said she didn't want to pry and scare her away," I explained. "Hell, Irene doesn't even know her last name."

"How'd you find out what it was?"

"Evie's car broke down. Irene called and asked if we'd fix it. Phoenix sent me to pick it up and drop off a loaner. When I got her car back here, I was looking for the manual and came across her registration."

"What are you going to do if we find something?" he asked.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I haven't gotten that far yet. I guess it depends on what it is."

"Well, let's go down the rabbit hole," Byte said and rubbed his hands together before he started typing.

Twenty minutes later, he abruptly stopped typing and turned to me with a look I couldn't interpret. "Oh, brother. I think we might have a problem on our hands."

"Fucking hell," I grumbled. "I wanted to be right, but at the same time, I really didn't. What did you find?"

"Evie Sinclair is the daughter of Carl Sinclair," he said.

"Carl Sinclair," I repeated. The name sounded familiar to me, but I couldn't place it. And then I did. "Wait. Carl Sinclair, as in the vice president of the Mad Dogs MC?"

"Yep. And her brother Ken is the enforcer," Byte said.

"Oh, this doesn't sound good." The Mad Dogs weren't good people. They were one of the clubs that gave the rest of us a bad name. Honestly, their club's name was fitting as they weren't much better than rabid animals.

"There's more," Byte said. "Not long before Evie arrived in Cedar Valley, her dad and brother were arrested for murder. It looks like the charges against them have been dropped, but the original reports say the guy owed them money."

"Does it say who the guy was or why he owed them money?"

"His name was Randall Myers. It doesn't say, but the Mad Dogs make their money selling drugs, so I would assume that's why."

"Can you find an address for Randall?" I asked.

"Yeah, one sec," he said and started typing. "Here it is."

I looked at his screen in disbelief. "That's the same address that's on Evie's registration."

"What are you thinking?"

"The same thing you are. That Evie's boyfriend was doing drugs and racked up a tab with the MC. When he couldn't pay, her dad and brother killed him. Evie got caught in the crossfire and took off when they were arrested."

"I bet they were expecting her to pay off what he owed," Byte said. "Probably still are."

"Son of a bitch." No wonder she looked like she was scared to death whenever she was around me or any of the Blackwings. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

"Talk to Phoenix," he said simply. "He needs to know and so does Irene."

"If Evie finds out, she's going to run."

"That'd be a stupid move on her part. She's in a safe place, and it'd be hard for anyone to locate her. The only giveaway is her car, and they don't know where to look for it."

"Maybe I can talk to her and convince her to let us help her."

"Let's talk to Phoenix first," he said. "I believe he's in his office."

I followed him down the hall to Phoenix's office in a slight daze. Of all the things Evie could have been running from, I never once thought it would be another motorcycle club.

"Damn it," Phoenix said when he saw us. "It's never good news when one of you shows up with Byte holding his laptop."

"Sorry, Prez," I said and closed the door behind us.

"Let's hear it."

I started at the beginning and told him everything I knew about Evie. Then Byte showed him the proof on his laptop.

"Evie's the one who came to Gabby's party with Irene, right?" he asked.

"That's the one," I confirmed.

"Aw, hell. She seemed like a sweet girl. It's hard to believe she's related to those jackasses."

"What can we do to help her?" I asked eagerly.

Phoenix sat back in his chair and gave me a pointed look. "Does she want our help?"

"I don't know."

"This is probably not what you want to hear, but you need to talk to her first. Make sure the assumptions you've made about her life are correct. If it turns out they are, and she is running from them, we can talk about our options if she wants our help," he said.

"She is not going to be happy about this."

"Just tell her you saw her registration and recognized the name and town she was from. Ask her if she's related to the vice president of the Mad Dogs MC and see what she says. She might tell you everything herself. Then you won't have to admit to having Byte snoop into her background."

"And what if she doesn't?"

Phoenix chuckled. "Then you'll have to own up to it and tell her why you did it. If you're offering to help her, chances are she'll forgive you."

"This could end up causing problems for the club."

"I'm not worried about that. This isn't the first time one of you little shits brought home a woman with a shit ton of problems, and I'm sure it won't be the last."

"She's not my woman," I protested.

"Oh, please," Phoenix laughed. "You don't take your eyes off her when she's around. You're fixing her car for free, and you were so worried about her you had Byte run a background check on her. You might not know it, and she might not know it, but she's your woman."

"He's got you there, man," Byte laughed.

"You can both piss off," I grumbled.

"Let me know how it goes when you talk to her. Like I said, if she wants our help, we'll do what we can."