Free Wild Child: A Skull Kings MC Novella by Sage L. Morgan

Gabriel shouldered past Adrian and tried the door. Without even looking, I knew he was reaching for his hidden blade. I just hoped it would be enough for whatever was waiting for us inside.
    Gabriel swiftly opened the door and brandished his knife. Adrian and I followed him in.
    “What the fuck?” Adrian cried.
    It took a moment for me to realize what I was looking at. The entire place was trashed. Workstations were overturned, posters were torn off walls, and to top it all off, the register was still in the process of being raided. I blinked a few times, unable to believe who I was seeing.
    “Larry?”
    Larry jumped back from the register, his face pale. There was a wad of cash in his hands. Adrian made a strangled, outraged noise and lunged forward. I grabbed him by the back of his sweater, merely on instinct. And fortunately, my instinct was right on point. After the initial shock of being caught, Larry smirked and lifted his shirt to stuff his cash in his pocket, flashing the pistol tucked into his belt.
    “What are you doing here, Larry?” Gabriel asked, lowering his knife.
    Larry snickered. “I should ask you the same thing. I came by with a bunch of your cohorts to pick up something...or someone that our boss happens to be interested in.”
    Adrian gasped sharply. “Anna!”
    Gabriel growled. “Then, why are you still here?”
    “To deliver a message.” His black, beady little eyes turned onto me. “To you, Lisbeth.”
    I caught the generic, pre-paid phone he tossed at me.
    Larry kept the end of his shirt hooked on his thumb so we could all see the heat he was packing. “There’s just one contact number in that phone. I’m going to walk out that door, and you are going to start counting to thirty. When you get to thirty, you hit ‘call.’ You got that, Lisbeth?”
    My hands were shaking. I wrapped my fingers so tight around the phone that my fingerpads turned white. I swallowed. “Got it.”
    Larry narrowed his eyes, scanning us as he backed away toward the door. He kicked it open with one foot. Then, Adrian said, “One,” and Larry turned tail and scurried up the steps. We listened to him disappearing into Las Vegas traffic.
    “Call that number right . Now ,” Gabriel ordered.
    My fingers shook. I jabbed at the little green button and held the phone to my ear. The air stilled around me. It was as if all three of us had stopped breathing. The phone rang three times before somebody picked up.
    “Li-Lisbeth?” Anna’s voice crackled through the speaker.
    My gut wrenched. “Anna! Where are you?”
    I thought I heard a muffled sob followed by some heavy breathing. Then, Anna half-whispered, “I’m with him!”
    I heard the fear in her voice and I knew exactly who she was talking about. My eyes turned wide. The first person I looked at was Adrian. I watched him bite his lip and shake his head. Things weren’t looking very good for any of us.
    “How did he find you?” I asked.
    “Somebody followed you to the shop,” Anna whispered. “But that’s not important. Listen to me, Lisbeth. The Boss, he wants you. He won’t let me go unless you’re the one who comes to get me.”
    “How? Am I just supposed to show up by myself?”
    “Remember that story I told you yesterday?”
    “What?” I frowned. Her voice sounded funny.
    “The story I told you about what I’d been up to.”
    I struggled to think faster. The FBI. There had been an agent working with Anna.
    “I have to go now, Lisbeth—”
    “Wait—”
    I stared at the phone after she hung up. It wasn’t enough.
    “What did she say?” Adrian asked urgently.
    I righted an upturned chair and sank down into it. “We need to find the FBI agent who was working with Anna.”
    “Pft,” Gabriel snorted. “Well, our only other lead is Gloria, who’s dead. Unless she told you anything.” He looked hopefully to Adrian, who shook his head.
    “I don’t know any more info than you guys,” he said, his voice quivering. He fell back against