Free Mine: Black Sparks MC by Evelyn Glass Page B

behind a stand of fir trees, under which sat a wrought-iron bench. Above him, a chickadee flitted from branch to branch. It was almost peaceful here, despite the adrenaline that had begun to course through him. "Tryg, can't it wait? I'm kind of in the middle of something."
     
    "In the middle of something, or in the middle of someone?" Nick could barely hear the club president chortling derisively over the atmospheric noise. Nick tried to laugh off Tryg's comment, hoping the older man wouldn't realize he was onto something.  "Anyway, where were you this morning?" Tryg demanded.
     
    "What do you mean?" Nick crumbled a piece of peeling bark between his fingers, watching it rain down on his boots, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. Helena almost skipped down the hill after her schnauzer, pausing once to glance back at him, a tempting gaze. He glanced up at the window of the house, wondering if there was anybody else home.
     
    "Kirrily said you didn't even stop by the house for breakfast."
     
    "I wasn't hungry."
     
    "I don't care."
     
    “Sorry, I didn't realize the sovereign lord required his serfs to pay tribute on a daily basis," said Nick, angrier than he meant it to sound.
     
    Tryg didn't even miss a beat. "I do when we have a highly useful guest living inches living inches away from you. She could be the key to unlocking this whole thing."
     
    Nick wasn't sure he believed that, but he was willing to entertain the fact that Tryg was right.
     
    "Well, I talked to Ted Rogers at Chillicothe, and he told me he doesn't want you supervising the next shipment. We're already absurdly lucky that he's even willing to give us another chance. He's worried about putting you in charge, Nick. He thinks you can't be relied on after what happened. He thinks you can't hold your own against the Vipers. I told him you're my best man, and that I trust you with my life, but he wasn't buying it."
     
    "Tryg, what are you saying?"
     
    “Fixing leaky gas cans on bikes only pays so much, Nick. If we lose him as a client, it's as good cutting out this club's major source of income.” Nick felt a chill wind sweep around him, pricking at the hairs Helena had already made stand on end. "Martin's going to be handling the next truck."
     
    It took of all Nick’s willpower not to hurl the phone halfway across the lake. "No fucking way, Tryg. It's my job. I can handle it."
     
    "Show me."
     
    "What do you think I'm doing here?" said Nick. "I told you I'd get the shipment back, and I meant that. I'm with someone now – someone who knows about it, and might be able to help us get it back," he said cautiously, not wanting to spill too much.
     
    Tryg paused. "Good," he said. "Who is it? I need to know."
     
    "Her name's Helena Kinski."
     
    "Helena Kinski, as in Mrs. Daniel Kinski? The CEO of Southern Ohio Health Systems?" Tryg sounded impressed. "Still, I’m going to have to look into it. A rich broad like that doesn't give away information for free."
     
    "Her husband doesn't know she's meeting with me. And we should keep it that way." Still, Nick glanced back to where Helena stood, willowy, like a cross between a giraffe and an angel, arching her back and neck to throw the pinecone in her hand to the dog.
     
    She glanced back at Nick, an unreadable smile on her face. If he could help it, he wasn't going to let Tryg know what Helena had proposed in terms of payment.
     
    "I'll look into her."
     
    "And as for Liana--" he paused, not knowing what he could promise. Not around Liana, anyway. "I'll get it out of her," said Nick.
     
    "Good. Because you're having dinner with her tonight."
     
     

CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
    Racking her brain for things she could do to start earning her keep, Liana had volunteered to make dinner that night, rummaging through the freezer and taking out a package of pork chops to thaw before Kirrily could object.
     
    "Tryg won't be home tonight," she'd said. "But make enough for four."
     
    Liana hadn't liked the sound of