Free Riding the Night by Jaci Burton

can leave it up to her.”
    “I don’t know, Pax. She’s been through enough tonight. And it’s not like we’re going to stay and . . . well, you know.”
    Pax flopped onto the sofa and laced his hands together behind his head. “I’d like to. Stay. And well . . . you know. With Teresa.” He waited for AJ’s reaction, figuring his friend would get pissed off. Instead, AJ just cocked his head to the side and slid a glance into the kitchen.
    “You want to stay here? Just like that? What about the road trip?”
    “She’s in trouble. So’s Joey. You know how it is. You take care of your friends. I just figured you’d want to hang out until this was settled. And it’s not like we had a destination in mind.”
    “Okay. Good. Thanks.”
    Pax shrugged. “I believe Teresa. I think someone in the Fists did the deed. But why would someone kill the leader of his own gang?”
    “Because he wanted to become the leader?”
    “Maybe. There are a lot of ways to oust a gang leader without killing him.”
    AJ stood and paced the room. “If the majority of the gang agrees.”
    “So what you’re saying is that maybe this was a coup of sorts. That not everyone wanted Larks taken down.”
    AJ nodded. “It could have been a spur-of-the-moment thing. Hell, for all we know whoever killed him had a personal beef. We just don’t know the why of it.”
    “Or maybe someone has a vendetta against my brother and Larks,” Teresa said as she reentered the room. “Killing Larks and making sure the murder is pinned on Joey kills two birds with one stone.”
    Teresa brought the tray filled with drinks into the room and set it on the coffee table.
    “It could be that, too,” AJ said. “Whatever the reason, someone in the Fists wanted Larks dead.”
    She didn’t seem upset about them pulling away, but what did he know? They barely knew each other so he was going to have to let AJ lead on this one, and the warning look AJ sent his way said now wasn’t the right time. Still, there was something vulnerable in her eyes, a wariness there. Pax would like to know why.
    Maybe that’s what attracted him to her—she was a mystery. He liked mysterious women. Too many of them were open books, wanting to blurt out their entire life stories the first night you met them. Pax liked a woman who kept her cards close to her chest. It made him curious enough to want to peel back some of the layers.
    Teresa took the chair next to the sofa. Safe territory, not near AJ or him. Pax didn’t think he and AJ had come on strong. They usually saved that for women who knew what was up, who welcomed the challenge. All he’d been doing was offering comfort, nothing more. And maybe she was pissed off that she had gotten into their touch and they pulled back abruptly. She didn’t want to get burned again. He couldn’t blame her. Women didn’t take rejection well. Problem was, they hadn’t rejected her.
    “So why would someone in Larks’s group want him dead?” Teresa asked. “Unless they’re trying to pin this on Joey.”
    “It might be just that,” AJ said.
    “That seems pretty extreme, even for the Fists. Besides, Larks is their leader. He would be in on any scheme to take down Joey.”
    “He wouldn’t have been in on this one,” Pax said.
    Teresa nodded. “Obviously.”
    “Do you know of anyone on the Fists who has it out for Joey?”
    She turned her attention to AJ. “Individually? No. Of course, none of them like the Thorns on principal. The whole rival gang thing. And Joey as the leader puts him front and center. But I can’t see how taking Joey out of the equation this way serves their purpose. Because now Larks is out, too.”
    AJ shook his head. “And that leaves both gangs vulnerable.”
    “Right,”Pax said. “Now you have the Fists’ gang leader dead, and the Thorns’ leader is accused of killing him. Who benefits?”
    Teresa clasped her hands together and leaned forward. “I don’t know. This doesn’t make sense. Why would