Free Hot Mess (An Iron Tornadoes MC Romance Book 5) by Olivia Rigal Page B

men.
    Oh man, this sucks. It really does, but at least now, I understand what happened.

    * * *

18
    " J ohn F. Russel ," I mutter between clenched teeth.
    Captain Stevens catches my arms and stops me before we get within hearing distance of the two men who are now kneeling on the pavement being cuffed.
    "You're not getting anywhere near that guy," he hisses. His tone is clear. There's no room for discussion.
    "Fine," I raise my hands in a surrendering gesture.
    "You're not saying one single word to him, you hear?"
    "I said, fine ." What more does he want from me? My gaze moves from Kristal's father to his partner. Eduardo?
    "You're not talking to his partner either."
    I turn to face Captain Stevens and take a deep breath. Remembering he's cut me a lot of slack today, I ask. "Do you want me off the case?" He shakes his head and I breathe a sigh of relief. "So if I can't interrogate the two suspects, what do you want me to do?"
    "Look for the third one," he says. "Find the one who got away."
    It takes me a few seconds before I understand what he means. He's not talking about the biker look out; he's talking about Kristal.
    I'm about to protest that she's not a suspect, but I close my mouth before any sounds comes out. This is not the place nor the moment to have this discussion.
    I open my mouth again to ask how she could possibly have gotten away with all our patrol cars on the prowl nearby and then thought better of it.
    Since I've run out of stupid ideas and useless questions to ask, I give him the only answer he wants to hear.
    "Will do."
    Stevens keep staring at me and frowns. He wants me gone now. All right, I get it. As I turn slowly to get my bike parked in the backyard of our hiding place, I catch a glimpse of his expression. He's rolling his eyes and shaking his head in a what-the-hell's-wrong-with-you? motion.
    I'm glad he's keeping the question to himself ‘cause I'm not proud of the obvious answer. Where Kristal's concerned all my blood runs south. That could be why my brain is no longer getting enough oxygen to work properly.
    So where to look for her? Her grandmother's house? The old woman is the only family she has around here. Actually it's her only family, period. 'Cause John Russel is no father. The bastard actually makes my old man look good, and God knows Cracker is not father of the year material.
    Riding toward the Pink Flamingo community, I try to figure out where else Kristal could have run. If I know my Kristal well - yeah my Kristal - she won't want to give the old woman any trouble. With a son like hers, she sure must have had more than her share.
    I rack my brains but come up empty. The only thing I can think of is her driving back to New York. After all, she lived there most of her life. There's safety in familiar places. Furthermore, she sure must have some friend there.
    The middle age woman at the security gate is all business. The embroidery on her breast pocket identifies her as Marge, head of security. First her manners are as starched as her uniform. She's all formal as she checks my badge before answering any question.
    Once she's studied it with her reading glasses, she returns it to me and checks the day log.
    "Nope, ain't nobody who came for Mrs. Russel," she tells me. "And that's the only way in, Officer Hatcher." Before I have a chance to thank her or ask anything else, she continues. "Now mind you, that's only if you're talking about a visitor driving a car." While turning the pages of the gate logbook she explains what she means. "If you're looking for someone riding a bike, that would be different ‘cause there's a few trails that lead into the community." She stops and squints at a note and then looks at me again. "She didn't get any visitors since last week."
    "Oh, really?"
    Marge wants to tell me more but she hesitates to do so. On one hand, she probably wants to respect the privacy of Kristal's grandmother, but on the other, she's curious. I wait in silence hoping that this is