I looked at Maddox and he removed his foot. I hauled Sanchuk to his feet. “Nothing,” I told them, staring Sanchuk down. “He was just leaving.” I gave him a shove for good measure, tossing him deep into the alley.
The bouncers checked us out a minute, then went back to their post. They might not be too keen to let us back into the club tonight, no matter who we were or who we were here with. Any sign of violence at a bar was generally a cop magnet and a no-go.
But I wasn’t going back into the club.
“Take it easy,” Sanchuk said, putting his hands up. We stood blocking his way to the club, and he stood his ground. He looked us up-and-down, posturing, despite the way he was leaning a bit to compensate for the pain I’d inflicted. “And tell me who the fuck you are.”
“I’m the restraining order fairy,” I growled.
He went still. Then he took a small step toward me, trying to see my face better in the dim light.
“Summer Sorensen,” I hissed, in case that wasn’t clear enough for him. “You’re too fucking close to her right now. Which means you need to turn your stalker ass around and get. The fuck. Out of my sight.”
“No. No…” he stammered, totally dropping the tough guy routine. “I wasn’t stalking her…” I was pretty sure he’d just gone sheet-white in the dark. Or maybe pissed himself a little. Then he started feeding us giant heaps of shit in a hurry, like, “I didn’t know she was here,” and “I wasn’t even staying long.”
“Sure,” Maddox said. “’Cause her name and picture on the fuckin’ posters all over the front door didn’t tip you off.”
“Get the fuck out of here,” I growled through my teeth, “before I change my mind.”
I felt Maddox angling in next to me, wondering what the fuck I was doing. “We can’t,” he muttered. “We can’t let him go.”
Clearly, he wouldn’t have.
“Don’t call the cops,” Sanchuk hedged, like he had any power to negotiate here, as his eyes darted from me to Maddox. Clearly, he’d heard what Maddox said. I had no idea if he knew Maddox was a King or what, but fucking right, he was scared.
He was alone with us in a dark alley, he was now injured, and on top of that, we had the law on our side.
If we wanted to, we could fuck him over in any number of ways.
“It was a mistake,” he said, backing slowly away. “I’m going.”
“Go,” I growled, and he turned and hustled into the shadows of the alley, throwing up his hood.
“Follow him,” I muttered to Maddox as I pulled out my phone, “and don’t fucking lose him.”
Maddox got a thrill-seeker gleam in his eye and took off after Sanchuk. I followed, lagging behind as I texted Andre. Would’ve preferred calling, but he wouldn’t have been able to hear me in the loud nightclub anyway.
Me: Stay on Summer. Have Brody put extra guys on her. I’m on Sanchuk.
He texted me right back.
Andre: Where are you?
Me: Outside. Tailing him with Maddox.
I shoved my phone away and hurried to catch up with Maddox.
He’d shadowed Sanchuk all the way to the next street over, and was now hiding out behind a parked truck. I slid in next to him, trying to be as non-obvious about it as possible. There were people around, but it was dark and it was Halloween; there were stranger things to look at tonight than us.
“You’ve got the van tonight?” I’d seen one of the Triple X Security vans parked on the next block when we’d arrived.
“Yup,” Maddox said. “By the way, you might wanna kill the ears.”
I ripped off the bunny ears. Totally forgot I was wearing them.
Then I leaned out a bit, following his line of sight, and saw Sanchuk darting across the street and getting into a battered old SUV that was parked at the curb.
“Get the van,” I told Maddox. “Fast. I’ll call you.”
He took off, just as Sanchuk pulled the SUV away from the curb.
I tailed him along the sidewalk. Traffic was backed up and he couldn’t get anywhere all that fast. I managed to get his license plate.
Wasn’t the same one he’d been using before he disappeared.
I tore off my bunny bowtie, which I’d also forgotten about. Then I fell back a bit, and stepped into the street to flag down a taxi.
Chapter Thirty
Ronan
I called Maddox from the cab.
I tipped the driver, generously, to follow Sanchuk’s SUV at a discrete distance. The streets of downtown were busy tonight, especially here in the West End, and it was slow moving. Within a matter of blocks, Maddox had caught up to us. And while Sanchuk was stopped at a red light, I got out of the cab, walked back to the van, and got in.
From the higher vantage point in the van, we could hang back a little farther.
Meanwhile, my phone was blowing up with messages as people in the club tried to reach me—including Summer. Apparently, she’d noticed my sudden, dramatic disappearance.
All I texted her back was: Stay with Andre.
Brody messaged, too. Seemed he’d sent a couple of guys after me, but by the time they coordinated their search with the bouncers who’d seen us leave… we were gone.
I could just picture that scene unfolding… Everyone was probably worried.
And Brody was probably pissed.
I would be if I were him, and one of my guys took off like that.
I messaged him back briefly, to let him know where Maddox and I were—more or less—and that I’d update him soon.
He could ream me out later.
Maybe I could’ve used the backup, but I didn’t want it. A confrontation in an alley really wasn’t the way to go. I wanted Sanchuk off the street. I wanted to know where he’d been hiding out.
And most of all, I wanted him alone.
We tailed him all the way across
