Ride With Me (Paige and Jace) novel Chapter 83

CHAPTER 51

Diesel’s growl settled somewhere deep in his chest, and every hair along his back stood on end. I

stopped halfway across the parking lot with my apartment keys still in my hand.

“What is it?” I asked.

The German Shepherd never looked at me. His eyes remained fixed on the darkness beyond the edge of the security lights where the alley disappeared between the neighboring buildings so I followed his gaze.

At first I saw nothing. Then a faint movement caught my attention. A shadow slipped behind the

corner of the old warehouse across the street.

By the time I focused properly, whoever had been standing there was gone. The silence returned

almost immediately. No footsteps, no engines. Nothing.

I crouched beside Diesel and rested one hand against his shoulder.

“You saw somebody.” I said and his ears remained forward while another low growl rolled through

the quiet night.

Whatever he had sensed, he clearly didn’t like it so I slowly backed toward the garage taking my eyes off the alley.

without

The workshop door closed behind us with a solid click and I immediately locked it before switching on every exterior floodlight surrounding Lawson Customs.

Bright white light spilled across the parking lot. The alley remained empty. Even so, the uneasy feeling refused to leave. I reached for my phone and Jace answered before the second ring.

“Everything alright?” Jace asked.

“I don’t know.” I said.

The words sounded strange even to me.

“I think somebody was watching the garage.” I said.

“What happened?” He asked.

I explained what Diesel had noticed and how the figure disappeared before I could get a clear look

and Jace didn’t interrupt once.

“I’m on my way.” He said quietly.

“You don’t have to…” I started saying.

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CHAPTER 51

“I’m already leaving.” He said.

Claim

Twenty minutes later, several motorcycles rolled into the parking lot. Jace arrived first, followed closely by Derek and Cole.

Diesel walked straight to Jace, accepted a quick scratch behind the ears, then immediately

returned to my side.

“I guess he has a favorite.” Hunter joked as he arrived a few minutes later.

“I think he just knows who feeds him bacon.” I replied.

“That was one time.” Hunter said.

“It was three.” I said and Hunter sighed dramatically.

“I feel attacked.” He said.

Despite the joke, nobody ignored what had happened. Derek spent nearly an hour checking every exterior camera covering the garage, the neighboring businesses and the intersection at the end

of the street.

The footage showed little more than a dark figure crossing the edge of one camera before disappearing into a blind spot.

No face, no license plate and no useful details. So Derek leaned back in the office chair and rubbed

his jaw.

“Whoever it was knew exactly where the cameras couldn’t see.” Derek said.

Silence settled over the office. That answer worried everyone more than if the cameras had

captured nothing at all and Jace looked toward me.

“You’re not staying here alone tonight.” Jace said and I smiled faintly.

“I had a feeling you’d say that.” I said.

“We’re not arguing.” He said.

“I wasn’t planning to.” I said.

Diesel wandered beneath the desk and lay across my boots as though quietly voting in favor of the idea and Hunter pointed at the dog.

“Even he’s on my side.” Hunter said.

“Don’t get used to it.” I said.

The following morning, Lawson Customs opened exactly on schedule. I refused to let fear dictate

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CHAPTER 51

my routine. Customers still needed repairs, motorcycles still broke down and life continued.

Clair

Even so, small changes quietly appeared. An Iron Viper motorcycle rolled past the garage every hour.

Derek stopped by twice before lunch under the excuse of checking on replacement parts.

Cole parked across the street long enough to finish two cups of coffee that clearly didn’t require forty-five minutes to drink but nobody announced they were increasing patrols. They didn’t need to. I still noticed.

Later that afternoon, after locking my office, I climbed the stairs to the apartment and opened the small biometric safe Uncle Will had installed years earlier.

The compact pistol rested exactly where I had left it after the attempted kidnapping. For several

moments I simply looked at it.

Uncle Will’s voice echoed through my memory.

Preparation isn’t paranoia.

I checked it carefully, secured it inside the concealed holster beneath my jacket and quietly closed

the safe again.

It wasn’t about expecting trouble. It was about refusing to be caught unprepared twice.

Downstairs, Diesel waited patiently beside the workshop door. The moment I appeared, he stood

and fell into step beside me without being asked.

“Looks like it’s you and me again.” I said and his tail wagged once.

Across town, inside an abandoned warehouse, Victor Kane studied a fresh envelope that one of

his men had placed on the table.

He opened it without speaking and several photographs slid onto the timber surface.

The first showed Paige unlocking Lawson Customs. The second showed her laughing with a customer. The third showed her kneeling beside the German Shepherd outside the garage, one hand resting gently against the dog’s neck while the animal looked up at her with complete trust.

Victor picked up that photograph and studied it for several long seconds.

“So. You’ve found yourself another guardian.” He murmured.

He slipped the photograph into a separate folder marked with Paige’s name.

“Keep watching. No contact. Not yet.” He ordered his men.

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