She sighed. “It will sound stupid.”

“Try me.”

After a moment of hesitation, she finally opened up. “I have this weird feeling deep in my gut that something bad is going to happen to you. Last night I was really worried and then you came back with Scarlett and said she wasn’t safe, and I’m still feeling sick with worry. You never exaggerate things, so for you to bring her here tells me you’re worried, too.”

I let her wrist go. “It’s true, I am worried. But we have this covered¸ so I want you to go to work and try not to think about it too much, okay?”

Her eyes searched mine and then she said, “I will.”

“Can you take Scarlett with you? I don’t have enough men to spare one to stay with her today.”

“I’m happy for her to come to the café with me, but good luck convincing her to do anything.”

She had a point – convincing Scarlett to leave her apartment last night had been a tough gig. “I’ve got an idea of how to talk her into it. Let’s see if she goes for it.”

Loud banging on the front door interrupted our conversation, and I left her to see who it was.

“Mr Cole, we finally meet.” Two cops stood on the other side of the door. I knew they were detectives because I’d come across one of them before.

I planted my legs wide and crossed my arms over my chest. “What can I do for you?”

The short, pudgy one at the front that I’d never met before took a step to enter the house, but I put my arm out to block him. He raised his brows. “We’ve got things to discuss.”

I didn’t budge. “Those things can be discussed here.”

A scowl flashed across his face. “Some new evidence has come to light with regards to your father’s death.”

“What kind of evidence?” They’d come up with nothing solid so far, and I suspected they were simply on a fishing expedition.

His chin jutted as smugness glinted in his eyes. “Evidence that points to your club.”

Bullshit.

We’d made sure there was no evidence.

I kept my arms crossed. “So you’re going to interview me?”

A brief flicker of hesitation passed over his face and he stalled for a second. Not the body language of a confident man. He tried to cover it, but I didn’t miss it. “Not a formal interview yet, but we would like to talk to you about it and - ”

I cut him off. “Either you call me in for an interview or we don’t talk. I’m not talking to you off the record.”

The tall detective at the back who was familiar to me, but who I was having trouble placing, took over. “We’ll be in touch.” Even his voice was familiar, but my memory was a tangled mess and I couldn’t place him. He tapped the short one on the shoulder to indicate they were leaving, and in that moment, I realised he held the power in that relationship.

I called Griff as I watched them leave. “You had any cops sniffing around about Marcus’s death?”

“No. Have you?”

“Yeah. Harlow told me they called around while I was away, and they’ve just shown up again, saying they have new evidence that points to the club. When I called their bluff they caved. They also sussed Mum out, but she didn’t give them anything. I’m just trying to figure out what their game is because we covered our tracks thoroughly.”

He was quiet for a moment and then said, “I’ll do some digging, see what I can find out.”

We ended the call and I headed back into the house to find Harlow. I ran into Scarlett on the way, and took a moment to talk to her about spending the day at the café.

“I need you to hang out with Harlow today so I can be sure of your safety. You good with that?”

She frowned. “Not really what I had planned for the day.”

The woman is a pain in my ass.

“What do you have planned?”

“I need to find my brother and make sure he’s okay.”

“So how about you let me do that while you go with Harlow?”

Her eyes narrowed at me. “Really?”

I raked my fingers through my hair. It was going to be a long, fucking day. “Yes, really.”

She rested her weight on one foot and cocked her head. “Why would you do that for me?”

“Jesus, Scarlett, are you this untrusting with everyone?”

“Yes.”

“Well you’re gonna have to ease up a little with me and start putting some faith in what I say. We’re all in this shit together now. I can keep you safe, but that’s gonna involve you doing what I say. And no more fuckin’ guns when I’m in the middle of handling a situation.”

We watched each other while she worked that through in her mind. Eventually, she said, “Okay, but can you do me a favour?”

“Fuck, as if I’m not already doing you one?” The woman was something else.

She threw me a glare. “Can you lend me some money so I can pay off his debt?”

I blew out a long breath. “Scarlett, I’m going to sort shit so that your brother has no fuckin’ debt to pay off, and then I’m going to sort more shit so that he never gets a fuckin’ debt again.” I raised my brows at her. “You good with that?”

“You’re a moody biker, aren’t you?”

Harlow had joined us and snorted.

I ignored her.

“Give me your brother’s address,” I said as I pulled out my phone to store it in.