Page 72 of Viper

Hedley hissed a breath but swiped his screen. His wrinkled hands shook as he searched for the number. He showed Troy the contact name, then hit call.

“On speaker,” Troy instructed.

Hedley shot him daggers but complied. The line rang four times before going to voicemail.

“There. Whatd’ya want me to do?” Hedley grumbled.

Troy turned his attention to Reaper. “Take down the number.”

His friend stepped forward and snapped a few shots of the man’s screen with his own device.

“I’m telling you, I’ve got nothing to do with this. You can leave now.”

Troy leaned his elbow on his thigh and let his gun hang loosely toward Hedley’s knee. “We’ll go. We’ll even leave you in one piece. Here’s the deal. You warn Spencer or send the cops after us, and we’ll come back and put a bullet in your head. There’s more of us than you see here. And,” he said with a smirk, “we know where you live and everything about you.”

Hedley wet his dry, chapped lips. “All right, all right. I get it.”

Troy flashed a phony smile. “Good.” He grabbed Hedley’s weapon. “We’ll leave this by the garage, just in case you get any stupid ideas.”

Havoc wriggled his fingers in goodbye, and the guys followed Troy through the house. He dropped the gun in the grass before they exited the back gate.

Now they had another bastard to track down.

“No, you weren’t speeding at all,” Paige said pensively.

Atlas muttered another curse while he retrieved his license and registration. The cop approached the driver’s side. Paige read his name tag: Vokle.

He motioned for Atlas to roll down the window.

Atlas complied. “Afternoon,” he said easily. “What’s the trouble?”

“License and registration, please,” the officer said curtly.

Atlas handed over the documents.

Paige studied the man. He couldn’t be more than early thirties and had a full head of brown hair. Aviator shades covered his eyes.

“Are you aware you were going about twenty miles over the speed limit?” the officer asked.

“Beg your fuckin’ pardon?” Atlas snapped.

Officer Vokle’s mouth drooped with anger.

Oh, shit. Paige placed her hand on her brother’s elbow. Unease swarmed in her belly like angry bees. “What he means is that’s impossible. He wasn’t speeding at all.”

The cop didn’t even glance at Paige. “Sir, please step out of the vehicle.”

Sweat broke out on the back of her neck. She gripped her brother’s arm, knowing he would blow a gasket if he wasn’t careful. He unbuckled his seatbelt.

“Atlas, please stay calm,” she whispered, leaning close to his ear.

His eyes met hers, flashing with fire, but he gave an abrupt nod. “Call Viper,” he whispered.

She blinked in acknowledgment. He opened the door and exited. The cop motioned for him to follow, and they stood on the side of the road between the SUV and the cop’s cruiser.

She reached for his phone in the cup holder, her hands shaking. The tension in her chest prevented her from taking a deep breath, but she focused on finding Troy’s number. She hit the call button and the line rang.

He answered on the first ring. “Everything okay?”