Hard to Hold on To by Laura Kaye Read Free Book Online Page A

intelligence wherever he could. Miguel Olivero’s assistance was even more important since they’d dug up more than one piece of evidence over the past week that the Church Gang had the authorities in their pocket, which took the police off the table as potential allies as long as Church remained an important player. “Ike and the Ravens are going to put out feelers to see what they can learn about Church and the gang’s reputation, but they’re also feeling the need to lie low while the dust settles, so they don’t get hit with too much blowback.”
    “Don’t blame ’em for that,” Easy said. Even though Nick and Jeremy had known Ike Young for years, it had taken Easy a while to trust the tattooist/biker and come around to the idea that an outlaw motorcycle club could be useful to them. But when he next saw Ike, he was gonna owe the guy a serious apology. Without Ike’s hooking them up with the Ravens, the team’s wins from last night wouldn’t have been possible.
    Damn if the lines between the good guys and the bad guys weren’t blurred by every part of this clusterfuck.
    “Agreed,” Nick said. “I think we should do the same. At least for the next day or two.”
    Easy was down with that. At the pace they’d been going the last week, a little R&R would ensure that people’s heads were clear and their bodies ready to meet the next challenge that came their way.
    Charlie cleared his throat. Easy wasn’t sure if the guy was just shy or reserved or more comfortable with computers than with people, but he never said much. When he did? It was always worth listening to. “My landlord’s son works with the city’s gang commission. He might be able to help.”
    “The Jacksons,” Beckett said, placing his empty coffee cup on a folding chair. “We met them while we were looking for you.”
    “Yeah,” Marz said, holding up a thick booklet in one hand and kneading his right thigh with the other. Easy frowned. Marz had lost everything below that knee to the same grenade that had fucked up Beckett’s eye, but the guy never complained and seemed to have adjusted well to the prosthetic, so it was almost easy to forget he wore it. Damn, if they all weren’t experts at keeping their shit bottled up and battened down. “That’s where we got this dossier on the Church Gang.”
    “It’s a good idea, Charlie, but Easy’s right,” Nick said. “Church is very likely going to be putting his own feelers out, specifically looking for people asking around about his organization. Which means we’d need to be very careful about utilizing civilian resources any more than we have to.”
    Beckett nodded and crossed his thick arms. “I’ll stock up on burn phones. We use a clean one every time we contact them. But Louis Jackson was a wealth of knowledge that night. I think Charlie’s onto something there. And it’s Jackson’s job to be nosy about gangs, so that ought to provide him at least some cover.”
    The blond shifted his position against the desk and ducked his head, as if uncomfortable with everyone’s talking about him.
    “What else?” Nick asked.
    “I have a whole list of research queries to work on,” Marz said. “Charlie’s gonna help me, then Jeremy will jump in around his clients. Keep you posted if and when we find our next big leads.”
    Murmurings of agreement and offers to help rose from all around the room.
    “I have something I’d like to say,” Shane said, stepping forward and tapping his fingers against the desk. “I know protecting Sara and rescuing Jenna were tangential to our main mission here—”
    “Shane—”
    “No, Nick. This needs to be said.” Shane planted his hands on his hips, and Nick nodded for him to continue. “Every person in this room is sacrificing his safety, his income, and his job to be here. We’re all doing it to get to the bottom of the whatthefuckery that killed our friends and tarnished our honor. It means a lot to me—” The sound of a thick