Blurred Lines 1: CHASE
Chapter 94

-Chase-

The scene outside the shop was horrifying. It took about fifteen minutes for the chaos to settle down, leaving people in fear. Pinehills PD and Rescue were on site on record time, assisting everyone who got hurt, calming the people down, and doing damage control. There were no casualties, just a few individuals who got bruised and scratched while running for safety. Carlota and I left the scene before the police started investigating the situation. It was a good thing we parked the motorcycle properly. No one paid us any mind, anyway. The tension and horror were still thick, a rusty knife could cut through it.

Carlota and I didn't speak as I drove back to the alley where she had left her Mustang. I had tons of questions in my head; that insignia on the biker's cut was at the top of my list.

"I need answers, Carlota," my voice filled the deserted alloy.

"Go home, Chase," she hopped off the motorcycle and walked towards her car.

I gripped her biceps. She speared me with a razor-sharp glare; my confrontational demeanor wavered at the emptiness in her eyes. It left me speechless. Carlota might be a royal bitch, but this girl looking back at me radiates raw anger, disappointment, and a pinch of sadness.

1 loosened my grip on her arm. "After that stunt? You know me better than that," I stated calmly.

She huffed, glancing towards the entrance of the alley.

"Does Eros know you're here?" I probed. Her eyes narrowed, lips curving to a scowl.

My stare could cut diamonds, and Carlota caved. Huffing, she met my gaze once again. "I want to handle things on my own. This is my mess. Eros doesn't need to know shit." "Your mess clearly involves me-"

My phone buzzed in my pocket, cutting my argument short.

Carlota's brows lift up, questioning my next move.

I sighed. "Don't fcking move."

Sofia's face was on my screen. I inwardly cursed and calmed my anger before answering her call, walking. towards the alley's entry.

"Hey, are you on your way?" her worried tone melted my resolve.

My mind had been too occupied with Carlota and the biker; I needed a few seconds to recall what we had planned for today. "Sit... Cake tasting... What time is it again?" "You have thirty minutes."

"Fck!" I glanced back at Carlota. She was sitting on the hood of her car, arms crossed in her middle, watching me with boredom.

If I let her leave, I knew she'd disappear without a trace. She'd done that to her brother so many times that he went mad looking for her, worrying about her.

Bile rose from my throat. "I won't make it, Sofia. Something came up. Sorry. I need to go, baby. I'll explain. later." I didn't give her time to reply and ended the call.

Missing cake tasting was the least of my worries. Something big was happening, and I was caught in the middle of it. Carlota has the answer to my question, and I'm not leaving without it.

Seeing how determined I was, Carlota sighed and unfolded her arms. "Get in."

"This your cover?" Sarcasm laced my tone, sliding out of Carlota's Mustang. "You drive a flashy red car and stay at a five-star hotel?"

"You'll understand when we get to my suite. And that flashy car got the job done until you fcking blew up my cover."

We rode the elevator to the thirtieth floor, a presidential suite. Carlota headed straight towards the bedroom, and there, I understood why she chose a five-star hotel. Her secret will be safer here than in a tacky motel.

She turned the wall into a scrub-down. A red string connects five men to pieces of paper with her curvy handwriting. And behind it was the map of Pinehills.

I stepped closer, recognizing no one from the pictures. At the top of the murder board was a tattooed guy with a goatee and mustache; lines connected him to four more guys of varied nationalities. Two appeared to be Asians, while the other two were young Americans.

Scanning the locations on the map, I memorized them all. In case Carlota goes Houdini on me, I'd know where to start looking.

At the edge of the map where Oakwood Creek was located, Carlota pinned the same insignia on the biker's cut.

I watched it and faced Carlota.

This was on the biker's cut?" My nails sliced through the paper. The insignia of a viper's head facing left, one eye pinned the onlookers with daggered glare, and its scales rose from its body, looking as if the reptile was ready to attack. On top of the snake head were the words Live Free, while at the bottom was Ride Free. It's the Wild Viper MC insignia.

She rolled her eyes, releasing a bored huff. "Gee, keep stating the obvious." She strutted towards the bedside table, set Beretta 92, and kicked off her high-heeled boots. My brows furrowed. I hadn't paid any attention to what Carlota was wearing, not that she wasn't easy on the eyes - she definitely was. It's just that I had my eyes only for Sofia.

'How did she keep up with chasing the biker dude on those heels?'

"Guy at the bottom right," Carlota started, reaching for the bottle of vodka on the bedside table and drinking it straight from it. "He's our guy in the market, Stanly. Been following him for a week.

My shoulders went rigid. "He shadowed me. Why?"

She shrugged, skirting past me towards the balcony. I followed her, settling on the single couch across from her. "I don't know. He went in and out of clubs, did errands for his boss, Kenzo - the guy on top of the murder board-and this was the first time he went out of his course."

I don't know whether I should be relieved by that information. It meant that Sofia and Elise were safe for now, but why? And what was the Wild Vipers' interest in me?

They were one of the oldest motorcycle clubs in Pinehills, notorious for providing security in drug trades, hosting underground fights, and gun smuggling. I made sure my business stayed clean. Attracting dangerous men like Kenzo and his club was not on my wish list.

A heavy silence hovered between us. I processed all this information, and Carlota's head was obviously plotting how to get another shot at Stanly..

"Why are you here, Carlota?" I had to know.

She pinned me with a sideway glance, still with that sass, but the sadness in her eyes was evident. She gauged me like I was some artifact she needed to put a price on.

Pulling out her phone, she opened it and handed it to me. It was a picture of her and a guy with bright blue eyes. They were lying on the bed, smiling at the camera. Carlota made a pillow out of the guy's chest, and the guy was kissing her wild chestnut hair. The oddity of seeing Carlota happy and content made me frown. This doesn't explain why she's here. In fact, it poured fuel on my confusion.

"That's Rocco. We were supposed to get married next year."

"Supposed to?"

"He's dead. Got into a bar fight. Someone stabbed him with a broken glass in the throat. Police caught the suspect, but he ended up dead before he even got into trial."

"I'm sorry," I handed over her phone. "Eros didn't tell me."

She took a long pull off her alcohol. "Did you ask about me?"

I shook my head no. She doesn't seem offended in any way. She knew how much I loved Sofia, and she had been a sore topic in our relationship. "What's his connection with the Vipers?"

"Suspect's death seemed sketchy to me. Or maybe I was just in denial that someone would kill the person I love just because of a fcking misunderstanding in a bar. Out of all the twenty people involved, he was the only one who ended up dead," she laughed bitterly. "That's what love does, right? It makes people weak, unreasonable, supid...." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I was so lost without him I needed someone to take the blame. So I did research on the suspect, just for the fcking hell of it, and found out that he was a Viper."

"I found out they were based here in Pinehills. That's when I started obsessing with this club; been studying them for a month. Stanly was a prospect. I thought I was wasting time and was ready to move on until today. Something was going on, and you and I are tangled in this mess somehow."

If this was any other situation, I'd say Carlota was just going on a hunch, looking for trouble. But if she's right. and I was on this club's radar, Sofia and Elise were not far from their reach.

"I want every detail you have on them."

"I've got it covered, Chase-"

"You don't get it, do you? If they killed Rocco and made it look like an accident, they could go after

my family, Carlota." My tone was sharper than a butcher's knife. "I need to know why Stanly followed me."

Unde ding crossed Carlota's features. "I know where Stanly lives."

"Great. We'll pay him a visit."

"When?"

"Tonight."

Lying to Sofia about my whereabouts and who I am with left a foul taste in my mouth. While Carlota and I drove towards the suburban area of Pinehills, I kept thinking of a reason for a prospect from a Motorcycle Club to follow me.

Sure, I had done unforgivable and unspeakable things in the past, but I stayed on the right track since Loco's death. I saw with my own eyes and experienced what dipping toes in the criminal world can do to a man's life. It killed Letty's dad, and Letty ended up on a revenge streak, ruining her relationship with Derek. Some sentences are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on FindNovel.net. Visit FindNovel.net to read the complete chapters for free.It had a butterfly effect, a never-ending loop of chaos and death. I consider myself lucky Sofia found me and got me on the right track. I owe the peace I'm experiencing to her, and I won't let some shitty biker gang ruin what I have.

"You sure that's his house?" I was behind the wheels. There was no way in hell I'd let Carlota drive after downing half a bottle of vodka.