NO SAFE ROAD

The Investigator

Chapter Thirteen

Mara could not have moved if she wanted to.

Derek stood in the front room like he belonged there, one hand still raised as if he were speaking at a meeting instead of standing in the middle of a potential bloodbath. Sheriff Mott was beside him now, and another man Mara did not know hovered just behind the sheriff’s shoulder in plain clothes and a hard expression.

That was the part that made her stomach drop.

Not just the sheriff.

Backup.

And not the kind Cole would have welcomed.

Cole’s voice cut through the room. “What is this?”

No one answered immediately.

Derek smiled first.

There was no warmth in it. Only satisfaction.

“Now we can all be reasonable,” he said.

Cole’s eyes were on the man behind the sheriff now. Mara saw the shift in him instantly. He recognized the shape of the threat even before he named it.

Sheriff Mott spread one hand. “President Mercer, this doesn’t have to get out of hand.”

Cole’s expression went flat. “Then stop bringing company to my clubhouse.”

The sheriff’s jaw tightened.

The plainclothes man stepped forward half a pace. “We’re here because this has gone beyond a local dispute.”

Mara stared at him. “Who are you?”

The man looked at her once, then at Cole. “Special investigator.”

That made the room change.

Cole’s gaze sharpened. “For who?”

The man didn’t answer that directly. Which was answer enough to make Mara’s skin prickle.

Derek’s smile widened just slightly. He was enjoying this. Of course he was.

Cole looked from the investigator to the sheriff, then back to Derek. “So this is the move.”

Derek’s eyes went to Mara. “I told you I wasn’t done.”

Mara’s hands curled into fists so tightly her nails bit into her palms. “You dragged another man into this?”

He looked almost offended. “You make that sound so dramatic.”

“You brought the sheriff,” she snapped. “And whoever he is.”

“Because you left me no choice.”

Cole took one slow step forward. “You don’t get to decide who gets dragged where after coming into my clubhouse with a warrant and a lie.”

Derek’s expression cooled. “You want to keep making this personal, Mercer?”

“It is personal.”

The words hit the room like a match striking flint.

The investigator’s gaze flicked between them, then settled on Mara. “Ms. Vale, we need to ask you a few questions.”

Cole’s head turned a fraction. “You’re not asking her anything until I know who sent you.”

The man didn’t look bothered. “You may not have that option.”

Tessa, who had been hovering near the bar with the kind of patience that came before violence, barked a short laugh. “Oh, I love when men in suits think that sentence works on a room like this.”

The investigator ignored her.

Mara looked at him carefully. The man was mid-forties maybe, clean-shaven, tailored jacket, not a local law enforcement face. There was something polished about him. Too polished. The kind of man who could speak softly while putting a knife in a drawer and calling it due diligence.

He held out a business card.

Mara did not take it.

“Who are you really?” she asked.

His expression barely changed. “That depends on who’s asking.”

Cole’s voice went colder. “Try again.”

The investigator glanced at him. “You’d do well not to assume your clubhouse makes you immune from process.”

Cole smiled once, and it was not a good expression. “You’d do well not to assume I care.”

Mara could feel the tension in the room tightening into something dangerous. Brothers had shifted around the edges, making subtle space. Tessa looked ready to start a fire if anyone gave her an excuse.

Then the investigator looked at Mara again.

“You’ve been involved in the removal of documents tied to a financial investigation,” he said.

Mara’s chest tightened.

Cole’s attention snapped to her at once.

The investigator continued, “Those documents were connected to several local entities and an ongoing inquiry into unauthorized movement of funds.”

Mara stared at him, the words sinking in too slowly to stop them.

Financial investigation.

Inquiry.

Unauthorized movement.

All of it sounded clean enough to be lied in a suit.

Derek lifted his brows. “See? Helpful.”

Mara turned on him. “You knew about this?”

His smile was thin. “I knew enough.”

Cole’s voice came down like a blade. “You brought a federal man into this room.”

The investigator’s mouth flattened. “I’m not federal.”

Cole’s eyes narrowed. “Then you’re cosplaying.”

That drew a low, sharp sound from somewhere behind Mara that might have been laughter if the situation hadn’t been so ugly.

The investigator’s face remained controlled. “Ms. Vale can clarify her role here.”

Mara felt every gaze in the room turn to her.

She hated it. Hated that the shape of the truth was changing in real time while everyone watched. Hated that Derek looked smug, the sheriff looked annoyed, and Cole looked like a man deciding how much trouble he was willing to cause before the entire room ignited.

Mara drew in a shaky breath.

“I found the files,” she said.

The investigator’s attention sharpened.

Mara kept going because stopping now would make everything worse. “At Derek’s house. I didn’t know what all of it meant. I saw enough to know it wasn’t legal.”

“Did you remove them?” the investigator asked.

“Yes.”

“Did you destroy them?”

Mara’s throat tightened. “Yes.”

Derek made a small, offended sound. “That’s not the whole truth.”

Cole’s eyes flashed to him. “Shut up.”

Mara barely heard him.

The investigator continued, “Were there copies?”

Mara hesitated.

The room seemed to lean with her.

“Yes,” she said at last. “I think so.”

Derek’s expression sharpened in immediate irritation.

The investigator’s gaze didn’t move. “How many?”

“I don’t know.”

Cole looked like he wanted to ask something and was forcing himself not to.

The investigator nodded once as if he’d expected that answer. “And the drive?”

Mara’s pulse jumped. “What drive?”

This time he was the one who paused.

Cole noticed.

So did Derek.

The investigator said, “A flash drive tied to the documents.”

Mara stared at him.

She hadn’t told Derek about a flash drive.

She hadn’t told Cole either, not directly.

The room went very still.

Cole’s voice came low and dangerous. “Where did you hear about that?”

The investigator’s gaze held steady. “From the source who brought us the complaint.”

Mara felt cold all over.

Derek’s smile returned, faint and ugly. “Told you I had people.”

Cole took one step forward. “You’re lying.”

Derek lifted a shoulder. “About which part?”

The investigator cut in, “This is exactly why we’re here. Because multiple people have information that can’t be verified if everyone keeps posturing.”

Cole’s head tilted slightly. “And you think this room is the place to solve that?”

“No,” the investigator said. “I think this room is the place to find out who has the drive.”

Mara’s stomach dropped.

Because he wasn’t asking.

He was already convinced it existed.

Cole looked at her.

Just once.

Mara saw the question in it and hated how much she wanted to answer it for him before anyone else could twist the truth into something worse.

“I don’t have it,” she said.

The investigator’s eyes narrowed. “You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

Derek snorted. “He’s not asking because he thinks you’re honest.”

That made Cole move.

Not fast enough to be a blur. Fast enough to be a threat.

He stopped directly in front of Derek and looked down at him like the room had narrowed to a single point.

“One more word,” Cole said, “and I’m ending this conversation permanently.”

Derek met his stare without flinching, but Mara saw the tiny pulse of caution underneath it.

Good.

He should be cautious.

The investigator lifted a hand slightly. “President Mercer, this does not need to become violent.”

Cole looked at him with open contempt. “You’re standing in my clubhouse with a man who forged a warrant and another who thinks fear is a negotiation tactic.”

The investigator didn’t move.

Cole’s voice dropped even lower. “You already made it violent.”

Nobody spoke.

Then, from somewhere outside, a motorcycle engine roared to life so close to the door it rattled the glass.

Mara’s head turned instinctively.

Another engine. Then another.

Tessa cursed under her breath. “That’s not one bike.”

Cole’s gaze moved toward the front windows.

Mara saw the change in him before anyone else did.

Recognition. Warning. Then anger.

He looked back at the investigator. “Who did you bring?”

The man’s expression did not change.

But that was answer enough.

And then the front door of Blackwater MC opened.