I waited until the front door closed and then pushed myself from the bed. My parents' house was on the way to my first destination... or at least it would be after I drove four minutes and five blocks out of my way. I wanted to talk with my dad alone. Hopefully, he could get my mother to stop volunteering me as Pelican Bay's animal babysitter.

Most houses didn't have attached garages, including my parents', so it was clear my father wasn't home when I drove by. An interesting and unexpected car sat in the driveway, though, so I stopped, parking beside the gray four-door Ford with rust on the back bumper.

What was my sister's possible murderer boyfriend doing at our home in the morning when he should have been at school?

I walked the long way around my car to get a good view of his, and the contents of his backseat stopped me in my tracks. Thankfully, it wasn't my sister half-naked, like I'd worried as I walked up. But something much worse.

A baseball bat. Allen had the bat lying in the backseat for everyone to see. He hadn't even tried to cover it with a blanket. Any smart murder suspect would have hidden it in the trunk. The bat didn't hold my attention so much as the red logo at the end, which matched the one found on the murder weapon.

Allen had the same bat the person who killed Coach Torres used in the deed.

If Allen preferred that type of bat, he probably had two. Right? I often bought things in multiples. When I could afford them. Hopefully, he didn't spend all his money on bats, so his parents had enough money for a talented lawyer or he was going to strike out in the courtroom.

I tapped my finger on the back window. Did I have enough time to use my lock picks on his car? The front door of my parents' home opened, and I quickly snapped a picture of the baseball bat with my phone.

"What are you doing?" Allen yelled at me from the porch, carrying a black duffle bag on his shoulder.

He jumped down the steps and speed-walked to his vehicle. Did he have more murder weapons in that bag? The clothes he wore during the murder? Who walked around with black bags like that? It was super suspicious. I didn't really think he'd killed anyone, but if he continued to act like a killer, I had to put him back on my suspect list. My dad would love it.

I crossed my arms and stood taller. "What are you doing here on a school day?"

He was a top suspect for a murder but decided it to skip a day when everyone was watching his every move? If I had an employee, I'd have them tail him for me. As it was, I had to do the dirty work myself.

"I had to stop by and get my stuff because your sister broke up with me," he said, dropping the bag to the ground. Something rattled.

He hadn't zipped the top and the sleeve of a white sweatshirt slipped out and hit the ground.

"Oh, well, what else do you have in there?" I pushed it with my toe, hoping to see more. Something bloody.

He snatched it up, opened the car door, and chucked it inside. No blood came oozing out of the corners. "Everything I've ever given her or left here. Why is she being so ridiculous?" he asked with a catch in his words.

It sounded a lot like oncoming tears.

Did killers cry? I saw Allen act in their middle school play. He wasn't that good. I made a way better mouse in our production.

"I'm sorry, Allen. Vivi is probably going through a lot right now," I said, reaching out for him. She had just broken up with a murder suspect.

He pulled away. "She's going through a lot?" He pointed at his chest. "I'm being investigated for murder. Murder!"

"Well... yes. There is that."

"I'm probably going to lose my baseball scholarship for next year. No one is going to pick me up. How will I pay for college? What college will even take me?"

He definitely had tears gathered in the corners of his eyes.

"What did Vivi say?" She seemed full team Allen the other day, but maybe our father had gotten her to change her mind.

Allen snorted and shook his head. "She said she can't be with a killer," he whispered.

Ohh. Harsh, Vivi.

"Maybe I can talk to her," I said and then clamped my mouth shut. I hadn't even decided that Allen wasn't a killer, and now here I was offering to talk in his favor? Why was my mouth always moving without my brain's permission?

He shook his head, and I released the breath I sucked in. "It won't do any good. Everyone thinks I did it."

He had evidence piling up around him. Finding the body, the matching baseball bat, skipping school, the black bag fiasco of two minutes ago.

"I didn't do it," he said with a flash of anger, and the hand at his side turned into a fist.

I stepped back. "You must be under a lot of stress, Allen."

He hit the top of his car. The metal sound reverberated in the quiet street. "I swear I didn't do it."

I stepped further back with wide eyes. This behavior was new and interesting. I'd never seen Allen lose his cool, but it's possible my father was onto something.

Interesting.

Just as quickly as he got annoyed, his shoulders drooped. "I just want people to believe me."

"I'm sure we'll figure out what happened and put the killer behind bars soon. Have faith."

His gaze met mine. "That's all I have left."

Allen trudged forward, and I stepped out of his way as he slid into his driver's seat and started the car. I'd made it back to Rachel and leaned against her trunk as he threw the car in reverse and hit the gas so hard he threw rocks from my parents' gravel driveway into her rear bumper.

"Hey!" I yelled at him with my hand in the air. The kid was not earning any points with me by putting Rachel in danger. Allen just secured himself a higher spot on my suspect list.

Kids these days.

The morning was chilly, even for April, so I turned on the heat and headed toward my destination, slowing as I drove by to check for the homeowner. He'd put a real crimp on my plans if he found out what I was up to.

The Pelican Bay motorcycle club had a rather large plot of land on the west of the city. A tall fence surrounded the compound, but the remodeled farmhouse the leader of the gang Dominick called home had no such enforcements. It sat nestled on the side of the woods, and he appeared to rely on his nefarious reputation to keep people away.

Good thing reputations never bothered me.

Dominick had a garage, but never parked in it. I liked to believe he saved the space for whatever trouble his gang had going on. His big SUV wasn't in the driveway nor was his motorcycle. And most importantly, most of the bikes they parked in a long row in front of the compound were also missing. I didn't know what had the guys out of town so much the last few weeks, but I also didn't turn away a gift.

To be safe, I parked on the street rather than pull into Dom's driveway, but rather than climb in the back window, I knocked on the door. The back one. Not the front. People could see the front door from the road, so I didn't risk it.

No one came, so I knocked again.

Finally, the door opened a crack and Gina peeked her head out. "Wow, you knocked this time?" She said it almost like a question.

I smiled. "Yup, but time is of the essence, so let's go."

"Um. Go where?" she asked without moving from her spot, even though she widened the door opening.

I waved her forward and then tucked my hand under my arm to warm it up. If the sun didn't break through the clouds soon, I'd have to get out the thicker coat. "Cupcakes are on me."

"At the bakery?" She shuffled forward in her socks.

Where else would we get cupcakes from? Dominick had done a real shit job of teaching her the Pelican Bay ropes. "Yeah, but we have to hurry."

I had to bribe Gina to get more of her story out of her, introduce her to the girls, and feed the fish. I couldn't waste this opportunity for multitasking.

She glanced behind her. "Dom isn't home. I'm not sure I should leave."

I nodded and held the door open in case she closed it on me. "He won't care."

Gina whipped her attention back to me with her eyebrows halfway up her forehead as she twisted her hands together. "Oh, he'll care."

"Come on. It's a jailbreak." At least it had felt that way. "Get some fresh air. Meet the girls."

She definitely needed more girl time in her life. And cupcakes.

Gina shook her head, the dark strands falling over her shoulder. "Dom won't like it."

"What Dom doesn't know won't hurt him."

It might hurt me if he ever found out, but I was a hundred and five percent sure Gina was in the clear. She told me she used to take Dominick to church with her when they were teenagers, and his family was already well into the biker scene by then. So if he let her take him to church, he definitely had special feelings for her. Marvelously special. Hopefully, it was enough to keep my life safe.

She glanced backward again, as if someone in the room was watching her.

"Are you in? Chocolate on chocolate cupcake?" I'd use anything to coax her out of the house.

"You're sure he won't find out?" she asked as a dog barked somewhere behind the home.

I nodded. "Totally."