Chapter Ten #2
It’s a fair question, even if it is sarcastic. After Lorry started investigating June, Theo had me sit down with Ace and go through every possible crime scene he’d worked on that Lorry tried connecting to June. It was painstaking work that yielded meager results.
“Just because the Fivers don’t hire you, doesn’t mean you’ve never worked on one of their crime scenes.
” There’s no way they’ve internally cleaned up every mess they’ve made.
The cops will be hoarding any case they may be able to connect to the gang in hopes of one day tearing them down.
And I know Ace. His records of each scene will be infinitely more detailed than the police would ever expect.
The guy is practically a detective himself.
He’s probably solved ninety percent of the cases he’s worked on before the blood is fully extracted from the carpet.
“Good point. One sec.” There’s a clicking sound like he’s typing, then, “I can do Thursday at noon if you can come to my office.”
“Sure. See you then.”
Ten minutes later, Luna strides into the house and sits on the dining room table next to my laptop. “Isn’t a life of crime supposed to be the quote unquote ‘lazy choice’? Because this shit is stressful.”
“Have we completely abandoned the idea of normal greetings?”
“Just cutting off the conversational fat. Ready to call the hot hacker?”
I nod and hold out my hand. Luna looks at it, then up to me, raising an eyebrow.
“My phone, my call,” she says.
“Lu—”
“Nope. I don’t know what you’re planning, but I want in. Now, Rose said Maple makes quick first judgements and isn’t very trusting, so we need to be careful how we approach this. Let me talk first.”
“She’s helped us before.”
“No, she’s helped Sadie before. That’s different. We’re strangers.”
“Fine. I’ll be nice. Can we call now?”
She gives me a long look then leans down to press a kiss to my cheek, getting mostly beard. Warmth spreads from the spot her lips touched, and I feel much more relaxed, like the simple act of affection thawed the ice spreading down my limbs and over my joints.
Luna unlocks her phone and searches for the number in her contacts. She puts the call on speaker and it rings three times before the call connects.
“Who is this?”
“Hi,” Luna says, “My name is Luna. Your sister, Rose, told me it would be okay to call.”
“Yeah,” she says. “What do you want?”
“You helped me and my friends last month, and I was wondering if you could again.”
“I helped my friends last month,” Maple corrects. “Sadie needed me to help June.”
“Right. And June is dating—”
“Theo Zervas, president of the Saints of Purgatory, infamous motorcycle club in Tucson. I know. And I know who you are, but I don’t know you, so why should I help you?”
“We’d pay you.”
“I don’t need money.”
“Well, we—” Luna pauses when I lay my hand on her thigh. She bites at the dead skin on her bottom lip, clearly unsure if I should talk. But then she nods and says, “It’s actually my vice president, James, who needs your help.”
The line is quiet until Maple speaks again, her voice strained. “I’m assuming he’s there with you?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “But I’m trying to protect Sadie and June, and your help could make a huge difference. If you’re not willing, I understand. But I’d really appreciate it.”
“Is this about that detective? I already erased any trace of June from his devices. There’s no digital trail connecting them.”
Luna’s widened eyes reflect my own shock.
I didn’t know she did that for us. Kip dealt with his sister, making sure she stayed quiet about Theo’s less-than-veiled threats the day Lorry kidnapped June, and we hired Ace for the rest. He got rid of Lorry’s body and erased any and all evidence of our involvement in his disappearance.
I assumed that included digital evidence, but I guess Maple already took care of that.
“How did you…” I trail off, and she easily picks up with her explanation.
“Sadie texted me, wanted to make sure the job was done. Whoever you guys hired did good but not as good as me.”
“Thank you for that.”
“Again, I did it for June and Sadie.”
“So, maybe you’ll do this for them.” I pause, struggling to pick the perfect words.
Having these conversations when you have no idea how much the other person knows is like joining a complicated dance without being taught the steps.
But it appears that Maple has probably visited corners of the internet and her friends’ digital footprints enough to at least understand the shades of grey they exist in.
“That detective wasn’t the end of our issues.
June is in the middle of some messy business with the Saints, and Sadie has taken it upon herself to help. ”
“‘Course she has,” Maple mutters. “This has to do with that gang, doesn’t it? The South Five?”
“Damn, girl.” Luna lets out an impressed whistle. “Why don’t you just tell us what you don’t know.”
“What the point of this call is.”
“Sadie is attempting to infiltrate the South Five by dating their leader. His name is Bowie.”
“No, she’s not.”
“She is,” I say. “And trust me, I tried talking her out of it.”
“Talking Sadie out of things is a skill very few people have mastered,” Maple says. “Does she have any idea who this guy is?”
“I told her he was dangerous.”
“No, you’re dangerous. Theo is dangerous. Hell, June is dangerous. This guy is a psychopath who uses the intestines of his enemies to hang chandeliers.”
“I don’t think intestines are strong enough to hang chandeliers,” Luna says, making a face like she’s picturing how that would work.
“You see why I need your help,” I say, before the two women can start arguing about how much weight human intestines could reasonably hold.
“I want constant eyes on her when she’s with him.
They have a date on Wednesday, and I plan to be there, but I don’t know where they’re going, so I have no idea how feasible it’ll be to watch them the whole time. Plus, Bowie will have guards.”
“Wherever they go, there’ll be cameras. Just let me know when you have a location.”
“You’ll help?”
“If Sadie insists on getting involved, then yes, I’ll help.”
A breath of relief precedes my next word. “Great. Another thing would be getting information on the South Five. Whatever you can hack into would be great. Especially Bowie’s personal phone and computer.”
“I don’t know what movies you’ve been watching, but I can’t just hack into a random computer. I need a way in, and I don’t think he’ll be stupid enough to open a Trojan horse message. Getting physically close to the devices would help, especially if he has Bluetooth enabled.”
“Can I do that for you on Wednesday?” I ask.
“He’ll never let you close enough,” Luna says. “Sadie, on the other hand—”
“No!”
“I don’t like it either, but she’ll already be there, right next to him. And his men will be on the lookout for anyone else, especially a Saint.”
I grind my molars, wanting to argue but knowing I can’t.
“All she’d need to do is have my tech in her pocket, constantly roaming for discoverable devices. I can do the rest remotely,” Maple says.
“Does she have to know she has it?” Luna asks.
“Not necessarily. Though, it would help if she could physically connect to any discoverable devices in her vicinity via Bluetooth.”
“She wants to help, James,” Luna says, her words hesitant. “This seems relatively safe. At least, no more dangerous than being on the date.”
After a long moment, I reluctantly say, “Fine.” Then, to Maple, I ask, “Can you also get any police files on the Fivers? Or messages Bowie has sent? We need to know who’s on their payroll. Lawyers, cops, wardens, prison guards, anyone Bowie has in his back pocket.”
“You’re in a full out gang war, aren't you?” she asks.
I must be exhausted or just a straight up idiot, because I don’t think through my next sentence before it leaves my mouth. “Since we won’t let them kill June, yeah, we are.”
Luna slaps my arm at the same time that a sound like a laugh, or a scoff, comes from the phone. We both look down at it with disbelief. I start to wonder if I imagined it, when Maple says, “Why does it not surprise me that a dangerous gang wants to kill June Graves?”
Because you seem to know her better than she’d want you to, I think. Honestly, the more I get to know her friends, the more I think June has been living in her own little world of delusional ignorance, thinking the people close to her don’t see through her innocent exterior.
“Don’t worry your gorgeous little head,” Luna says. “I won’t let anyone hurt my June.”
I wish I could see Maple’s face, because the silence on the end of the phone could mean a dozen different things.
When she speaks, her voice is void of any emotion at all. “Is there anything else I can do for you? If I’m going to be hacking dangerous gangs and entire police stations, you might as well ask for it all.”
“Can you look into the chief prosecutor? Luna’s dad is friends with him, but I want to know what he has hiding behind closed doors.
How much is he focusing on the Fivers? Does he have anything we can use against him?
If we have him on our side, that may make Bowie hesitate before acting against us. ”
“That’s a big ask. He’s not a lowly detective. He’ll have firewalls coming out of his third asshole.”
“What’s a third asshole?” Luna asks, looking genuinely curious.
“If you can’t, that’s okay,” I quickly say.
“Of course I can. But it won’t be cheap.”
“I said we can pay you.”
“I don’t need money, remember?”
“Then, what do you need?”
“A favor. To be fulfilled in the future.”
I frown, warning bells clanging in my ears. “What kind of favor?”
“Whatever I want it to be. Just from one person, not your entire club.”
“I’m not sure—” I start.
Luna, unsurprisingly, interrupts. “I’ll do it.”
“What if I wanted Hartley?” Maple argues.
“Do you?”
“Not sure yet.”
“Fine, sure. I’ll owe you a favor,” I say, knowing that Luna is about to double down on the agreement. She’s as bad as June and Sadie, always running headfirst into unknown situations without considering the danger.
“How about we just say one of you will owe me a favor, and I’ll let you know who it is when the time comes?”
“This sounds incredibly shady. I’m into it,” Luna says. “I can send you my qualifications. I’m great at getting people to fall in love with me. Especially women, if you know what I mean.”
“Everyone knows what you mean, Lu,” I mutter.
“I’ll keep that under advisement,” Maple says. “Now, is that all? I have an actual job to return to.”
“On a Sunday afternoon?” Luna asks.
“Crime never sleeps. Let me know where the date is. I’ll be in touch.” Without another word, the call ends. I’m not sure if I feel better after that conversation or if it put everything into a daunting perspective.
I’m about to comment on Maple’s odd behavior when I look at Luna and see her gazing dreamily at the phone. “I think I’m in love.”