Chapter 5 Saint
SAINT
“Are we not going to do proper introductions first?” Rodney asked.
“You mean, when the lives of one of our girls is at stake?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Seems like the proper thing to do before I start divulging information.”
“Just do it,” Bear murmured.
I felt like a fish out of water in this nice beachside mansion, but Bear was right.
Rodney had gone to great lengths to treat us like equals in this place.
The least I could do is play this how he wanted.
Even though I thought it was a gigantic waste of time.
It pissed me off a bit, though. I wasn’t here for people to make friends with my past. I was here for information, and nothing else.
Then again, Rodney had given me a lot over the years. Especially when he first found me.
“Bear, this is Rodney Smith. I know him from way back, when I first got to California,” I said.
“Nice to meet you,” Bear said as he stuck out his hand.
“Rodney, this is Bear. He’s a new guy, like me, with Diesel’s crew,” I said.
Rodney took his hand. “I see why they call you Bear. Big, hairy, and mean-looking. But something tells me you’ve got a soft side, too. Yes?”
Bear shook his hand, grinning. “For only one girl in my life.”
“‘Atta, boy. That’s a good man right there. Never harden toward the woman you love,” Rodney said.
“No, sir,” Bear said.
I didn’t think I’d ever heard Bear be so cordial in all the time I’d fucking known him.
“Now,” Rodney said as he released Bear’s hand, “how did one of your women get wrapped up in something dealing with the mafia?”
“Rodney, she’s been gone for days. We really—”
“It started when Diesel’s half-brother came stumbling up on our doorstep with his girl,” Bear said.
Rodney’s eyebrows rose. “I need to call that man more often. Diesel’s got a brother?”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes as I nodded my head.
“Yep. A half-brother named Cage. Same Dad, different Mom. His father, Patch, apparently tried starting up a crew in Nevada. The Night Outlaws. They got slaughtered by the mafia, and his father told him to find Diesel. The only issue is that the woman he brought along with him was the mafia man’s daughter,” I said.
“Shit,” Rodney murmured.
“Mhm. That’s what’s catapulted us into this mess. We vowed to protect them because Cage—that’s Diesel’s half-brother—is legitimate family. And Sutton—his woman—is the girl he loves. There was a shootout in a diner when she was taken the first time—”
“There was a first time?” Rodney asked.
Bear nodded. “Mhm. He came after us personally because his daughter fled with Cage, apparently. She went willingly to spare us, and we went after her. Killed a bunch of them, or so we thought.”
“Sutton, this girl? Her father survived. The man that’s the head of this mafia.
And now, after laying low and trying to do this right, they ambushed us and she’s been taken again.
This man is hellbent on killing this woman, and we aren’t having it.
We need any information you can get. This man is ruthless, and for all we know—”
“Don’t say it,” Bear warned.
I sighed. “We just need to get to her sooner rather than later.”
Rodney paused. “You know, there’s been some purchases around the outskirts of town that have me scratching my head.
Mostly, because I was staring at them for a time.
I’ve been thinking about getting into the hotel trade part-time.
You know, spiffing up some of the rundown motels that sit around Redding.
It’s a goldmine of money waiting to be scraped up, but no one’s taken care of them in years. ”
“Someone’s buying them up?” I asked.
“Yeah, and fast. There are ten or eleven that surround the town, and I had my eye on three. But, so far, all three of those have been bought up. Plus two more, and all in the past six or seven weeks,” he said.
“Saint,” Bear murmured.
“I know. I know,” I said.
“I take it that fits your timeline?” Rodney asked.
“Can I ask you a question?” I asked.
“Certainly.”
“Do these purchased motels have construction sites tacked onto them already?” I asked.
Rodney narrowed his eyes. “How do you know that?”
“Rock was right,” Bear said, sighing.
“Our recon tells us some shady organization has been purchasing up contract land. But we didn’t have the equipment or the time to pick it apart any more than that,” I said.
Rodney nodded. “Well, you’d be right. Only one of the motels that’s been purchased doesn’t have a construction site attached to it yet.”
“You think he’s buying the companies? Or just equipment?” Bear asked.
“I think this is the kind of man that would buy anything in order to keep people silent,” I said.
“All I know is that it’s a real estate firm buying up this property.
So, you could be looking at a shell company that’s been established for a while.
Men like the ones you’re talking about usually need a way to stash their money after it’s been washed.
It doesn’t just sit in a bank account somewhere.
They usually buy property and invest in things before keeping the rest of the cash close so they can be fluid,” Rodney said.
“That would make sense. He uses his casinos in Nevada to wash his money. Then, he uses real estate to stash it,” I said.
“That’s a very common tactic, actually,” Rodney said.
“Do you know anything else?” Bear asked.
“About this group? Or Saint?” he asked, grinning.
The two of them chuckled together, but I didn’t find the sentiment amusing.
“Okay, okay. Yes, I do. I’ve been keeping an eye on this real estate group because I figured they were new town competition I needed to bury. But there have been some weird things I’ve witnessed,” Rodney said.
“Like…?” I asked.
He sighed. “It looks like they are running girls out of those rooms.”
Bear paused. “You mean, like room-bound prostitutes?”
Rodney shrugged. “I’ve seen a couple of guys haul them away, too. If I had to take a guess, whoever this guy is you’re looking for isn’t just in the casino trade. He’s also selling sex these women can give, as well as the women themselves.”
“Shit,” Bear hissed.
“We really appreciate this,” I said.
I held out my hand and Rodney took it with a clap.
“If there’s anything I can do to help these girls, you let me know. I get we deal in the gray area when it comes to our jobs, but there are lines men should never cross. Ever,” Rodney said.
“Be careful what you wish for. Because I might just come knocking on your door,” I said.
“For these girls? You can blow it down if I don’t answer,” he said.
“Might be fun,” Bear said, grinning.
“You know, or just send him running through it,” Rodney said, laughing.
All three of us shared a lighthearted moment before he finally dropped my hand.
Then, he fucking opened his fat ass mouth.
“Hey, you ever hear from that girl?” Rodney asked.
Bear quirked an eyebrow. “What girl?”
“Amber, I think was her name.”
I shook my head. “No, I haven’t heard from Amberly at all.”
“Shame. All right. Well, let me know if you guys need anything else. And tell Diesel to stop by sometime soon. Sounds like him and I need to catch up,” Rodney said.
“Yep,” I said, nodding my head.
I wasn’t happy with him making that comment.
I walked back through the hallway and into the foyer, where I ripped open his front door.
I made my way back to my bike as quickly as I could.
I slipped my helmet on and waited as Bear lingered at the doorway with Rodney.
The two of them were talking, and I wanted to know what the fuck they were talking about.
“Bear! We gotta get out of here!” I exclaimed.
And after the two of them shared one last handshake, he started for me.
“I mean, I know you came from a different background than most of us. But I didn’t know it was this kinda different,” Bear said.
I sighed as he slipped on his helmet, turning on his inbound helmet mic.
“It’s really not that different,” I said.
“I don’t know. These are pretty fancy digs,” Bear said.
“I didn’t come from here. Just made a pit stop here.”
“Still, nicer than what most of us are used to.”
“Nicer than what I’m used to,” I murmured.
“So, who’s Amberly? A mutual friend or something?”
I struck up my bike. “We’ve got more important things to worry about.”
“Uh huh. And once we report back to Diesel, you gonna tell me who she is?”
“Not with that kind of attitude, I won’t,” I said.
But, the truth of the matter was, I had no intention of telling anyone who Amberly was.
She was just some girl I hooked up with in high school.
A semester’s worth of flirting in class.
One moment after school. And I never saw her after that.
I got kicked out onto the street by my damn parents because of that girl’s fucking hickies.
If anything, I should’ve been pissed off as hell at her.
I would’ve settled for a simple update, though. From her, after all these years.
Just to know she was doing all right.