Chapter 12
Flint
Jules and I are sitting in the main room, drinking strong black coffee.
We’re trying to get over our hangovers, or maybe that’s just me.
Jules is drawing on a scrap of paper. Whatever she’s drawing is taking all her concentration.
I smile to myself. Seeing her take such pleasure in her craft hits me right in the fuckin’ feels.
“Are you gonna show me what you’re drawing?”
She smiles without looking up. “Eventually.”
“Does drawing help you calm down when you’re upset?”
“It’s not drawing. It’s sketching. And yeah, sketching is my happy place.”
“I wish I had a fuckin’ happy place,” I grumble.
Her eyes snap up to mine. “You have a happy place, alright. It’s protecting me.”
I almost drop my cup, stammering, “Wait. What now?”
“Just what I said. You’re a protector looking for a job, and you found me.”
God damn it. She’s right. This woman is way too fuckin’ insightful when it comes to me. “Lucky you,” I reply calmly as I take another sip of my coffee.
“Lucky me, indeed,” she agrees.
This isn’t flirting, I tell myself. This is protecting, consoling, and takin’ care of business for her. Nothing more. There can’t be any more because I swore to my best friend to keep my fuckin’ hands off his sister.
My phone vibrates, and I already know what that means. Before I even look at the message, I tell Jules, “Jasper set up a meeting with the club officers today. Because I’m using club resources, I need to bring them up to speed about this situation. You’re okay with that, right?”
“Of course, I am. I’ve got nothing to hide.”
She’s throwing my own words back at me again. She likes playing cute games, this one. And much to my shame, I’m totally there for it. I smother back a smile, although my head is still pounding, and pull out my phone to verify the meeting they scheduled last night is taking place now.
“You do understand what’s going on here with the club involvement, don’t you?”
“Yeah, at least I think I do. I hate that I’m bringing this to your doorstep. But you’ve got to tell Jasper I don’t have any money to pay for all this manpower they’re using.”
Jules is so stinkin’ adorable it’s fuckin’ unreal. “If the club doesn’t charge for alcohol, what makes you think they charge for manpower?”
“Okay, tell them I really appreciate it. And you…”
I find myself smiling all over again. “Look, I’ve got to get going. You stay close, okay?”
She gives me a small smile and goes back to sketching. She’s more focused than ever, making me think whatever she’s doing is important to her.
The officers have a small conference room. It’s supposed to be extra private so we can talk without running the risk of anyone overhearing.
All the officers are there, Jasper, Slate, Onyx, and Jinx. Rock is also present. Even though he gave up the president’s position to Jasper a year or so ago, he’s the club founder, and is always present for anything related to the club.
Jasper speaks as I walk into the room. “Take a seat, start at the beginning, and tell us everything.”
I sit in the only open seat. “Thanks for having my back, I really appreciate it. Okay, you probably know I’ve been looking out for Tommy’s younger sister, Jules, while he’s helping Mica set up the new club.
Back in LA she saw something that spooked her.
The cops did nothing, but now I think she’s in danger. ”
Slate lifts his chin. “Well, tell us what she saw, and maybe we can help.”
I tell them about the sedan along the side of the road, them trying to run her off the road, and her going to the cops.
I also explain the bit about how she thought she recognized the man they threw into the trunk, but it didn’t turn out to be him.
I tell them about how someone threw a rock with a blank piece of paper wrapped around it through her front room window and then traumatized her cat.
How this scared the shit out of her and she came running to her brother for help.
I’ll be honest, my cousins are staring at me like I’ve lost my fuckin’ mind. Finally, Onyx speaks up. “How reliable do you think her reports are?”
Jinx adds, “This is a lot to swallow at one time.”
“Jules isn’t the sort to make up stories, this really scared her. Plus, she got a text from her old landlord. Some men in suits came looking for her and roughed him up. She saw something real and whoever it was is after her.”
Rock asks, “Is that sedan on the beltline the same one you’ve been calling all over the place to find?”
I nod at my uncle. “Yeah, I thought if we could find the car, it might lead to the owner.”
Jasper asks, “Is there anything else you haven’t told us?”
“Nope, not that I can think of. Have any of the brothers from SORLA visited her landlord yet?”
“Yeah, as of this morning, they haven’t found anything suspicious going on with Ramirez.”
Slate is our club secretary, so he’s takin’ notes while everyone speaks.
Onyx pulls up the LA chapter’s overnight reports on his laptop and walks us through what the brothers have been doing while we slept.
It sounds like they have been active. They’re even checking out the officer that Jules spoke to when she made the first report.
Jasper’s phone buzzes, and he checks to see who it is. He says, “We may have something,” before stepping away to take the call.
He listens for about thirty seconds. His expression lights up with dark glee. “Hold him at the warehouse. We’re coming to you.”
Shoving his phone back into his pocket, he announces, “A couple of our guys were assigned to cover Cedar Falls. Two outsiders rolled into town in a black SUV. They’re wearing suits and asking around a bunch of suspicious questions.
Our guys gave chase and ended up capturing the two.
They took them to our warehouse on the west side. ”
I am on my feet immediately. “Let’s beat some intel out of these bastards. This is the first real lead I’ve had on this case and don’t fuckin’ want to waste it.”
“I’m with you on that one, brother,” Jasper says. “Slate, you have the compound. Onyx, keep in contact with SORLA.” He doesn’t bother to give his old man commands because he won’t follow them. Rock does as he likes.
Heading for the door, Jasper says, “Let’s move out.”
***
The ride to the west side of Cedar Falls takes twenty minutes. Bash meets us at the entrance, and Jasper shakes his hand. “Good job tracking this asshole down. He’s a high-value target.”
Bash shrugs carelessly with one shoulder. “Glad to do it. Chasing this idiot was a fuckin’ pleasure.”
“I hope we can get him to talk,” I say. “We seriously need to figure out what’s going on.”
Bash responds, “I don’t know how helpful the stupid asshole’s gonna be.
I’m thinking the one that got away was the brains of the operation.
This one thought he could just blend in with the locals.
It didn’t work out that way because he stuck out like a sore thumb.
We parked their SUV out back. I gave it a once-over and had our contact at the Cedar Falls PD run the plate.
It’s stolen and registered to a Honda Civic with an LA address. ”
Bash walks over and grabs the man by the hair and jerks his head back. Looking down into his face, he explains, “He says his name is Donald Davis and claims to be an insurance investigator.” Our club brother shoves his head back down and slaps the back of his head for good measure.
Jasper snorts a laugh before crouching down in front of Davis.
“I don’t know why you thought it was a fuckin’ brilliant idea to come rolling into our territory like you own the fuckin’ place, much less start asking crazy questions about the locals.
You were being too obvious. Now, you and I are gonna have a little talk.
If you’re smart then you’re gonna answer all my questions like a good boy.
If not, then my friend here can be very persuasive. ”
Bash cracks his knuckles and gives Davis an evil grin.
“I don’t know nothin’. All I know is insurance. My partner was the one asking all the questions,” Davis splutters.
“If stupid is how you want to play this, we’ll run with it, but I don’t think it’s gonna turn out how you think.”
Davis says desperately, “There is nothing to tell.”
Jasper rubs his jawline and glances at me. “We could just waterboard him. They always talk after a little waterboarding.”
“A throat punch is easier,” I say, crossing my arms across my chest.
“We want him talking, not croaking.”
I pull out my gun and press it against the front of his shoulder, where his arm meets his collar bone. “If I blow his arm off, his mouth still works just fine.”
Jasper responds, “Your call, brother.”
We’re just messing around, hoping to scare information out of him so we don’t have to do any of the nasty shit we’re talking about. I look down at Davis and ask, “Do you have any idea what a forty-five will do at this range?”
Davis is sweating through his nice button up dress shirt right now.
He’s staring at me but still not speaking.
I pull my gun back and smash it against the side of his face.
It’s not hard enough to break his jaw but it’s definitely a wake-up call.
When he doesn’t talk, I get more creative.
Taking my free hand, I give his ear a nice hard twist. He wasn’t expecting that, so he let out a little scream.
Jasper looks at me like I’m crazy, but Davis finally begins babbling. “Look, we don’t have to do this. I don’t have useful information on the Terrance family.”
I state flatly, “So you work for the Terrance family, do ya?”
Davis closes his eyes for a second before backtracking. “I didn’t mean to say that. Of course I don’t work for the Terrance family.”
“That name rings a bell with me.” Glancing at Jasper, I ask, “Aren’t they that big crime family everyone is always talking about?”