Chapter 26
Hawk
Watching her walk away had me ready to jump out of my skin. I was practically vibrating. Niko pulled out a pack of cigarettes, flipped the top of the box, and held it out.
“Here, my friend.”
I’d only seen him smoke a handful of times, and usually cigars. Still, I took one and pulled my own lighter out. I had a pack of my own, but why not take the offering?
Pacing around, I glanced up to see the busybodies staring before they tried to pretend they weren’t staring. Then Ma and Sugar came back outside, and Ma made it a point to give me the evil eye as she walked until she couldn’t turn her head anymore.
“Katya is usually mild tempered, but she can have a short fuse at times,” Niko said as he lit his own cigarette and blew the smoke out. “But why do you think she’s so upset?’
I was mildly shocked he stood by me and not her during the argument. Honestly, if it were Penny, I’d have stepped between us, going toe to toe with him and dealt with her later. Family first.
After taking a long drag, I blew it out, still pacing. “Fucking women.”
Niko nodded. “Yes, but that’s always going to be the case. Surely something set her off. What was she talking about, patches? Have you not given her the vest?”
I stopped pacing, my hand at my sides, still holding the cigarette between my index and middle finger. “Not that it’s your business, but no, I haven’t.”
Eagle came walking out with a glass and a beer. He passed me the glass and took a drink from his bottle. “You good, Prez?”
Knocking back the Crown in one swig I said, “I’ll be fine.”
“Eagle, my friend,” Niko started, “why do you think Hawk has not presented my sister with her vest?”
Eagle looked at me then back at Niko. “That’s none of my business, or yours, respectfully.”
Niko grinned. “You’re a smart second, Eagle.” He drew one more puff from his cigarette then flicked it away. “I’ll be at the bar, gentlemen. But I will check on Katya in a while as well.”
Once Niko was back inside, Eagle asked, “So how bad am I gonna be in the doghouse tonight because of you?”
“That’s your problem,” I said, staring across the courtyard at my own fucking house that I’m supposed to stay away from.
Falcon came walking out of the clubhouse and joined us. “Hey Prez, everything good?”
“Actually, no. The Martinellis didn’t take kindly to the news Kat wasn’t up for grabs. And it’s looking more and more like there’s links from them to Romano.”
Falcon rubbed his beard. “But how can we link them to whatever is here?”
“That’s the million dollar question,” I said, taking one last drag then flicking the butt away. “So far, we can’t.”
Eagle swallowed a sip of beer, then asked, “But how does that change anything? Didn’t we already think they were connected?”
“Yes. But now we know, thanks to Petrov. Plus, they’ve started making some trouble for them.
Which is why Petrov came and brought a straggler.
” I explained how Niko shared that some of Martinelli’s men had been spotted near the restaurant, so he got a detail on Klara.
Sure enough, they were following her. She had no clue, and thought the visit was just a nice gesture. “Also, they may have movement here.”
“So we need to track ‘em,” Eagle said, arms crossed with his bottle dangling from one hand.
Nodding, I told him, “Yeah. Petrov has his men on it and we got Keys on it. So far coming up empty. But Keys found a possible lead on that madame. Still some blocks to break through, but it’s more than he got before.”
Falcon asked, “Does he think she’s alive, then?”
“Not sure yet. But at least he thinks he finally caught a break. If he can find a real name or identifiers, we can try to at least back track even if she’s dead. There has to be a connection there.”
“Is her friend staying, then?” Eagle asked.
“Not sure. But I don’t know when Niko plans to leave for that matter.” He’d been more respectful since the first day they arrived, and he was her brother, but I wasn’t prepared for a visit, much less an extended stay, from him.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. “Keys needs me. Let’s go see what he says.”
Taking one more look at my house, I fought down the urge to storm over there. I wasn’t sure what I’d say anyway, but I didn’t like her being mad, especially since it all started over some bullshit with Jeannie.
“Hawk, you coming?” Falcon asked as they walked ahead.
Shaking it off, I headed back inside. Red and Rooster caught my eye as we walked, so I tipped my head for them to follow us.
Niko looked over curiously but didn’t make a move to follow. I wasn’t sure what Keys was about to tell us, and my officers would hear it anyway– but Niko would hear when I was ready, if he ever heard at all.
We all piled into the computer room and Coop was in there with Keys. He turned in his chair and his eyes widened. “Full house.”
Crossing my arms as the door clicked closed behind me I asked, “Whatcha got?”
Keys punched something in then pointed to the larger screen in the middle of the rest. “Madame Jojo, aka Josephina LaDame, aka Jolene Davis. This isn’t the lady Cindy knew. Cindy’s pal was a small operation. This was not.”
Looking at the screen, there were several mug shots, some newspaper articles. Nothing front page, but small stories on the arrests.
Keys’ leg was shaking as he watched us. He sighed heavily then turned and blew up one of the mug shots. “Look familiar?”
We all leaned in closer. Eagle chuckled then jokingly punched Falcon’s shoulder. “Dude, that could have been your mother-in-law.”
Falcon batted Eagle’s arm away. “Shut the fuck up, man. Prez, do you think they’re related for real?”
Staring at the screen, I said, “Only one way to find out. Red, go get her and take her to Church. Good job, guys. Keep looking for connections.” I patted Keys on the shoulder then headed out towards the other room.
The guys took their seats, but I stood waiting and made sure the chair next to mine stayed open for her.
When Red led her in, Sugar’s eyes went wide and she slowed her steps.
“Come on in,” I said, waving her over and pulling out the chair. “Have a seat.”
She did as instructed and folded her hands in her lap, her thumbs fidgeting.
I took my seat and scooted closer to her. “Sugar, I just need to ask you a few questions. It’ll help the club. Alright?”
She nodded, swallowing hard without speaking.
I tried to relax my posture. Talking to women was different than shaking down men, especially if they were scared. Unless she was hiding something, she wasn’t in trouble.
“Sugar, who was your mother?” I asked in a smooth tone.
“She was a madame. But she’s dead.” She started to get choked up on the last word.
“Rooster,” I said.
He stood and went to the mini bar but instead of a drink, he opened the cabinet below and pulled out a small bottle of water for her from the hidden mini fridge. After passing it over, he sat down, and she took a sip.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Hey, sorry to bring it up. But we’re trying to find who killed Pops and whoever it is keeps picking off women. Her name came up.”
“She’d never hurt anyone,” she said, stiffening in the chair. “All those women were there on their own. And she wouldn’t be stupid enough to cross you guys.”
“That’s what we found, too. But someone said some bikers have had a hand in ki–in what happened to her. You know anything about that? Who it could’ve been?”
She shook her head. “No, the only biker I ever saw around had the DE patch. That’s why when I found out she was dead, I came here. I figured if he was hanging around, she must have trusted you.”
I leaned in closer. “Who was it? Who did you see there?”
“It was Viper. After he died, I worried that maybe whoever killed Momma found him too so I went to Raven. Did–” She started sniffling and her face turned beet red.
“Do you think they killed Raven because of me?” Her body shook with sobs.
“I’m so sorry, Hawk. I never meant for anything to happen.
” Her words trembled as tears rolled down her face. “I just didn’t have anywhere to go.”
I cupped her shoulder. “Hey, it’s not your fault. Just breathe.”
Still sobbing, and hardly discernible, she muttered, “They seized her assets when she was killed as part of the investigation, and it’s still open.
” She brushed tears off her cheeks. “You know as well I do they’ll never close the case because they don’t care about women like that, so I’ll never get the estate.
” She picked up the water and took several long sips.
I lifted my hand for Rooster to grab her another. “I’m sorry about your mom. And I’m sorry about her assets. Who was investigating?”
She took the last sip of the first bottle then opened the new one Rooster put down for her. “GBI. So fucking proud of themselves, like they did something. I asked them repeatedly for progress and they always just say under investigation.”
She was right. She’d probably never see that money again.
“This is so embarrassing,” she sniffled. “But that’s why I kept trying to snag one of you. I got nothing. I just wanted some kind of security.”
We all glanced around. She never aggressively tried to get me. I only recalled Falcon, but she could have attempted others and been shut down hard. Falcon wasn’t the warmest person, but he was never really an asshole, either, so he was probably an easy target.
“Well, you’re safe here, Sugar. I know that doesn’t sound like much right now, but the rest will work itself out.”
She nodded, wiping her face again. “I really am sorry. But I’m as clueless as you.” She took another drink. “I got a box of stuff I kept of hers. It was all I could grab before they made it there. Once they got there, they marked the whole house as a crime scene.”
“We’ll take a look. Is it in the bunny quarters?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Those nosy bitches would go through it. I hid it in one of the extra rooms.”
“Red, will you go help her get it and bring it back down?”
I stood up and put out my hand. She took it and stood.
“I’m sorry to bring up bad memories, but we appreciate your help.” I pulled her in for a quick hug then passed her off to Red, who led her out.
“Feels like another dead end,” Eagle said as he leaned back.
I leaned on the table. “I don’t think so.
We know Viper was there. And Pops had him taken out.
He was always against human trafficking.
I bet you Viper did it. We don’t need to tell her that.
Not unless we can prove it. But if we can connect him to the Martinellis, or anyone, maybe we can finally figure this shit out. ”
For the first time in months, it finally felt like we were onto something. I was so pumped and the first thought was to run to my Kitty Kat, but then it hit me: she’d told me to stay the fuck away from her. My excitement faded.