Chapter 30
Hawk
I finished my breakfast so we could check in on Keys.
He’d texted as soon as we sat down, so I’d already told Niko and Eagle we had to hustle.
I also got a text from Jackal that some shit went down and he and Shiv ended up in Alabama.
Once they got Shiv’s patient settled, they’d be headed back.
He confirmed it wasn’t the Hellbound Heathens and said he’d fill me in when they returned.
My mind had been elsewhere, still. That was until my Kitty Kat came over. I wasn’t sure what else I could do to temper her ire and it was eating me alive. Her throwing knives was better than pretending to be asleep, and much better than when she was sneaking around trying to avoid me.
I’d watched her sleep enough times to know what she looked like when she was in deep sleep, so I tricked her into talking to me.
I figured she’d try to sneak in when I was in the shower, and I was right.
Even so, we got nowhere. And it was breaking me.
I wasn’t trying to hurt her and thought she understood how I felt.
There was a coldness in her eyes that was haunting me.
It hadn’t been all fun and games since we met, but this was different.
She was deeply angry and hurt because of me, and I hated it.
So when she brought me coffee, and didn’t toss it on me, that was all I needed.
The light in her eyes was back and I realized it was her stubborn way of showing me she had let it go.
And that was enough. I had needed to kiss her, hold her, all night.
I didn’t care that everyone made a fuss.
I wished we could have some time to clear the air and just be together, but we were getting closer to finding Pop’s killer.
I’d be sure to make time later, but this was important and for her safety as well.
I couldn’t abandon everything to be with her, and hopefully that was one thing she did understand.
Once we all finished breakfast, we headed to Church and Keys came to give us an update.
His dirty blond waves fell into his eyes.
He brushed them to the side, only for them to fall back into place.
“We’re still going through the phones and address book, but we did catch a break on something else.
One of Martinelli’s top guys was spotted at Peaches-N-Cream. ”
“How do we know it’s one of his guys?” Falcon asked.
Keys pulled a few printed pages from a pile he brought in and held them up.
“Blue messaged me late last night to say some fresh blood showed up looking to party. Heavy northern accents, well dressed. He put them in a party room and kept them going for hours. I tapped into his cameras, but he did us one better and had a dancer snap a selfie with this guy,” he said, holding one print higher.
“So we kept eyes on them, started a facial recognition, and came up with this.”
He pushed the prints toward me. One was the selfie, and the other was a collage of mug shots and a photo from a newspaper. It was definitely the same guy. “There’s our confirmation they’re in the area. Any idea where we can find them?”
Keys gave me a long dead stare. “No respect for my craft.” He shook his head as he pulled more papers out and passed them my way.
“Blue had a guy go scout the parking lot at my request and we narrowed it down to these vehicles. These two are from out of town,” he said, jamming his finger to the paper.
Leaning up, I asked, “Did they leave with any women?”
“Unfortunately yes, but we followed them via red light cameras for a good stretch. We eventually lost them but had checked hotels in the area and came up empty.”
My brow furrowed. “Then we have nothing to go on.” I leaned back in my chair, a heavy sigh leaving my chest. “What now?”
“Can you trust the process?” Keys asked as he patted his chest.
Niko reached over and waited for me to nod, showing approval for him to grab the pictures. “I know this man. Leo Mancini. Capo. He’s the one we suspected was here. He won’t be alone.”
Keys nodded. “Which was helpful. Your info was valuable in connecting the dots. We eliminated all the hotels in the area. But–”
Niko cut in. “These men won’t be at a hotel, especially if they’re here on business.”
Keys glared at him but had enough sense to leave it at the stare. “As I was saying,” he started, “we found a few high-end rentals. Here are the addresses.” He pushed another piece of paper across to me.
Looking them over, they were outside of Atlanta, but not too far. Very nice areas, but all the homes are set on sprawling acreage and far from the street. I said, “Most of these will be gated.”
“I may be able to short them,” Keys said.
“May be able to? Do you know if there’s any other ways in, or are they all surrounded by high walls?” These were not the type of homes with chain-link fences, but tall concrete walls that aren’t easy to scale. Plus, the walls would be visible to the street, even if we could make it over.
“I can’t test it or I’d risk alerting them of an issue and they’d have the company out there to repair it. Most will have a door somewhere along the walls.”
I studied the pictures. “We need to do recon. We gotta confirm which it could be, if any of these.”
“We also found messages on one of Jolene’s phones. She was definitely scared. And she was supposed to meet with an investigator. Said she had info but wanted immunity for turning.”
“How soon after was she killed?” I asked.
“The night before the meeting,” Keys said.
Eagle sat up straighter, tucking his hair behind his ears. “So they found out, or the investigator was dirty.”
“Hard to say which. They haven’t done shit with her investigation but there wasn’t any chatter about a larger ring that I could find. The investigator she was gonna squeal to may have been a client she trusted and he didn’t open a report to save her. Or he was in on it,” Coop chimed in.
“Did you find where they were supposed to meet?”
“It was coordinates. She was smart and it was in code, but I figured it out.” He pulled out another sheet. “It’s another small airport. Private owners only.”
I grabbed the sheet, about to pop off about why we hadn’t seen this one before then I noticed the address. “This is a bit of a ride.” It was well north of Atlanta, not quite the mountains but up that direction and far off the highway.
‘Yeah. We never looked that far out. But that’s where she asked to meet.”
Falcon scanned over all the papers laying on the table. “Maybe she was planning to take off. You said she was scared.”
Keys shrugged. “Maybe. But I wanted to point it out. Could be another clue.”
“Or another dead end,” Red said.
I asked, “Is the airport still in operation?”
Keys nodded. “Yep. But like I said, private owners only, so slower traffic.”
Niko said, “And far away from the large prying eyes of the Atlanta airspace.”
“No military bases in that area either, but there’s restricted air space in and around Atlanta,” Eagle said.
Rooster broke into the chat. “So if you needed to move questionable cargo and had the means to pay extra–”
“It would be the perfect place to go,” Niko said.
“Alright. The airport is further away and we know these assholes are close to Atlanta based on the traffic cams,” I said, flinging some of the papers across the table.
“No other women, besides the ones that left with them, have gone missing recently that we know of. The airport can wait, but we can go check it out. First, let’s do drivebys of these addresses and see if we can get eyes on Martinelli’s men. ”
“Recon only, Prez?” Eagle asked.
Looking over at Niko, I shook my head. “If we find them, we need to try to get them back to the shed.” These fuckers were not only linked to Romano, but they were following Klara, and had been monitoring my Kitty Kat before she was mine.
I didn’t want to take any chances leaving them to roam free here.
“I’ll have my car,” Niko said.
“We have the truck, too. Coop, you take that and stay close in case we need a quick cleanup. I’ll tell Squatch to ride with you. I’ll meet you at the garage. Keys, stay alert in case we need you to try to hack the gate. And you two,” I said, looking between Coop and Keys, “good work.”
Heading to the bar, I didn’t find Squatch, so I shot him a text then told a few members to be ready to ride in five. I wasn’t sure how many men this guy had with him, and Jackal wasn’t back yet, but we couldn’t wait.
Heading to the kitchen, I found Ma, Lacy, and my Kitty Kat laughing with flour or powdered sugar hanging in the air and all over the counter.
When they saw me, they all got quiet.
“Lacy, Eagle is looking for you,” I told her.
She wiped her hands on a towel and smiled as she passed me.
Ma wiped her hands off, then patted me on the shoulder. “I’ll go check on the guys.”
I grabbed her arm, and she turned back. “Thanks, Ma.”
She smiled, her blue eyes sparkling. She knew what I meant and I loved that about her. “We’re good, son. You be careful.”
After letting her go, she left the kitchen. Kat was wiping her hands, almost fidgeting.
I wasted no time closing the space between us and cupped her face. “I gotta go, and I may be a while. But as soon as I’m back, I’ll find you before anything else, okay?”
“I understand,” she said, her dark eyes meeting mine.
“I don’t want to leave if things aren’t okay with us, Kat.”
“Hawk, I was being foolish. I feel like an idiot, and I’m so–”
I cut her off with a hard kiss. She melted against me and I cursed that I had to leave. Pulling away, she was breathless, but still gripping my cut. “You don’t need to apologize to me. I’m sorry I have to go.”
“This,” she said, “is the part I was trained for.”
I shook my head. “You’re not a toy, Kat. I need you to know that.”
She finally cracked a smile. “I know.”
Slamming my lips to hers again, I tasted her as I swept my tongue in her mouth, pressing my hard cock against her stomach. She moaned into my mouth so I had to stop. “I gotta go or I’ll take you right here, over this cookie dough.”
She giggled and it was the sweetest sound to my ears. “Don’t tease me,” she said with a sly grin.
Backing away and fixing my junk, I stared at her gorgeous face as I backed out of the kitchen.
I saw Ma talking to some members on the way out, so I pressed a peck to her head then kept heading toward the garage.
Everyone was waiting, so I hustled to my Harley. I was excited to have new leads to chase, and now I could go out knowing things were good between me and Kat. I could focus on what was in front of me.