Chapter 7
ECHO
“ I thought you said I had a break,” Jeff whined, the irritating sound making me grit my teeth.
“Well, things change, dipshit,” growled the voice on the other end of his phone. “The boss found another mark, and you need to get everything set up for your new identity.”
This was how they ran their schemes. Jeff was given a new name, bank accounts, apartment, car, etc. Everything that made it appear as if he didn’t need money so that the victim would trust him more easily.
Wizard had been impressed with their thoroughness. It would take someone with considerable skill to tear through the walls they’d built around the fake persona.
“I emailed you the documents,” the man informed Jeff. “But you need to pick up the rest of it tomorrow at noon.”
Jeff sighed dramatically, and I could picture him pouting like a spoiled little kid.
Such an asshole .
“Where?” he asked.
“The coffee shop by the library. Don’t be late.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Jeff huffed, then the line went silent, telling me that he’d hung up.
I wrote down the information on a notepad, as I listened to him move around then heard the sound of his front door shutting. Since he was gone, I removed my headphones and grabbed my cell to call Wizard, who picked up after the first ring.
“You get it?” I questioned.
“Too many relays,” he replied with a frustrated grunt. “These fuckers aren’t messing around. Whoever is in charge has deep pockets.”
“Dammit,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair. “We’ll have to put a tail on both of them after their meeting.”
“Already on it. Sent a text to Prez, and he’s sending Ink and Shadow to go with you. Kevlar and Cross are comin’ to guard your woman.”
I nodded even though he couldn’t see it. “Great.”
Both men were club enforcers and knew how to stay out of sight. Shadow had picked up his skills as a former thief, but Ink had ties to the southern mafia, and they’d given him many skills that came in very handy.
“Tell Ink and Shadow to meet me at the library at eleven thirty.”
“Got it.”
After ending the call, I noticed Violet standing a couple of feet away, craning her neck to look at my surveillance equipment. She seemed fascinated, and a smile spread across my face.
Holding out my hand, I motioned her toward me. “C’mere, baby.”
She hurried to close the distance between us, and I pulled her onto my lap, then gave her a quick tutorial of the setup. When my phone buzzed, she glanced at it with disappointment, and I chuckled.
“Go ahead and try it out,” I told her as I helped her to her feet. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”
Her face lit up, and my smile grew. She was so fucking cute.
I walked out onto her balcony and saw the name of the club’s treasurer, Ace, flashing on the screen.
He was brilliant with money and kept our accounts more than flush.
However, he’d been given his road name because of his gambling.
It wasn’t an addiction, though—he wasn’t reckless.
But he rarely lost and had cleaned out several patches while he’d been a prospect.
“What’s up?” I greeted when I’d answered the call.
“Wizard sent me some more financials to do some forensic accounting. Think I finally found a new lead.”
I’d have been happy to hear the news a couple of days ago, but now that I’d met and claimed Violet, I was fucking thrilled because I was itching to get this shit handled as fast as possible.
“Go on.”
“I don’t think women are the only targets for this group,” he announced, astounding me.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I muttered.
“Been looking for similar spending patterns near Jeff’s last half dozen victims and ran into a couple that were strikingly similar.”
Jeff had an arsenal of “moves” when running a con, and it had made it easier for us to narrow down the woman he was fleecing by following his money transactions.
Wizard had found them by combing through security footage, reservations that required an ID for both participants, and even shit like flower deliveries.
“Except in these two cases, there was a significant age gap between the man and woman—at least twenty years—but the woman disappeared in the end, taking everything valuable and leaving an empty bank account.”
“Okay,” I agreed. He’d convinced me, but I still didn’t see how this helped us get closer to the boss. “There a connection between either of the women and Jeff?”
“Not yet. Just wanted to fill you in so you can be on the lookout for anything that might help with that avenue as well.”
“Noted. Let me know if you find anything else.”
“Sure, brother.”
I chewed on the information from Ace for a few minutes before going back inside. Violet was still tinkering with my equipment, but she glanced up at me with a beautiful smile when she heard me walk in and slide the glass door closed.
Her cheeks turned pink, and she giggled. “I don’t know how any of this would help with my job, but it’s so cool. I’m trying to come up with an excuse.”
I gestured to the setup and winked at her. “If I’m not using it, it’s yours to play with.”
She double blinked, and her deep purple eyes danced with delight. “Really?”
I grinned and walked over to stand in front of her. She’d taken my seat, so I bent over and gripped the arms of the chair, caging her in. “What’s mine is yours, baby.”
Her smile turned sly, and she quipped, “Does that include your body?”
My lips brushed across hers, then slid along her jaw until I reached her ear. “ Especially my body.”
She shivered, and I groaned, pissed at Jeff for a whole other reason now. “Gonna have to wait until I get back, though,” I informed her reluctantly.
“You have to leave?” Her bottom lip popped out just a little in an adorable pout. I took it between my teeth and tugged, before letting go and smacking a hard kiss on her mouth.
“Got to check on something. But a couple of prospects will be downstairs by the front and back doors of the building. Our sergeant at arms, Kevlar, and captain, Cross, will be across the hall in the apartment I was using before. They’ll be listening, so if you’re scared or need anything, just call out to them. ”
Violet nodded, chewing on her lip as she stared up at me. “Just be careful,” she whispered finally.
I replied by giving her a deep kiss, then murmured against her lips, “Don’t be doing anything that will have you making those sexy sounds I love to hear when I fuck you.
Or I’ll have to kill them.” Her eyes widened, and my gaze swept down her delicious curves.
“Hmmm. I’m making that a permanent rule, baby.
Only I get to make you come, is that understood? ”
Violet hummed her agreement, her purple orbs cloudy with desire.
It was hard as fuck—no pun intended—to leave her with that soft look and ripe body there for the taking. But I wanted this shit over with so we could move on with our lives. Hopefully, by the time her property patch was complete, she’d have my ring on her finger and my baby in her belly.
Shadow and Ink were waiting when I pulled into the parking lot on my motorcycle. I’d driven the Jeep to Violet’s that first night, but a couple of the guys had brought my bike over the next day.
I hadn’t had a chance to take Violet out on it, but I was itching to feel her wrapped around me with the wind in my face and my engine hummed beneath us.
Just the thought of the ride had me hard as steel, but I was gonna take her to a spot I’d discovered.
One that was isolated and would give us the perfect cover for me to fuck her on the back of my motorcycle.
Shaking my head, I pushed those images away before I exploded in my jeans like a horny teenager.
“Echo,” Shadow greeted me as I swung my leg over the seat and dismounted.
I nodded to them both as I shrugged out of my cut and stowed it in my saddle bag, then put on a leather jacket.
“Those for us?” I asked, lifting my chin toward three dark, nondescript sedans.
“Yeah,” Ink confirmed. He and Shadow had both removed their cuts as well.
We didn’t want to draw attention to the MC if spotted.
Ink—who was an incredible artist and tattooist, with a huge waiting list at our tattoo parlor, Hellbound Studio—had also donned a buttoned up, long-sleeved Henley in order to cover a good portion of the designs that covered his body.
“Jeff isn’t here yet, but only two guys are in the café.
One of them looks like he’s packing heat.
Unsure if the other is with him or not.”
“Keep it simple,” I instructed as I checked over my weapon before shoving it into the back of my pants so the piece was fully hidden by my jacket. “Ink, I want you on Jeff. Shadow and I will tail the contact unless it looks like they’re both involved, then we’ll split up.”
Both men nodded, and then we got settled inside the cars, the three of us still linked through earpieces Wizard had specifically designed for the club.
“On approach,” Ink muttered, and I glanced at the small parking lot by the coffee house, seeing Jeff pulling in.
I’d obviously bugged his car and tapped his phone, but we needed to monitor all his communication, including in-person conversations.
So Wizard and I had created a small device to cling to his hair near his scalp with a micro silicone link ring bead.
He couldn’t see or feel it, it wasn’t affected by water or soap, and a comb wouldn’t dislodge it.
I’d slipped him a pill on my first night in the building so I could break in and attach the bug.
“Sully,” Jeff greeted the bigger of the two men as he approached the table.
Sully grunted in response and shoved a folder at Jeff when he sat down. “Did you look through the information I sent?”
Jeff sighed—he did that often, and it was annoying as fuck. How he managed to swindle women was beyond me.
“Give me a break,” he snapped. “You only sent it a couple of hours ago. I always know my shit when the job starts, so stop treating me like this is my first one.”