5. Crank
5
CRANK
“I’m dead,” Faith whispers, falling back into her heels and looking at the empty locker with a thousand yard stare. Either she's an Oscar-winning actress, or she’s legitimately freaked the fuck out, and I'm pretty sure I've never seen her on the big screen. “It—it’s all gone.”
Fuck. This ain’t our first rodeo. Legal or off the books like this one, our job is to track the target down and bring them back for justice. We don’t flirt. We don’t make friends. We sure as hell don’t drive them all over town.
Me, Savage and Poe glance at each other. Pretty sure we’re all thinking the same thing. This bounty has gone to shit, fast.
In the Outlaw Sons, they call us the Pickup Artists because we’re good at two things: women, and our job. Usually those streams don’t cross. I can count on one hand the number of cases I’ve taken that involved a female target.
Not that women can’t be shitty, but usually their reasons are good. Bringing a deadbeat dad back to court to pay child support? No problem. Bringing in a mom because she skipped town with her kid when our city’s flawless fucking justice system decided some abusive asshole should get unsupervised access? Not gonna be me.
“Look up.” Poe points at the ceiling and he's got that look on his face. Any opportunity to mess with something technical, and he's ready.
Spread out down the hall at regular intervals, are small black domes. Security cameras.
“They're not gonna just let us in to look,” I say, but I’m game to try if they are.
Savage scrubs his beard with one hand and sighs. He points his hard eyes at Paige. “You’re sticking to your story? Because this is the time to come clean if you’re leading us on a fucking wild goose chase.”
She looks up, her wide chestnut eyes bloodshot. She nods. “I swear to God. I stashed my money here when I got to this town. I’ve only used—” she looks around, nervous. “About two hundred dollars of it.”
“Fuck. I better not regret this.”
She springs to her feet. “You won’t. Please help me. If we get the money back, you’ll believe me and we can work out a deal, right?”
He grunts.
Shit. I don’t wanna kill the hope in her eyes, but the cold hard reality is that if someone found a stash of drugs or cash in her locker, then they’re long gone. Even if we find security footage, she’s telling the truth about everything, and we get the cash back… there’s not gonna be a deal.
Even a fraction of a million dollars is really damn tempting, but we’re no lone wolves with only our own reputations on the line. We’re full, blooded members of the Outlaw Sons MC. Hellfire would have our asses if he thought we were pulling shit like that. No, there’s no way Savage would take a cut of stolen money and let her go.
But I’d put money on his plan being to find out if Paige’s uncle is playing fast and loose with the facts to avoid paying what the job’s really worth. No, we’re not gonna take a cut of a client’s stolen money, but we’ll definitely fucking bargain to get paid what we’re owed.
Leading her on like this makes me feel like an asshole, but she’s no open book either. All cute and innocent, but we found her on the run with someone else’s money and all she’ll say is that it’s fucking complicated. We’re dancing around each other, nobody being quite honest.
“Let’s see if we can check the footage, and take it from there.” I smile to reassure her. Not sure it works.
She eyes the empty locker again. “Okay.”
The lady at the help desk looks sturdy and no-nonsense, her attention focused on a romance novel with her feet up on another chair. Quiet job. Getting paid for doing nothing is a nice deal if you can get it. Her black hair is twisted into a tight bun, and the tip of her tongue is poking out of the corner of her mouth as she reads.
We stand back and let Poe do his thing. He rolls his eyes, but by the time he’s at the window, he’s ready to turn on the charm. It takes her a long minute to put down her book and look up, but when she does, the vaguely annoyed expression she had at being interrupted melts into something different. Her name tag says Georgia.
“Can I help you?” she whispers.
He smiles. “I’m sure you can, Georgia. My friend had something stolen out of her locker. We noticed you have security cameras, so we were hoping you could help us find out what happened. I’d be real grateful.”
Her eyes narrow a little in suspicion. “The company isn’t responsible for any lost or stolen items. It’s all made very clear in the contract. Was the lock broken?”
Paige shakes her head. “No.”
I glance down at the book she’s reading. Three Brothers For Bethany. There’s a pretty woman on the front, caught between three shirtless cowboys. Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way. I nudge Poe aside and lean closer, putting my arm on the ledge where she’ll be sure to see my tattoos. “Can I be honest with you, honey?”
Her eyes are fixed on the part of my arm where a redhead is getting kissed by one guy while another drives into her from behind. “Um, sure?”
“Here's the deal. We do need to check the security footage, but the truth is a little delicate.”
She looks up, obviously curious. “Delicate?”
Got her. Poe might be the prettiest, but I think our new friend Georgia likes a little more spice in her life. “Alright, it's like this.” I nod my head over at Paige. “We were having a bit too much fun downstairs and didn’t notice the cameras. If Sarah’s husband finds out about her little… adventure, it wouldn’t be good. You get me?”
Her eyes flit over to Paige standing between Savage and Poe. Savage throws an arm over her shoulder and Poe puts one around her waist. Paige’s expression goes from worried to mortified. Her cheeks flush and I can tell she’s doing everything she can not to hop out of her own skin. People will do a lot for a million dollars, even let a stranger think they’re fucking three bikers.
Georgia licks her lips. “Really?”
I wink. “We had some toys stashed in the locker, you know? We were going to head to a motel, but never quite made it that far.”
“Oh… oh my.” Georgia’s jaw drops.
“ Crank, ” Paige bites out in a strangled tone.
I hold up my hand. “Shh, babe. I'm sorry, I know you’re shy, but if anyone checks the tapes, you know damn well it’ll hit the internet in no time.”
Paige whimpers. I shouldn’t enjoy teasing her this much, but I fucking do. I hope Georgia is buying what I’m selling, because honestly, she’s a pretty thing and if circumstances were different, I’d be more than happy to share her with my brothers.
Poe’s hand strokes down Paige’s thigh. Her breathing picks up.
“All… all four of you?” Georgia glances down at her book, then back up at me.
“Oh yeah.”
She looks like she wants to fan herself, but keeps it together. “I could um, look through the footage for you,” she offers.
“Georgia…” I tsk, clicking my tongue in admonition. “I’m sure you can understand why Sarah wouldn’t want that.”
She chews her bottom lip while she considers. “I do. It's just that I really shouldn't let you into the back room.”
“It’ll be our secret. I fucking swear. In and out.”
“God yeah, I understand.” Her eyes flit between me and the boys. “Just… Can I ask you a question?” She motions for me to lean in so she can whisper. I do. “Is it true that you can really fit more than one—Oh I can’t believe I’m asking this. I mean, in the same place, together ?”
I chuckle at her kinky curiosity. Hopefully there’s an understanding Mr. Georgia, who doesn’t mind bringing a few accessories into their bedroom because I have a feeling after today she’s going to want to explore. “Absolutely. You just gotta take your time and go nice and slow, but once everyone’s moving together? Fucking amazing.”
Georgia clutches her hand to her chest. “One sec, and I'll get the door for you.” She pushes her chair back and gets up, leaving her book just behind the window. The spine is well worn, making me wonder how many times she's read it.
I glance back at Paige. A man can dream, can't he?
There's a click in the door behind the ticket booth and the lady pulls it open. “Quickly,” she hisses, now fully on board as a co-conspirator. “Before someone sees.”
I smile as I slip by. “Thank you. You're doing us a huge favor.”
“There's a post-it on the screen with the username and password.” She looks at us, then at the book on the counter. “Please, please, don't mess anything up. I'm risking my job here. She puts her hand on Paige’s arm, stopping her for a second. “You’re a very lucky woman. They’re… wow . You know?”
“Yep,” Paige squeaks, not making eye contact.
As soon as we’re all in the back office, Poe throws himself over the computer, tapping in the username and password without even looking at the fucking keyboard.
“She pinched my ass!” Savage snarls. “What the fuck?”
With a grin, I stretch out my arms, cracking my knuckles. “It worked, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, but did you have to make her think I’m a total freak?” Paige asks. “Couldn’t you have told her that the three of you were getting busy down there?” She tries to smack my arm, but I block it, capturing her wrist in my fist. She tries with the other hand and I trap that too.
“And you were what? Watching? Ease up. We needed to get in here and we did. I’m sure you’d never do anything that disgusting and we’re not your types, so relax.”
“That’s not what I meant!” She blushes. “I mean, right. Of course.”
All three of us watch her curiously, but she presses her lips into a tight line, refusing to elaborate.
“When were you last here?” Poe asks.
“Two days ago. Probably around six I guess? It was right after I finished my shift at the diner.”
He nods, scrolling through files. “Found you.” He points at the screen.
We all watch as the grainy footage shows Paige looking back and forth nervously before making a beeline to the locker. This time, instead of coming up empty, she pulls a duffel bag part way out of the locker and unzips it. It’s hard to make out what’s inside, but she moves some things around and then clearly peels a few bills off the top of a bound stack before stashing everything away again. That doesn’t mean there’s a million dollars in there, but it definitely supports that part of her story.
“See! I’m not lying. The money really was there.”
Savage puts a hand on her shoulder. “Okay, okay. Give him time to work.”
Poe is laser focused, fast forwarding through the past two days of footage. It's boring as fuck. The occasional luggage. A couple drug deals, but anytime there's movement, he slows it down, just long enough to dismiss, then back to hyper speed.
Paige is more interesting to watch. Leaning over the desk, she’s giving me a sweet view of her ass in her tight black pants. Shit, I shouldn’t have laid it on so thick for Georgia. Now it’s got me thinking of Paige in ways I probably shouldn’t. Like wrapping my fist in her long, thick hair and making her arch that back while she takes me.
I've been away from the club for too long. I adjust my pants before she turns around and realizes what she's doing to me. I can daydream later.
“There. Watch. Early this morning.” Poe’s finger traces the screen as a skinny guy with greasy hair goes down the row, checking different lockers. He’s got a master key or something, since he unlocks each one easily. As he riffles through people’s things, he occasionally pulls stuff out and pockets it. When he gets to Paige’s locker, he slides out the bag and almost falls over when he looks inside.
“He fucking works here.” Savage points at his jacket with the station logo. “Either that or he stole a uniform.”
“Would explain how he's got a master key. That would be a good thing, actually. Makes it easier to figure out who he is.” Poe scratches his chin as he thinks.
“Can you make it any clearer?”
Poe snorts. “Sure, I’ll just hit enhance a couple times.” When I don’t laugh—because who the fuck knows what computers can even do anymore—he throws up his hands. “No, but I can zoom in and try to get a shot of his face. We're not exactly talking super hi-def equipment here.” Poe flips between different cameras until he finds a better angle and takes a screenshot.
“Works for me. Can you print it out or something?”
“Nah. Better.” He pops up some other program and starts clicking around. “Company intranet.”
“Uh sure.”
A moment later, he’s scrolling through a page full of employee information. Poe adjusts some search settings, and a short list of people pops up, including their names and faces. One of them is our kinky romance-loving friend at the counter, but two names farther down, we find our guy. It's gotta be.
“Neil Michaelson.” Poe pulls out his phone and takes a picture of Neil’s information. “Got him. Address, birthday, social, everything.”
I grin at Paige. “What do you think? Wanna go collect some money?”
She nods. “Let's go.”