Chapter 1
Lynch
It happened in an instant.
One minute I was sitting at the bar with Country and Widow, and the next, there was a loud blast and I felt an intense heat against my skin. Before I had a chance to react, my two-hundred-and-forty-pound ass was being hurled across the room like I was a fucking toothpick.
I landed on the floor with a hard thud, the impact nearly knocking me out cold. I wanted to get right back up and shake off this shit, but I struggled to overcome the thick haze that had fallen over me.
I could only lay there with my face against the cold concrete floor, my head pounding and every muscle in my body aching. Both ears were ringing, smoke filled my nose, and my lungs burned with every breath.
I knew something was very wrong and could feel the urgency growing inside, but I didn’t have it in me to move.
It felt like I’d fallen into a pit of fucking black tar, and I couldn’t break free no matter how hard I tried. Even after hearing movement next to me, I couldn’t budge and started to wonder if I was alive or dead.
Then someone’s hands nudged my back as they called out in the distance, “Hey, Lynch! You okay, brother? Lynch?”
My head was throbbing to the point where I thought my skull would explode, so a groan was all I could muster. I felt myself being shaken as someone called out again, “Lynch! Come on, man. Wake the fuck up!”
There was something about the panicked tone of my brother’s voice that pulled me to my senses. I finally managed to force my eyes open, but everything was contorted and blurred. My head was throbbing as I looked around and tried to make sense of what was going on.
Widow continued to yell and tug at my arm until I finally grumbled, “Gonna need you to stop that shit.”
“It’s about fucking time.” My ears were still ringing, but I heard him ask, “You alright?”
“No... No, I’m not.” I continued to squint, trying to see through the thick cloud of dust and smoke. “Gonna need a minute.”
“Sorry, brother, but that’s something we just don’t have.” I could hear the urgency in Widow’s voice as he pushed, “Can you sit up?”
“Yeah, I’m trying.” I ran a hand over my face, attempting to collect myself. “What the fuck happened?”
“Got no fucking idea. Some kind of explosion.”
I looked up at Widow and found him covered from head to foot in dust and mortar. He had multiple cuts and scrapes along his face and arms and a slight gash on his thigh. The poor guy looked like he’d gone a round or two with a fucking tornado, and the tornado won.
I turned and glanced behind him to find the entire south wall of the strip club in utter shambles, and the guest bathrooms were all but gone. Concern marked his face as he motioned his head down the hall. “Looks like it took out the bathrooms and at least one of the red rooms is gone.”
“Anyone hurt?”
“Nothing too serious.” Widow helped me up to my feet, then motioned his hand towards my side. “What about you?”
“Huh?” I looked down and gasped after noticing blood seeping through my shirt. I lifted it and assessed my jagged wound. “What the fuck?”
“You got a pretty good gash on your head, too,” Country announced as he came shuffling up behind us, holding an extinguisher.
Like Widow and me, he looked like he’d been through hell and back.
He was covered in debris and had numerous gashes all over his body, including various bruises and a knot on his jaw.
“You don’t gotta worry, though. With a hard head like yours, you’ll be fine. ”
“You should know all about having a hard fucking head.” I stepped over the busted brick and mortar and told him, “We need to make sure the fire is out.”
“Already done.” Country shook his head. “Fire’s out, but we’ve got ourselves one helluva mess.”
Widow and I followed him towards the hallway where the guest bathrooms used to be, and I couldn’t believe my eyes.
There was nothing left, just a gaping fucking hole.
Brick and splintered wood were strewn all over the floor, while blackened char and extinguisher residue marked what remained of the walls. Widow looked around in awe. “Damn.”
“I told ya.” Country looked over at me. “You think someone planted a fucking bomb in here?”
“Certainly looks that way, but we won’t know for sure until we start sorting through all this shit. For now, that’s gonna have to wait.” I took a step back. “We need to find out if anyone else is hurt.”
The words had barely left my mouth when Candy and Misty, two of our strippers, came rushing over to us. They’d changed out of their skimpy dance numbers and were now wearing jeans, and they both looked utterly distraught as they surveyed all the wreckage.
Candy’s mouth dropped open, and her eyes widened in horror as she gasped. “Oh, my God! What happened?”
“No idea. We’re still trying to figure it out,” I answered. “You girls okay?”
“Yeah, we’re good.” Candy winced when she saw that we were covered in dust and blood. “What about you guys?”
“We’re fine. Just a few scratches.” Widow glanced over his shoulder as he asked, “Anyone else still in the dressing rooms?”
Candy shook her head. “No, it’s just us. Everyone else had already gone home for the night.”
“Good.” Knowing time wasn’t on our side, Widow ordered, “You two best do the same.”
“You sure?” Misty asked. “You don’t need a hand with anything?”
“No, we got it covered. You girls get out of here.”
Misty nodded, and then she and Candy slipped out the back door. As soon as it closed behind them, Widow announced, “It won’t be long before the fire department and cops show up, and we need to make sure all our goods have been secured and get ourselves cleaned up.”
Country and I agreed, then followed him down to Menace’s office.
When we walked in, we were all relieved that there appeared to be no damage to the strip club’s main office.
Widow walked over, and a slight groan slipped through his lips as he knelt down next to the vault that was hidden beneath the subfloor.
When he saw that the latch was still secured and well-concealed, he turned back to us. “Looks like we’re good.”
Knowing time wasn’t on our side, we each stepped into the bathroom and took a moment to clean ourselves up before the cops showed up. Country had just finished washing up when he asked, “What the fuck do you think this shit was all about? Some retaliation bullshit or—”
“No need in wasting time with fucking guessing games.” I knew Country was just as concerned as Widow and me, but I’d learned a long time ago that without cold, hard facts, we got nothing.
I motioned my hand towards the camera mounted in the hallway and said, “If someone is behind this, Menace should see something on the security feed.”
Menace was the club’s computer hacker. He was in charge of handling all our security needs at both our strip clubs and the clubhouse. The guy had a real knack for unearthing shit that no one else could, and I had no doubt if there was something to be found on our security feed, he would find it.
The sound of sirens drawing closer brought an immediate end to our conversation. Widow grumbled in annoyance, then turned to me. “Country and I will deal with the cops. You call Viper and let him know what’s going down.”
“And what exactly am I supposed to tell him?” I wasn’t looking forward to talking to Viper.
Our president had high expectations and would have questions about what had happened—questions I couldn’t begin to answer.
I flung my hand down the hallway. “’Cause I got no fucking clue what the fuck happened. None of us do.”
“Tell him that half our goddamn strip club has just been blown to shit, and we need him to get his ass over here.” Before he and Country headed out of the room, Widow shook his head and grumbled, “Yeah, tell him that.”
Once they were gone, I did as I was told and pulled out my burner to call Viper. I dialed his number, and it had barely started ringing when he answered, “What the fuck is going on over there?”
“No idea, Prez. There’s been some kind of explosion.”
“Yeah, Menace and I just saw it on the security cameras,” Viper replied, his voice sounding troubled. “Any idea what caused it?”
“We’re still trying to figure that out.” Dread washed over me as I added, “The cops just showed.”
“Yeah, I didn’t figure it’d take ‘em long,” he answered, annoyed. “We’ll be there in five.”
“And the cops?”
“Just keep ’em busy until we get there.”
“We’ll do what we can.”
By the time I hung up with Viper, Widow and Country were escorting several cops and three firefighters through the front door. The mere sight of them walking into our bar set me on edge.
There was no love lost between the brothers and our city’s law enforcement.
They didn’t trust us, and we sure as hell didn’t trust them.
They were in the game of looking for someone to blame for the crimes that took place in our beloved city, and because of our notorious reputation, they considered us an easy target.
It didn’t help matters that the officers were whispering back and forth, making underhanded, snide comments as they made their way through the main bar. They were trying to put on a show that they were better than us and disapproved of our line of work.
But I knew better.
I’d seen one or more of them at the club, and when they were out of uniform, they partied with the best of them.
When they got closer, I stepped forward, stopping them in their path.
I put on a big, fake smile as I said, “Hey there, Tate. I almost didn’t recognize you in that uniform. How you making it tonight?”
He looked a bit taken back as he answered, “I’m good. Just trying to get through the night.”
“I know the feeling.”
He and his buddies walked around me and continued towards the back without another word. The firefighters followed with their extinguishers in hand, and as soon as they reached the site of the explosion, they started checking to make sure there were no residual flames.