Chapter 7
Lynch
“So, she just up and bolted?”
“Yep,” I grumbled as I followed Country into the clubhouse’s conference room. “Don’t have a clue what the fuck happened. One minute, we were eating dinner and talking, and then, bam, she got up and raced out of the restaurant.”
“Did you say something that freaked her out?”
“I wish I fucking knew.” I sat down at the table next to Rafe, then continued, “As far as I knew, things were going pretty good.”
“What are you two going on about?” Rafe asked.
Before I could answer, Country replied, “His date with the jailbird.”
“It didn’t go well?”
“Nope,” Country answered for me again. “She ditched him halfway through the date.”
Rafe looked genuinely concerned. “You really liked this girl, didn’t ya?”
“Yeah, I did.” I didn’t want to admit it, but I was pissed. I’d had a great time with Raelyn and honestly had no clue why things had gone south. Had I known, I wouldn’t have made such a fucking ass out of myself. Feeling frustrated, I ran my hand over my face. “It’s just the way things go.”
Before either of them could respond, Viper threw down the gavel and drew our attention to his end of the table. Our president sounded frustrated. “I’ve called church today to let you all know that we haven’t made any progress with the whole Stilettos situation, which makes this news even harder.”
“What news?” Shotgun asked.
“Someone broke into Jagger’s place last night.”
“What? When the fuck did that happen?”
“Around two-thirty this morning,” Jagger answered. “I was pretty out of it. I probably wouldn’t have even heard ’em if the neighbor’s dog hadn’t been carrying on like he was.”
“So, your alarm didn’t go off?”
“Nope.” Jagger shook his head. “Power was out on the whole damn street, and they cut the main security line to the house. I couldn’t see a damn thing. Still don’t know how I managed to get my hands on one of them.”
“Hold up.” Widow sounded both surprised and impressed. “You got one ’em?”
“Yeah, I tried getting him to tell me who the fuck he was and what he was doing at my place. When he wouldn’t talk, I brought him here. I figured Shotgun could get something out of him.”
“And he will,” Viper added with confidence.
Country immediately leaned forward and asked, “So, you think there’s a chance this has something to do with what happened at Stilettos?”
“As of right now, nothing indicates the two are even remotely connected, but there’s no evidence that it doesn’t either. We’re hoping Shotgun can get us the answers we need.”
“And until then?” I asked.
“We stay on high alert. Watch each other’s back and don’t take any unnecessary risks. And I want the job wrapped up at Stilettos,” Viper ordered. “The doors need to open this weekend.”
“You got it.”
Viper stood up and said, “I’ll let you know if Shotgun finds out anything from our guest. Until then, keep on keepin’ on.”
Viper slammed the gavel down on the table, signaling the end of church, and the brothers started to disperse. I had all but forgotten my conversation with Country and Rafe until I heard Country ask, “So, what are you gonna do about the girl?”
“Not a damn thing.” I continued down the hall towards the bar. “Why would I? She’s the one who ran out.”
“Yeah, but maybe she had a good reason.”
“Then, she should’ve told me what the hell was going on.”
I sat down at the counter, then motioned over to Miley, one of the club’s hang-arounds, that we needed a round of beers.
Once she’d brought them over, Rafe leaned over to Country and said, “He’s right.
She should’ve filled him in if something was up and most likely would’ve if she thought there was a reason. ”
“So, that’s that?” Country asked, sounding disappointed.
“Yeah, I reckon it is ... unless I hear from her.”
“Well, shit. I was looking forward to meeting this wildcat of yours.” Country chuckled. “Sounds like she’d fit right in around here.”
“She would have.”
A combination of disappointment and regret washed over me as I thought about Raelyn. It was tough to accept that things hadn’t turned out like I’d hoped, but there was nothing I could do about it. She’d made her decision, and that was that.
Besides, with everything going on, my focus needed to be on my brothers and the club. That thought led me to ask, “You think Shotgun will get anything out of this guy?”
“You know Shotgun. If this guy’s got something to tell, he’ll get him talking.”
“All this shit just seems so random.” I took a long pull from my beer, then continued, “Why would someone plant an explosive at Stilettos and then turn around and break into Jagger’s place? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Could be nothing.” Country shrugged. “Could be the beginning of something big. No way to know until Shotgun gets some intel.”
“You think he’s made any progress with him?”
“There’s one way we can find out.”
Country lifted his beer and finished it off, then stood and started walking towards the back door. I didn’t have to ask since I knew he was heading to Shotgun’s holding room—a place where our trusted enforcer extracted information from our adversaries using any means necessary.
Knowing what we were about to witness, Rafe and I grabbed our beers and quickly downed them, then rushed out of the bar. By the time we caught up with Country, he was already out at the garage and making his way into Shotgun’s hidden room.
We stepped inside and spotted Axel, Hawk, and Widow standing in front of the two-way mirror.
They were so engrossed in what was happening that they didn’t even notice we’d joined them.
I immediately glanced over at the window, and my stomach took an instant nosedive when I saw the state of the man Shotgun had been working over.
He was bound to a chair with his arms behind his back, his clothes were soaked in blood, and his face was swollen with bruises. The guy was barely conscious, and I wondered how much more he could take. I leaned over to Widow and asked, “Has he gotten anything out of him?”
“Not much. Managed to get that his name is Kordarius, and he swears that he and his buddies were just looking to make a quick buck when they broke into Jagger’s place.”
“You believe him?”
“Hard to tell.”
Viper and Jagger were standing in the corner, watching as Shotgun forced the asshole to his feet and bound his hands above his head. Sweat was streaming down his face as he tried to use his body weight to tug away from Shotgun, but his efforts were in vain. Shotgun was simply too strong.
He pulled the chains above Kordarius’s head tight, forcing him to his tiptoes, and the guy tugged on his restraints, shouting, “I’ve already told you. We were just looking for a quick score. Nothing more!”
“I don’t believe that shit.” Shotgun slammed his fist into his ribs, forcing the air out of his lungs.
Kordarius started thrashing around, pulling at the chains as he gasped for air.
Shotgun stepped towards him and growled, “Why that house? You could’ve gone to any one of them on the street, but you chose that one. ”
“It was the easiest to get into.”
Remaining eerily calm, Shotgun leaned towards him. “You don’t really expect me to believe that shit, do you?”
“It’s the truth!”
“I’m getting tired of this bullshit.” Shotgun slipped on a pair of brass knuckles, then punched him in the ribs once again.
Before Kordarius had a chance to recover, Shotgun slammed his fist into his abdomen and then the side of his face.
If he’d hit him any harder, he would’ve broken his fucking jaw.
Kordarius was groaning in agony as Shotgun roared, “Tell me what you were doing there, or I’m gonna end you right now! ”
“Hold up.” Jagger walked over to Kordarius and, after studying him for a moment, reached up and grabbed the collar of his t-shirt.
He gave it a firm tug and ripped it, revealing a five-dot tattoo along with many others on his chest. I’d seen the five dots plenty of times before and knew they were used to represent being in prison.
As soon as Jagger eyed them, he stepped closer and growled, “You’ve been locked up. ”
Kordarius glared at Jagger through his swollen eyes but said nothing.
“Where were you locked up?”
Again, he said nothing.
“Who’d you run with?” When he still didn’t answer, Jagger released his hold on Kordarius’s shirt and barked, “You don’t wanna tell me? That’s fine. My brother will get it out of you.”
Kordarius’s eyes skirted over to Shotgun, then he quickly replied, “I was at Eddyville for first-degree. Spent fifteen in that fucking place, but that’s got nothing to do with last night.”
“Then, what was last night about?”
“Done told ya. We were just looking to make a score. That’s it.”
“If that’s true, you picked the wrong fucking house.”
Kordarius lowered his head and sighed. “You ain’t fucking lying. I haven’t gotten a beatdown like this since my first leg at Eddy.”
“You might as well get to talking. Otherwise, you got more coming.”
Without saying anything more, Jagger stepped away from Kordarius and returned to Viper and Shotgun.
They spoke for a moment, then Shotgun headed for the chains and lowered Kordarius’s feet to the floor.
He brought over a chair and allowed him to sit, then said, “We’re gonna look into everything you told us.
If any of it doesn’t add up, I’ll be back, and trust me when I say, you don’t want that. ”
Kordarius looked utterly defeated as he nodded; then, he sighed and sank into the chair.
Viper and Jagger followed Shotgun out of the room and into the hall with us.
I stepped closer to the others and listened as Jagger said, “I know he seems legit, but I got a feeling there’s more to his story than he’s lettin’ on. ”
“I got the same feeling,” Viper replied. “We’ll get Menace on it and see what he can find out.”
Jagger nodded, then said, “Might be nothing, but he’s got some ink I haven’t seen before—V for three and some hieroglyphs. Might get Menace to check that out, too.”