Chapter 7
Billy
As much as I hated to leave Everleigh at the house alone, I didn’t have a choice. Viper and the boys had a situation at their strip club, and they needed my services. Even though the timing wasn’t the best, I couldn’t turn Viper down—not after all the help he’d given me with Everleigh.
Thankfully, it was a small job I could handle on my own, so I secured Everleigh in the bedroom and rushed downstairs to grab my things.
Moments later, I was in my van and driving toward the city.
When I arrived at Stilettos, I was surprised to find that the place was not only open but slammed-packed.
I was concerned that I might’ve gone to the wrong address, so I grabbed the phone and called Viper.
As soon as he answered, I asked, “You said Stilettos on North, right?”
“That’s the one,” Viper answered. “You here?”
“Yeah, just pulled up.”
“Good. I’ll meet you around back.”
I ended the call, then drove around the back of the building and parked.
I went around and grabbed my things, then headed inside.
I’d barely made my way through the door when Viper and Hawk came rushing up to me.
Viper sounded troubled as he said, “Hey, brother. Wish I could say that it was good to see you.”
“Same.” Time wasn’t on our side, so I asked, “So, what are we dealing with here?”
“Come on.” Viper motioned me forward as he continued, “I’ll show ya.”
He and Hawk led me through the crowd and down the hall to the private rooms. They were all blocked off and were being guarded by Country and Lynch. As soon as he saw me, Country, my soon to be son-in-law, gave me one of his friendly smiles and said, “Billy, my man! How’s it going, brother?”
“It’s going.”
Before I could say anything more, Viper walked by me and said, “Back here.”
I followed him to the last room down the hall, then waited as he opened the door.
When I stepped inside, I found a man in his late fifties with a Burt Reynold’s mustache and a protruding beer gut sitting in one of the plush chairs.
When I stepped closer, I saw that the guy had a large knife wound in his neck and had bled out all over the place. “Damn.”
“Yeah, I knew she wasn’t ready.”
“Hold up... One of your girls did this?”
“Yeah, she sure as fuck did, and that shit’s on me.
I knew better.” Viper’s tone grew angry as he said, “It’s only been a couple of months since that asshole fucking raped her, and Misty shows up here acting like everything’s right in the world.
All was good until this motherfucker decided to get handsy. Misty lost her shit and stabbed him.”
“No kidding?”
“I wish I was.” Viper glanced over at Hawk, then back to me as he said, “Menace checked him out. His name is Brian Miller, and the guy’s a real piece of work. Been locked up for all kinds of shit, from domestic assault to distribution. As a matter of fact, there’s a warrant out on him now.”
“He married?”
“Nope,” Hawk answered. “No kids either.”
“So, how do you wanna play this?”
“I’d say the usual, but I don’t think we can just up and make this guy disappear. Someone might ask questions, and the last thing we need is this thing coming back to bite us in the ass.”
“We could make it look like he got in a fight in the alley.” Hawk glanced over at the deceased, then continued, “Or maybe a car hijacking.”
“A car hijacking could work, but if you want it to look legit, we’re gonna need to get on it.” I looked over to Viper as I added, “And I do mean we. I can’t pull it off without a little help.”
“Just tell me what you need us to do.”
“You can start by getting our friend out to the van.”
“Sure thing.” Viper opened the door and called out, “Hey, Lynch. Come give us a hand.”
“You got it, Prez.”
As soon as he stepped into the room, Viper announced, “We need to get Miller out to Billy’s van.”
“Whoa, you mean now?” Lynch asked with surprise. “While the club’s still open?”
“That’s exactly what I mean.” Lynch didn’t question him further. He simply stood there and listened as his president explained, “Menace already killed the cameras, so we just gotta walk him out of here without drawing any attention. You think you can manage that?”
“Won’t know until we try.” Lynch motioned his head toward the door, then said, “Let’s do this.”
Lynch and Hawk went over to Miller, and as soon as they had him in a standing position, Viper ordered, “Check his pockets. See if you can find his keys.”
Hawk’s face twisted into a grimace as he shoved his hand down in Miller’s front pocket. He dug around for a moment, then pulled out a set of keys and tossed them over to Viper.
Once he’d put them in his pocket, Viper opened the door, and Hawk and Lynch ushered Miller out into the hall. They hadn’t gotten far when Country came running over.
“Whoa, wait a gat dayum second.” Using his body as a shield, he quickly positioned himself between Lynch and Hawk, making it difficult for anyone to see the lifeless body they were carrying down the hall.
You couldn’t miss the irritation in Country’s voice as he asked, “There a reason this shit couldn’t wait until we closed? ”
Hawk pressed forward as he told him, “Wouldn’t be doing it if there wasn’t.”
I watched as they disappeared down the hall, then turned my attention back to the bloody mess I had to clean up. I reached down and took my hazmat suit out of my duffle bag, and as I slipped it on, Viper asked, “What are you doing?”
“Can’t exactly leave it like this.” I started prepping my sprayer as I told him, “Last thing you need is the cops snooping around and finding something that connects your girl to Miller.”
“You got a point there.” Viper took a look around, studying the mess at hand as he asked, “What can we do to help?”
“You up for a little remodel?”
“Whatever we need to do.”
“Get the chair out and pull up this carpet, then burn them. That’ll cut down on the cleanup time, and then, I can get to Miller.”
“You got it.”
Viper called in a couple of his prospects, and half an hour later, the room had been torn apart and was now completely void of any biological remains.
Viper and Hawk followed me out to the van and helped me stow away my equipment.
Once we had it sorted, I turned to Viper and said, “I’ll need Hawk or one of the boys to follow me in Miller’s car. ”
“Hawk will go.”
“He’ll need to wear a suit and gloves.”
“That really necessary?”
“Can’t take a chance on him contaminating the car with evidence.”
“I hadn’t considered that.” Viper thought for a moment, then asked, “Any idea where you’ll leave him?”
“I’m thinking in an alley down by the strip. It would fit with the whole car jacking thing, but I’ll have to find a spot without any street cams.”
“I’ll have Menace find you a spot. When y’all get close, check your phone for the exact location.”
“Sounds good.”
I got in my van, closed the door, and was about to back up when Viper shouted, “Hey, hold up!”
When he got to the van, I rolled down the window and asked, “Yeah?”
“I forgot to give you this.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a couple of sheets of paper. “This is everything Menace found on the girl. Looks like she was on the up and up until about five years ago, then vanished without a trace.”
“I’m guessing Antonio had something to do with that.”
“I was thinking the same.”
“Appreciate the information.”
I tucked the papers under my visor, then pulled around front.
As I’d hoped, Hawk was waiting for me in Miller’s car and followed as I whipped out of the parking lot and headed downtown.
It was getting late. In another half hour, it would be midnight, so traffic was sparse, and pedestrians were few and far between.
I checked my phone, and just as Viper had promised, he’d sent the location of a safe place for us to stage Miller’s untimely death.
I followed the GPS down Music Row, then into a dark alley.
Before getting out, I checked the area for any cameras and was pleased to find that Menace had pulled through.
There were no cameras and no pedestrians in sight.
As soon as I got out, Hawk followed suit and met me at the back of the van. “How do you wanna do this thing?”
“As quickly as possible.” I motioned my hand over at a tarp in the corner and said, “We can cover him with that. Just until we get him into position.”
“Whatever you say, boss.”
Hawk grabbed the tarp, and together, we draped it over Miller and used it to hide his body as we carried him over to his car. As we positioned him behind the wheel, Hawk studied Miller’s wound and clothing, then asked, “You think anyone is gonna buy this shit?”
“That’s the thing. The cops don’t actually have to buy any of it. Just need to keep the heat away from you boys and Stilettos. As long as we do that, we’re golden.”
“I like the way you think, brother.”
After a few minor adjustments, Miller’s stage had been set. We did a final wipe down, making sure there were no possible prints left behind, and then we got back in the van, and I drove Hawk back to Stilettos.
I dropped him off, then wasted no time getting back home.
I hadn’t been driving long when I remembered the papers Viper had given me. I turned on the overhead light, then grabbed them from my visor and quickly scanned what was written inside.
Everleigh had been open with me about her father and his connection to Antonio, but she hadn’t had a chance to go into her past. I had no idea that she’d graduated from Knoxville or that she’d had her own house and worked as a financial advisor.
She had the world at her fingertips, and Antonio ripped it away from her.
Damn.
Everleigh had lost so much, and yet she kept fighting.
She was still fighting.
And I’d only made that fight harder by leaving her when she was still fighting to get back on her feet—just like I’d left Grace all those years ago.
A newfound guilt washed over me as I realized I’d fucked up yet again. When I pulled into the drive, I saw that the bedroom lights were still out, and I hoped that meant she was asleep.
Even though I was eager to see how she was doing, I had to deal with the van first, so I parked in the garage and started removing the plastic sheeting. I tossed it and all the disposable equipment into the incinerator, then locked everything up.
Once I’d made it back upstairs, I went over and unlocked the guest bedroom door, and when I opened it, I was pleased to see that Everleigh was in the bed and sleeping, completely unaware that I was standing there looking at her—or so I thought.
I was about to slip out of the room when I heard her ask, “How was your game?”
“My what?”
“Your game.”
“It was fine.”
“Fine? That’s all?” I could hear the anger in her voice as she sassed, “So, you’re saying I spent four hours locked away in here for a game that was just fine? That’s great, Billy. Just great.”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
She reached over to the bedside table and turned on the light. “There’s always a choice, Billy. You chose to not only leave me here, but you locked me in this room like I was your prisoner. You’re no better than Antonio DeLuca.”
“I didn’t...” I was already feeling bad about leaving her, and now I felt even worse. Unfortunately, there was nothing else I could do. I couldn’t let down Viper, and I didn’t need her lurking about. But by no means did I consider her my prisoner. “You’re not...”
“I’m not what? Your prisoner? Cause it sure as hell feels that way.”
“I did what I had to.” Her eyes narrowed as I said, “I was protecting you.”
“From what? Myself?” She pushed the covers back and eased up into a sitting position. “Because, as far as I can tell, no one else is here.”
“It’s late. You should get some sleep.”
“So, you’re not going to tell me?”
“There’s nothing to tell, Everleigh.” She wanted an explanation that I simply couldn’t give, so I told her what I could. “You needed help, and I gave it. Simple as that.”
“There’s nothing simple about any of this, and you know it.”
“Like I said, it’s getting late.”
Without giving her a chance to say anything more, I turned and walked out of the room, quickly closing the door behind me.
Unlike before, I didn’t lock the door. I simply let it be and headed straight to my room.
I was ready to put an end to this tumultuous day, but after my conversation with Everleigh, I knew there was no way I could sleep.
Feeling unreasonably irritated, I stormed into the bathroom and started removing my clothes.
Once I was undressed, I turned the water on and stepped into the shower, letting the water cascade down my back.
The cold bite of the water caused my breath to catch and muscles to tense, but I welcomed the distraction from the thoughts coursing through my mind.
Sadly, the diversion didn’t last long.
Eventually, the water grew warm, and my mind went straight back to Everleigh. Damn. It was going to be a long night.