Chapter 17
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
Logan
“Fuckin’ kiddin’ me?” Brew grumbles. “Trashed the entire apartment?”
“Not just trashed, they were lookin’ for somethin’,” I say. “And with what Payden overheard in the office, I think it’s clear they’re after her, for what reason, I don’t know. Maybe they just wanted to off everyone who was working on the case.”
“What about the DA?” Haze asks.
“Wasn’t in the building, so he lucked out,” I say, lowering my voice. “Only a couple made it out. This had to be a hit on the firm. They wanted everyone who was on that case dead.”
“What about this Cini Media group?” Cash asks. “What are they sayin’?”
“Released a statement,” Brew says. “About how saddened they were to hear of the shooting, and they will cooperate with the police to bring their killers to justice.”
“Not buyin’ it,” I mutter. “And Sawyer seems to think they could be a division of the Mancinis.”
Cash shifts his gaze to mine. “As in the mafia Mancinis?”
“The very ones. Think about it. A little bit coincidental Mancini and Cini, isn’t it?
And if memory serves me right, Riot took out the leader in Chicago and a full-scale war broke out,” I say.
“Then that whole shit storm with that Shade chick.” The female assassin who came after the club after her boyfriend was killed. Not by Riot, but she blamed him for it.
Bratva runs Chicago now, and as much as I dislike mobsters, they’re the lesser of two evils.
Then there’s the Olgettis, who Erica owed a debt to. We stepped in to reunite her with Olive, her daughter, and Amber. Erica used to be married to Amber’s brother. They were both involved in a cult long before Brew or Bronco came along.
“Don’t remind us,” Jett says, running both hands down his face.
He and Rock were molested by their father, one of the Caruso mobsters who tried to take over the city some years back.
They all fell like flies, and that’s when Rock and Jett found out Bella, Priest’s ol’ lady, was their half sister.
Some shit has gone down within these club walls, that’s for fucking sure.
I need a goddamn secretary to keep up with all of the comings and goings around here.
“Jesus fuckin’ christ,” Tag mutters. “Why are we bringin’ all that shit up again? If there’s any more of those assholes we didn’t drop in the bayou, they better start runnin’.”
“The ones that got away won’t ever come back,” Ryder says.
Cash is still looking at me. I turn to face him. “Payden your ol’ lady?”
“The fuck?” Brew interrupts, but we both ignore him.
“No, but she’s under my protection. She saw one of her colleagues with a bullet in her brain up close and personal. Says she’s okay, but I know she’s not. If these assholes are sure they didn’t kill her, they’re gonna come after her again.”
Cash is about to answer when Sawyer comes busting into the meeting room. He’s been running, and he’s holding something in his palm. “Found this,” he says, trying to catch his breath. He tosses it at me.
“What the fuck is that?”
“Trackin’ device,” my brothers say in unison.
“Where the fuck did you find that?” I balk, looking down at the shiny metal, about the size of a penny.
“Did a sweep of Payden’s purse, it was in the bottom. I suspect she’s got them all over her shit at home.”
“Didn’t she say she lost her key at the gym?” Haze puts in.
“I’d be willing to bet someone stole them, and at the same time, put the tags in her clothing, briefcase, shoes, who knows. Need to find out if she has anythin’ else with her that could have a device in there.”
“Fuck,” I mutter, tossing it over to Cash who examines it as well.
“Which is gonna lead them straight to us,” Cash says. “Is this still active?”
Sawyer shakes his head. “Managed to disable it without smashing it to pieces. I wanna dissect it because this is a really fuckin’ expensive tracker.”
I glance at Cash. “What were you gonna say, before Sawyer came in?”
Cash doesn’t mince with words, and he’s the straightest shooter I’ve ever met. Which is why we haven’t always gotten along. That’s water under the bridge now, though. “Could be a way out of this. A way to keep Payden safe, and these bastards away from the clubhouse.”
“I’m listenin’.”
Silence falls around the table, then Cash says, “We fake her death.”
My eyes widen. Okay, I wasn’t expecting him to say that. “What the fuck?”
“Makes sense,” he goes on.
“Only makes sense if they haven’t seen her after the shootin’,” Harlem points out. “They ransacked her place. Her doorman saw her just earlier.”
“Right, ransacked—they weren’t just lookin’ for her, they were lookin’ for something,” I say. “We’ll pay Danny off, make sure he doesn’t say shit. Payden says she doesn’t have anything—well, that she knows of. All the files to do with the case are on a secure server.”
“Maybe she does have something and she doesn’t know it,” Sawyer suggests. “Like the bugs I found. She wouldn’t have known. We can assume her apartment was bugged as well.”
“How secure are these files when they have a hacker, a really fuckin’ good one from what we hear?” Tag puts in.
“That’s what the twins and I are workin’ on,” Sawyer says. “I called Linc, he’s puttin’ in some hours, too.”
Linc works for our club brothers in Arizona—the Bracken Ridge Rebels. We see them from time to time, and since Deanna’s father, Hutch, retired as the MC prez just last year, they’re around a lot more having bought an apartment here to spend more time with the family.
“Did they manage to get into the system?” Cash asks, aggrieved.
“Not that I can tell, but from what Payden said, they thought it was gonna be a snatch and grab. What Cristoph would’ve done is get access to the main server, then work remotely. Unlucky for him I managed to shut any remote systems down so any access he had is revoked,” Sawyer says.
“But he still could’ve gotten information,” Cash says. “In the hours since they attacked.”
Sawyer shakes his head. “To be honest, it’s unlikely. Encryption isn’t like the movies, it doesn’t take thirty seconds. It’s also very well hidden, not just one layer, but several. This company was huge, they had the means to make sure their clients were protected.”
“But you can get in?” I ask.
“Of course.” He smirks. “But Payden has a log in, so we can just use that. Some of the files, however, even she doesn’t have access to.”
I scratch my chin. “Somethin’ doesn’t add up. What was this Jeremy fucker up to?”
“I guess we’ll find out when Sawyer breaks through the encryption,” Brew mutters.
“That’s gonna take some time. In the meantime, when Payden wakes up, I’ll need her to give me access to everythin’ she has,” Sawyer says. “It’ll make things quicker.”
I nod.
It’s two in the morning and Payden is upstairs sleeping.
I went back to her apartment with two of the boys, and grabbed what I could. We left two prospects there to tidy up and put everything back where it belonged. It’ll be easier for Payden to face once she gets to go home.
“So they’re not only after Payden, they’re after whatever they think is in those files,” Jett says. “Enough to kill for.”
“Exactly,” Cash says. “If they think she’s dead, then we’ll be able to get a head start.”
“And if they know she isn’t dead?” Haze throws in. “She went to her apartment. If they were watchin’, they’ll know by now.”
“Plus her purse,” Harlem says. “It’ll lead them straight to the clubhouse.”
“Or if she’s announced as one of the victims, they’ll realize her purse was just left here,” I say. “She called her parents earlier, they’re gonna have to be notified.”
“And put them into protection,” Ryder adds. “Don’t want any of them goin’ after her family.”
“Which reminds me,” I say. “Her brother, Declan, he’s a loose cannon.”
“Wait, Declan Benedict?” Haze says, looking to Brew.
I give him a chin lift. “You know him?”
“Rings a bell. Pretty sure Willow’s brother, Max, mentioned him,” Haze goes on. “Holy shit, yeah, he did, come to think of it. Declan joined the Hellions a few months back.”
I stare at him. I’m sure Payden has no clue, or she would’ve mentioned it by now. “No shit?”
“Didn’t that cop, Hally-what’s-her-face, have it in for Max?” Ryder asks, scratching his head. “What happened with that?”
Brew snorts. “She’s the cop who arrested him and he got sent to jail, but in typical Max style, instead of bein’ mad at her, he worships the ground she walks on. Said that if she hadn’t arrested him, he’d be dead by now.”
“Fuck’s sake,” Tag mutters. “Freakin’ weirdo. Who falls in love with the chick that had him incarcerated?”
“Does Payden know about Declan?” Cash asks me.
I shake my head. “If she does, she didn’t say shit, and I seriously doubt she knows.
All I’ve heard is he’s a tow truck driver, and that’s makin’ a whole lot more sense now…
” I trail off because Bane, the club’s Prez runs multiple businesses in Mississippi.
One of them being a cigar shop which doubles as their makeshift clubhouse when they’re in the city, as well as mechanic shops, and more recently, a tow truck business.
Cigar Haven is an hour from Jackson and acts as a front for what is behind closed doors.
You wouldn’t know looking at it from the street that there’s enough space for a meeting room, and upstairs holds several bedrooms.
I guess I’m gonna have to break the news about her baby brother.
“I’ll call Bane,” Cash says. “You two are gonna go hang out with the Hellions until we get to the bottom of all of this.”
I run both hands through my hair, aware of the timelines with my bar, and the restaurant, and now isn’t exactly the best time to be taking a leave of absence.
“We’ve got the bar,” Haze says, as if reading my mind. “It’ll be okay. We’re capable.”
I glance up at him. “Says the brother who almost burned down our house when he was seven.”
“Right, I was seven.” Haze shrugs. “I don’t play with matches now.”
“The media’s still goin’ haywire,” Brew says. “Gonna have to run the plan by Willow. She has the power to make the statement about Payden bein’ among the dead. That’ll buy us time, and hopefully keep the threats off our backs.”
“So what, we just go hang out with Bane and his merry men?” I balk. “Sure he’s gonna be up for that considerin’ everything that’s happened?”
“Bane owes me one,” Cash says cryptically. “We have each other’s backs. He’s a brother. They won’t think to look there, and once Sawyer does a sweep over everything, you’ll be good to go by mornin’. Not like it’s a million miles away, but far enough to keep her safe.”
I try not to grumble. I know this is to keep Payden safe, and that’s the most important thing. I want that, obviously.
“In the meantime, I’m gonna keep at it,” Sawyer says, giving us a two finger salute. “Let you know when we uncover anythin’.”
“I’ll talk to Willow,” Haze says. “She can come over here and Payden can give her statement before you leave, and we’ll work out a cover story.”
“Need to send Bronco and Nevada to watch her parents. The job is too important to trust with the prospects,” Cash says. “After she calls them to explain the situation, everyone has to be on board for this to be believable. I don’t want any blood on this club’s hands.”
We all agree to that. These people will stop at nothing to get what they want, and taking chances with innocent people’s lives isn’t gonna cut it. That isn’t who we are.
“This is gonna take some gettin’ used to,” I mutter. “Payden’s not gonna like it.”
All eyes fall on me and I realize what I just said outloud. Fucking great.
“So, she’s not your woman?” Tag shakes his head. “Kinda weird because the two of you have been cozyin’ up lately, so I heard.”
Luna, of course. Where else would he have heard it from?
“It’s just casual,” I say, but the words sound foreign. “Nothin’ serious.”
Cash slaps me on the back. “I guess you better brush up on those charm skills, Romeo.”
Fuck. That’s all I need.
Us leaving for Mississippi to stay with another club.
Putting her parents under the clubs’ protection.
Rearranging her entire apartment and sweeping for bugs.
Telling her that her brother is part of an MC she had no clue about.
Oh, and faking her own death.
All in a day’s work, I guess.