Chapter 1 #2
While the firemen were doing their thing, Officer Tate walked over to Country and asked, “You boys got any casualties or any other injuries we need to know about?”
“Nope, no casualties and just minor cuts and scratches.”
“That’s good.”
His partner was a short, muscled-up dude and looked like a real prick as he inched closer for a better view of the damage. He stepped over a couple of broken two-by-fours as he asked, “Any idea what caused the explosion?”
“No clue,” Widow answered.
The asshole tilted his head back and took a couple of deep sniffs, then asked, “You had any issues with gas leaks?”
“Not that we’re aware of.”
“Hmmm.” He cocked his head to the side, surveying the damage a little more intently, then reached into his back pocket for his small notepad. He started writing and asked, “What about any enemies we might need to know about?”
“None that come to mind.”
“Is that right?” Tate’s partner glanced back over at the massive hole in the wall and scoffed, “So, this was just some random attack?”
I don’t know what it was about that cop, but he rubbed me the wrong way, and I couldn’t stop myself from growling, “Not sure if I’d go so far as to say this was an attack.”
“You got a pretty big fucking hole in your wall for it not to be an attack.” He shrugged with a smug look on his face. “Or maybe you’ve just got a case of bad wiring. Won’t know until the fire marshal finishes his investigation.”
“How long is that gonna take?” Viper’s voice boomed from behind us.
We all immediately turned to find Viper charging towards us with Menace and Widow by his side. As expected, our president didn’t look pleased to see cops in the club. The officer gave Viper a disparaging look as he replied, “Anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of weeks.”
“That’s not going to work for me,” Viper clipped. “We need this dealt with now.”
The words had barely left his mouth when one of the firemen stepped into what used to be our janitorial closet.
He made a point to make a lot of noise, drawing all of our attention as he reached down and started sifting through the debris.
Within seconds, he lifted a busted-up metal box with a couple of frayed wires dangling from it and announced, “I think we’ve found the culprit. ”
The lead cop’s brows furrowed as he leaned in for a closer look. “What the fuck is that?”
“Daniels will have to check it out to be sure, but it looks like some faulty wiring caught fire next to the janitor’s closet.”
“The janitor’s closet? You’re telling me fucking cleaning supplies caused an explosion like this?” the cop asked, sounding surprised.
I had to admit I was just as surprised. I’d never seen any electrical fire blow out an entire fucking wall, much less three fucking rooms. I couldn’t help but wonder if Viper had pulled a fast one and had the fire department in his pocket.
I glanced over at my prez and then back to the fireman. I knew by the guy’s tone that something was up when he said, “Happens more than you might think. Turnpike Joe’s lost their entire dining area last month because of the same damn thing.”
“Is that right?” The cop gave him a skeptical look, then shrugged. “I need to get a little more information for my report, but I don’t see any point in dragging this out any longer than we already have.”
“No problem.” Viper motioned his hand towards the front door as he suggested, “Why don’t we take it outside where we can get some fresh air?”
“Sounds good.”
We all turned and followed Viper through the bar and out the front door.
Three cop cars and the fire truck were parked right by the front door with their lights flashing, so it was no surprise that we’d drawn the attention of numerous nosy pedestrians.
Country and Menace tried their best to run them off while Viper finished his conversation with the badges.
Widow and I were keeping an eye on the front door when something drew my attention over to one of the cop cars. It was parked just a few yards away under a security light, and I noticed someone moving inside.
Hoping for a better look, I casually leaned to the side and immediately spotted two young women locked away in the back. It was dark and a little difficult to see, but I could tell by looking at them that the two weren’t typical convicts.
The one closest to the window was a brunette and the other was a blonde. They both appeared to be in their mid-to-late twenties, and from what I could tell, they were relatively attractive—especially the brunette.
Neither of them came across as smashed or the least bit belligerent. In fact, they both seemed perfectly calm as they bantered back and forth with one another in the back seat—which made me wonder what they’d done to get arrested.
Curiosity got the best of me, so I nudged Widow with my elbow. “What do you think those two got into tonight?”
“Who?”
“The chicks in the back of that cop car.”
“Don’t know. Don’t care.” Widow was older and wasn’t one to deal with any nonsense.
He’d been through hell and back before he found his ol’ lady, Frankie, and since they’d gotten together, he’d been a bit more bearable—but he was still a hard-ass.
His tone was unforgiving when he said, “As far as I’m concerned, they’ve got no business being here.
Cops should’ve taken them straight to the station instead of leaving them in the back of that damn car all night. ”
“I can’t disagree with you there. No telling how long they’ll be stuck here.” I thought for a moment, then leaned over to him and said, “Maybe they got caught up in some fight at a frat party, or one of their boyfriends was cheating, and they trashed his place.”
“Or maybe they were streaking through the Titans’ stadium.”
“Was there a game tonight?”
“I have no idea.” Widow huffed, then added, “I already told ya. I don’t give a shit what those girls did. I’ve got other things on my mind—you know, like the fact, there’s a huge fucking hole in Stilettos’ wall, and we have no idea how it got there. Something you should be thinking about, too.”
“I am, I am.” I forced my eyes away from the backend of that cop car, which, for some unexplainable reason, wasn’t an easy task. I cleared my throat before asking Widow, “So, the whole wiring thing with the guy from the fire department was just bullshit, right?”
“I don’t know any more than you do, brother.”
“Well, it sure didn’t take him long to find that fucking box of faulty wire. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that shit was planted.”
“Yeah, I was thinking the same damn thing.”
“Either way, I’m ready to get some fucking answers.”
“You and me both.”
Unable to resist the temptation, I glanced back to the cop car and found the cute brunette staring in my direction.
When our eyes met, a smile swept over her beautiful face.
I held her gaze for a moment, and it took all I had not to chuckle when she raised her cuffed hands and gave me a playful wave.
Damn, this girl was a spitfire, and I liked it.
“You reckon they’re gonna need bail money? ”
“What?”
“The girls.” I motioned my hand to the car. “You think they’ll need someone to bail them out?”
“Dude, seriously?”
“What?” I shrugged innocently. “I was just asking.”
“Mm-hmm.” He shook his head and groaned. “Leave it to you to be checking out a fucking convict. Viper will love that shit.”
“What happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty’?”
“How ’bout you find a chick who isn’t bound in handcuffs, then we don’t have to worry about that shit?”
“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?”