Chapter 18 #2
Tor and Stan were inside the house to keep Dakota covered.
Yeah, they were still living and in possession of all their limbs at my wife’s insistence.
Although I had a lengthy conversation with them this morning about not giving a fuck if Dakota asks them to give her some space.
They were to remain by her side at all times, or I was going to slit their throats should something happen to her.
The specially designed ergonomic clip-point knife I held resting on my thigh as I spoke reinforced my words.
“Rafe flew down to Miami last night and went through the apartment Scottie was staying in again. He got some things we can use to do a DNA test, but from the pictures Cash snapped of the guy during their surveillance, it’s him.” I knew that wasn’t what Cade wanted to hear.
He’d been one of my first calls after having breakfast with Dakota and meeting with her security team before she headed out for the day.
KC offered to come with me considering how my last meeting with Cade had gone, but I told him that wasn’t necessary.
Cade loved his sister, he wasn’t going to do anything that would ultimately hurt her.
Not to mention the fact that deep down I was certain he understood that I was the best man for Dakota.
If I could see the hints of darkness looming in her, Cade had to see it too.
The saying that game recognized game was amplified among killers.
While there were definitely levels to being a killer, there was also an aura we carried that was unrecognizable to others.
Death was a heavy veil that flanked the shoulders like a cape.
A profiler like Cade would absolutely see it.
“Fuck!” He roared, tossing the business card somewhere.
“Cash handled it,” I said. “He can’t hurt her now.”
“You don’t know that,” Cade shot back. “If he was carrying this card, it was for a reason. Now that he’s gone we’ll never know what that reason was, until it’s possibly too late.”
That was a point I’d considered but other than what we were doing now to figure out exactly what was going on in Miami, there wasn’t much more we could do.
“We’re working on the phone records now.
” We hadn’t originally thought about dumping Tariq’s phone since his death was for more personal reasons, but Rafe admitted last night that he still had his brother’s personal items. “Hopefully they’ll draw a clearer picture for us.
In the meantime, I just wanted to make you aware of what’s going on. ”
Cade stared out the driver’s side window for a few seconds.
I didn’t speak nor did I rush him to do so.
I could imagine what he was going through.
If I thought there was someone lurking out there planning to do any harm to Dakota I would be silently fuming too.
I’d also be out there looking for the bastard so I could get to him first.
Which is exactly why I pulled out my phone to check my messages.
KC had a team out looking for August. She hadn’t been in her office since the vandalism last week and her staff was being tightlipped about her schedule.
Of course, that wasn’t a problem for KC to hack into the company calendar to get the information we needed.
KC:Security cameras outside the casino have her getting
off the elevator and going into the garage. I got a tag
number. Running it now.
There were two more texts from my lawyer, Rome, telling me he had a meeting with the judge that signed the warrant this afternoon.
When we initially spoke, I told him I wanted to be at any meeting, but Rome advised against that.
He assured me that he had a special way of handling this situation and that it was best that I kept my distance.
Rome had a reputation for being vicious in and out of court so I trusted him to handle this in a permanent way that would satisfy me and the Ryders.
“When were you gonna tell me about the raid?”
My head immediately turned in Cade’s direction. “Excuse me?”
He looked my way, those eerie eyes locking on mine. “Don’t play dumb, Fury. I know the casino was raided two weeks ago. Heard about it in the office from one of the agents in the narcotics division. When they said the name of the casino, I had Shawna find the warrant so I could look it over.”
“So, you saw the warrant before it was served and you didn’t think to give me a heads up?” Irritation burned my throat. It might be hypocritical of me to be angry at Cade for not saying anything when I’d also kept this situation from him, but fuck that, he should’ve said something.
“Calm the fuck down. By the time I saw it, it was already being executed. I figured I’d let it play out then wait to hear from you for an idea of what needed to be done.
I was thinking you would call a meeting but the only thing I heard from you was by way of those pictures.
” He frowned and I did too because I wasn’t talking about that shit again.
“The Alliance wasn’t going to handle it the way I needed it to be handled.
” My words were tight as I stuffed my phone back into my pocket.
“The warrant was bullshit. In all the years we’ve been in business there have been no tips to the police about anything that we do.
We’re very organized and careful about all the things coming and going there. ”
“Which is exactly why you should’ve hit me up so I could squash this shit on the back end.
Even if you didn’t go through the Alliance, you could’ve come to me.
” He sounded really pissed that I hadn’t done just that and on one hand, I got it.
On the other, fuck that, I’m always going to handle club business the best way I see fit.
“Unless the reason you didn’t call me was because you were feeling guilty about marrying my sister without telling me.” He gave a dry chuckle. “Yeah, that’s it right? You just couldn’t face me knowing you were doing that backhanded shit.”
“Look, I’m not about to do this with you again, man. What goes on between me and my wife is our business. I didn’t have to run that shit past you.”
“But you should have.” Cade sighed. “I’m not just some other guy on the street, Fury. You and I have been through some shit out here. I’ve trusted you to have my back and you knew I had yours. Whether it was with the Alliance or on our personal shit. Lying to me was foul.”
“Nah, I never lied to you.”
“A lie by omission is still a lie.”
I frowned. “Is that some shit Shawna said to you? Or maybe your mother ‘cause it sounds real scolding like.”
For a few seconds it was quiet, then we both burst into laughter.
“Yeah, whatever man,” he said still chuckling. “You know what I mean.”
Letting my head fall back on the headrest, I continued to laugh. “Yeah,” I said when I could catch my breath. “Yeah, you’re right. On some level, you’re right. I should’ve said something. At least about us dating. But you know we didn’t need your permission, right?”
He dragged a hand down his face. “Just like you know I would’ve never given you my permission. She’s my sister, man.”
“I know and I’d be doing the same thing if this was LeLe.
I get it. But we’re here now. Dakota and I are married so I’m gonna be pulling up to Sunday dinner with my in-laws every week now.
” I smiled because I like the sound of dinner with my in-laws.
Which reminded me that I had to get Dakota out to meet Uncle Irv and Aunt Josie soon.
“Yeah, I guess. But you can’t be hoggin’ all the bread pudding. Acting like you’ve never had good desserts in your life,” he replied.
“You salty about that? I mean, that shit was good, and Mama Brenda said I could take as much as I want.”
His brow furrowed. “She told you to call her that?”
I nodded with a big grin. “And Shawna said that means we’re really family, so there you have it.”
We both chuckled again and for a few minutes in time it felt really good.
I had family, had a biological brother and all of my brothers in ink, but Cade was different.
I knew he was cool from the start, had seen that lingering darkness in his cat eyes.
Now, we were brothers by marriage, and I was okay with that shit.
My phone buzzed, breaking through our laughter and I dug it out of my pocket again. “Speak.”
“Got her,” KC said. “Texting you the address now.”
My entire mood shifted, determination lacing my words. “On my way.”
Cade pressed the button to start the truck and at the same time asked, “Where we going?”
When I looked over at him it was to see him staring at me in question. “What? Somebody got a location? Is it about the judge?”
“Uh, no.” I debated whether I should tell him about what happened last night.
We’d just gotten back to the place where we were cool.
If I told him my ex ran up on Dakota, I might have to beat his ass out here on this dirt road.
But this was Dakota’s brother. My brother-in-law now, I wasn’t going to keep shit that concerned his sister away from him. “It’s about Dakota.”
His eyebrows instantly went up.
“I’ll talk, you drive,” I said looking down at the message that had just come through my phone. “Sending you the address now.”
“Yeah, and you better start talkin’,” Cade said adamantly.