Chapter 23
Trick/Jase
Bull and Irish had given me all kinds of shit about Lauren after lunch.
Even though we’d agreed not to hide our relationship anymore – thank fuck – I refused to tell them anything on general principle.
Still, Bull insisted that it was obvious we were hooking up, meaning he’d won the bet, while Irish reminded him that his side bet was still in play.
“We can expand on it,” Bull added with a laugh. “Not only how long will it take Viking to kill him, but how will he choose to do it?”
“I’ll take that action, brother. I’ve got twenty that says two days, and he’ll rip his balls off and pin them to the dart board.”
“Nah,” Bull said. “His back is too fucked up for that right now. I’ll put fifty bucks on three days, and he’ll shoot his dick off.”
I flipped them off and left them to laugh it up about the method of my demise, then went into the kitchen to start making a list of groceries I would need to have delivered. I had enjoyed cooking for Lauren and wanted to continue to do it even here at the clubhouse.
Luca Rossi’s phone call put an end to my perusal of the clubhouse pantry.
I was pissed as hell when I stalked through the common room and into the annex, hoping that Lauren would agree to cancel her session.
I knew it was a long shot, but I had to at least try.
Her arguments made sense, but I was still worried about letting her leave the safety of the compound without me.
A few hours later, I struggled to put my concerns for her out of my mind, so I could focus on my meeting with Rossi. After all, only a fucking idiot would let his guard down when dealing with the head of the local mafia.
The meeting dragged on longer than I had hoped, since we had to go over every single detail to make sure it aligned with the date change as well as the change in fighters.
“I’m glad we were able to make this happen, my friend. Now, we get to the good part of the evening…a visit to Fallen Angels. I’ve been looking forward to it all week.”
We ended most of our meetings with a trip to our strip club – a tradition that had started several years back as a way to celebrate our continued collaboration – but I’d hoped that tonight would be the exception.
I knew from past experience that he expected me to party with him, and I’d always been more than fucking happy to do it.
Tonight, though, the only tits I wanted to look at were Lauren’s. Besides, I would feel a hell of a lot better if she was with me, safely behind the gates at the compound.
I got on my bike and followed his armored, blacked-out SUV to the club. On the way, I called to let Bodhi know we would be there soon. I’d given him a heads-up earlier in the day to keep one of the VIP rooms on standby, just in case.
“The room’s ready,” he confirmed. “Mandy’s working tonight, and she knows to keep the Macallan flowing.”
Rossi was particular about his liquor, so we always made sure to have a few bottles of the high-end brand he favored in stock.
Luckily, I was able to leave less than an hour later, once he decided to spend some quality time with Scarlett and Ginger in one of the private rooms. Although the MC covered the costs of his private lap dances at Fallen Angels, Rossi always tipped the ladies generously, so the two strippers were more than happy to keep him entertained for the rest of the evening.
Before I headed out, I checked in with Bodhi to make sure things were running smoothly.
Ace was there for once, although he was kicked back in his office doing fuck all, as far as I could tell.
Bodhi was behind the bar, keeping an eye on things and helping the two female bartenders keep up with the drink orders.
“Everything OK tonight,” I asked, leaning over the bar top and raising my voice to be heard over the pounding bass pouring out of the speakers.
“Yeah, man, things are going great. The place started filling up early because of some insurance convention in town, so we’re selling a ton of booze, and the girls are raking in the cash.”
“Glad to hear it. I’m gonna leave Rossi in the capable hands of Scarlett and Ginger, so I can go pick Lauren up.”
Bodhi tipped his head in acknowledgement, then started pouring a round of shots for a table full of frat boy douches who acted like they’d never seen a pair of tits before in their lives.
As soon as I stepped outside, I pulled my phone out of my cut and called Lauren. She didn’t pick up, which wasn’t surprising since I knew she kept it on silent mode when she was recording.
I called Tony to let him know I’d finished early and would meet them at the studio, and frowned when he didn’t answer either.
I called both of them again, with the same result.
Feeling uneasy, I reached out to Bull, who answered on the second ring. I winced and pulled my phone away from my ear a little as the music and general chaos of a Friday night at the clubhouse came through in the background.
“I’ve been trying to get hold of Lauren and Tony at the studio, but they aren’t answering. Can you ping their phone locations?”
“Give me a second to get back to my office,” he replied, then a minute later, “They’re both still at the studio.”
“Shit,” I muttered as my nerves ratcheted up. “I don’t like this, man. Check for movement on Beau. Is he still at work?”
“I’m already ahead of you. The PBF payroll system shows that he’s still clocked in.”
“My gut’s screaming at me that something’s wrong. Tony knows to answer when we call, especially with all this shit going on.” I sprinted for my bike as I told Bull that I was heading to the studio.
“I’m rounding the guys up as we speak, brother. We’ll meet you there.”
I yanked on my helmet and fired up my bike, roaring out of the parking lot as if the devil himself was on my ass.
I tried to convince myself that there was a reasonable explanation for why Tony hadn’t answered, but deep down, I knew we’d missed something.
If Beau was still at the fire station in Pittsburgh, then maybe we were wrong and he had someone local working for him after all.
My cell phone rang through the Bluetooth speaker. I hoped it would be Tony or Lauren, but when I answered, King’s voice came through loud and clear.
“We’re on our way,” he said as I gunned the engine to make it through a yellow light before it turned red. “We should be there in twenty minutes. Wait for us…I don’t want you goin’ in there without somebody on your six, you hear me?”
“Got it,” I answered, lying to the man for the first time in my life. I had no intention of waiting.
Traffic slowed in front of me, and I swerved into the next lane to go around them, barely sparing a glance over my shoulder to make sure it was clear first.
It would normally take me about fifteen minutes to make it from the strip club to the recording studio. I pushed my bike as fast as I dared and made it in ten.
I pulled to a stop in front of the building, noticing that the only vehicles in the lot were Tony’s bike, Lauren’s car, and JD’s pickup truck.
I hadn’t even thought to call him, so I did just that as I reached into my saddlebag and grabbed my gun. The call went straight to voice mail.
“Son of a bitch,” I growled, shoving my phone in my back pocket and punching in the door code that Lauren had given me.
I stormed inside, gun in hand, and ran down the hall toward the small recording booths.
There was an empty chair in front of the door at the end of the hall, and Tony and JD were nowhere in sight.
I sprinted down the hall, and my blood froze in my veins when I looked in through the narrow window next to the door. Lauren was desperately clawing at the arms of a man wearing a ballcap, who was trying to put her into a rear chokehold.
“Lauren!” My scream echoed in the empty hallway as I tried to open the door. It was locked, so I took a step back and kicked it open.
The man whirled around toward the door, dragging Lauren with him. He used her body as a shield, while keeping one arm pulled up tightly against her windpipe, and the other wrapped around her waist. Tears streamed down her face as she struggled in vain to get free.
I raised my gun, but he was half hidden behind Lauren with his ballcap pulled low, so I couldn’t even get a good look at his face, much less get a clean shot. He didn’t need to know that though.
“Let go of her or I’ll blow your fuckin’ head off,” I bellowed. He jerked Lauren tighter, and she half-slumped against him, either because of the sleeper hold he was using or because she’d exhausted herself fighting him, I wasn’t sure which.
The sound of heavy boots thundering down the tiled hallway floor was music to my ears.
It also distracted Lauren’s attacker enough that I was able to slam the butt of my gun down against his temple.
It wasn’t quite as satisfying as shooting him or even taking a bat to his head would have been, but it served the purpose.
He crumpled to the floor, face down and unconscious, taking Lauren down with him. Not even sparing a glance at him, I was able to grab her, pulling her limp body into my arms before she hit the ground.
“Is she OK? Do we need an ambulance?” I turned to find King standing in the doorway, flanked by Lucky and Jagger. Joker and Bull were in the hallway behind them.
“I don’t know,” I ground out, my voice tight with fear.
King told Jagger to call for an ambulance and ordered Bull and Joker to search the building to find Tony. I felt a moment’s guilt because I hadn’t even given him a thought, but Lauren was my priority.
I cradled her tightly, and they moved aside so I could carry her across the hall and lay her down on the couch in the break room. I knelt down next to her, running my hands over her to check for injuries.