“Hey, recognize him?” Stone asks, pointing out a guy leaving the hotel and getting into one of the run-down cars in the parking lot.
“No,” Priest and I both say.
He looks like the kind of guy Savage Bones would recruit. Long greasy hair, baggy wrinkled clothes, and the hungover but heading out for more beer kind of look. With no proof he is part of Savage Bones, we stay put and keep watching.
Another hour goes by, and the place seems kind of quiet.
We are starting to talk about giving up, getting some food, and coming back later tonight when a car pulls into the parking lot.
“That’s the guy that came into the Vet Clinic a few months ago," Ace says as a guy steps out of the car.
"Yep," I say, never taking my eyes off him.
This is the guy who has been behind the break-ins all around Mustang Mountain, and he was there the night everything went down with Ginger, too.
He looks around the parking lot like he's making sure no one is watching, but doesn't seem to notice us parked across the street. When he reaches into the backseat of the car, I expect him to come back with groceries or alcohol, not a blond girl who is fighting his every touch. He tosses her over his shoulder and disappears into one of the rooms.
"Shit, she didn't look like she was going there willingly, did she?" Priest asks.
"She did not," I say, pulling out my phone and dialing Atlas.
"What have ya got?" He answers straight to the point.
"The guy Ace saw at the Vet Clinic a few months ago. I recognize him from the fight last month too. He went inside carrying a blond who was fighting him the whole time. We haven't seen any of the other Savage Bones guys here. It’s been quiet all day." I give him the rundown.
"Shit. I'll send back up. I know you won't stay put and wait. Be careful," he says, and I hang up.
"Let's move," I say. Stone hands each of us a gun from his bag, and we are off across the street in no time flat.
We pause outside the door they went in and listen.
"Let me go, Howler!" The woman yells, and Howler lets out a small laugh.
"Not until you give me what I want," he says, his voice getting further away, like he's walking to the back of the room.
I make eye contact with the other guys and nod. No point in giving him notice we are here. These doors and locks have been here for decades. With a quick glance around the parking lot to make sure we are still alone, I step back and kick the door open. It splits off the frame easily and light fills the room. My eyes land on Howler, and a quick scan shows it's just him and the girl in here.
I may be a big guy, and because of that, people underestimate my speed. In a blink of an eye, I'm on Howler with Stone's help as Ace and Priest stand guard at the door.
"Get off me, asshole!" Howler yells.
"Didn't your mom ever teach you it's not nice to kidnap ladies? You’re supposed to wine them and dine them or, at the very least, find them on a dating app if you need to get your dick wet," Stone says.
Howler has some fight in him. I'll give him that. He gets loose after I pin him down the first time and lands a solid hit to my shoulder.
"That all you got?" I grunt before flipping him over. Stone gets him tied up with the cable ties, both his hands and feet, and then we toss him in the corner of the room.
Once he's secured, I turn to see what we can find in the room but that is when my eyes land on the blond. Apparently, so do Stone’s.
"Emerson?" Stone says, and he rushes forward to untie her from the chair Howler has her strapped in.
Her eyes are locked with mine, and neither of us says a word.
"What are you doing here?" Stone asks, finally getting her attention.
"I came to visit Aunt Ruby and Uncle Orville since I was nearby for a job interview," she says.
"Ruby and Orville are out of town on vacation for their anniversary," Stone says.
