Undertaker tilted his head and put a hand on his hip, then a softer smile spread across his lips. “My real name is Tim. Now—” He rubbed his hands together and the silver spikes on his leather bracelets glinted. “—let’s see the mess.”
We walked around the building and back upstairs without a single complaint from Undertaker. He mumbled to himself, but mostly seemed to be interested in the high-rise, his curious gaze darting around. As soon as we reached Winter’s bedroom, Undertaker skirted the perimeter, taking in all the details. Winter motioned Piers over at our side, and we watched Undertaker stare all around like he might be quizzed on what he saw later.
“Are you okay?” Piers asked Winter.
“I got rid of the cops, if that’s what you mean,” he said with a sigh. “I would be better if we found my money.” He nudged my arm with his shoulder.
I shifted the wrong way and hissed at the pain that jolted through my body from my leg. He bumped me again, and I realized it was on purpose, so I put my arm around him. “How much are you willing to pay to get the money back?” I asked.
Winter frowned at me. “I don’t understand.”
“I could probably round up some men to look for your cash, but they would want a finder’s fee.”
“Finder’s fee?” Undertaker whirled around to stare at me and casually paced closer, hips rolling. “Your little bird lost something?” He smiled at Winter, and I couldn’t say why, but I hated it. He snickered when I took a step back with him at my side. “I know a whole club full of men who would be overjoyed to look for missing money, if they were going to get a percentage.” He flashed me a dangerous smile and his pointy canines were off-putting. “I’m a King. I don’t usually wear my club colors when I’m doing this sort of job.” He nodded at the carpet.
“You belong to a biker gang?” Winter asked, sounding scandalized. He raised his hand to his mouth and glanced at me. My heart swelled as he leaned even closer to me. Jesus, it was no wonder Vance had taken advantage of him. I pressed a kiss to his uninjured temple. I would keep him safe from now on.
Undertaker laughed at him—or maybe me; I wasn’t sure which. “You’ve got a body in here and you can still sound like that? It didn’t float down dead onto your floor. The corpse fairy didn’t give it to you as a gift.” Undertaker waggled his eyebrows and stepped closer. He was fast and booped Winter on the nose, then danced out of reach before I could shove him away.
“Fuck,” I snarled.
“Well, I didn’t kill him,” Winter said, frowning.
Undertaker stared between me and Piers, then seemed to decide I’d been the one to pull the trigger by the way he nodded at me, which was fine, so I stepped forward, putting Piers and Winter behind me.
“How much would the Kings want?” I asked.
“What would ten percent be?” He tongued the corner of his mouth while he stared at me.
“A tax write-off,” Winter declared.
Undertaker pointed at him with raised eyebrows. “I like that. But how much?”
“Probably about four hundred thousand. Maybe give or take twenty or thirty. I’m not completely certain because he wasn’t selling things for the price I would’ve. He cleaned out my whole inventory. Part of what we’re looking for would be a laptop that we would have to mess around with to get the rest of the money, but I would be totally fair. Could you ask the man who finds it to sign off as a consultant for Beaulieu, my jewelry shop? I can write off a fee like that. Maybe I could design something for the Kings to make it seem legitimate. A necklace or—”
“Ring. The Kings should have rings. I like that. Big ones that would fucking hurt if you punched someone when you were wearing it.” Undertaker snorted and pulled out his cell phone. “You’re going to talk to a man named Aaron. Tell him everything you told me and exactly what we’re looking for.”
“I can do that,” Piers said as Winter and I glanced at him.
“It’s a plan then,” I grumbled, not exactly loving this but unable to turn down the help. New Gothenburg was a big city for three men to search, and we might never find Winter’s money alone.
Undertaker blew Piers a kiss before he began to talk softly into the phone with his back toward us.
“Now what?” Winter asked with a pout firmly on his pink lips.
“We can look, but like most work taking apart a crime, we wait. A case like this always takes time.”
Winter groaned, and I pulled him tight against my side again, unwilling to let him go.
* * *
Nerves worse than the time I’d held a live hand grenade danced through my stomach as I knocked on the door of the room I’d shared with Winter while I was resting up from my bullet wound, which was still hurting a lot. I tried not to think about my leg. I’d gone home to give Winter space after we’d enlisted the Kings to search for his cash, but it had been two days, and no one had called yet.
Which meant I didn’t have a reason to talk to Winter, but I missed him.
And, since I was a dumbass who still didn’t have his phone number, I’d gone the old-fashioned route and decided to visit him. I knocked again, then stood there holding my breath.
Winter opened the door and blinked up at me with his pretty blue eyes. He looked the same as usual in a long-sleeved black shirt and black jeans, but that didn’t take away from his beauty. I smiled at him.
