“I have to get Tucker.”
She’s starting to panic.
“They’re gone. They don’t know you’re here,” I say, trying to put her at ease.
“They must know, otherwise they wouldn’t have come here.”
Cole answers for me. “They came because we own Sonny’s, and he tracked you there. He says you’re his property.”
“I’m no man’s property, least of all that asshole. The only thing he’s interested in is how much money I can make for him. I left Alabama because he started to get violent and possessive. What did you tell him?”
“He wants us to turn you over to him.”
“I’m not yours to turn over,” she spits.
“I get that, Ginger,” Cole replies.
“It’s Heather. Ginger is just my stage name.”
“Okay, Heather, tell us everything.”
Her shoulders drop. “Snake came into the club I danced at in Huntsville. He was nice at first, but then he wanted to take me to the strip club the Death Heads run somewhere down in Florida, and I knew that meant he’d take all my income. I didn’t want any part of that, only he wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Cole looks at Crash, then back at her. “Go on.”
“One night he hit me and told me to pack my shit. That he was taking me to Texas instead. I could make him more money there. He left to get us a vehicle to travel in. As soon as he was gone, I grabbed my son and a duffel bag and got the hell out of there.”
“Where’d you go?” Cole asks, steepling his fingers.
“My brother’s house in Memphis, but I stopped at a store on the way out of town because I had this gut feeling Snake had put a tracking device on my car, and I wasn’t about to lead him to my family. There was a retired cop working at the store, and he checked my phone. Snake had gotten a hold of it and had enabled my phone’s location sharing with him. The man came out to my car with me, and we found the tracker in the wheel well. He told me he was going to put it on his car and let Snake track it to him. Then he told me I needed to get out of there before he showed up. I told the man to be careful because Snake is dangerous and violent.”
“This retired cop… this store he worked at was in Huntsville?”
“Yes, why?”
Cole lifts his chin to Crash. “Check the latest news out of Huntsville.”
Crash pulls his phone out and starts searching. A moment later, he looks up.
“Retired officer John Williams found shot to death in his car in the driveway of his home.”
Cole looks at Heather. “I’m guessing Snake caught up with his tracking device.”
A sob escapes Heather, and she covers her mouth. “Oh my God. It’s my fault. That sweet man is dead because he tried to help me.”
Anger surges through me. “This asshole needs to die,” I say to my president.
“He’s a Death Head, Cody. We’re not starting a fucking war with the Death Heads.”
“We’re not turning her over,” I snap.
“Didn’t say we were. Calm the fuck down,” Cole barks.
I drag in a breath, my hand going to Heather’s shoulder. “That asshole will not touch you or Tucker, babe. I swear it to you.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Crash glance at us then roll his eyes. “Young stupid love,” he murmurs.
“Wasn’t so long ago that was you, Crash,” Cole reminds him.
