“Uh, I hate to tell you this, but that guy’s wife is missing from the hospital.”
Sheriff Black let his head rest on the back of his chair, his angry eyes glaring at the ceiling. “That whole damn family is fuckin’ off their rocker!”
I looked over to Apollo. “Can you find her?”
Apollo pulled up his phone and started tapping away.
It took him a few minutes, but he said, “She left in a brown SUV from the hospital’s front parking lot. Ambulance bay entrance. I tapped into a few cameras that go through that area. She’s heading toward…Creed’s place.”
“I don’t want to know how you got this information,” Sheriff Black said. “Gentry!”
Gentry appeared looking hesitant.
It was funny, despite the situation, to know that he was wary of his boss.
I could see why.
Sheriff Black was a powerhouse of a man. Six-foot-five, older in his late forties. Salt and pepper hair. Square jaw. Permanent scowl.
Oh, and a member of the Dixie Wardens MC.
“Yeah, Sheriff?”
“Get out to Creed’s place. If a brown SUV manages to get out there, I want you to arrest the fuckin’ twat in the passenger seat. Whoever gave her a ride, you can bring them in, too. We have fuckin’ questions.”
“You think she’s actually paralyzed, Sheriff?” Gentry wondered.
“If she was able to get out of the hospital, I’m betting she played the long game,” Sheriff Black grumbled.
“All right.” Gentry headed out.
“Go home, Creed. You see that woman getting arrested, keep drivin’.”
“Yes, sir.” I grinned.
He flipped me off as Apollo and I left.
Apollo and I were in the parking lot when he said, “I have a few more things.”
“What’s that?” I asked, eager to get to my place.
I didn’t think that Grace had a chance to get in thanks to half my living room filled with bikers who were too inebriated to go home last night, but that didn’t stop the itch between my shoulders urging me to leave as fast as possible just in case.
“One, Vito and Grace, as well as Cody, weren’t as clean as they would like everyone to believe. When you started to spend time with Birdee, I kind of looked into her parents. Her mom was obviously a psycho, which you know about. But the dad wasn’t much better. Apparently, they were committing some hella fraud through their business. Scamming people out of their lunch money, practically. Nothing too big or scary, just overcharging on services. Charging when they asked for services to be stopped and not giving their money back. Making it impossible to cancel at the gym. Just being altogether asshole human beings. Oh, and one last thing.”
“What’s that?” I scrubbed at my face.
“When y’all have an animal that’s brought in that’s been killed, y’all usually donate the meat, right?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed.
“Well, they’re the ones that get the meat. There’s a good ol’ boy agreement between one of the men at your department and Vito. When an animal is found—which they call in about might I add—they’re the ones that get the call to come get it. They take it to the processor and take a good chunk of the meat.”
“Fucking fantastic.” I snorted. “Who’s the asshole at the department that’s calling them?”
“Some man named Pastry.”
“Pastry,” I scoffed. “I should’ve known. He’s a fuckin’ dick bag. He’s the reason I don’t have a newer snowmobile. His ‘I have seniority’ comments among the staff. He doesn’t even leave the office half the time anymore. I have yet to see him on a snowmobile this season. What a dick.”
