Walking down the hall and around the corner, I found the elevator. Well,anelevator. If I got to the main floor, I’d find my way out.
Hitting the button, I remembered I was supposed to text Red. After I shot the text off, I shoved my phone back into my purse and was excited to see a person once I got off the elevator.
Walking up to the man in a brown suit with short dirty blond hair, I asked, “Excuse me, I seem to have gotten turned around. Can you point me to the exit for the parking deck?”
“You’ll need to exit through the front, ma’am. That pass says visitor and it won’t allow you to open the door to the parking deck.” The employee gave me detailed instructions on how to get out.
As irritating as it was, it was comforting to know security was tight. I guess I hadn’t bothered to question any of that when we came in. Shiv already worked there, so she probably didn’teven think about it. Plus, we were both hustling to get inside and through security before we parted ways.
Pulling out my phone again, I texted Red the change of location and headed out front after returning the temporary badge they’d given me when I came.
Stepping outside, the temps had warmed dramatically in the last hour or so, and the humidity was stifling. The sudden swings in temps weren’t much different than Jersey, but it certainly was a few degrees warmer down here.
I heard a car so I glanced up, but it wasn’t Red. I looked down at my phone and he replied. After flipping it off silent mode, I heard another vehicle and looked up to see the blue SUV.
Hopping in the front, I said, “I’m not riding in the back like a stranger.” I buckled in, then sighed. “Sorry about that. They wouldn’t let me out the same way I came in.”
“No problem.” He put it in gear, then headed down the driveway to the road. “How did it go?”
“I think it went well. Maybe. Not sure. The interviewer seemed engaged, but the ending was odd.”
“You’re probably overthinking it.”
Smirking, I asked, “Why would you assume that? I didn’t even tell you what he said.”
“Because that’s what women do.”
I scoffed. “Well excuse me, mister know-it-all.”
“Hey. Do you trust me?” Red blurted out.
“Umm. What kind of question is that while we’re driving down the road?”
“Yes or no.”
Confused, I answered, “Yes, I guess? Why?”
Chapter 20
Rooster
Macon, Indy’s president, had hooked us up with a few bunks, but I slept like shit. I’d gotten used to Sparrow in my bed. Luckily, the trip shouldn’t be much longer.
The Indy guys had a nice setup. And thanks to their location being even more in the sticks than ours, it was easier than expected to get info on the Hellbound Heathens. It just wasn’t as populated as around Atlanta, so harder to hide.
The VP, Shadow, was riding with us. We were finishing lunch when the second-in-command strolled in with a black bandana over his head. “Afternoon, fellas,” he said in his gravelly voice.
“Afternoon,” Hawk replied. “Still good to head over tonight?”
After we spoke to a few informants Macon put us on the last two days, Hawk wanted to get a visual of a potential hideout. Plus, we made ourselves known in the area which is why we came. Even if the Hellbound Heathens were trying to gain numbers, Hawk wanted to be sure they knew the other chapters of DEMC had our backing.
It was still unclear how much the rat in our club had been involved with this new group, but if he was high ranking, he would have shared details of our club so they would know who Hawk was. We thought we’d eradicated HH; we couldn’t be sure if any of these guys were linked to the ones who were in Atlanta when Raven was killed, but we hoped to find out.
Even so, Hawk didn’t want to move on anyone just yet. Our mission was simple: find them. Once we did, we could have some of the guys from Indy keep watch, then we could regroup with a plan later.
Part of me hoped I didn’t see any of the guys from Jersey or the ones who ambushed us when we escorted Sawyer and his rig. Knowing they broke into Sparrow’s apartment made my blood boil. Not knowing why got under my skin. I wasn’t sure I could follow Hawk’s orders to stand down if I saw them.
Shadow took a seat. “A couple members reported back. Seems the spot we think they’re using had a lot of evening activity. But it died down during the day, with a couple of groups riding out.”
