My phone buzzed in my pocket. “Keys needs me. Let’s go see what he says.”
Taking one more look at my house, I fought down the urge to storm over there. I wasn’t sure what I’d say anyway, but I didn’t like her being mad, especially since it all started over some bullshit with Jeannie.
“Hawk, you coming?” Falcon asked as they walked ahead.
Shaking it off, I headed back inside. Red and Rooster caught my eye as we walked, so I tipped my head for them to follow us.
Niko looked over curiously but didn’t make a move to follow. I wasn’t sure what Keys was about to tell us, and my officers would hear it anyway– but Niko would hear when I was ready, if he ever heard at all.
We all piled into the computer room and Coop was in there with Keys. He turned in his chair and his eyes widened. “Full house.”
Crossing my arms as the door clicked closed behind me I asked, “Whatcha got?”
Keys punched something in then pointed to the larger screen in the middle of the rest. “Madame Jojo, aka Josephina LaDame, aka Jolene Davis. This isn’t the lady Cindy knew. Cindy’s pal was a small operation. This was not.”
Looking at the screen, there were several mug shots, some newspaper articles. Nothing front page, but small stories on the arrests.
Keys’ leg was shaking as he watched us. He sighed heavily then turned and blew up one of the mug shots. “Look familiar?”
We all leaned in closer. Eagle chuckled then jokingly punched Falcon’s shoulder. “Dude, that could have been your mother-in-law.”
Falcon batted Eagle’s arm away. “Shut the fuck up, man. Prez, do you think they’re related for real?”
Staring at the screen, I said, “Only one way to find out. Red, go get her and take her to Church. Good job, guys. Keep looking for connections.” I patted Keys on the shoulder then headed out towards the other room.
The guys took their seats, but I stood waiting and made sure the chair next to mine stayed open for her.
When Red led her in, Sugar’s eyes went wide and she slowed her steps.
“Come on in,” I said, waving her over and pulling out the chair. “Have a seat.”
She did as instructed and folded her hands in her lap, her thumbs fidgeting.
I took my seat and scooted closer to her. “Sugar, I just need to ask you a few questions. It’ll help the club. Alright?”
She nodded, swallowing hard without speaking.
I tried to relax my posture. Talking to women was different than shaking down men, especially if they were scared. Unless she was hiding something, she wasn’t in trouble.
“Sugar, who was your mother?” I asked in a smooth tone.
“She was a madame. But she’s dead.” She started to get choked up on the last word.
“Rooster,” I said.
He stood and went to the mini bar but instead of a drink, he opened the cabinet below and pulled out a small bottle of water for her from the hidden mini fridge. After passing it over, he sat down, and she took a sip.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Hey, sorry to bring it up. But we’re trying to find who killed Pops and whoever it is keeps picking off women. Her name came up.”
“She’d never hurt anyone,” she said, stiffening in the chair. “All those women were there on their own. And she wouldn’t be stupid enough to cross you guys.”
“That’s what we found, too. But someone said somebikers have had a hand in ki–in what happened to her. You know anything about that? Who it could’ve been?”
She shook her head. “No, the only biker I ever saw around had the DE patch. That’s why when I found out she was dead, I came here. I figured if he was hanging around, she must have trusted you.”
I leaned in closer. “Who was it? Who did you see there?”
