“Yeah, but they’re probably gonna come for you in numbers, ‘cause that’s how they are.”
“Sounds like fun. You just do your part, and we’re square, alright?”
Before he can answer, I tell Bash, “Take his vehicle and phone. It’ll sell the idea that he didn’t tell us anything and we fleeced him for it. Drop him off at the bus station with enough cash to get home.”
Bash grins. “Cool, I get a free stolen car, right?”
“We don’t care about that vehicle. I’m more interested in his phone. But I think you should wipe it clean of fingerprints and ditch it.”
We head back to the clubhouse in the late afternoon, having accomplished a lot in not much time.
Chapter 13
Flint
Ifind Jules on the back porch of the clubhouse with Silver and Tessa. When we walk up, Jasper jerks his chin at Silver. “You’re in my seat. Move.”
Our club president dislikes Silver as much as I do. He’s got reason, that much is for sure. She’s easily the worst club girl our club has ever had. The difference between us is Jasper doesn’t feel the least bit obligated to be nice to her.
Silver stands up, rolling her eyes. “God damn, Jasper. Are you ever going to forgive me for messing with you? It’s been two years already.”
He gently elbows her out of the way and scoots the chair closer to Tessa. “No, it hasn’t been two years yet. And you messed with my old lady, more so than me. It’s like you don’t have the fuckin’ capacity to tell the damn truth.”
“Why do you have to carry a grudge about that? Tessa forgave me a long time ago.”
“You almost got my niece killed when you were whoring for the Savage Legion. Don’t think for a fuckin’ minute that I’ll ever forgive you for that. Now fuck off before I really get mad.”
Silver backs away slowly while I slide into place beside Jules. I get right into telling her our news.
“We think we located the car from the beltline.”
Jules’s face lights up. “Really? That’s amazing.”
Jasper takes a drink of his old lady’s mixed drink and then adds, “We’ve got someone picking it up as we speak. It should be here in the morning. Who knows what secrets that fuckin’ vehicle might hold.”
Suddenly, Jules’s face falls. “Oh God, please tell me there was no body in the trunk.”
I wrap my arm around her and tug her close. “Don’t even think that way. There’s no reason to think that.”
What I don’t say is that if he’s dead, they’d have disposed of the body more securely. She doesn’t need to hear that right now.
Tessa speaks up. “I’m no expert, but if they were going to kill him, wouldn’t they have just done it? I mean, why would they deal with a live body in their trunk when a dead one wouldn’t move around and try to escape?”
Suddenly, another woman’s head pops up from behind Tessa. Christina’s expression is really excited. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear. Maybe they needed to keep him alive to extract information of some kind.” Hardly taking a breath, she continues, “Or maybe they were using him to fleece his company of money or trade secrets. That kind of thing happens more often than you would think. There are all kinds of reasons someone might want to hold onto a hostage instead of kill him. That’s assuming it was a he instead of a she. If it was a woman, the reasons are…”
Tessa interrupts. “I’d love to hear all your ideas, but why don’t we talk in the bar? I need another drink.”
Jasper shoots me an apologetic look before following the two of them because it’s clear his sister-in-law is amping up Jules’s anxiety with that kind of talk.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?”
“What was that all about? Why was that woman acting like this situation was just another unsolved mystery to ponder?”
“I’m sure Christina didn’t realize how she was coming across. She used to be an investigative reporter before she married the VP of our club. I think she just misses the thrill of it all.”
Jules’s shocked expression clears, replaced by her former hopeful one. “So, in the vein of investigating, what do you hope to find from going over the vehicle?”
“If this turns out to be the actual car, best case scenario is we lift prints and collect DNA that lead us to the victim or perpetrators.”
