Page 30 of Two Tricks

This information froze me. If they were able to get Jeff, Dax’s other right-hand man, then there was already a mole in our organization. The timing of Dax being taken and this going down couldn’t be coincidental—it was too perfect. The biggest threat anyone faced getting to Tricks was that pink-haired, hell on wheels enforcer.

“Thank you for giving me this information. Where is Jeff’s body now?” I asked, slipping into my computer chair.

“He was dumped out back of the tattoo shop, but when I got a call about it, I took him to the main warehouse by the pier. Should I call Brenda and let her know what happened?” Brian asked.

I rubbed my forehead as I thought this through. “No, give me until tomorrow before we say anything. We need to keep this as quiet as possible. There’s no telling who the leak could be.”

“You got it boss. Oh, is Dax with you? It’s just odd I couldn’t reach her.”

“She’s not with me at the moment, but I know where she is. When I pick her up, I’ll make sure to fill her in on what’s going on,” I said, determination flooding my veins.

* * *

It was midnight by the time I pulled up to the warehouse that Brian dropped the body off at. Cutting the engine to my bike, I hung my helmet on the handlebar before getting off. The two guards stationed at the door nodded to me as one entered the code and opened the door to let me in. The building was quiet other than the clanking of my boots against the metal walkway to the cold storage area, and the only light was from the intermittent emergency floor lights.

When I reached the door at the end of the hall, I pulled out my key card and swiped it, then entered the passcode. The door slid open, and I descended down a flight of steps into an open room filled with crates full of contraband. Some were our own, others were product that we were moving for other clients. Reaching the large walk-in freezer, I pulled out my keys and unlocked the padlock, then unlatched the door. I placed the padlock back, blocking the latch from engaging again. Flicking on the light, I found a table with Jeff’s body laying on it.

The poor bastard was hardly recognizable with how much they’d worked him over. If I hadn’t already known who I was looking at, I wasn’t sure I would have been able to figure it out. He was naked, blood covering his body from where they’d carved AN EYE FOR AN EYE into his torso. His eyes had also been removed, just in case we didn’t get the first message. Brian had already sent me a picture of the note that was jammed down his throat.

‘We seek retribution for Benny. Give us Dax or be ready to lose everything.’

If the De León cartel thought Two Tricks would hand over one of his people to keep himself safe, they had another thing comin’—Tricks didn’t bow to threats. The cartel didn’t like how big the Hidden Empire had gotten, but they had no reason to outright challenge us, being on the East Coast. Seemed now their plan was to make shit up and start a war, whether we liked it or not.

Knowing Dax my whole life, I knew that she would never kill someone without just cause. She also wouldn’t have gotten caught doing it. Dax might be wild, but if she let you in her huge heart, her love was astounding. I clenched my hands into fists as my anger at her being taken from me bowled over me.

I’d been in love with that woman my whole life, but she had made it clear that she would never settle down, that she thought love was foolish and made you do stupid things. All she wanted was loyalty, to trust you would never turn your back on her. She may not have seen that my loyalty came with my heart, but she had both, and now that she was ripped from my side, I couldn’t seem to think straight.

This wasn’t a problem I could manage on my own. I needed her by my side. Her wicked mind would be able to figure out how to fix this; my world was behind the scenes putting her plan into action. The Hidden Empire and Two Tricks wouldn’t be where they were today without Dax dealing with shit like this. Spinning on my heel, I marched out of the freezer and locked it up once again.

It was time to do something drastic and get my girl back where she belonged.

The sound of someone knocking on my door made me groan and roll over, pulling my pillow over my head. When nothing followed, I assumed the person who was disturbing my sleep had left, but I was not so lucky. Moments later, my door was opened—even though I was pretty sure I’d locked it—followed quickly by my covers being ripped off me.

“What the fuck?!” I cried, tossing my pillow in the direction that I thought the offender would be as I cracked my eyes open.

“Loba, that is not a nice way to greet someone,” Cognac said, grinning at me.

I growled at him as he placed the pillow on the foot of my bed and walked over to open my blinds.

“What is with you people and being awake so early?” I muttered, rubbing my face with my hands.

Cognac reached out and ruffled my hair, grinning down at me. “How do you know it’s early? There is no clock in this room.”

Slapping his hand away, I glowered at him. “Trust me, my internal clock is never wrong. I bet it’s sometime before ten o’clock.” Cognac blinked at me, surprised, telling me that I was right. “Is there a reason that you’re waking me up, or are you just a sadist who enjoys pissing me off?”

“I’m your babysitter today, and there are just so many fun things I want to do with you.” He sat on my bed, a wide smile on his lips.

“Yeah… I’m not having sex with you,” I said, crossing my arms.

“As much as I dream about the day that will happen, that wasn’t quite what I had in mind. Thing is, I have to check the perimeter of the compound today and figured you might want to join me.”

“Why would I want to do that?” I asked, feeling like he was holding something back.

“Oh, did I not mention that we would have to take an ATV out across our eight hundred acres of land? Hmm, I would have guessed by your car that you had a thing for speed and adrenaline,” Cognac said with a shrug of his shoulder, getting off the bed. “But if you would rather be trapped in the garage with Sprocket for another day…”

Not that I didn’t enjoy spending time with Sprocket, but the bait for getting out and having fun was just too strong. “Fine, I’ll join you, just give me a chance to change.”

“Ah yes,” Cognac said, snapping his fingers. “Tilly dropped off a few bags of things for you downstairs. Just another incentive to get you out of bed.”