Page 71 of Property of Player

“I’m at the clubhouse now. Stop texting me. I almost got caught,” a woman says, and I immediately recognize Molly’s voice.

My eyes widen.

“What?” Cici hisses.

“Shh.” I keep listening.

A muffled voice responds. I can tell it’s a man but can’t make out the words.

“I can’t hear you; the connection sucks. Hang on. Let me put you on speaker,” she hisses.

“I said Prez is tired of waiting.”

“I’m not doing it, Duck.”

“You’ll do exactly what I tell you, bitch. Just like the day you set up that fucking VP. Only you fucked up, and we blew away their president’s ol’ lady and daughter-in-law. Now we’re at fucking war, and it’s making buying that land harder. Prez wants that goddamn land. He’s tired of waiting. We’re taking her, and you’re gonna give her to us.”

“But Duck… Duck?” There’s a bang that sounds like she kicked the wall. “You stupid son-of-a-bitch.” The door opens and closes, and we hear footsteps stomp down the hall.

I pull away from the wall and stare at Cici.

“What?” she snaps. “What’d you hear?”

I frown. “Does your dad have some land for sale?”

She shrugs. “You mean besides our house?”

“Yes.”

“Well, he’s got some hunting land south of here near the state line. Daddy says it’s been in the family for generations. But he’s always said he’d never sell it. Of course, that’s what I thought about our house, and he sold that. Why? What did you hear?”

“I’m going to text you this message. I want you to remember it when the club comes back so you can tell your father exactly what I just overheard.” I’m busy typing it out.

“Do we need to call Player and tell him now?”

“I don’t want to bother them. It may be nothing. I’m not even sure what it means, but it sounds like someone might be trying to cheat him out of that land.”

“No one would ever try to cheat my father. That would be stupid.”

“Like I said, maybe it’s nothing.” I want to ask her what she knows about the bombing, but since her mother was killed in it, I think better of it. Could Molly really be involved in it somehow? Is she working for enemies of the club? Is that why she hangs around? If she is, then I’m not sure it’s safe for us to be here. She could be texting them to attack the place while the club is gone. “We should go before someone catches us in Drae’s room.”

She moves to the closet and pulls a blue denim shirt off a hanger, bundles it up and shoves it in her purse. “Okay. I’m ready.”

I peek out the door and see no one in the hall, then motion to her. “Come on.”

When we get to the main room, Molly is sitting at the bar with the two prospects. She’s smoking a cigarette, and when her eyes hit mine and she glances at the hall we just walked out of, those eyes widen.

“You find that thing you left?” the prospect calls out.

“Yep,” I reply and shove Cici toward the door. “Let’s go.”

“Hey, Cici,” I hear Molly say behind us. “Where are you going?

I keep herding Cici toward the door with a hiss. “Don’t stop.”

When we get outside, I run to my car and point to hers. “Quick. Follow me.”

She doesn’t argue, just jumps in her car and does what I say. I haul ass out of there and see Molly coming out the door and waving her arm.