I rest my elbow on my desk and put my head in my hand, rubbing my temples. If I wore glasses, I would throw them off right now. Maybe I should hit the gym and let off some steam myself.
“Nothing. Seems par for the course.” I’m beyond frustrated. Casper sent me here for answers, but I keep finding nothing. Sure, we just found out about Viv’s stalker, but I was hoping to catch a break. For something to be an easy open-and-shut case. But finding the moles in the club is harder than I expected.
The boys and I have gone around the bend on this. It’s possible that we’ve already caught everyone. Cast Off had a few boys with him who got killed in the sex club explosion. Some died at Casper’s and Billy’s hands before that. We got the two who were in the club when I first showed, but bubkes since then. Diddly squat.
“Your gut still saying there’s more?”
Mickey gives me an eyebrow raise as his face remains stony.
Bane and Lucky think we’re good, that if there was more, we would have found it by now—no one is that good, especially with so many looking. But I can’t shake it. And Mickey says things feel off too. Rooster is neutral. He sees it from both sides.
Mickey and I believe they likely just went dark and are hoping things will blow over. And if we give up the hunt, it’ll just get started up again. No missing persons reports have been filed since I got here, but from what we know about these human trafficking rings, it’s not just locals getting nabbed. Hell, the only reason Casper was in the sex club undercover was to find someone who was last seen in Texas. They’re cold, calculated, and inventive. If they don’t want to be caught selling a person, they won’t be. Those who suck at what they do are already being targeted by the cops. The club’s taken an extra interest in the human trafficking because of all the shit tied to us with it lately, and we’re diving in. We’ve closed the few rings we found, but nothing up here so far. Like Bane and Lucky say, the trail has gone cold.
But unlike them, I can’t seem to let it go.
“What’s the mother chapter say?” Mickey asks.
I sigh heavily. “Nothing. Casper says if I think there’s more, then we wait. He knows I’ll take this shit down one way or another.”
“You got a time frame in mind?”
“No, not yet. But if we don’t find evidence of it being a closed-up shop either way, we’ll have to make some decisions. I’ve got a list of some brothers who might make it through, but there are others who I don’t think need to beasked to stay on. Some I just think are asses, and others I feel as if they’re done with the lifestyle but don’t want to be ones to call it quits.”
He nods. “Forced retirement.”
“Exactly. They know they need to go but want to go out with their head held high rather than their tail between their legs.”
“Anything else going on at home? How’s Casper doing?”
Mickey might be club, but he isn’t close to the mother chapter. Not like me. “Doing fine. The presidency comes easy for him.” I leave out that it doesn’t for me. I don’t know if it does or doesn’t, but it’s different. Not something I expected. I’m also sticking with the idea that it’s temporary. No need to go all in when I have one foot out the door.
“How’s the club doing with the loss of Law?”
I keep my face neutral. To everyone outside the mother chapter, Law, our former president and main dog for several years, is dead and buried. It’s what we need them to think. Not that we don’t trust the club, but hey, we had it in the bylaws not to get involved in human trafficking, and look what the fuck I’m cleaning up. The club can be trusted. It’s the members you have to test.
Law being dead keeps him safe while he’s in a coma. No clue when he’ll get out of it. Doc can’t tell us anything except to be patient. So we watch, keep him safe, but still sit around with our thumbs up our asses waiting.
“We’re getting through, just like everyone else.” Law’s death hit every sister chapter hard, but it’s no wonder the mother chapter got hit harder.
“How’s Ruby?”
Law’s kid. The one we lied to the most, who we let bury a man who wasn’t in a box. The club owes her. Even if we did it to keep her safe, we lied and let her live in hell for months until Casper told her the truth. Surprisingly, she didn’t destroy everyone in her path to leave. I expected her to punch, scream, even throw something. But there was nothing. And nothing still. She left the clubhouse and hasn’t been back since. The boys tell me she spends time at the hospital but leaves if a club member is there. She doesn’t speak to any of us anymore, going as far as walking on the other side of the street or just turning around and heading in the opposite direction if she sees us coming.
I shrug. I can’t tell Mickey the truth. I trust him, but Casper wanted this to be a closed lid. So I’ll do as my mother chapter president asks and continue to keep up the lie.
“She’s dealing. Would rather be on her own than with us right now.” It’s the truth, if not for the reason he thinks.
Before he can ask anything more, my phone rings. I answer it when I see it’s one of the guys I have on Viv.
“What?” I get right to the point. No reason for him to call unless there’s an issue.
“She’s fighting,” Pike says on the other end. Guy’s close to seven foot and named after Pikes Peak, not only because of his height but he’s from Colorado.
“Thought that was the point.” I’m questioning myself for thinking this guy could handle the job.
“No, it’s not that. I mean, she’s gearing up for a fight. The guy who books the fights came in and said he had something lined up for her tonight. She’s getting her shit and heading that way with him now.”
“Shit.”
