“You need to see this.” He tosses pictures of Viv out on the table, and I snarl at seeing my girl through the lens of someone else’s scoop.
“What’s this about?” Bane asks, coming back into the room after passing Grim as he opened the door to leave.
“Link told me that the pictures usually have dates on them. Our prospect called the cop, and he just did an analysisof them. Not a single one has a date. And these are all recent.”
“Recent?” Lucky questions.
Grim nods. “Yeah. Like last week. See, they’re from the remodeling we’re doing on her place. And this is from yesterday when we had that taco van pull up out front.”
“So?” Bane says.
“So, wouldn’t he have pictures from longer than a week ago stashed at his house if he was the guy? All we found were these. When we called, it was just because he had the pictures. But then we went through his entire house, and this was all there was. Something was off, so I started looking at them when the prospect called Officer Pavers. He brought over some fancy machine and scanned the pictures, and not a single one had a date on it like the others. Either the guy got lazy, or these were taken with a different camera.”
“Son of a bitch,” Rooster says.
I wipe the table clear of every fucking thing on it and would flip the whole thing if it weren’t bolted to the ground.
“Call Link. Get a hold of Mack and Tommy. I want eyes on my girl now,” I say to no one and everyone as I storm out of the room.
“Wait, Menace isn’t here? Where is she?” Grim asks as he trails behind me.
“At fight night,” I growl, heading for the stairs. Damn elevator is too slow to waste my time on.
“He let her go?” Grim’s hushed words must be for someone else, but it doesn’t prevent the snarl from forming on my lips as I take the steps two at atime.
“We thought we had the guy. We had Link take her, but he’s not picking up,” Lucky says. I chance a glance back at him, and he nods in sorrow.
Fuck. If Link isn’t picking up, that could mean I lost another brother on my watch. Even if I wanted a presidency after this, Casper will never give it to me. Two brothers killed by the same person? Not a leadership quality to write on a résumé.
“No one’s answering,” Mickey says. “Cell reception might be crap out there or blocked. Or hell, the noise from the fights might drown everything out.”
I clench my hands into fists, then release them. This can’t be a coincidence. He’s making a play for my girl when I’m not there. He took a chance that she would be there unprotected. He thinks he has a shot of getting to her. And he might already have her, but he ain’t going to keep her. Even if I have to blow up the entire state, Viv is coming home with me in the end. No matter how long it takes.
When we get to the bottom floor, I don’t even blink as I head for the front. Got a single-minded plan, and that’s getting my girl and fucking up anyone who gets in my way.
“Hounds,” Bane bellows, and I keep walking. “Menace is in trouble.”
Four words and the whole damn club jumps out of their chairs and follows me. Not a single one asks questions. They all just get on their bikes and let me take lead as we head to save my girl.
We arrive at the abandoned warehouse and fan out. I don’t give a fuck that we’re blocking everyone else who’s here. No one leaves till I get my girl or till I get answers about where she is.
“Spread out. Find me anyone who knows shit. If you find Menace, bring her to me. I don’t care if she’s mid-fight. You get your ass in the ring and drag her out if you have to,” I bark at everyone as I get off my ride and head for the doors.
The bouncer holds his hand up to stop me, but another steps in front of him. “Sir.” I nod to one of the twins from the bar. Not surprised to see him doing a side gig like this.
He opens the door for us, and I walk through as he follows. “We got an issue?”
“Where’s Menace?” Not sure if anyone knows her as Viv here, but everyone knows her stage name.
“She’s going on after this fight. She should be in the staging area.”
“Show me.” I let him take the lead as Mickey, Rooster, and I trail behind.
Just like before, the curtained area is stuck in a corner of the building. But unlike the last fight I came to, this one is twice as packed and covered in more bling than a Cardi B concert. The rich are out in spades, and I’m honestly surprised at the number of people here. Those who went to tryout night were just in it for the bloodlust. This group is in it for the money. I’ve seen casinos less packed. But if there’s at least one mafia king sponsoring a few fighters, I can only imagine who else is sponsoring someone one.
This area is bigger than last time and a bit done up. A few guards who keep the fighters from being hassled by theirfans stand in front of a roped-off area. They must be really stupid if they think it’ll keep someone from breaking through. I mean, we’re talking curtains and rope. Not really a deterrent like actual walls would be.
Of course,Ican get through a wall. I can blow it up and make a hole any size I wish. But not everyone is like me. Hell, most aren’t. Which makes me unique and not someone to mess with when it comes to things I love.
