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Small towns were mostly the same. Everyone knew everyone's business, and when something big happened in town, word got around fast. This was the case today. Pulling up to The Bullseye, the number of people and cars in this part of town was probably triple to what it normally was, which wasn't saying a lot; not many people came down here on your average day. Two police cars, an ambulance, and about fifty people milled about the street, everyone trying to get a look at what was going on inside the seedy little bar at the end of the street. One of the cops was setting up wooden barricades, which wouldn't hold anyone back, but would keep the honest back. Hopefully.
Reaching over, he squeezed her hand. "Hey, I have to go and see what's going on and make sure I get my collar."
Green eyes sought his, her brows slightly furrowed. "Collar?"
"Baby, Bobby Ray is mine. And, the reward doesn't mean that much to me, but it'll help for the foundation, and I want to make sure that piece of shit is off the street."
She twisted in the seat now and looked at him straight on. Her brows raised into her hairline. "Foundation?"
Chuckling, he answered her, "Emmy and I started a foundation for kids affected by violence. We've both seen way too many in our time."
"Wow." She leaned forward, palming his cheek with her right hand. "You're something, Ford Montgomery."
He kissed her nose. "Anyway, please stay here, so you stay safe."
"No. I want to go and see for myself. I want him to see my face when they shove him in the back of a cop car."
"Meg."
"Nope. I deserve this too. You do more, but so do I."
Before he could say another word, she'd opened her door and jumped from the truck. The grin she bestowed on him through the window was pure insolence and sexy. Quickly following her, he stepped down from the vehicle and took her hand in his as he walked them toward the nearest cop. Pulling his ID from his pocket, he showed it to the young cop setting up the barricade. He looked them both over and shook his head. "You'll both need flak jackets to get any closer."
"Stay here," he mumbled to her. Jogging back to his truck, he opened the tailgate and pulled two flak jackets from the carrier bolted to the inside of his truck. He pulled his on as he made his way back to Megan.
Holding it open for her to slide her arms through, he kissed the top of her head as he affixed the Velcro closures, securing it tightly. Glancing at the cop, he got the go ahead nod and taking her hand once again, he pulled her to the cop car nearest the bar. An officer standing next to the car glanced their way, and he flashed his ID once again. "This is your collar? Chief told me to expect you."
"Yes, sir." He glanced toward the bar. "What have you found so far?"
"Nothing." He surveyed the area once again then stopped at the front of the bar. "Yet."
"Dammit." If Bobby Ray was here, he shouldn't be that hard to find. So, either he'd gotten wind of them coming here and took off, or he had a great hiding place. Or, he was being hidden. That was the likely scenario. "I'm going in."
"You can. She can't." The bored looking cop said.
"It's okay. Go. I'll be right here."
Kissing her quickly, he walked to the front door of the bar, held up his ID to the cop inside the door and glanced around the room. Everyone had been cleared from the bar except Bull, who sat looking extremely pissed off at a beat up wooden table in the corner as he was interviewed by another officer. Their eyes met, and Bull’s narrowed. He'd be lying if he said that didn't scare him just a bit. Bull was massive and could probably tear him apart in a nanosecond, so he'd hope they could find Bobby Ray before Bull completely lost it. Walking farther into the bar and down the back hall he'd seen Bull disappear into earlier, he stepped through a door to what appeared to be an office. A large desk sat against the wall littered with papers and debris, a couple dirty glasses and a computer. A young blond man sat at the computer, trying to hack into Bull's system. His fingers brushed over the keys with lightning speed, but he seemed to be struggling a bit.
Leaving him to his work and glancing around the office, he began sifting through papers lying here and there, but nothing seemed to lead him to any drugs or Bobby Ray. Of course, they usually made their deals on the sly. Turning to survey the entire room, he noticed an ugly ass painting of Bull, life sized at that, against the wall next to the desk. On the other side of that stood a metal file cabinet. With the door open, the file cabinet was hidden. The wall next to the door held an old orange sofa, worn with an ass dent in the far end cushion, clearly where Bull spent most of his time here.
Ducking out of the room, he wandered farther down the hall to another room where an officer was moving cases of booze away from the wall looking for a secret passageway.
"This place have a basement?"
"No, sir. We weren't able to find one."
Taking a closer look at the walls, they looked solid. He rapped his knuckles against the outside wall, and the hollow sound raised his eyebrows. The dark-haired officer moving boxes—his badge said James—stopped and stared at him, his brow raised as well.
Rapping on the wall again in a different spot, it again sounded hollow. Officer James held up a finger and stepped out of the room. Ford followed him to the back door where they both exited and turned to examine the building. From where they stood, estimating the depth of the room, it appeared there was an additional narrow room built on to the outside of the building. The officer walked around to the side and came back. "No door."
Tilting his head up to see if there was a second level or window, they saw nothing but siding.
Heading back to the room, he examined the wall that he'd originally thought was an outside wall. Pushing on the wall to see if it moved, they were both disappointed to find nothing budged, not even a small flex.
Walking back to the office, which was just the next room down, he began tapping on the wall. The officer followed him and started moving chairs away from the wall.
"Hang on, James. So, if there were a false wall, it would be for a purpose. So, entry and exit would have to be easy to get to but still hidden. Where is that here?"
