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“Morning, sunshine,” she mocked me. “No, he wasn’t.”
“Well, I had heard he’s there often, so I thought I’d check.”
“That’s right, your little brother has an addiction to my strippers, and yeah, he’s normally here most nights pissing away the good Gates’ money. But he wasn’t last night.”
“I didn’t know that. I’ll put a stop to it.”
“Hey, I’m not complainin’, sugar pie. I mean, it’s not like I’m not putting the money right back into your pocket, but he does tie up my rooms. Him and his pals can kinda put the kibosh on any new clientele getting in to have some fun.”
“Understood. Thank you for telling me.”
“Grim.”
“Yeah.”
“If he isn’t here, maybe he’s with Calli. Lord knows you Gates men like your Tame women.” She laughed at her inside joke, and I licked my teeth. I hated that more and more people were privy to my personal life.
“I’ll check there. Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
As the phone disconnected, I turned to my brother. “He wasn’t at Minnie’s, but she thinks he was at Calli’s instead.”
“Of course, he was.” Leo held up a hand. “This is my mess. Let me deal with it.”
We walked back out into the lobby, and at that moment Jesse saw us and rushed toward us. I knew something was up. I could feel something shift inside; something dark was circling.
“You go deal with Knox, but keep me in the loop.” I pointed with my head, and he hurried off as Jesse reached me. “What’s going on?”
“I got in touch with Tupot’s people, found out where he’s staying, and paid him a visit. Turns out the guy has a lot to say, especially when he thought I had his daughter in my truck.”
“Makes it easier when they’ve got kids.”
“It really is.” Jesse grinned. “So, while Tupot’s daughter enjoyed an ice cream with Tess, he sang like a bird and gave us some names. Also says he can tell us what’s happenin’ with your hotel. Let’s just say you have an invite to join Trig at your usual spot in the desert.”
“Excellent.” We slipped into the town car and got to work on a plan.
By the time we arrived at the rendezvous, Trigger had our vision created. Officers and pilots were paid good money to look the other way, so we had no fear of prying eyes.
“He really is resourceful, isn’t he?” Jesse admired the Devil’s Reach handiwork.
Rail gave me a breakdown of how it all worked. Impressed, I nodded at him, and tucked away the knowledge never to underestimate his creativity in all things wicked.
“All you need to do is light this.”
“Impressive.”
“Oh, I know.” He puffed on a cigarette. “It’s fuckin’ awesome.” He urged me to take the lighter as he waved at Trigger to join us.
“You ready to do this?” Trig asked with a grin.
“More than ready.” I grinned back.
“Do we want just midnight black or midnight black with blood red stitching?” Cartwright held up two pressed jackets. He understood my theatrical side and encouraged it.
“Let’s do blood red stitching.” I switched jackets and ran two hands through my hair as excitement built.
I nodded at Brick and Morgan, who opened up the back of their van and dragged out the three bound men. They grunted and fought as they were dumped in the center of the circle.
