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“No, Gracie. It has to be now.”
“But…”
Hawk turned to Trigger. “You cover the front door. No one comes or goes.”
“On it, VP.”
Hawk took my hand, but I locked my knees, refusing to be moved. They could have this meeting without me and catch me up later. I needed to make sure nothing else happened. Looking down at my stubborn face, Hawk growled something under his breath and turned to my grandfather. “Uncle Jack, eyes on that motherfucker Bates.”
“I’ve got this, boy. You just go deal with Jenks.”
“Hawk—” I began, ready to argue my point further, but he shot me a look that told me I could walk or be carried.
Clenching my jaw, I pulled my hand free of his and walked into the clubhouse behind Jenkins. I followed him up to Bash’s office, while Hawk went to get the MC’s president. Closing the door behind us, I turned to my boss. “What’s this about?”
“I don’t want to have to tell it twice, Gracie. Let’s wait for the other two, okay?”
My brows lifted toward the ceiling. Jenkins never hesitated to tell me anything. He knew I would need to know eventually anyway, so there was no use in keeping it from me. But now that we were alone, I saw just how stressed my boss was. His face was drawn and pale, his eyes full of exhaustion. He wasn’t just the MC’s lawyer, but also a private investigator when needed. When he retired, I was really going to have my work cut out for me where they were concerned.
The office door opened, and Hawk and Bash entered a minute later. On a good day, Bash looked intimidating and scary. Today, after having just lost his cousin and MC brother, after having his kids screaming because they were frightened, Bash Reid looked absolutely terrifying. His electric-blue eyes were full of dark energy that could have easily lit up the entire building.
Hawk closed and leaned back against the door while Bash crossed to his desk and leaned back against the front of it. “What’s going on, Jenks?”
“A few things, actually.” Jenkins motioned for me to sit down, and begrudgingly, I sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. “One, Bubbles was spotted outside Creswell Springs last night.”
“Fucking cunt,” Bash snarled. “Where is she? I want her brought to me, right the fuck now.”
The old lawyer lifted his hands, urging Bash to calm down. “I know your reasons for wanting to get your hands on her. Just shut up now, so I don’t know what you plan to do with her. I can’t defend you if I know your part in it.”
“Where is she, Jenks?” Bash roared.
But the old man didn’t even flinch, too used to the mood swings of his best clients. “Last night, she was at the motel just off the interstate. But when I went to follow up on the lead I’d been given, she had already bailed again.”
“That fucking bitch could be working with Santino,” Hawk growled, shifting with agitation. Heck, even I wanted to take a few swings at Bubbles. She had nearly made Raven miscarry Max, dang it. “She didn’t have any qualms about teaming up with Samson to burn down my bar and hurt Raven. Those goddamn Italians have a bigger bank account. The greedy cunt wouldn’t think twice about getting involved in their vendetta against us.”
“That’s one possibility,” Jenkins said with a nod. “But I have another theory. One substantiated by something else that has come to my attention this morning.”
“Spill it, old man,” Bash commanded.
“How well do you know Kelli Murdock?”
That had us all blinking at him in confusion. I didn’t know much about Colt’s girlfriend other than she worked at Paradise City and was Quinn’s roommate. The other woman tended to keep to herself, but I’d liked what I did know about her. While she was closed off, she didn’t seem fake to me.
“What does she have to do with any of this?” I asked, because I seriously couldn’t fit her into any of the crap that had taken place today.
“I recently did a background check on her. Don’t ask me why, I can’t really explain it to myself, let alone you. But I saw her going into the DA’s office last week, and something just didn’t feel right. When I got the report back on her, I realized my instincts are still pretty spot-on. She’s the daughter of one of Senator Samson’s mistresses.”
“Are you telling me that Samson had a hand in the bombing?” Bash questioned, his voice deceptively soft, which had all the fine hairs on my body standing on end. Bash shouting was scary, but when he got quiet like this, even Raven took notice. Hawk took a few cautious steps in my direction, putting himself between his brother-in-law and me.
“No, boy. I’m fairly sure that was solely a hit from the Italians, as you’ve said. What I’m saying is, Bubbles worked with the son, so why not the father? When I asked around this morning, I was told Bubbles only had one visitor.”
“Kelli,” I guessed, my stomach churning all over again.
“Kelli,” Jenkins confirmed.
Bash’s gaze shot to Hawk. “Is she here?”
“I haven’t seen her, but I wasn’t exactly looking.” He tilted his head back, glaring at the ceiling as he gritted his teeth for a moment. “Fuck!”
