“Shit, I’d like to know what the hell her mama was thinking. Who names a baby something like that? It’s like she was literally born to be a stripper,” Irish muttered disgustedly.I’d been surprised to learn that it wasn’t a stage name myself when we’d done the original background check on her, but we had better things to talk about than her mother’s questionable choice of names.
Bull ignored our treasurer’s grumbling and chose to answer Trick’s question instead.
“Well, she is pretty stupid, as far as I remember, so she probably wasn’t thinking at all. From everything I’ve seen online, The Velvet Boudoir is a pretty high-class place for a titty bar. It’s not one of those shitty dives that pays the dancers cash off-the-books. I’m imagine they do things legally there, like we do, so she had to show ID, give her social security number, fill out tax forms, the whole bit. Plus, she did have quite a following here in Indy, so her name might help draw a crowd. If I had to guess, she’s probably making bank with this gig, though, so it was worth the risk to potentially expose her location.”
“Any signs of Pic in that area?” Cowboy asked, saving me the trouble.
“Nope, none that I can find so far.” I knew from his tone that Bull was pissed off that he didn’t have any new leads on Pic. But it was a safe bet that wherever Cyn was, Pic was right there with her.
“Missouri, huh? Do you suppose they’re making their way back to Indy?”
Trick shook his head at Irish’s question.
“Pic’s a motherfucking fool if he is. Between us and his in-laws, he’d have to have a death wish to come back.” Since the wife Pic cheated on was the former Lola Rossi, Trick was right.
Luca Rossi had never been a big fan of his cousin’s husband, even before Pic cleaned out their personal bankaccounts and left Lola and their three kids high and dry, in favor of life on the run with his stripper girlfriend. When Lola had confessed that Pic had given her a black eye and bruised ribs during their last argument, it had been a toss-up as to who wanted to kill him the most, me or Luca. He’d agreed to back off only at Lola’s request. She worried that someday their kids would find out that their dad had been killed by another member of their family. Our MC wasn’t under the same restriction, though, so Pic was fair game for us.
“Well, I’ll find out soon enough,” I ground out, already running through a list in my mind of the steps I needed to take before I could hit the road.
“You’re heading to Missouri this afternoon?” At my nod, Trick asked another question. “I’m going with you this time?” He hadn’t been happy when I’d gone to Colorado on my own the last time, but we’d had a big underground fight coming up shortly after I’d left, and Trick was needed to oversee everything ran smoothly. We didn’t need to fuck up and end up on the wrong side of La Famiglia Rossi, that was for damned sure. Besides, this was personal for me. I’d sponsored Pic for entry into the MC, and that prick had repaid me by betraying the club. There was no need for anyone else to go down if I slipped up and got caught.
“No. I’ve got this,” I grunted.
“Prez, with all due respect, that’s a shitty idea. You need backup in case things go south, and as sergeant-at-arms, it should be me.“
“That’s exactly why I want to do this alone. Nobody else needs to get fucked over because of decisions I make and actions I take.”
I raised my hand to stop him when he started to object again. Before I could say anything else, Cowboy spoke up to side with Trick.
“He’s right, King. I get where you’re comin’ from, but we all know the risks involved, and we’re all ready to take those risks. You need someone there to watch your back. If nothin’ else, you need a second set of eyes on the situation. You’ve got to sleep sometime, brother. You need someone with you to trade off with.”
I glared at my best friend and VP, pissed off that he was calling me out, but even more pissed off that he was right. I heaved a sigh, running my hands through my hair in aggravation, then pinned Trick with a look.
“Are you sure you’re willing to do this? When I find Pic, things are gonna get fuckin’ ugly as hell,” I warned. “I’m not just giving him a beatdown and cutting off his club tat. When I find him, he’s a dead man,” I vowed.
“As he should be, Prez. Club justice.” Trick’s gaze was steady as he agreed with me. “It’s my sworn duty to enforce the rules of the club, and I’m more than willing to carry out that duty. In fact, where Pic’s concerned, I’d say I’m fuckin’ eager to do it.”
“Fine. You’ll go with me on this run. Cowboy, can you get Joker or Buck to help you cover the gym?” He nodded, so I moved on to my next bombshell.
“I want to keep this information among the five of us this time. Nobody else is to know we’re out of town. Nobody,” I stressed.
Only Bull and Cowboy knew of my suspicions. Cowboy, because he was my VP, as well as being my oldest and best friend. Bull was brought into the loop because I needed him tosweep the clubhouse for bugs and hidden cameras. He hadn’t found any, which was a relief. Predictably, Irish and Trick didn’t react well to the news.
Trick’s jaw clenched as he realized what I was saying. “You think we’ve got a leak in the club?”
“Fuckin’ hell,” Irish snarled, then pounded his fist on the table.
I sighed and brought my hand up to squeeze my neck to try to relieve some of the tension gathering there.
“I hope the fuck not, but Pic managed to stay one step ahead of me the whole time I was tracking him in Colorado. The man isn’t that damned smart, and I don’t buy that it was a coincidence. Besides, if we find him, we need to make sure we have an alibi. As far as anyone else knows, our asses were here in town the whole time. If nobody knows that we’re out of town, then nobody has to lie for us if they get questioned, got it?” I looked at the four men sitting around the table with me and got a solemn nod from each one before I continued outlining the scenario I’d come up with on the drive here.
“If any of the brothers ask, tell them I have the flu and you’re running the show until I’m better. Trick, you got the flu, too, and you’re staying in the spare room at my place, so you don’t infect the whole damned clubhouse.”
Trick sniffled, then faked a cough and groaned like he was dying, which broke up the tension in the room for a minute.
“Now, I don’t want to leave any kind of a paper trail. Bull, get a couple of the burner phones ready for us to use. Irish, get me some cash from the safe. Twenty-thousand ought to do it, in case we need to grease a few palms along the way. Trick, you go back a small bag, but be discreet about it. I’d like to be on the road within the next thirty minutes. We’ll take the club’struck, since it isn’t equipped with any kind of GPS system that can be traced. Irish, after you grab the cash, can you make sure it’s gassed up? Check the oil and tire pressure on it, too. The last fuckin’ thing we need is to break down at the side of the road in some podunk town in Missouri.”
They all immediately got up and left the room to do as I’d instructed, leaving me alone with Cowboy. I glanced at my best friend, knowing I could be completely honest with him.
