The club was growing in numbers, especially with four new prospects that would soon be getting their rockers, and before long, it would be the next generation who would be stepping up to the plate. It was definitely something the club was going to need to discuss.
Later.
“There’s a number of things on our agenda today, but first and foremost, we have more information on what Pike gave us,” Ghost told the crowded table.
He gestured to Keys and Rose, who wore her newNon Crascut her sister, Poison, had given her. Keys might have claimed Rose as his ol’ lady, but it was that cut that allowed Rose into Church meetings. As sibling clubs, theVia Daemoniaand theNon Crasshared many ties, including both clubs utilizing both techs interchangeably. Really, there was no point in keeping Rose out when there was absolutely no expectation that she wasn’t listening in anyway. From Ghost’s perspective, why cause a fuss when there didn’t need to be one? Their son, Oscar, was either with one of the Riley brothers under Keys’ employment or with one of the other ol’ ladies.
Keys pushed his glasses up his nose before he spoke. “Over the past two days, we’ve been digging more into Cody Pike’s life. He doesn’t have a record or any history with drugs, but he used to work for an accounting firm in Cottonville.” Which was a medium-sized town halfway between Mount Grove and Pittsburgh.
“He was fired from the accounting firm years ago after it was discovered he was embezzling money. He was arrested for the crimes, but never charged,” Rose said, easily picking up where Keys left off. “The evidence was there, yet the jury declared him not guilty.”
“We spoke to Toni,” Keys continued. “I left out the names and dates on the case, but based on her assessment of the records, she suspects jury tampering. Someone either paid off the jury or intimidated them into delivering a not guilty verdict. She said that it’s more complicated and expensive than getting a judge to declare a mistrial, but it also prevents the prosecution from being able to refile charges and try the defendant again.”
“This was not a high profile case, which confused us greatly.” Rose’s expression said she was not happy about that fact. “Based on the backgrounds of some of the jurors, we think they were offered drugs or money in exchange for delivering a not guilty verdict, and the rest followed suit. Which begged the question why someone would go through that much trouble just to get someone like Cody Pike off scot-free.”
Keys squeezed Rose’s hand on the table. “Then we looked into his clients more, the people he’d embezzled from. One of them is a shell corporation we linked to the Irish mob.”
Everyone at the table stiffened, the club having recently taken down a low-level family in Philadelphia who’d been responsible for Melanie’s murder.
“Different syndicate,” Keys quickly assured them. “We’ve been keeping an eye on the surviving sons of Kelly Gavigan, and to the best of our knowledge, they have no link to the Irish mob in Pittsburgh.”
“But thanks to Keys’ recent dive into the Gavigan business, we have a good understanding of how the Irish mob shifts their money around,” Rose told them. “And we were able to follow that trail back to Cody Pike.”
“So he’s not just some lowly drug dealer,” Ranger summarized.
“We don’t think he deals at all,” Keys clarified. “We think he’s the accountant.”
“Last time I checked, accountants don’t generally go around chopping off fingers and breaking into houses,” Demo, a CPA, drawled.
“And you lost three fingers playing with calculators?” Bear quipped.
Demo held up his remaining middle finger, having lost the other one when he was working for the Air Force’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit.
“All this happened thirteen-ish years ago,” Rose informed them. “The embezzling, the mistrial… The drug industry has changed a lot since then, and from what we could gather?—”
“With a number of assumptions,” Keys hastily added.
Rose nodded to her man as she continued her sentence. “—the mob started using Pike to collect debts, too. Possibly as recompense for getting him free of the charges.”
Bulldog spoke up then. “Scar, Starbucks, Jigsaw, and I tore apart Pike’s house. Even used Apollo,”—Artemis, one of the club’s prospects and Cage’s niece, was former Coast Guard and Apollo was her working dog who retired with her—“to help search his house. We found no trace of drugs.”
“Yet there was over half a mil cash stashed around his house,” Demo reminded them.
“Where is that money now?” Ghost asked Demo.
“It wouldn’t fit in the safe in either of our offices. Scar took it, so your guess is as good as mine.”
Every eye in the room turned to Scar, who was holding up the back wall with his shoulder. The silent man stared every one of them down, not budging an inch.
“Well, that’s as safe as it’s going to get,” Pumpkin retorted.
Pirate gave Scar a good once-over. “How much you want to bet he poured it all into a bathtub for him and Tally to have kinky sex in?”
A four-point ninja star landed in the table between Pirate’s middle and ring fingers. Pirate jumped, nearly toppling his chair over in surprise.
Next to him, Cage helped right Pirate’s chair. “The last person who said anything about Tally got scalped. Be grateful you didn’t lose another limb, brother.”
“I was kidding!” Pirate argued, pulling the star from the table. Based on his expression, it took more effort than he’d anticipated. He tossed the metal star onto the center of the tableover the club’s logo. “But I owe you Sophia’s life, so I’m going to be the bigger person and apologize for insinuating that you have kinky bathtub sex with Tally.”
