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“When I left for the hospital, he was watching Ava Rose and hunched over a computer,” Thomas offered with a shrug. “Don’t know what it was about, though.”
I nodded my appreciation. “Goddammit, he’s going to make me beat his scrawny ass.”
“I’ll talk to him,” Terry offered.
“Thanks.” The last thing the family needed now was internal fighting, so I decided to let Terry talk some sense into my brother before I beat some sense into him. “And Virgil?”
Terry grinned. “Virgil is with Emmett and Nessa, talking with some of those ex-military guys in search of more security we can trust.”
Terry’s words surprised me, but I was also pleased Virgil was taking the initiative because there was already too much shit on my plate and none of it had moved as another week passed. “Good.”
We finished our food in silence, and Thomas, ever the fucking gentleman, dabbed his mouth with a napkin and covered his empty plate with a sigh. “There is something else, Jasper.”
“Yeah?” Every time someone came to me, it was more shit piled on top of the already sky-high shit pile. “What is it?”
“A few of the Green Zone residents have come into Lucky Lopez with…information. It’s nothing beneficial, at least not as far as I can tell, but I promised to pass the news along.” He opened his crisp gray jacket and pulled out a few sheets of torn notebook paper, dropping it in the middle of the table.
I yanked the pages up and scanned them quickly, handing each sheet to Terry as I finished with it.
“A guy in a hoodie? That could be frat boy tourists looking for Lucky Lopez or any teenager in a hundred-mile radius.” It was less than helpful; it was fucking useless.
“But there are a lot of similarities. Designer or fancy or expensive sneakers. Not pricey basketball sneakers, but designer.”
Thomas let his gaze fix on me, waiting for me to respond. “The guy tried to blend in with the hoodie and the jeans, Jasper, but his shoes gave him away to the locals.”
“He was trying to hide but didn’t do a good job,” Terry said and dropped the papers. “Probably not a pro.”
“And on the third page, Edna Mayfield said she heard someone trying to get on the roof of her building after midnight.”
“Who’s Edna Mayfield?”
Thomas sighed. “A sixty-three-year-old woman who lives in the building two buildings down from Lucky Lopez. She stayed up late to come into the club and tell me what she heard.”
“I want to talk to her.”
Thomas nodded. “Her address is below her name. She works at the daycare until four-thirty.”
“Good job. Thanks.” I turned to Terry. “Talk to all of these people and see what you can get from them.” If they wouldn’t talk to us, I’d have Jameson chat with them.
“I’m going to go sit with Sadie in case she wakes up,” Thomas said before he got up and threw a few bills on the table.
“Thanks, Thomas, let me know if you hear anything. I’ll be over there shortly.”
Chapter Six
Mo
Some days my shifts at Midnight Mass passed in a blur. Mostly when there was a big playoff game, football, basketball, or whatever these sports fanatics watched. Days like today, ten hours felt like forty, and I couldn’t stop watching the clock, which only made every minute pass by even slower.
With fifteen minutes left and a lull before the evening customers started to leave, I got busy with my end-of-shift duties that included refilling condiments, rolling silverware into the freshly washed linen napkins, and placing water glasses on each table. It was mindless work that I fucking hated, but it was part of the job. And I liked my job. Most days, anyway.
“Hey, Mo. A minute?” Jasper’s barked command startled me at first, but I nodded and waited for him to approach, watching his big body move with the grace of a panther.
Why, oh why did he have to be so fucking gorgeous? “What’s up, Boss?” Even if deep in my heart, I secretly wished he was here to apologize for dismissing me—again—I knew Jasper well enough to know that wasn’t it. So I kept rolling silverware while I waited for him to speak.
“I need you to work the late shift at Lucky Lopez’s tonight.”
Work. He wanted to talk about work. “I’m at the ass-end of a ten-hour shift.”
“I know, but Thomas hired a bunch of new girls, college girls, and I don’t know them and don’t trust them. I need someone working that I know I can trust.”
My heart surged against my chest at having Jasper’s trust, even though I knew he meant it professionally. Still, it made me feel like I was a part of Jasper’s life, his inner circle, and not just an employee. But this wasn’t about me or Jasper. Lucky Lopez had been Sadie’s special project for months. I loved and respected her too much to let some untrustworthy bitches ruin it.
