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“Yes, Crash. I’m fine now. Go on and go.”
He nodded. “All right.” He wasn’t sure why he did it, but he found his hand raising, and the back of his knuckles brushed her cheek. “Come on. I’ll send the elevator back up. You need to lock it in place.”
She nodded, and he stepped away.
She followed him to the elevator. He paused before he stepped on. “You call me if there are any problems, yeah?”
“I will.”
His hand hooked the base of her neck, and pulling her close, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. When he pulled back, he instructed, “You need me, you call. I mean it.”
She nodded, looking a little flustered by the kiss.
He stepped into the elevator and slammed the gate. Leaning back against the bar, he threw the lever and began descending. His eyes remained on her until she was out of sight.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Crash pulled up at the clubhouse. It was an old brick two-story manufacturing plant at the end of a dead-end street back in an industrial park. It was surrounded by a parking lot and a chain-link fence and backed up to a set of railroad tracks.
Throwing his kickstand down, Crash threw his leg over, dismounting. There were about a dozen bikes in the lot. Cole and Red Dog were outside smoking when he approached the door. There was a big sign over the door with the Evil Dead emblem, the Angel of Death.
His eyes connected with Cole’s. “Everyone here?”
Cole tossed his cigarette. “Just waiting on you.”
The three of them headed inside. They walked through the open area which contained a couple of pool tables off to the left and a bar off to the right. The floors were concrete and the ceilings high with multi-paned grimy windows up high in the brick walls. Exposed iron beams ran across the ceiling. A metal staircase off to the left led to a second floor where the old factory offices had been. Under the second level was a conference room they used for club meetings. It still held the original conference table and chairs. Back beyond that were some restrooms and a hall that led back to the large manufacturing floor.
Crash followed Cole and Red Dog into the conference room, stopping to toss their cell phones into a plastic tub held by one of their prospects. Mack was at the head of the table, smoking a cigar. The rest of his brothers were gathered around. Cole shut the door and moved to take his seat to Mack’s left. Crash and Red Dog pulled out chairs and sat.
An hour later, they’d come up with a strategy for dealing with Artie Gorman and on how to give Sonny a hand with keeping his new girls safe. He’d taken on five of Artie’s former employees, including one bartender. They’d decided to take shifts escorting the girls to and from work, since the attack had taken place in the parking lot outside the girl’s apartment.
Wolf was the lucky one in charge of that detail, along with two prospects.
The beaten girl had been unable to identify her attacker. She’d said she’d never seen him before and couldn’t connect him to the Queen of Hearts, but Mack and Cole were sure Artie was behind it. They’d decided another visit was in order. Artie had made his first payment, after a little persuasion, but that didn’t mean he liked it or didn’t hold a grudge.
They’d made a plan for a visit tonight, after the place was closed. Which meant he’d be leaving Shannon alone again. This time at night. He thought about sending a prospect to watch over her, but he wasn’t sure she’d be comfortable with a strange guy staying with her.
The meeting concluded, and the guys all walked over to the bar for a drink. Cole moved next to him. Crystal, who was manning the bar slid them each a bottle of beer. Crash twisted the cap off and threw it at her with a grin. She caught it in mid-air and tossed it into the trash. Crash cracked a smile as he tipped the bottle up, taking a long pull.
Red Dog sat down next to Crash and smiled. Crash looked over at him and did a double take. He hadn’t noticed till just then, two of Dogs teeth were missing. Crash teased him, “At first, I thought you’d lost weight, but then I realized, no, it was just teeth.”
“Ha. Ha. You look like shit,” Dog replied.
“That’s very funny, coming from a jack-o-lantern,” Crash fired back.
Red Dog waited a moment, and when Crash didn’t make any further comments, he asked, “You ain’t even curious?”
“Curiosity is a vice. It’s one of the few I don’t have,” Crash replied.
“Go on,” Cole encouraged. “Ask him what the hell happened.”
“All right, I’ll bite. What happened?”
Just then a new girl walked up, her hands running up and down Dog’s back. Obviously, they had something going on. Red Dog looked over his shoulder. “Beat it, darlin’.”
She pouted and walked off.
Red Dog watched her ass as she sauntered away. Then he turned back to the guys with a grin and said, “She’s like a high-performance vacuum.”
