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“Have you gone through everything?”
“There’s a panic room and a safe back here. We can’t enter the room or open the safe.”
Ash looked at me. “Do you have the combination and the key?”
“Of course I do,” I told him. “Follow me.”
Situated at the back of the office was a panic room that had a concealed entrance to our armoury. Both rooms had biometrics, but I wouldn’t be showing Ash the secret room. After we found the drugs, Erik had our weapons cache moved to another location until everything died down. There was a chance that someone with intelligence and skill, such as I was confident Ash had, would be able to discover the concealed area.
I walked over to the back wall and used the dial on the safe to put in the combination. When it clicked, I opened the safe and allowed them to search it. There were a few stacks of cash, which, since we ran a bar, wasn’t inappropriate.
“Do you know how much money is in here?” Ash asked.
“I haven’t counted it lately, and it’s not part of my job description.”
“Where did the money come from?”
“Proceeds from liquor sales.”
“Right,” he responded. “Show me the panic room.”
A couple of steps to the right, there was an electronic keypad. They opened the door after I entered the code and used my prints, then Ash and another officer went inside and looked through the sparse room. I made my way back to the bar and left them all to their own devices. Thirty minutes passed, and they all emerged from the office, their hands empty and disappointed. After I was sure they had vacated the area, I left Gunner to handle things while I proceeded to the hospital to check on Brandt’s condition.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
HARLEIGH
By the timeI finished explaining everything that had happened, Erik looked about ready to blow a gasket. The shit had hit the proverbial fan in a big way, and now everyone scrambled to get everything into place to keep our brothers and their families safe. This evening, a team of cleaners will be going through all the vacated rooms, and we have a few people assigned to taking care of the furniture. Whatever we needed for the duration of their stay would need to be delivered and set up by the time Erik gave us the go ahead.
Unfortunately for us, the fire would be a bit of a setback.
It was going to provide us with a good explanation for why we needed to keep the bar closed down indefinitely.
Especially in times like these.
The building provided us with enough space for our members and their families to be under one roof. During our discussion, Erik informed me that we might not go with the original plan because of the fire, drugs and the search warrant. It would be a risk to have us centralized in one place, even though it would be easier for us to monitor everyone. Security was of the utmost importance. There were going to be some downsides to this new arrangement, though.
Being in such close quarters was going to be difficult for me.
Especially with Hunter looking at me the way he did, Dimitri just down the hall, and Brax wanting to see me. But before I could think about any of that, I needed to focus on who went after Brandt. It didn’t matter that I was the youngest of the crew. I could avenge whatever harm had come to them.
First, I had to ask him what happened. So while everyone was out doing what they needed to do, I was in his room. Dimitri was out wandering the halls, waiting for me to be ready to leave. It wasn’t anything new for me since they’d been shadowing me from the moment I returned from Granville. There was just a lot more at stake now.
So, knowing he was out in the halls, I dragged a chair next to Brandt’s bed and waited.
And then waited some more.
Seeing him pale as a ghost and all hooked up to machines was hard. All the while, so many things flowed through my mind. Brandt had never wanted to step away from the family, but he wanted to do his own thing. We all knew the life we lived was dangerous, and that this could be waiting around every corner for us.
But the last person I expected to be lying in a hospital bed was Bear.
Growing up, he was my protector. I gave him his nickname when I first came to Sandstone after the death of my mother. He just reminded me of this great big teddy bear. In the evenings, when he looked after me, he could barely fit in the bed when he read books to get me to sleep.
Once the rest of the guys knew it, the name stuck.
Even after he stepped back from the life. He had his gym and now he had his daughter to look after. It was too dangerous for him to risk everything. And now, one of the least involved members of our club was lying in a hospital bed. It would be a long road to recovery. They had already made plans for him and his daughter to stay with Ana and the kids while he recuperated.
After the second nurse came to check on his progress, Brandt’s eyes finally fluttered open.
