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“Have you had any strangers in town asking questions about Kurtis Black?”
“No.” They’d had a couple of Phantom Furies testing the waters by sneaking into town, trying to provoke the brothers into doing something stupid. Race had a feeling things with the Phantoms were just heating up. He rubbed at his tired eyes with the heels of his hands. His head jerked back as a thought crossed his mind. “I haven’t seen anyone, but I got a note in the mail at the clubhouse addressed specifically to me that saidTick Tock. I thought it was odd and was going to see if whoever sent it made another move, but now that you’re asking about Kurtis Black, it makes me wonder if the note came from someone connected to him.” He got up and retrieved something from a drawer in the corner. “I found this on my doorstep today. From what you’re saying, it’s starting to make sense.”
Preacher sat straighter as he pulled the black note out of the small white envelope. In white lettering it saidFor K. “Ah. Clever. For Kurtis Black.”
“Huh?” Race didn’t get it. “It says for K. Where are you getting that it means Kurtis Black?”
“K on a black background. K for Kurtis. The black card for Black.” Preacher spelled it out for him. “How long ago did you get the first one?”
“Maybe three or four weeks.”
“Damn. He’s been around longer that I thought.” Preacher ran a hand over his jaw and flinched. “And he addressed it to you specifically?”
“Yes.”
Preacher grunted. “He’s had an awful lot of time to watch your club. Learn your routines. Learn who’s associated with each of you.”
“Fuck.” Race didn’t like the sound of that. With things with the Phantoms now in the mix, the last thing he needed was someone connected to Kurtis Black causing trouble with the club.
“Hmm. My guys cleaned the warehouse where we found the women very well. They would never leave any evidence behind that would connect you or me to what went down and no one got away.” He appeared to be thinking out loud. Race sat back and let him work through it.
When nothing further was forthcoming, Race asked, “Who are we dealing with here?”
“The man Kurtis Black was working for is a man by the name of Jacob Jacobson. He is very rich, very powerful and very connected. He is known in certain circles as one of the best human traffickers in the world. Different law agencies have all taken shots at trying to take him down, but the bastard is slippery. Nothing is ever linked back to him. The fucker is damn near untouchable.”
“You say damn near untouchable. What’s that mean?” Race leaned forward, resting his arms on the table.
“It means, he fucked with me by taking one of my men’s sister. It is now my personal mission to take his ass out. One way or the other. I don’t care who his connections are.” The deadly look in Preacher’s eyes showed exactly how badly he wanted this man.
“Do you think the note I got was from Jacobson?” Race hoped not. He thought everything to do with Kurtis Black was over. For good.
“That would be my guess. I would also guess he’s the kind of man that is going to toy with you before he strikes.”
“Well fuck. It looks like he knows where I live since he dropped this on my doorstep.” He poured himself a little more whiskey. “If your guys are so good at cleaning up messes, how would Jacobson link me with Black? I mean, there wasn’t that much time between calling the police and them arriving.”
“Think about it. Kurtis was infatuated with the woman of one of your men. I’m sure Kurtis would have told his boss where he was going to be working out of and maybe he mentioned this woman to Jacobson at some point in their association. He’d put two and two together and start his search in Redemption. He’d look into the woman’s background, including her family, her man and anyone she associated with.” Preacher paused, then pointed at Race. “Your club.”
“Well shit.” Things just got a lot more serious. He’d need to give the club a heads up.
“You guys need to be careful. I’ve been doing my own investigation into Jacob Jacobson and he is a very bad man. The things he does to people who cross him are unbelievable.” Preacher’s intense gaze drilled into Race. “Promise me you will keep watch over my sister. I can send a couple of my men, but she gets really pissy when I do. Plus, I’m afraid it will draw undue attention to her.”
“Yes. We’ll watch out for your sister.”
Preacher slowly stood from his chair. “Thank you. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go suck up to my sister. She holds a mean grudge when she wants to.”
Race locked the door after he slipped out, then watched his progress toward Bellamy’s. Sure enough, he had a key and quickly let himself inside.
What exactly did Preacher mean about Bellamy holding a mean grudge?
* * *
The next dayRace called a quick meeting at the clubhouse. The sooner he told them that Kurtis Black was still fucking with their lives all the way from Mexico, the better. He waited for everyone to file in and find a seat before he started their meeting.
“First off, I need to know if we have an opening date for Ink Envy, Chris?”
“Two weeks,” Chris shared with everyone.
“Sounds good.” Race dipped his head in quiet approval. “How’s construction going?”
