Page 22 of Psycho

“Let’s not kid ourselves, Jake,” I said, using his real name. “It wasn’t a pack or a club.” I used air quotes. “It was a fucking gang. We’re all lucky we didn’t end up in prison or dead.”

“Jim and Shawn almost did.” Trigger shook his head, remembering how his eldest brother, named after his dad, along with my brother, almost caught a case for murder but we’d paid a vampire to hypnotize the authorities, throwing out the case. “I guess the vampires are good for something.”

Yes, they were. Viper and his crew were cool. We’d never had any problems with them. That didn’t mean we wouldn’t in the future, though.

“What do we do about that?” He jutted his chin at the letter.

“Burn it. I don’t take lightly to threats, but I’m also not scared of them. They can fuck right off with this shit.” I picked up the letter and flicked it into the trash can. If the receptacle hadn’t been made of plastic, I would have pulled out my lighter and tossed it into the trash with it.

Trigger stared hard at me. “Something tells me this isn’t the end of this.”

I blew out a breath. “You’re right, but at this point, we have bigger fish to fry. Or should I say—bigger vampires. We ride at sunset to Biloxi to check out that shark club Nera mentioned. Wizard’s working up a sketch as we speak. The fucker shouldn’t be too hard to spot.”

“Nice.” He grinned. “Hey, I just had an idea. Should we bring Charlie along? As bait?”

That was a great idea. Charlie was gorgeous, but she was human. If he did something to her, she couldn’t defend herself. Then, I got an idea.

“Actually, yes. Have Wizard put a tracker on her. We’ll be watching, but… just in case.”

A smile lit up his face, his dark blond scruff glinting in the light from the window in this attic office. With his light-blue eyes dancing in amusement, he said, “On it!”

I had no doubt that after he passed the info onto Wizard, that he was going to go to his personal armory and pick out a few weapons to take with him.

I glanced down at the letter in the trash can. Who the hell did Scar think he was, threatening me like that? After this business in Biloxi, I was going to handle that shit.

Fuck you, Uncle Jimmy.

My fist clenched opened and closed as I stared at the Shark Bait sign gleaming in blue and white outside an old wooden building hosting the nightclub. I saw the appeal for the military who frequented the place. It looked rustic, nautical, and comfortable, but they could do with some serious upgrades.

I tried to picture Nera walking in here, dressed in those tight blue jeans and the sparkly silver top we’d found her in, ready to party and have fun. Wizard had easily located information on this Amanda person she was supposedly here from Tampa to help celebrate with, and came up with nothing exciting. Born and raised in Tampa, joined the Navy right out of high school, moved around, then landed in Biloxi for a promotion—the one Nera had been celebrating with her that fateful night.

I was almost certain this was mostly a human bar for military folk to unwind. Trigger took the lead. I followed after him, and Wizard, Menace, and Chaos followed behind. We’d left our cuts in the cager and were dressed in plain tees and jeans, trying to fit in. It killed me to look so mundane, but I had an agenda.

Wizard had left his precious iPad in the car and was relying on his cell phone for the composite sketch of this bastard who’d assaulted Nera. He’d texted us a picture earlier, but I’d already memorized his face.

We ordered drinks at the bar, acting casual. It definitely wasn’t a vamp hangout. Pool tables, dart boards, and a small bar were pretty much it. It was mostly young military men and a few women hanging around.

I plucked my phone from my pocket.

Me: Go ahead and come inside.

Charlie: You got it.

Seconds later, Charlie emerged in a black miniskirt, sparkly black tank top, and some silver ankle boots. Her black and purple hair looked wild and she walked in with her head held high.

“Close your mouth,” I told my cousin.

Trigger chuckled. “Fucking hell, man. She cleans up nice.”

“Don’t watch her. Wizard’s on it,” I reminded him.

We glanced at Wizard, who had his phone up in front of his face and was muttering mumbo-jumbo into the phone as if he was filming a video. Or going “live” or whatever the fuck these cyber idiots did these days.

In reality, he had the camera on selfie mode and was watching every move Charlie made.

We ordered beers at the bar and then made our way to an empty pool table. I put some money into the table and it released the balls.

Chaos racked up the balls into the triangle and we half pretended to play pool while trying to keep an eye on Charlie. She sat alone at a table nursing some fruity pink drink.

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