Page 21 of The Devil's Conflict

I have to give it to Dagger; he was a clever bastard.

I don’t even glanceover as Bullet and I ride our bikes past the pawn shop that’s currently being raided. Though a sense of pleasure runs down my spine at the thought of everything that is about to be found in there. It took a few days, but I, Bowie, and Frost were able to get all the evidence we needed that Vlad is using the place to run his drugs out of it. Namely, in the items they sell.

I’m not sure how Bowie was able to get in there and figure it out, but he did, and I watched him emerge with pictures that proved it. Either way, it was enough that Cryos was able to send an untraceable, anonymous tip to the Feds and they came to tear the place apart. Which clearly tells me that they’re definitely looking into Vlad and trying to take him down.

They won’t succeed, but I suppose giving them a bone once in a while keeps things even.

Bullet and I head for the bar, since we’re reopening tonight, and I’ve had Rose working most of the day with the new staff we hired to make sure they’re up to snuff. Sandy’s girl did actually show up, apparently needing the job too much to say no, and from what Rose mentioned, she’s shy, sweet, and determined to make as much money in tips that she can. Though I’m not sure how that’s going to work with her being shy, but as long as she can make the drinks and collect the money, then Sandy can help her.

The other few people we hired were a busboy, and two servers, all three of whom thankfully have experience working in fast paced bars, so they shouldn’t have too much of a problem. But Rose has them running drills to make sure they’re up to snuff. Considering she used to run the place before finally taking a step back, I know she’s the best one to do it.

By the time we reach the bar, I’m feeling far more relaxed than I have for the past week. Mostly because when I’m not at the bar, I’m at one of the other businesses searching for that journal, or out trying to track down Vlad. Something I haven’t had to do after the shooting, but I’m not about to be distracted.

Not even by a certain blonde?

I ignore that voice the same as I’ve ignored it all week. The same as I’ve avoided her brother this week so I don’t have the reminder of her when I stare at his face. They might be fraternal twins, but they still look enough alike that there’s no escaping it. It’s not a long-term solution, but it’s one I’m going to use to keep my sanity for now until I figure out another solution.

Walking inside, I see the two new servers working to set up the tables. Both of them are in their late twenties, with bleached blonde hair, tastefully done make-up, and a seductive smile when they spot us. They’ll be a hit with the men for sure, thoughtime will tell if they’re equally liked or hated by the women. As long as they don’t start shit and respect the Old Ladies, then I won’t have a problem, but if they do, they’ll be out on their asses. I give them a curt nod before I turn away and look behind the bar where Sally is talking with the new bartender

Katie is the opposite of the other women in a big way. And she’s a contradiction that I can’t quite figure out yet. Considering how shy she seems to be, she certainly doesn’t portray herself that way. Her hair is a mixture of blue and purple, cut short and shaved on the sides, leaving the top thick and long enough for her to let it lay to one side. Her make-up is intricate, with thick fake lashes on her eyes. Her top is low cut, and wearing what looks to be a pair of tight leather pants. She’s probably more suited to a night club or some fancy bar than a biker bar, but what the fuck do I know? She glances at me, nods, and then turns her attention back to Sandy. Fine with me. I don’t have time for that right now anyway.

Bullet and I make our way to the office and that’s where I find Rose sitting, going through all the paperwork on my desk. The moment she spots me, she glares at me. “What the hell is this, Sniper?” she demands, waving her hand at the stack of papers in front of her.

“A pain in the ass,” I quip. “And now that you’ve messed up my system, you get to handle it all for me. Thanks, honey.”

“Don’t you honey me.” She sniffs. “You have things here that should have been dealt with two weeks ago. What the hell have you been doing around here? And I swear to God if you say you’ve been fucking women in here instead, I’m going to make you wish you built that jail you mentioned to Shadow.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t have time for that, Rose. I’ve been trying to keep up but with having too few staff, I spend a lot of time filling in and working the bar instead of in here.” I give hera winning smile. “And since you’re here, you can help me out now, can’t you?”

She rolls her eyes. “Don’t think I don’t know that you purposely left this stuff here for me to see. If you want me to do that, just put a note next time, huh?”

“Thanks, Rose,” I say, leaning down to kiss her cheek, making Bullet growl at me.

Rose’s eyes flash with amusement. “Oh, now, if I knew doing that would get me a kiss from you, Sniper, I’d have offered sooner,” she flirts shamelessly.

“Woman, you’re going to get your ass spanked,” Bullet warns her, stepping toward her.

“None of that shit in my office,” I warn them when Rose just gives Bullet a look that tells him he can try and also how much she would enjoy it. The two of them are worse than teenagers, I swear. “Bullet, you can deal with your Old Lady later, because right now we have shit to do.” Then I walk back out of the office and down the hall to the second storage room at the end of the hall. It’s where the club keeps spare things.

Bullet thankfully follows me after another low warning to Rose, who just laughs. I shoot him an exasperated look but he just smirks at me and steps inside with me. “What are we doing first?” Bullet asks, glancing around at the slightly messy room.

My inner need to get this straightened up has me frowning, but I push it aside. I’ll deal with it later. “We need to move some of the bigger shelves first. This place would be a good spot for Dagger to hide it if he didn’t want it found. He would have had access before we changed the locks.”

“The fucker figured he was getting one over us because we wouldn’t look too deep into this stuff,” Bullet mutters as we make our way over to a half empty shelf. “Alright, get this shit off and then we’ll have a look.”

It’s heavy, dirty work as we pull everything off and set it aside. Most of it is covered in a thick layer of dust. “We need to have this shit cleaned up,” I grunt as I move a heavy box full of papers aside. I don’t know what kind of papers, but I make a mental note to go through them soon. “Should get one of the Prospects in here to do it.”

“Get Kaleb. The kid might be a slob in his own space, but he’s fucking OCD about anything else,” Bullet suggests as we both grab hold of the large bookcase and pull it away from the wall. The fucker is heavy and full metal, but we manage it. I grab my phone, turn on the flashlight, and look behind it. I see nothing but the plain drywall. “Was it like this when we put this shit up?” Bullet asks curiously, feeling along the wall for any hidden seams.

“Don’t know since this place is before my time. But if the other one is different behind it, then we know it’s been patched recently enough that it could have been Dagger,” I remark as I move to the shelf a few feet away from this one. This one is just as heavy and we grunt and bitch as we manage to move it. Finally, once we have it out of the way, it’s easy to see the old green color that the wall used to be. “Guess that answers that,” I say grimly.

Bullet narrowed his eyes at it. “How the fuck did he manage to move this by himself, though?” he wonders aloud. “It took two of us to move this fucking thing, and there is no way that skinny fucker could have done it alone.”

“Maybe he had help from someone here, or he had some of Dmitri’s men in here to help after hours,” I suggest. “I don’t want to think about the alternative.” The idea of another one of our brothers working with Dagger and still being a part of our club infuriates me, but also just doesn’t feel right. But then a thought hits me. “Wait, there was that Prospect, wasn’t there? Matthew? Who’s to say that he didn’t help him?”

“Timing would be right,” Bullet agrees. “And he would have been here with Dagger minding the bar after hours. Alright, we need to get this open. Call King or Stone and have one of them get here so we can take this apart. I want to know what’s behind that wall.”

I nod and pull out my phone. When I hang up, I announce, “Stone is on his way, but he’ll be half an hour.”

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