Page 105 of Rex

“Prez! We have a problem!” I shout into the phone while standing in the lobby of the security office.

Marti, still sitting in her chair, is about the only thing that’s not been busted, knocked over, or displaced. The lobby is trashed, and it’s obvious one hell of a fight took place. The other obvious fact is that Rex is missing. His bike’s here, but he’s not.

Standing and carefully looking at every little detail in the lobby, I see blood in several areas that would have nothing to do with Marti’s wound. At least one other person was bleeding in this office, maybe more.

“Marti’s dead. Rex is missing,” I say.

Stepping back outside, I hold the phone to my ear, listening to Gunner and answering his questions while following the specks of blood. They make an easy path to follow, and I end up on the far side of the building, where they end abruptly. Whoever took Rex had parked their vehicle here, out of sight from the front side.

I return to the lobby, explaining things to Gunner as I carefully pick my way down the hall. I try not to disturb anything on the way. Once inside Rex’s office, I discover that he never made it this far. His computer is still locked down, and that’s always the first thing he starts in the morning. Even before coffee most days. Leaving his office, I rush to mine.

“On my way,” Gunner barks before he disconnects.

I boot up my computer and wait impatiently, keeping an eye on the driveway. I want to get out front to warn Horse and Reeves before they walk into the scene I found. As soon as the computer’s up and going, I pull up the video feed from the security camera up front. Before I can click play, I see Horse on his bike turning into the lot.

I pick my way through the mess again and step outside. Reeves is riding in as Horse is hanging his helmet on his handlebars. I wait until Reeves shuts his bike off and hold up my hand, stopping Horse from entering. Horse raises both eyebrows, but he stops and stands, waiting for Reeves like I am.

When Reeves gets close, I quickly fill them in on what I found this morning. I watch as both their faces turn pale, and Horse takes a step back. I give them a few seconds to gather themselves and then lead the way inside.

“Holy fuck,” Reeves mutters in a shocked tone.

“Yeah, I know. Gunner’s on his way. Don’t touch anything. I have the video feed pulled up, waiting for him,” I explain and turn to Horse. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just, fuck me. Why would someone kill Marti? She’s like the nicest person ever. She wouldn’t ever have hurt anyone. And then take Rex? Why? Who?” Horse asks in a voice filled with shock.

“The video will answer some of that,” I respond.

“Should we cover her or something? It seems disrespectful to stand here talking while she’s sitting there dead,” Horse asks.

“No. I know that sounds bad, but we can’t touch anything yet. Go to my office if you need to be in another room for a while. It might be easier,” I advise while reaching out and dropping a hand on his shoulder.

Sometimes we all forget how young Horse still is. The rest of us have lived more life than him and are a little more jaded. Unsettling things like this bother all of us, but probably not as much as him. Horse shakes his head no and seems to make an effort to pull himself together.

“It’s okay, Horse, if you want to leave. We get it,” Reeves says in a quiet and sincere tone.

“No. I’ll stay. If she has to be here, then I can stand here too so she’s not alone.”

Club members start pulling into the lot, so I step outside to warn them about what they’re about to see.

Crowded into my office, all of us view the footage several times.

“Rex fought his ass off,” Cash mutters. “Outnumbered, and he still did some serious damage. Worried now they may be taking that out on him.”

“Yeah, they will be for sure. We need to locate him asap. Why did they take him?” Gunner asks in an angry voice. “Give me reasons why him?”

“They either found out he was digging into them, or they need someone with his skill set. There’s not many on his level,” Chubs states.

“If it were him looking into them, he’d be here like Marti. So, it’s got to be them needing his skills,” Petey says, and everyone nods in agreement.

“So how do we find where they took him? Pigeon? Any ideas?” Gunner asks the room but zeroes in on me.

“I’m no Rex, but he has taught us some of the things that he can do. I’ll do my best at tracking where their vehicle went after leaving here by following the route they took if possible. Are you calling the cops on this? Because if so, I want to get my laptop out of here before it becomes part of the crime scene. Also, there are other things that need to be removed that the cops don’t need to know about. Rex prepared ahead, as usual, and has spare computers we can set up, so it doesn’t look like we removed ours. It’ll take us an hour or so to do all of it,” I explain.

“Marti doesn’t have any family left. We’ve talked about that before, and she has no one for us to call. Kind of sad when you think about it. She had been taking care of her mother, but she passed away several months ago,” Freddy says.

“No cops for now. The club will take care of her burial. Petey, call that funeral home that we’ve worked with before. They keep their mouth shut for the right price, and we’ll use them for Marti. Hang here until they pick her up. With the Morales family hitting town tomorrow, we can’t afford to have the police looking at the same people that we’re after,” Gunner states. “Horse and Reeves can set up those other computers and remove anything from here we don’t want anyone having access to. Do it quickly and bring everything to the clubhouse. We’ll set it up in one of our rooms, and you can work from there. Pigeon, grab what you need now so you can get started immediately. Close the blinds, put out a sign that the business is closed for now. Keepthe security cameras working in case they return for something. Let’s go,” Gunner orders.

Everyone got busy. It didn’t take me long to get what I needed. I place it in Gunner’s truck, straddle my bike, and follow him to the clubhouse. Arriving, I take over a table and start setting my things on it. Turning to Gunner, I ask the question I know he’s been dreading.

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