Page 100 of Scar

“Good morning. What’d I miss?”

“You’re late,” Ivy growled.

Scissors shrugged. “Sissy was looking particularly sexy this morning. I was forced to show my appreciation to my woman.” To the camera, Scissors said, “Good morning, Tally.”

“Hi, Scissors. I’ve been meaning to ask. How did you get your road name?”

* * *

The plan was set.Tally had given Keys all the information she could about the vacation home in Mexico. She had never been there personally, but she knew enough about it for Keys to start doing a deep dive on the area and estate. The home was not in her family’s name as Tally had always thought, but a shell corporation neither Keys nor the Feds had linked to Primis. Keys was now looking into that connection as well.

Tally learned that Keys was former Navy Intelligence, Ghost was a former SEAL, Ranger was a former Army Ranger, and Scissors was a former Army Night Stalker pilot. To her surprise, Ivy, who was not a member of the club, was a former SWAT officer from Atlanta. Ivy sadly lost her sister a few years ago from a drug overdose. Shortly after that, she left the police force as well as Georgia. While she knew of the district where Tally and Simone had lived, she’d left the state before Tally had bought her restaurant and became known as the Blind Chef of Atlanta.

Ivy and Scar had met up in Miami when Scar had been hunting sex traffickers and Ivy had been hunting drug dealers. It was difficult to get a vibe off of Ivy over a video call, but Tally wasn’t sure she liked her. She was gruff, blunt, and abrasive. Everything seemed to be a test with her. If Ivy continued to hang around the club, Tally knew she would eventually meet her in person and get a better feel for her, but until then, Tally would just be grateful for Ivy’s willingness to help.

Ghost and Ranger were best friends and co-managed the club’s bar,Demon on the Rocks.While they hadn’t met before the club was formed, they were inseparable now. The way they spoke, they seemed to have a knack for getting in places and snatching people.

It begged the question who else they’d snatched that they had had enough practice to have developed a ‘knack’.

Tally didn’t dare ask. It was one of those things she just did not want to know. Further, she got the party line of ‘club business’ when things got too detailed. She assumed that had to do with Scar not technically being a club member anymore. But she had to wonder if things would have been said anyway in front of him if Tally hadn’t been in the room.

Scissors and Ivy would be going with them as backup.

The house Tally grew up in was a three-story single family home in Alexandria, Virginia. With five bedrooms, five and a half baths, and double front porches, it made Keys react with the exclamation, “Holy fuck! This place is likeGone with the Windmet Real Estate Porn and had a baby. Wow, Tally. Your house is beautiful.”

“It’s notmyhouse,” she reminded him. “I just grew up there.”

From what Keys could find, her mom was not currently under arrest. The Feds were still collecting evidence.

“Well, we have some options. We either help her legally…or we help her not so legally,” Keys said evasively. “Personally, it’s been a while since I broke into the FBI’s network. I could definitely use a challenge.”

He made it sound so simple. Computers were just one of those things that Tally had never gotten the hang of. She had used a laptop at her restaurant and she liked the convenience of her phone, but she would have been fine without them.

Tally reached for Scar’s hand, lacing their fingers together. “How serious are the charges?” Then, realizing what she just said, Tally rephrased, “I mean, I know the charges are serious. I meant, how realistic is it that they would charge her?”

“Well, frankly, with the media storm of the data dump, they’re still trying to sort through it all. But it’s not unrealistic, Tally. The fact that they already have a wiretap on your mom’s phone and are surveilling her is evidence of that.”

Tally squeezed Scar’s hand. “Can you get her out? I mean, without the Feds seeing you?”

She heard snickering from the computer speaker, but ignored it. Scar reached for her phone.

“I can do it. She just won’t like how I do it.”After a second, another message said, “I think it would be better to walk her out the front door. She’s not under arrest yet.”

“Yes, but then they’ll follow us to Mount Grove.”

“We can lose a tail. Besides, if Ranger and Ghost are headed to Mexico, I could use a car chase to entertain me.”

Tally scowled. “That’s not funny.”

“I wasn’t joking.”

Tally shifted to face the computer again. “Keys, my mom is not the sort who would survive being on the run. She’s been abandoned by my dad and probably confused out of her mind. Can you change the financials? Make it look like she wasn’t involved?”

“I can do it,” came the reply. “It’ll take time, because the priority is making sure your dad doesn’t get away, but I’ll get it done.”

Tally bit her tongue, hesitant to ask the question she didn’t want the answer to, but also knew she needed to know. “Ghost, what happens to my dad after you grab him?”

She heard Ghost clear his throat. “That’s club business, Tally. Afraid I can’t tell you that one.”

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