Page 15 of Flick

“Do you have access to Nelson’s feed?” Flick asked. He’d love to see the events of last night, including how Dex acted toward Beth.

“I refuse to answer on the grounds it may make the Nelsons pissed at me,” Scoop muttered.

“Swear,” the kids yelled.

“Subscription, so back off,” Scoop said, then nodded toward the TV over on the side of the clubhouse room.

Flick watched the video playing.

“Hey, why isn’t there sound?” Beth asked.

Scoop rolled his eyes and did something else on the tablet. Flick watched the confrontation and Beth and Dex’s high-five afterward. They seemed like they’d gotten along well. He’d have to check with them both because if they didn’t feel a spark, he needed to help her find someone who did.

Chapter Ten

Beth walked into the clubhouse separately from Flick. She’d helped Flick put on his disguise and then completed her transformation.

Last week, after Lexi and Booker returned from their honeymoon, War had given them a week to come up with a plan for how to surveil the group in Texas. It still boggled her mind that Rose’s ex-police partner, who had abducted Rose, was related to the deputy who Beth had dated.

Beth walked into the council room and waited to see what people would say.

“Oh, ma’am, I’m sorry, this is a private meeting. Did you come to visit the orchard and farm? I can show you where you need to turn,” War said, standing up and walking toward her.

“No, I’m here for the meeting, and I told you that I could fool you,” Beth said.

War paused, tilted his head, and whispered, “Fuck me.”

“No thanks. I’ll leave that to Remi,” Beth said, chuckling. War stared at her and then twirled his finger for her to turn around. She did and waited for his response.

“You don’t even have the same body type. I have no idea how you are doing it, but color me impressed,” War said.

Beth smiled and took a seat. “Prosthetics and other tricks of the trade.”

“Did you know she could do this?” War asked Locks.

“Of course. It’s why she’s so valuable to the bail bonds. Heck, someone she’s picked up previously for a skip will walk right by her when she’s in disguise.”

War sat down. “We’re just waiting on Flick.”

“I texted him. He’s coming in from the garage,” Beth said.

“I didn’t see him when I was out there. I just chatted bikes with a potential customer,” War mentioned.

Beth looked down to hide the smirk. Flick had been in disguise and was who War had thought was a potential customer. Flick walked in and sat down. When War spotted him, he turned and glared at Beth.

“Really?” he grunted.

“What better way to convince you than to show you that even you could be deceived?” Beth asked with a smile.

“Let’s get started. Who is briefing?” War asked.

“I am,” said Beth, standing up and walking over to the screen. She nodded at Sarah, and the pictures showed up.

“With the surveillance I set up last fall, we’ve identified ten individuals connected to what Rose’s ex-partner, his cousins, and their network are doing. With these individuals, we’ve identified four places that are frequented by them. It’s these four companies that we are going to focus on. We need to figure out exactly what all they are doing with the women and any others. Before Rose’s partner abducted her, she’d noticed strange behaviors he exhibited. Taking lunch breaks and coming backsmelling of sex and perfume. Prostitutes they encountered on the streets almost having what Rose indicated was a submissive attitude toward him. Now, obviously, a prostitute isn’t going to be happy having an officer talk to her, but Rose indicated it was strange behavior. At this point, we don’t know why they abducted Rose or why they targeted all of us. We’ll gather information. Once we know more, we’ll be able to formulate a plan to figure out what to do.

“Our plan is to take Rose and Della…”

“They already recognize them,” War interrupted.

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