Page 13 of Reaper's Rage

He looks me up and down before glancing at the cameras. “Who runs your security?”

“Diablo Security.”

“Doesn’t your club own them?”

I give him a quick nod as an answer.

“So who’s to say you didn’t call your buddies to have them alter the feed?” Officer Jones demands.

“Because he isn’t stupid, and he has nothing to hide.” Says Dante, as he joins us. He gives Officer Jones a disgusted look before locking eyes with me. “None of my men had anything to do with this guy’s death. Just like we have nothing to do with the body found on our other property across town.”

I frown at him because I hadn’t heard of another dead body.

“Where is that?” Jones asks.

“Apartment complex, one of our Old Ladies recently bought, used to be Oak Park Apartments.” Dante says, maintaining eye contact with me. “Ashlyn and Axel found the body.”

“Fuck.” I grit out. “Are we done?” I ask Officer Jones. I need to go find my woman and make sure she’s ok.

“We need the feed…” He starts, but Dante waves him off.

“I talked to Smoke. He’s already sending over a copy, but if you want to see the original, just head over to Diablo Security. Smoke said he’d meet you there.” Dante tells him as he walks with me to my bike. I search around for Flame, but I don’t see him. Dante must know who I’m looking for, because he answers my unspoken question. “Flame’s locking up so you can drive over together.”

“Do we know who’s dead?” I ask Dante, and he nods slowly.

“Ashlyn recognized him from when the Spades held her. She’s not positive, but she’s pretty certain about it.” Dante pulls out his phone and shows me an image of a man dressed all in black lying in a heap. His face is pale, except for the bruising. I recognize him. “Yeah. I recognize him. He’s one of Deion’s guys. I saw him there last night.”

“Go take care of Ashlyn. Smoke is looking through the footage from here. We don’t have cameras around Crossroads yet, which we’ll resolve today. Byte and Maestro are checking traffic cams and other footage to see if they can find anything we can use. Shield is reaching out to whoever is in charge of each investigation.” Dante tells me.

“You think they’re linked?” Flame asks as he joins us.

Dante nods. “I think the odds of two guys dressed in black winding up dead on two of our properties are too high to consider anything else. But we need more information, specifically about who this guy was. You didn’t recognize him?”

I shake my head. “I’ve never seen him before.”

“Think he might be a customer?” Flame asks.

“Maybe. I know we haven’t met everyone who rents from us. Maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he was wearing face black so whatever he was doing wasn’t on the up and up.”

“Ok, go take care of Ashlyn. Carver and his guys are there, as is Axel, so she’s not alone. We’re having Church later to discuss the trip to Chicago. Maybe we’ll have more info by then.” Dante says as he waves us off. He walks over to join Chaos, who is watching the action from a distance.

Flame and I race over to Crossroads to find a scene similar to the one we just left. I see a sea of leather and make my way over with Flame at my heels. I can’t breathe until I see the familiar golden brown hair of my girl. When she sees me, her eyes fill with tears as she races over. I catch her when she jumps into my arms and wraps her legs around me. I place one arm under her ass to hold her in place while I pet her hair with my other hand to soothe her.

CHAPTER TEN: ASHLYN

Carver and his crew arrive a few minutes after we discover the body. When he calls Smoke, he learns that this isn’t the only dead body the Demons have found today. Reaper found one at Styx. Per Smoke’s instructions, Carver calls the cops to let them deal with this one, too.

“What the hell is going on?” Carver asks Smoke after he relays what he learned to the rest of us.

I split my attention between Carver and the body at my feet. Something compels me to move until I can see his face and when I do, I suck in a breath.

“What is it?” Axel asks me as he joins me in studying the man.

He’s wearing baggy black jeans and an LA Kings Jersey. His black baseball cap fell off. This lets me see his face clearly, and it is one I recognize.

“I think he was with Deion yesterday.” I tell Axel. “Before Deion brought me outside their hangout to meet with Reaper, he led me through a common room where a bunch of his guys were hanging out. I think this guy was near the door.”

“Are you certain?” Carver asks, who is still on the phone but has his attention fixed on me.

---