Page 16 of Lake's Legacy

“Sounds like a date to me,” Delphine chuckles. “I swear whenever I drag Dixie to a nice restaurant, all he does is grumble.”

“Hex is the same way,” Cleo says before disappearing into a stall. Delphine ducks into the one next to hers.

I stand near the sink and wait for them to finish. Cleo comes out first. When she moves to the sink, I duck into her empty cubicle.

“I want to stop and say goodbye to Francois before we leave,” Cleo says as I wash my hands.

“We’ll come with you.”

Cleo takes a right and continues down the hall until she stops in front of a door with Francois’ name on it. She lifts her hand to knock but freezes.

“What’s…?” I start, but she lifts her hand before shoving the door open.

I gasp at the scene before us. Two men hold Francois in his chair while a third punches him in the gut. The men look at us before Francois yells for us to run.

We don’t. Instead, Delphine leans back into the hall and yells, “Dixie!”

The men release Francois before moving toward us. However, the sound of heavy boots coming closer makes them retreat. They climb out the open window and run off. When the last man turns his back on us, I can just make out the image of a large bird on the back of their kuttes.

Hex rushes in first, followed by the rest of his men. Dixie wraps his arms around Delphine while Lake grabs me.

“What’s going on? What happened?” Hex demands.

“Those men were beating up Francois,” Cleo explains. “Why?” The last she directs at Francois, who winces.

“They belong to some club extorting protection money from the businesses around here.”

“For how long?” Hex asks.

“Six months. They’re total assholes. Did you see the burnt remains of the bakery on the corner?”

Cleo nods. “Lydia’s Sweets. I saw it. I thought she had an accident. Was it arson?”

Francois nods. “The cops said she burnt her bakery down for the insurance money. But I know she didn’t. I saw those three bastards coming out of the place just before it blew. I think they turned on the gas. But they weren’t alone; one had Lydia swung over his shoulder. I told the cops what I saw, but they didn’t believe me. They accused me of taking money from her in exchange for providing her an alibi. The next day, those bastards came here and told me I’d be paying my and Lydia’s share of the extortion money since I didn’t mind my own business.”

“They still have Lydia?” Hex asks.

Francois shrugs. “I don’t know. She could be dead. If they have her, maybe she’d be better off dead.”

“Who the fuck are they?” Abra demands.

“They were wearing kuttes,” I tell him. “I couldn’t make out the rockers, but the logo on the back had a bird on it.”

“They’re a motorcycle club?” Hex asks, looking at me before shifting his eyes to Abra.

“I’ll put some feelers out. I haven’t heard of another MC in this area. They could be pushing their way into our territory. They’ve been hassling you for six months? Did you see them before?”

“They introduced themselves seven months ago. Explained how things would work. At first, the amount they demanded wasn’t worth the hassle of saying no. However, they increased the amount each month. Four months ago, Lydia told me she was going to the police. She’d lose her bakery if she kept paying them.”

“That’s when they burnt her bakery and kidnapped her?” Abra asks.

Francois nods. “After she spoke to the cops.”

“Do you have them on video?” Pirate asks.

Francois perks up before pulling a laptop out of his bottom drawer. “The feed gets saved to our server, but I have accesshere.” He logs into the computer before turning it around for Pirate.

“So, they’re why you want us to invest? Were you planning on telling us what we’d be getting into if we took you up on your offer?” Hex asks, causing Francois to flinch as he nods.

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