Page 29 of Pike
“Okay,” I sighed with a nod. “We’ve come to an understanding and now we coexist peacefully.” That was the goddamn understatement of the century. “We’re good.”
Diesel huffed. “Seems like better than good, you know, with the way you can’t take your eyes off her.”
I closed my eyes for a few seconds to make sure I had all of my shit shut down tight and then I turned to my Prez. “She saved my life tonight, man. I told her to stay upstairs with her kid and if she had, I’d be dead, and they probably would be too.” I told him a little about her freaking out about being a killer.
Diesel nodded sagely. “Yeah, well that wasn’t the look of a grateful man.” He clapped me on the back with a laugh. “Let’s get some fuckin’ coffee before they finish it all.”
He was right, by the time we made it to the table on the front deck there was just enough coffee for us to have a cup each. “All right, what else do I need to know?”
Rocky’s jaw clenched. “The Ghost Riders are increasing their attacks, both in frequency and intensity.” He shook his head angrily. “We’ve taken down a few of them but these motherfuckers are multiplying.” Anger radiated off his broad shoulders.
“Vendetta ain’t gonna stop,” Rebel added. “It’s like he’s forcing us into a war for protecting them.” He nodded to thecabin, just in case there was any doubt who we were talking about.
“They made it here somehow,” I began, fury settled deep in my fucking gut that they’d made it so close and it was Chloe, not me who’d heard them first. “I think it’s time we strike first. We have to show these assholes that we’re not just going to react to their bullshit.”
“Agreed.” Hawk stood taller and set his mug down. “This, here tonight? It demands retaliation but after that, we hit them somewhere they can’t afford to be hit.”
“Sounds good,” Diesel grunted. “Any idea where that is?”
“Not yet,” Hawk shot back. “But I’m confident Slate is digging into it.”
The door opened and Chloe appeared with another pot of coffee. She set the pot down and stepped back, hands clasped behind her back, slightly jumpy but also like she was waiting for something.
“What’s wrong?” I leaned in to whisper the question, not wanting to draw attention to her discomfort.
“It’s been a few years,” she began quietly. “But I might be able to help.”
The guys all fell silent, and half a dozen sets of eyes turned her way. “We’re listening,” Diesel answered for the group.
Chloe nodded, swallowing hard before she spoke. “I’ve not been there for years, but they keep most of their drugs under the brothels.” Her eyes slammed shut and she inhaled deeply and then blew it out in a long, rushed breath as if she couldn’t getrid of it fast enough. “Each basement has a false wall that leads to… more.”
“How sure are you?” Diesel put his hands on his hips, his body leaning towards her.
She took another breath and opened her eyes. “I’m positive.”
“How positive?” Rebel asked.
“I’ll never forget,” she whispered and then shook off the tears that threatened to fall. “Cherry Blossom Court. Oleander Cove. Dahlia Place. I’ve been all three multiple times and each one sits at the bottom of a cul-de-sac.”
Rebel who was always the cynic, even after what happened with his own woman, was the first to put a voice to the sudden tension on the deck. “So you were involved in this shit? If this is something other than we thought it all was—” he began but Chloe shut it down.
Brutally.
“Marcus used to take me there sometimes to make me watch him have sex with the girls, as p- punishment if I didn’t do what he liked. He made me dress up like the girls once and…” her words broke off on a sob before she pulled herself together. “He forced me to take a client and then he burst in and beat the guy up before anything could happen. And he killed one of the workers in the basement right in front of me, just to show that he could. That’s how I know about the rooms beyond the basement.”
That motherfucker was lucky he was already dead because I would’ve hunted him down and killed him. The sadistic bastard tortured her just because he could.
Chloe wiped her tears and shook her head. “I wasn’t eavesdropping,” she insisted. “But it’s so quiet her and the conversation carried. Anyway that’s what I know, and I hope it helps.” She rushed inside, closing the door harder than necessary in her hurry to get away.
“Asshole,” Rocky growled and smacked Rebel’s chest with the back of his meaty paw.
“What?” Rebel rubbed his chest. “We needed to ask. We had to know.”
He was right, as much as I hated to admit it. “Yeah, well now you know. Happy?”
“Fuck you,” Rebel spat out. “How the fuck was I supposed to guess how bad it had been?” he rubbed his palm over his face. “Now we know it’s good intel though.” The asshole smirked my way, daring me to rip him to shreds like I was dying to.
Instead, I flipped him off. “Better go see if you can verify it, maybe get a friendly civilian to go to one of the whorehouses and check,” I said, thinking out loud.
