Page 38 of Jasper
Onyx jerks his chin at me. “From a couple of local IT freelancers that Mica dug up for us. They pulled this data frompublic records, social media accounts, plus a few sketchy open-source hacks. Nothing traceable back to us, but it’s solid intel.”
I glance at Mica. “Do you trust them?”
“I trust they know not to dupe up or try to double-cross us,” he says. “I put the fear of God into them about fucking with us.”
Slate speaks again, eyes narrowed. “This isn’t just about claiming territory for these assholes. It’s about the logistics of smuggling people, weapons, and drugs. They’re clearly looking to establish a corridor through our hometown.”
I nod. “Which means this crew didn’t wander in looking to open a strip bar or pull a few temporary scams before running away to the next town. They’re puttin’ down roots for something bigger.”
“And we’re clearly in their way—the only ones standing between them and making all their dreams come true,” Onyx points out.
“This intel confirms what we’ve been thinking all along. They’re gonna fight to the bitter end to take and hold our territory.”
My old man finally speaks. “We’re not just protecting our ground now. We’re sitting in front of something they want. That’s a very dangerous place for us to be.”
Onyx nods. “What do we do about Marquez?”
“For now, we watch, keep digging until we get a lead on his financial backers. If we rattle him too early, they might disappear. Then we’ll have to do this all over again once they regroup.”
“Once we figure out all the main players? Then what?”
“Then we start planning for war. But in the meantime, we bring every brother up to speed on the situation. I’m not taking any chances on them getting ambushed by these fuckers.”
Slate pulls out his cell phone and sends a group text for them all to get their asses to church. They start pouring into the room almost immediately.
Chapter 15
Tessa
The atmosphere in the bar changes instantly when all the club brothers go into the back where Jasper and the other club officers were meeting. One minute, they are here, partying their asses off, and the next they’re all gone, leaving the club girls to their own devices.
The bar doesn’t go silent, because the girls see this as an opportunity to use the bar for a girls-only party. If anything, it gets louder. They crank up the jukebox, start talking loudly, and someone jumps up on a table to dance.
I sit a little straighter on my stool, nursing the soda Jasper got me. The ice has mostly melted, and it’s pretty flat.
Two of the club girls strut behind the bar like they own it. They giggle, pour themselves drinks, and clink glasses loud enough to draw eyes. Nobody stops them because no one is watching the bar. One of them reaches for the top shelf, like the most expensive liquor in the house is theirs to drink.
Then a door creaks open behind me, and a prospect appears. He takes one look behind the bar and his face hardens.
“You know better than to serve yourselves,” he barks. “Silver,” he calls out. “You’re supposed to be on bar duty, not drinking on the floor with your friends.”
She just laughs and begins taking all the brothers’ leftover drinks and tipping them into her mouth. The others laugh at her shenanigans. I feel like I’m trapped with a bunch of adolescents.
The girls behind the bar rush back out to the floor, and sulk. One mutters something under her breath as she swings around the end of the counter. He watches them until they disappear into the hallway, then glances at me like he’s trying to decide if I’m part of the problem. I’m not, but then again, I don’t think I’m part of the solution either.
He doesn’t say anything. He just nods to me and turns away to stock the liquor he just carried in. I return to my drink, wishing I had someone to talk to. That’s when I notice Silver watching me.
She goes from leaning against the wall, arms crossed, to shooting me an evil glare in no time. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her push herself off the wall and stride straight towards me.
She slides onto the stool next to mine without asking. If I had somewhere else to go then I’d be out of the door in a flash, but as it is, I need to wait for Jasper to return.
“I thought you left,” she says, voice light, but her mouth doesn’t smile.
I glance sideways. “I don’t know what made you think that.”
She taps one glitter-dipped nail on the bar. “Strange that he abandoned you here at the bar. Jasper doesn’t usually leave his little outsider treats sitting alone. Usually fucks them and throws them out so none of the other brothers can get sloppy seconds.”
I don’t answer. There’s no reason to engage with her. I know Jasper may have slept with a club girl or two, but the nasty things she’s saying about him don’t ring true.
