CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Booker

I LOCKED THE door behind me and nodded to one of my youngest recruits, Train, who was on Danielle watch. Train was nineteen, six-foot-five, and quite possibly the size of a small house. Hence his name. If he hit you, it would be akin to being hit by a freight train. I trusted him with Danielle because Train wouldn’t let anyone past him, and he was wholly loyal to me.

I headed back downstairs, and Johnny met me at the door to the basement. Blush’s basement was sometimes referred to as the “Woodshed,” as it was here that lessons that could only be learned with a switch were dispensed.

Johnny was Blush muscle, but he had no ties to the Dogs, which meant he only knew what I wanted him to know, and it was all under the guise of Blush business.

“Everything okay, boss?” Johnny asked.

I nodded. “You find him?”

“Yeah. He’s in the galley.”

I headed to the last room on the left, stepping inside the long narrow space, and closing the door behind me. Steven Mills. The man who ruined Dani’s life was duct-taped to a chair in the middle of the room, my laptop open on the table beside him, and one of the Dogs’ soldiers, Grizz, keeping guard.

“I apologize for keeping you waiting,” I said, and yanked the tape from his mouth.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Steven demanded.

He didn’t seem afraid which interested me. I smiled slowly and leaned against the table. “I want to know where the money is.”

“And what money would that be?”

I chuckled. “The money you’ve been stealing from unsuspecting women for the last twelve years.”

Steven grinned. “There’s only been one.”

“No,” I corrected. “There’s only been one where you’ve been caught. I have uncovered eight others.”

“How the hell did you do that?” Steven snapped.

“That’s not really important.” I reached back and grabbed a stack of paper. “But I think the D.A. would be interested in learning about them, wouldn’t they?”

“Fuck you.”

“Sorry, wrong team,” I retorted as I thumbed through my research. “You’ve managed to hide four-point-seven million dollars and I’d like to know where it is.”

“Since I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, I can’t help you.”

“I will find the money, Mr. Mills.” I slapped the file on the table. “You can count on it. What you can also count on is that this will go easier for you if you just tell me where it is.”

Steven shook his head. “What if I could give you something more valuable?”

“Like?”

“Like a notorious motorcycle club President’s daughter or perhaps a certain chief of police’s daughter, among others?”

I forced myself not to react. Blush couldn’t be traced back to the Dogs, I’d made sure of it, but it was still owned by a shell company that owned other businesses in the area. Different than Big Ernie’s which could be traced back to the Dogs. “Motorcycle club?”

Steven smiled smugly. “Yeah. Some guy with a bird’s name… Crow, I think. I’d need to check my records.”

I picked up and studied the file in front of me again to keep myself from beating the shit out of Steven. “And why would this be important to me?”

“I get the impression you want money. I can give it to you.”

“And the cop’s daughter?”

Steven chuckled. “She’s this little uptight bitch whose great-grandfather practically built Vancouver and they’re loaded.”

I took a deep breath. “I’m still not seeing how these women are more valuable than four-point-seven million.”

“They have K&R insurance on their kids. The bird guy’s kid’s worth four mil, but the chief of police has three kids, and each are over ten mil each. You won’t get close to two of them, but Dani lives alone and doesn’t own a gun. She’s a lousy lay, but shit, she’s gullible as hell.”

I fisted my hand at my side. “And how do you know this?”

“I found it while borrowing Danielle’s information. I don’t even think she knows about it, but I found it, so you can bet someone else will be able to as well. Find some asshole to snatch these people, keep them somewhere isolated and collect the money. Easy.”

I studied him. I’d done a thorough vet of Steven Mills. I’d even found the money he’d stolen, although, it was going to take more to get access to it if Steven didn’t offer up the codes. But I wasn’t finished with Danielle’s background check…I always did checks on the women I slept with…or planned to sleep with…so the kidnap and ransom insurance hadn’t pinged yet.

Steven was right. If an asshole like him could find this information, someone else could as well.

This put Dani in an even more vulnerable position than I had originally thought. Shit. I was going to have to get her brother involved.

“Grizz, take care of Mr. Mills for me.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Steven bellowed.

I headed back toward the door, but glanced back. “Don’t kill him, Grizz. Got me?”

“Yeah. I got you,” Grizz said. “Fuckin’ pissed about it though.”

I chuckled. “Maybe next time.”

I walked out of the room to the sound of Steven’s squeals of fear. I knew Grizz would rough him up enough to scare him, but not go much further than that. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Mack.

“Yo.”

“Can you talk?” I asked.

“Yeah, give me a sec.”

I heard several voices in the background and I figured Mack had headed over to the honky tonk. I wondered how Kim felt about that, considering Mack was gonna take her with him.

“I’m good,” Mack said.

“Need you to find out if Kim has a key to Dani’s place and then get over there and pack her a bag. Enough for a couple of weeks,” I ordered. “Bring it to the club. If not, I’ll have Train meet you at her place with a key.”

“No problem. It’s bad?”

“Worse than I thought. Fuckin’ parents have K&R insurance on their kids. Ten mil each.”

“Fuck me, seriously?” Mack said.

“Seriously.” I rubbed my forehead. “What I need to find out is if anyone else knows that. Keep an eye on the sister, yeah? Her name’s Emily. The brother can take care of himself.”

“I’ll take care of things on my end and text you.”

“Thanks, brother.”

“’Bye.”

I hung up. I was missing something. I just wasn’t sure what. My entire plan to get Dani’s money and reputation back had taken me down a rabbit hole that was leading me to a place I wasn’t prepared to go. A place that could collide with club business.

***

Danielle

I VAGUELY REMEMBER being lifted and carried, the familiar scent of Austin filling my senses as I buried my face in his neck, but then I woke up in a strange bed and had no idea how I’d gotten there.

The light from the moon shone through the window and it gave me enough of a visual to see that there was bottled water on the nightstand, which I opened and drank greedily. My head was pounding, but not quite as badly as I probably deserved. The small blessings of very expensive tequila.

I threw the covers off and realized I was virtually naked. I had on a T-shirt unfamiliar to me, but it smelled like Austin, so I deduced it was his. My panties were in place, but nothing else.

“Babe,” Austin grumbled.

I started a little and looked behind me. I hadn’t even noticed him in bed beside me.

“Bathroom,” I whispered.

He pointed to the door to the right of the bed.

I headed to the bathroom and flipped on the light. Talk about a room you’d never have to leave. A large tile shower big enough for forty-two thousand people (really… not kidding) and six (counted ’em… six) shower heads. Two sinks were nestled in a long vanity with gorgeous cherry wood cabinetry. The heated tile floor felt amazing under my feet and I passed a huge soaking tub on my way to the little room that housed the toilet. After doing my business I took a minute to study my reflection. God, I looked awful.

“Dani?” Austin called. I was grateful he didn’t come in. “Babe?”

“Just a minute.”

“You okay?”

“Other than looking like a zombie, I’m great.”

He chuckled. “I doubt it’s all that bad.”

“I wish I had my makeup remover.”

“Check the medicine cabinet,” he called.

I pulled it open and found all of my favorite face creams, toners, cotton rounds, and toothbrush and toothpaste.

“Towels under the sink,” Austin said.

“Thanks.”

I took a few minutes to freshen up and then padded back into the bedroom. I was alone, so I grabbed a towel, wrapped it around my waist, and went looking for him. I found him in the kitchen, a bottle of ibuprofen in his hand. “How do you feel?” he asked, all sexy like wearing only a pair of cotton pajama bottoms.

“Hung over,” I said. “What time is it?”

“Four.”

“In the morning?”

“Yeah, babe.”

“I never wake up this early,” I complained.

“Probably the alcohol.” He chuckled. “Like your outfit.”

“I seem to be missing my clothes.” I glanced down my body. “I’m assuming I can thank you for that.”

“You were pretty wasted… figured you’d be more comfortable that way.”