Page 12 of Motown
“Etain will take good care of you.I’ll be back soon,” I say.Etain links with Tessa and leads her off to the bar, where Sasha is sitting on a stool, waiting for them.
The air is heavy when Lee and I walk into the room where the rest of the Redemption Riders wait for us.Hawk’s face is tense; Drifter is sitting next to him, looking just as perturbed.I see what I assume are the packages Declan hid earlier spread out over the table and opened.When I look inside one of them, I see tiny packages of white powder all in a row.
“What the fuck!”I swear.
“Looks like Sunderland intended to wine and dine your girl, then hook her into his drug business and use her shop as a front.His plans changed when he saw Tessa and you together.We think Bronson is setting her up to take the fall,” Hawk states plainly.
“There’s at least two hundred thousand dollars of product on that table,” I point out.
“Sunderland’s not going to be too happy about losing this kind of money,” Drifter adds.“We can make a deal, give it back, and he can move his business.”
“He’s proven he can’t be trusted to keep his word,” Shooter cuts in.
“And he was willing to see a good woman go down for it, just to prove he could get to us,” Flex adds.
“We’re lucky Declan followed his gut and got that shit out of Tessa’s place before the cops walked in.Tessa could have been spending the night behind bars if he wasn’t on his toes,” Hawk says, giving credit to the man who saved the day.
I turn to Declan.“Thanks, bro.I owe you.”
“We take care of each other,” Declan declares.
A loud rap on the door grabs our attention.Etain comes in.“There was a big boom in the shop, and I smell smoke.”
Drifter rushes through the door.Hawk is on the move, barking orders.Declan and Lee race out and grab the fire extinguishers from the walls.A small fire in the back of the building in the dumpster bin comes to life, but there’s more smoke than anything.It’s contained quickly and thankfully never gets near any of the cars in the bay.It would have cost us big time to replace any of those cars.We work together to douse the flames.Declan grabs the fire blankets and throws them over the bin area where we toss the old rags and broken parts.
We have a pickup service that comes once a month to haul it away with a fresh bin, and thankfully, we just had it done a week ago, which is lucky for us because this could have been a much bigger fire.
The fire truck arrives; one of our nearby neighbors must have heard the same blast and called it in.They make sure the fire is completely out.When they begin sorting through the bin, Doc Mason from the plumbing company next door comes over to us.
They call him Doc, even though his real name is Denton, because he’s as skilled as a doctor when it comes to anything to do with plumbing.He’s the kindest and most reputable man in town.When we were building the compound, he came over and helped out, refusing to take any money but joining us for meals.He’s a good man with lots of stories to tell.Doc should have retired years ago, but at seventy, he’s still as active as he was in his younger years.Sitting still would kill him.
Doc goes right over to the firefighter and says, “I can tell you how this started.You don’t need to waste your time.”
“What do you know?”Hawk asks.
“Someone dumped a pipe bomb into the dumpster.They were out to make trouble,” Doc answers.
“Did you see who it was?”the firefighter asks.“We need to make a police report if this is arson.”
“He was moving pretty fast.There were two of them.One waited in the car; the other ran out and dropped it in.I didn’t know what it was at first, but then I heard the boom and called the fire station,” Doc replies.“They were mid to late twenties.The guy who dropped the bottle had dark hair, maybe five feet ten or eleven.He was wearing jeans and a hoodie, but it all happened so fast.I can only say that the driver had lighter hair and was wearing glasses.”
“That’s good, Doc,” Hawk says, patting his back.“At least we know what happened.”
“The cops are on the way,” the fireman says.“You’ll need to make a statement.”
“No problem,” Doc answers.“I’ll wait over at my place.”He points to his place next door.He looks at Hawk, “Walk an old man over, will ya?”
Immediately, we know that Doc’s got more to say but doesn’t want to say anything in front of the others.Hawk jerks his chin to Drifter and me, telling us to hang back while he walks with Doc back to his place.I can see Hawk lowering his head, getting close to Doc.The conversation doesn’t last long, but Hawk’s expression is murderous.
Drifter goes stiff beside me.Flex inhales deeply, while Shooter curses under his breath.Something’s very wrong.Hawk walks past us, and we all follow.We gather in the main room of the compound, where Etain, Sasha, and Tessa are waiting for us.They too see the look on Hawk’s face and remain silent.
“It’s war, Riders!”Hawk declares.
Chapter8
Calling in the Troops
Motown
