Page 39 of Flint
“Lucky me, indeed,” she agrees.
This isn’t flirting, I tell myself. This is protecting, consoling, and takin’ care of business for her. Nothing more. There can’t be any more because I swore to my best friend to keep my fuckin’ hands off his sister.
My phone vibrates, and I already know what that means. Before I even look at the message, I tell Jules, “Jasper set up a meeting with the club officers today. Because I’m using club resources, I need to bring them up to speed about this situation. You’re okay with that, right?”
“Of course, I am. I’ve got nothing to hide.”
She’s throwing my own words back at me again. She likes playing cute games, this one. And much to my shame, I’m totally there for it. I smother back a smile, although my head is still pounding, and pull out my phone to verify the meeting they scheduled last night is taking place now.
“You do understand what’s going on here with the club involvement, don’t you?”
“Yeah, at least I think I do. I hate that I’m bringing this to your doorstep. But you’ve got to tell Jasper I don’t have any money to pay for all this manpower they’re using.”
Jules is so stinkin’ adorable it’s fuckin’ unreal. “If the club doesn’t charge for alcohol, what makes you think they charge for manpower?”
“Okay, tell them I really appreciate it. And you…”
I find myself smiling all over again. “Look, I’ve got to get going. You stay close, okay?”
She gives me a small smile and goes back to sketching. She’s more focused than ever, making me think whatever she’s doing is important to her.
The officers have a small conference room. It’s supposed to be extra private so we can talk without running the risk of anyone overhearing.
All the officers are there, Jasper, Slate, Onyx, and Jinx. Rock is also present. Even though he gave up the president’s position to Jasper a year or so ago, he’s the club founder, and is always present for anything related to the club.
Jasper speaks as I walk into the room. “Take a seat, start at the beginning, and tell us everything.”
I sit in the only open seat. “Thanks for having my back, I really appreciate it. Okay, you probably know I’ve been looking out for Tommy’s younger sister, Jules, while he’s helping Mica set up the new club. Back in LA she saw something that spooked her. The cops did nothing, but now I think she’s in danger.”
Slate lifts his chin. “Well, tell us what she saw, and maybe we can help.”
I tell them about the sedan along the side of the road, them trying to run her off the road, and her going to the cops. I also explain the bit about how she thought she recognized the man they threw into the trunk, but it didn’t turn out to be him. I tell them about how someone threw a rock with a blank piece of paper wrapped around it through her front room window and then traumatized her cat. How this scared the shit out of her and she came running to her brother for help.
I’ll be honest, my cousins are staring at me like I’ve lost my fuckin’ mind. Finally, Onyx speaks up. “How reliable do you think her reports are?”
Jinx adds, “This is a lot to swallow at one time.”
“Jules isn’t the sort to make up stories, this really scared her. Plus, she got a text from her old landlord. Some men in suits came looking for her and roughed him up. She saw something real and whoever it was is after her.”
Rock asks, “Is that sedan on the beltline the same one you’ve been calling all over the place to find?”
I nod at my uncle. “Yeah, I thought if we could find the car, it might lead to the owner.”
Jasper asks, “Is there anything else you haven’t told us?”
“Nope, not that I can think of. Have any of the brothers from SORLA visited her landlord yet?”
“Yeah, as of this morning, they haven’t found anything suspicious going on with Ramirez.”
Slate is our club secretary, so he’s takin’ notes while everyone speaks. Onyx pulls up the LA chapter’s overnight reports on his laptop and walks us through what the brothers have been doing while we slept. It sounds like they have been active. They’re even checking out the officer that Jules spoke to when she made the first report.
Jasper’s phone buzzes, and he checks to see who it is. He says, “We may have something,” before stepping away to take the call.
He listens for about thirty seconds. His expression lights up with dark glee. “Hold him at the warehouse. We’re coming to you.”
Shoving his phone back into his pocket, he announces, “A couple of our guys were assigned to cover Cedar Falls. Two outsiders rolled into town in a black SUV. They’re wearing suits and asking around a bunch of suspicious questions. Our guys gave chase and ended up capturing the two. They took them to our warehouse on the west side.”
I am on my feet immediately. “Let’s beat some intel out of these bastards. This is the first real lead I’ve had on this case and don’t fuckin’ want to waste it.”
