Page 45 of The Devil's Revelation
Heading back out to the front desk, I see that Carson and Timber are still standing there. “Aren’t you two supposed to be working?”
“We would if we had anything else to do,” Timber replies with a shrug. “Titan’s cleaning his bay. We’re already done with the jobs for today, and no more are on the docket other than the one you’re working on. Which, if I remember correctly, you told me if I touch that car you would run me over with it and then dump my body in a lake.”
“Still will,” I agree. “Guess you guys can clean up and head out then.” I look at my watch. “It’s almost closing time anyway.”
“Ain’t gonna hear any complaint from me,” Timber grins. “Come on, Prospect, we’ll get you a bucket and a mop.” Carson follows without a word.
I head back into my office and get to work on a few more little things I need to get done before Viper comes to get the accounting paperwork. The man is a tyrant about keeping on schedule.
I’m just about finished when I hear someone rushing down the hall and look up just in time to see Izzy, pale and wide-eyed, come rushing into my office. “I need your help,” she gasps, out of breath.
Every instinct goes on alert as I jump to my feet. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Are you okay? Sit down,” I order but she just stares at me.
I round the desk and stop in front of her. She snaps out of it, straightens her shoulders, and looks me dead in the eye as she says, “The shop I’m working at is running drugs through their cars.”
That is not at all what I expected her to say. “What?” I ask, unsure if I’ve heard her correctly as I stand in front of her.
“I saw it today. God, I’m so stupid. I wondered why they were being so nasty to me and not letting me work on anything big. Okay, maybe not, I know it’s because I have tits and a vagina, but that shouldn’t matter. I’m so sick of them using that…”
“Izzy,” I interrupt. “The drugs.”
She huffs out a breath. “Right, sorry. I’m all stressed out. I was told to do an oil change and tire rotation on a car this morning, but I noticed one of the tires had a large nail in it. So I took the tire over to the machine to take off the rubber, patch it, and then balance it. But the rubber was like glued on and took me forever to get it off. When I opened it, I saw these black square packages all stuck to the inside of the rubber. There had to be at least four or five of them. I had gloves on, and didn’t touch them.”
“Good. What did you do then?”
“I thought about reporting it, but then I realized if I did that, they could accuse me of planting it there or something. Or maybe they were in on it. So I put the tire back together. One of the guys, Tony, was watching and waiting for me when I finished, and when I told him about patching the tire, he got this weird look on his face. It was just another clue that something is going on. I had to do a few other things to finish on the job and then I took it for a test drive. I did a really quick one, because the last thing I wanted was to get stopped. Then, when I was getting out, I saw a secret compartment under the steering column. I don’t need to be a genius to know what that’s for.”
My head is spinning and my instincts are screaming that this is somehow related to Dmitri and his entire operation. How can it not be? “Did you see anything else?” I ask.
She nods. “Throughout the day I noticed them putting things in the cars and they have this little routine. I don’t know if Sergio, the guy who owns the place, knows or not, but my gut is telling me yes. I worked all day and clocked out at five on the dot. Sergio stopped me and asked me where I was going, and when I told him it was five he let me go, but he watched me like he wasn’t sure if he should let me. I got a bad feeling, Torque. I thought all day about what I should do, if I should go to the cops, but I know this isn’t the only shop doing this, and since I work there they could incriminate me right along with the rest of them. The only people I thought could help me were you and your club. I know I don’t have the right to ask…”
“Stop,” I order. “We’ll protect you.Iwill protect you. Did anyone see you come here?”
She shakes her head. “I headed towards my place, made sure no one was following me and did a few circles, going different ways each time, and then I came here. I parked in between a few cars that were the same color so hopefully they won’t spot it if someone is looking for me.”
“Good. Give me your keys. I’ll have the guys pull it into the garage out of sight and then I’m calling my father. We need to let him know what you saw and make a plan, okay?”
“Okay,” she breathes. She starts to tremble. “I don’t know why I’m burdening you with this,” she mutters. “You don’t even know me very well, and who knows what I’m involving you in.”
“Izzy,” I say firmly, reaching out and tilting her chin up with my finger. Looking into her eyes, I tell her, “You came here because you know it is the right thing to do. I will protect you. Understand?”
She nods and sighs softly. Then she reaches into her pocket and pulls out her keys. “Here.”
“Good girl,” I praise. “Now sit down and hang tight. I have water and snacks and shit in the mini fridge over there, help yourself. I’m going to make a couple calls and then I’ll be back. Holler if you need me though, okay?”
“Okay.” I move towards the door, but stop when she says, “Torque?” I turn my head and look at her over my shoulder. “Thanks.”
“Always, Izzy.” Then I hurry out and into the shop. “Carson,” I bark, making all three men stop and look at me in surprise. “Silver Honda outside, bring it in quickly and shut the doors. Timber, you and Titan need to go outside and take a look around, carefully, to make sure that no one is skulking around that shouldn’t be.”
“On it,” Carson says, taking the keys from me. I can tell my brothers want to ask questions, but thankfully do as asked and I call my father.
“Son,” he says when he answers.
“Need you to come to the shop,” I tell him briskly. “Think we got something on our mob situation.”
“Reliable?” he asks, voice alert.
“Looks like it. I’ll explain when you get here.”
