Page 34 of Sleeping with the Dark (The Righteous 3)
“I was a little preoccupied, so forgive me for not noticing a person that is always here anyway.” Arek crossed his arms over his chest, his face a classic pout.
Trev shook his head at his brother in amazement. “Sally came to me at the courthouse. She was frazzled and told me that one of Alejandro’s men had paid her a visit and threatened her at home. They even left a dead cat on her doorstep when she ignored his threat. She found the file. You know, the file?”
Arek sat up straight. “Sally knows…like everything?”
“Yes, and instead of handing it over, she came to me and gave me the stick with all the info on it and a detailed description of what the guy looked like. She was mortified she’d even downloaded it. I took her home to get clothes, and once we arrived here, I got ready and left again. And before you ask, no one was here when I arrived.”
“We were already at the races,” Arek said to Cody. Trev didn’t know what that meant, but that was a question for another time.
“Anyway, I figured I could kill two birds with one stone since he is one of the largest purchasers and distributors of Golden Dragons’ drugs. I’d extract my information, torture the guy that dared to threaten a sweet old lady, and with Alejandro out of the picture, the gang would fold.” Trev pushed himself up a little straighter. “The Dragons would either have to put several new boots on the ground to sell for them, or they would be looking for a new big fish to take Alejandro’s place.” Trev winced as he reached for the glass of water on the table, but Cody was faster and grabbed it for him. He offered him a smile as thanks before taking a long gulp of the cool liquid.
“Here, take this. The doc prescribed it to help with the pain.” Cody held out a couple of white pills. Trev took the offering and tossed the pills back. He wasn’t normally one for any form of drug, but this pain required an exception.
“Please tell me you searched the office?” Trev asked.
“Color me a little too concerned with keeping you alive to worry about that.”
“So the building?”
“Burnt to the ground,” Cody finished for Arek.
A pounding started behind his eyes, and Trev rubbed his eyes. “I went through all that for nothing.”
“No, not for nothing.” Cody looked between Trev and Arek. “First, let me get this straight. All you want is a way to get access to the Golden Dragons?” Cody asked.
“Yeah, we’ve been trying for months,” Trev answered, and Cody’s lip curled up.
“Not only did I clean out the office, but you guys just don’t know where to look. You didn’t have to go through all that to find them. All you had to do was ask me.”
Trev’s face fell. “You know them?”
“Not where they are, but I know their second-in-command. Arek you remember Spike down at the Underground?”
“Yeah,” Arek answered as he clenched his fists.
“He’s the Golden Dragons’ number two. They run all their pickups and drop-offs through the street races, and if you want an in, you’re looking at him.”
A trickle of fear gripped Trev. “Oh no, we are not doing that.”
“Why not? I race there all the time. The guys know me and…” Cody held up a finger as Trev opened his mouth. “Alejandro already thought that I’d killed off Tyson for some reason. I could definitely play it off that I wanted their territories. Ice Man was ruthless. They would buy that I had my own ambitions. Besides, the two of you would stand out like sore thumbs down there, and they are skittish with new people. It took me years to build a relationship strong enough to buy their product.”
“Cody has a point,” Arek said.
Trev managed to stand and made his way to the window to stare outside. He’d already lost Mel, did he want to risk Cody’s life on a mission as well?
“I don’t know if I can allow this.” Trev squeezed his eyes shut as the headache thumped a little harder.
“Trev, I know you want to protect me. I even understand that you lashing out at me when I followed you was because you didn’t want me to get hurt, but I have lived this life since I was twelve and living full time with Tyson since nineteen. I know these people, how they think, how they operate, all of it. I am your best shot at getting close to the Dragons.” Trev sighed as Cody’s hands touched his shoulders. “I can protect myself, and we have time to plan. We don’t have to rush into this tonight. To be honest, even with the three of us, it’s going to be tough. At last count, Tyson figured they had to have over a hundred boots on the ground that I know of.”
“You are simultaneously making a point to allow you to go and to tell you to sit your ass the fuck down.” Trev glanced at Cody in the window and then resumed his staring at the backyard.
Cody laughed, the deep sound racing over his skin like an intimate caress. He slowly raised his gaze to look the man in the eyes. Could he let go of his fears? “Arek, can you give us a few minutes to talk?”
“Take as much time as you like. Now that I’m not a pacing mess, I’m going to go fuck the shit out of my beautiful fiancé and then pass out for like a week.”
“So didn’t need to hear that about my baby sister.” Cody shot daggers at Arek.
“Dude, trust me, that girl is no baby. Not with the dirty things she’ll do with that tongue.” Arek smiled as Cody clenched his fists and a growl-like sound rippled from his throat. “Fucking with you for the rest of your life is going to be so much fun,” could be heard as the door closed behind him.
