by Wilder, L.
“She told you that?”
“Yeah, she’s never been very good at keeping secrets.” Thomas laughed.
“I’m well aware, but I thought she might use a little discretion this time.”
“Well, I’m glad you decided to come.”
“Me too,” I replied.
The waitress came over and brought us our menus. Once we’d placed our orders, I looked over to Thomas and said, “Madeline mentioned you were in law enforcement.”
“I’m in internal investigations.”
“That sounds a little daunting.”
“It can be. I’m not exactly a fan favorite on the force, but I have a job to do and try to do it the best I can.”
“Sounds like things aren’t exactly easy at the office.” I teased, hoping to make light of his heavy tone.
When he smiled, I knew I’d pulled it off. “No, they aren’t, but I do all right.”
“I’m sure that you do.”
We continued talking about his work for several minutes, but the conversation was interrupted when the waitress bought over our food. As we started eating, I thought back to how persistent Madeline was about me going out with Thomas. I hated to admit it, but she was right about him. I could definitely see myself dating a guy like him. He was handsome, very well-spoken, extremely charming, and his smile was incredibly contagious. Yet deep down, I had a feeling there was a catch because no guy was that perfect. So, I settled in and waited for the red flag to reveal itself. After swallowing a bite of his burger, he asked, “What about you? How are things at your office?”
“They’re pretty good, actually. I have Madeline there, so even when it’s bad, it’s good.” I laughed. “You know her. She has a way of putting a positive spin on just about anything.”
“That she does.” He chuckled. “I remember being all torn up when I totaled my truck in high school. I thought it was the end of the world, but Madeline was all chipper about it, convincing me that my old truck wasn’t all that great, and how I had a chance to get a new ride. She even searched the classifieds and then handed me a list of trucks to take a look at … I ended up buying one of them.”
“I can totally see her doing that.” There was something about his tone that made me wonder if he was secretly interested in his childhood friend. I wouldn’t have blamed him. Madeline was an amazing girl, and any man with a good head on his shoulders would be able to see that. I didn’t want to start something with a guy who was pining for someone else, so I asked, “So, you and Madeline are pretty close, aren’t you?”
He shrugged. “As close as two friends can be.”
“Is there a reason why you two never dated?”
“There was a time when I considered it”—his eyes drifted down to the table—“but we never seemed to be single at the same time.”
And there it was. The stupid red flag. Damn.
“So, you were interested in dating her?”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that. I don’t know. From colleges to our careers, we were always on different paths.” His eyes met mine as he continued, “But regardless, I’m a firm believer that things work out the way they’re supposed to.”
While Thomas was doing his best to say the right thing, I could read between the lines. He had a thing for Madeline. As much as I might’ve liked him, I knew pursuing anything further would just end up with me regretting it. I was trying to think of the best way to let him know that the two of us dating wouldn’t be a good idea when a man walked up to our table. He had dirty blond hair, beady green eyes, and a police badge was proudly perched on his hip. A crooked, smug smile crossed his face as he said, “Well, if it ain’t the almighty, Detective Long.”
I had no idea who the man was, but it was clear from Thomas’s expression that he wasn’t pleased to see him. “Mathews. Thought you were on duty tonight.”
“I am. Just stopped in to grab myself a bite to eat.” There was something about Mathews that rubbed me the wrong way. It probably had to do with the unexplained tension that was radiating off of Thomas as he stared back at him. Or maybe it was the fact that he was wearing a polo shirt at least one size too small in hopes of making his bulging muscles look even more pronounced. Whatever it was, I had a bad feeling about him, especially when he turned his attention to me. “Got yourself a real pretty lady.”
“Isn’t it time for you to get back at it?”
“I’ve got some time.” His eyes remained focused on me as he asked, “You got a name, sweetheart?”
“Mathews,” Thomas warned. “It’s time for you to go.”
“Damn, Long. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to get rid of me.” Mathews reached down and picked up Thomas’s glass of sweet tea, taking a long drink before placing it back down on the table. “I’ll let you two get back to it. Have a good one.”
Mathews glanced at me, gave me an inappropriate wink, and then he walked out of the restaurant without his takeout. Once he was out of sight, I looked over at Thomas. His back was still rigid and his expression stern, but he tried to feign a smile as he said, “Sorry about the intrusion.”
“It wasn’t exactly something you could help.”
“No, unfortunately, it wasn’t.”
He called the waitress over and ordered another drink. We continued eating, but our friendly banter had turned stilted and awkward. I could only assume that it had something to do with Mathews’ rude exchange, but I didn’t bother asking. I wasn’t planning on seeing him again anyway. It didn’t mean I didn’t care that the guy was having a bad day, though. When I noticed him nervously fiddling with his watch, I looked down at his wrist and briefly studied the silver facing with the worn-out leather band. “I really like your watch.”
“Thanks.” He extended his hand, revealing the weathered band and an oversized clock face that looked to be at least fifty years old. A proud smile crossed his face when he said, “It was my dad’s. He was an officer too. Got killed in the line of duty.”
“Oh, Thomas. I’m really sorry to hear that.”
“No need to be sorry. It was ages ago.” He pulled his hand back and studied the watch a moment. “He was a good man and an even better cop. I’ve always tried to follow in his footsteps, but it’s not as easy as I thought it’d be.”
“It rarely is.”
He glanced down at his watch once more, then said, “It’s getting kind of late. I better let you get home.”
“Okay.”
Since it was dark and I’d parked in the back of the restaurant, Thomas walked me out to my car. It was kind of crowded when I’d first arrived, so I thought it would be fine to park where I had. Now that it was just the two of us, I realized that it probably wasn’t the best idea. It was eerily quiet with just a few other cars parked behind mine, and unbeknownst to me, the streetlight was out, which made our farewell moment that much more awkward. When we got to my car, Thomas smiled and said, “I wish I’d come by to pick you up so you wouldn’t have had to drive home so late.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
“Well, I don’t like it, but I guess there’s not much I can do about it now.” He smiled. “It really was nice meeting you.”
“Thanks, Thomas. It was nice meeting you too.” As I reached into my purse, I told him, “Thanks again for dinner. I honestly enjoyed it.”
“Maybe we could do it again sometime.”
“Yeah, maybe.” I should’ve told him right then that I wasn’t interested, but I was ready to just get out of there. “We’ll talk about it.”
Before he could say anything more, several men stepped out of the shadows and quickly surrounded us. When Thomas went to reach for his weapon, one of the men aimed his revolver at my head and said, “Don’t even think about it.”
“Easy, man,” Thomas replied calmly. He kept his voice low and steady. “Just tell me what you want.”
“Too late for that.” Panic surged through me as I looked around at the different men. My adrenaline kicked in wit
h such force I thought I might vomit on the spot. In the small town where I’d grown up, the only crime we had was a local drunk who caused a little ruckus from time to time, but that was nothing in comparison to this. There were six men, all covered in tattoos and wearing dark clothing like they were a part of some gang, and the fact they were all carrying weapons made it pretty clear they were there to cause trouble. Realizing our lives were in danger, I turned back to look at the restaurant, hoping that someone might come to our rescue. Unfortunately, there was no one in sight. Damn.
The man who’d first spoken to Thomas stepped over to me and grabbed me by the hair, placing the barrel of his gun beneath my chin. “You already done fucked up, and now, you gonna pay for that shit.”
“Pay for what exactly?”
“Putting your fucking nose where it don’t belong.”
Before Thomas could say any more, one of the bigger men stepped up behind him and slammed the butt of his gun against the back of his head, knocking him to the ground. He tried to get back to his feet, but the man kicked him hard, forcing him back down. The guy was about to kick Thomas again when one of the guys announced, “Hey, man, hurry this shit up. We need to get the hell out of here before the cops show up.”
Like he was waiting for his cue, Mathews stepped out of the shadows and said, “The cops are already here.”
For a split second, I thought he was actually there to help me, but then I noticed the men’s expressions. They didn’t look like they were afraid of him. They didn’t look worried that they’d just been caught roughing up a cop. Instead, they looked liked one of their buddies had just walked up. Thomas glared at him as he snarled, “I should’ve known you had something to do with this.”
“Damn right, you should’ve known.” Mathews walked over to Thomas and knelt down, grabbing him by the throat and squeezing tightly as he growled, “You seriously thought I was gonna let some pencil-pusher cop like you take me down? You really think he would let you look into him without any blowback? Surely, you’re smarter than that.”
I had no idea who Mathews was referring to, but I got the feeling that he was the man behind whatever trouble Thomas was investigating. Thomas once again tried to get to his feet as he said, “You won’t get away with this.”
“Sure, I will. I always do.”
“Let the girl go, Mathews. She’s got nothing to do with this.”
“You’re in no position to be giving me orders, Long.” Mathews reared his fist back, slamming it into Thomas’s jaw, this time knocking him completely out. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe. I could only stand there and watch as the man motioned his hand to one of the others and ordered, “Put him in the truck.”
Doing as they were instructed, two of the guys came over and dragged Thomas to a truck that was parked several feet away. I could hear the men talking amongst themselves, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I was too freaked out. I could feel the sweat drench my skin, the rapid beating of my heart vibrating in my ears, and the tension taking hold of every muscle in my body. My fingers curled into a fist, my nails dug into my palm, and my breath quickened. Air flooded in and out of my lungs at such a rate I feared I might pass out. I tried to settle myself by slowing my breathing and forcing myself to think, but all of my efforts were lost when I heard the man ask Mathews, “You take care of the security cameras?”
“Already told you I did,” Mathews spat. “Assholes didn’t even notice when that shit went black.”
“All right, then.” The guy looked over to me. “What do you want us do about her?”
His eyes skirted over to me. It was at that moment I knew things were about to go from bad to worse. Without so much as a blink, he answered, “Get rid of her.”
“No!” I shouted as I tried to break free from the man’s hold. “Thomas already told you. I had nothing to do with this.”
Before I could say anything more, I felt the man’s fist slam into my ribs, causing the air to rush from my lungs. He hit me again—hard enough to crack a couple of my ribs—and my knees buckled from the pain. I didn’t have a chance to shield myself before several of the men gathered around and started wailing on me like a punching bag. I’d never been in a fight or even hit someone before, so I didn’t know how to react. I could only take the beating that they were dishing out. It was as if I were a rag doll as I dropped to the ground and tried to keep myself from passing out while they continued to kick me in the side and head.
Thankfully, it stopped as quickly as it had started. Every inch of my body ached and throbbed, and my chest felt like it was caving in on me as I lay there trying to take in a breath. Everything was spinning when I felt someone’s hand tangle in my hair, pulling hard as they dragged me across the parking lot. When they’d gotten me over to one of their cars, the guy released my hair and dropped me to the ground. Once they’d opened the trunk, one of them lifted me up and tossed me inside.
I was barely conscious, but was aware enough to hear Mathews say, “Finish her off, then take her over to Stilettos. Toss her into one of their dumpsters.”
“Why there?”
“Hell, look at her. She’ll have people out there looking for her, and when they find her in that fucking dumpster, it’ll take the heat off you and put it on the Sinners.”
“Got it.”
My breathing was shallow, and I was losing consciousness when I felt a jab at my gut, followed by searing pain. I felt a second jab in my chest, and that was it. Everything went black.
Shotgun
When I pulled up to Stilettos, I wasn’t surprised to see it was packed. Since the day we opened, it had been one wild night after the next. I parked at the front door, then went inside to find Menace. The music was blaring, and three of the stages were crowded with a mix of the club’s regulars and some newcomers. From the way they were carrying on, it was evident they liked our new girls, especially Candy. The girl was a knockout with all the right moves, taunting the men with every turn on the pole. I had no doubt the chick was bringing in bank, and it wouldn’t be long before she’d be able to cover the cost of her college tuition and more.
I headed back to the office, and when I walked in, I found Menace sitting at his desk working on the computer. He seemed pretty enthralled in whatever he was doing and never even looked up as I sat down in the chair in front of him, so I was surprised when he said, “Hey, brother. I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight.”
“Just thought I’d come by to see how things were going.”
“Going good.” He looked up from his screen. “Looks like another big night.”
“Apparently so. Hell, I could barely find a spot to park my fucking bike.”
“That’s the way we want it.” Menace leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Anything going on at the clubhouse?”
Before I could answer, there was a tap at the door, and Diego, one of our bus boys, stepped inside with a panicked expression on his face. “Hey, man...Umm...I think we got a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
“Don’t know just yet, but I think you two better come check it out.”
Menace and I stood, then followed him out front. I was expecting there to be some commotion with the crowd, maybe a fight or a sloppy drunk, but everything seemed fine as Diego led us through the club and towards the back exit. When we stepped outside into the alley, Diego stopped and looked over to us. “I was helping Casey take out the trash, and I was tossing in one of the bags. And that’s when I saw it.”
“Saw what?”
“This.”
He took out his phone and turned on the flashlight, shining it inside the dumpster. Menace and I stepped forward, and to our surprise, there was a woman sprawled out on top of the trash. She was slim with long brown hair, and she was beat all to fucking hell. One of her eyes was completely swollen shut, and there was blood all over her clothes, but the fact that I couldn’t tell if she was breathing had me concerned she was dead. There was no missing the s
hock in Menace’s voice when he asked, “What the fuck?”
“I don’t know, man. I found her this way. Got no idea how she ended up here.” Diego’s voice trembled with worry as he asked, “Should we call the cops?”
“Fuck, no,” I snapped. “Last thing we need is those assholes snooping around.”
“Well, we gotta do something,” Menace pushed.
“We need to get her the fuck out of there so we can see what we’re dealing with.”
I quickly hoisted myself up the side of the dumpster and gingerly made my way over the top of the ledge. I was careful not to get too close as I jumped inside and knelt down next to her. When I leaned in to get a better look, I got an odd feeling I knew her, but I couldn’t place where I’d seen her before. Being attentive not hurt her even more, I eased my hands under her body, and a soft, pained moan slipped through her busted lips as I lifted her into my arms. I looked over to Menace and told him, “She’s still alive.”
Menace nudged Diego. “Let’s give him a hand.”
Diego nodded, then stepped over to the edge of the dumpster next to him. They worked together to gently lift the girl from my arms and lowered her down to the ground. I took a quick look around for her purse or wallet, but unfortunately, I didn’t find a damn thing. I pulled myself out of the dumpster and stepped over to Menace. Diego was looking down at her in horror. “Damn. Somebody did a real number on this chick.”
“You’re not kidding.” I shook my head as I studied her. While it was my first encounter, this wasn’t the first time a body had been found in a dumpster. Hell, in a city as big as Nashville, it happened more than one might think, but there was something about this whole thing that wasn’t adding up. By looking at her stylish clothes and fresh manicure, I could tell she came from money. She definitely wasn’t the kind of woman I’d expect to find sprawled out on a load of fucking garbage. “Gotta wonder why somebody would do this shit.”
“You think this has something to do with that asshole you took out a few months back?”