by Blair Grey
Coming to me, he put both hands on my shoulders as he looked me in the eyes. “You don’t have to do all this, Sarah. And I don’t know what will happen if the Irish Reapers find out that you found these girls other jobs. So, you’re going to have to do something that’s very foreign to you.”
“Like what?”
“Butt out.” He kissed me on the forehead to lessen the blow.
Like I’m going to do that. “I can make sure no one tells a soul.”
“That doesn’t always work. So, what you’re going to do is tell the girls the truth and apologize for the way things are, but they’re out of your control. And then you’re going to start going to the other strip joints to talk to whoever you have to about never hiring the women you just fired.” He let me go to walk to his side of our desk. “It’s that easy.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I huffed. “Don’t you and Dad have things to get to about the fire?”
“I can see you would love nothing more than to get me out of your way so you can go about doing things the way you want to, but that ain’t happening, baby. We’re calling it an accident and going with the firemen’s story of the dishcloth catching on fire. You understand that you’re not to say anything to anyone else about anything you and I talked about. You will stick with the accident story, just like I will.”
Something started to tickle my nose and I took a deeper sniff of the air. “Do you smell that, Axel?”
“Smoke. Yes, I do. I think it’s on my clothes now that I stood in that damn kitchen so long.” He pulled up the collar of his shirt and took a sniff. “Yep, it’s me.”
“No, it’s not coming from you.” I followed the very slight smell to the door of the office, that he’d left open. “It’s very faint and it doesn’t smell like the kitchen does. I can smell wood burning.”
The sound of sirens had me looking back at the window that faced the street. But as I looked that way, something caught my eye from the window on the opposite side, the one that looked out the back of the club. Axel’s eyes followed mine and he turned to look at the window nearest him. “Smoke.”
“Fire!” I ran down the stairs with him right behind me. We made it to the backdoor then he punched in the code and opened it. The wooden shed where the extra supplies were stored was lit up, the fire had already engulfed it.
“Goddamnit!” Axel took my hand, pulling me back inside then closing the door. “Who the fuck is doing this?”
We headed to the front entrance as the fire engines pulled back into our parking lot for the second time that morning. Axel pointed to the back and they went that way, going around the building.
One thing was certain, no one needed any codes to get to that storage building. I looked at Axel as I thought about what I needed to do. “I’m going to walk across the street to talk to whoever is working over there. They had to have seen something.”
“Go ahead. I’ll stay here.” His eyes drooped as he shook his head. “I’m not sure what they’ll pull next. We need to find out who’s behind this and we need to find them before they burn the whole place down.”
Knowing time was precious, I hurried to get to the store. Axel’s dreams were about to go up in smoke if we didn’t figure things out quickly.
Pushing the door open, the bell on top of it rang but I didn’t see anyone. “Hello?”
I heard some rustling, then a man came out of the room attached to the checkout counter that was behind a wall of bulletproof glass. “Hello, how may I help you this fine morning?”
“My name’s Sarah. I run the business across the street. We’ve had a couple of fires this morning and I was wondering if you or anyone who’s been working this morning has seen anything unusual over there.”
“I’ve been here since midnight. I’ve seen lots of unusual behavior at that place. Motorcycles, come and go. And I think some shady goings-on are happening over there too. Why would a nice young lady like yourself be a part of all that nonsense?”
I didn’t have the time to tell him why that was. “I meant this morning, not last night. Around nine this morning, did you see anyone at that place?”
“Nine?” he tapped his chin with a pen, and it left black dots wherever he tapped.
“Um.” I rubbed my own chin. “You’re pen’s open.”
His dark eyes went wide as he threw the pen onto the counter then rubbed his chin, looking embarrassed. “Oh, my! How silly of me.”
I pointed to the monitors behind him. “If you can’t recall seeing anyone, then maybe you could check the footage out to see what you can around nine this morning.”
“You don’t have your own cameras?” He looked confused. “Why not?”
Once again, there was no time to explain why we had no cameras and also I wasn’t supposed to even let people know about that. “Um, we have them. They just didn’t pick anything up. You know, maybe the culprit used some type of device to mess with our surveillance system. But we do have one. A state-of-the-art kind of thing.”
“I am sure that you do.” He didn’t look like he believed me even a little. “Let me see what I can find for you.”
“Thank you.” As I waited for him to go to his office to do whatever he had to in order to view the past video, I heard a terrible sound that had me covering my ears.
Then the man came running out of another door, screaming, “We’ve been hit!”
He grabbed me by the arm, pulling me to leave the store with him and that’s when I saw the huge plume of black smoke coming from the back of his store. “What happened?”
“I don’t know.” He looked across the street and pointed in that direction. “Go tell the firemen that they are needed over here too. Please hurry.”
With flames already shooting up from his store, I had the sick feeling that his loss was somehow our fault. “I’ll go tell them.”
Running all the way to the back, I saw Axel standing with a couple of the firemen, talking away as the flames of our storage building were nearly extinguished. But the building and everything in it was a total loss.
No one seemed to have heard the explosion that had happened across the street. But the sound of the trucks and the water were very loud. “Hey!” I waved my arms as I ran up. “You guys!”
Axel turned around to find me panting as I ran up to them. “What the hell are you running from?”
I could barely breathe, barely speak. But I could point. “The – store. It’s - an explosion - a fire. On fire.”
“The store is on fire?” Axel asked.
I nodded as the firemen sprang into action, leaving us alone. I was done being the investigator. “Can we call the cops now, Axel?”
Shaking his head, he grabbed my hand, taking me to his truck. “We don’t need them. We need to get you home and then I need to take care of things.”
“We need some guards or something to make sure no one gets within throwing distance of our building, Axel.” I put my seatbelt on as he sped out of the parking lot.
“Yeah, well right now I don’t know who the enemy is, Sarah. So, I’m not real comfortable putting anyone I know in that position.” He had a valid point.
But so did I. “Then call the police and let them put some cops on it.”
“It’s hard to believe that you were raised by Carl Davis. Since when did you start thinking that going to the police was the answer to anything?” He sped down the road and in no time we were at my place. “Go inside, make sure you activate the security system and don’t let anyone other than me or your father inside. Tell me that you will do as I’ve told you to.”
“But.” I didn’t know what to say. “Can I leave my house?”
“No.”
“But.”
“No,” he stated again. “Now if you don’t mind, hurry up and get out so I can get to where I need to be.”
I felt nervous about what he was going to do. “Just tell me where you’re going.”
“I can’t.” He pointed for me to get out. “Get into that house
and wait for me.”
It felt wrong to let him go off in the state of mind he was in. “Just be careful and don’t let your emotions get the best of you.” I opened the door, then climbed out of the truck. “Be careful, okay?”
“Get inside. I’m not leaving until you’re in the house. Don’t go out of it for any reason. Stay inside.”
I closed the door, then hurried to get inside so he could go on his rampage or whatever he was set on doing. But I wasn’t happy about it at all. After I punched in the code to lock my house back up, I went to my bedroom to take a shower and change.
I’d spent the night at Axel’s and still wore the same clothes I’d put on the night before. With no idea what else the day would bring, I wanted to at least be showered and have on fresh clothes.
Before I got to the shower, my cell rang, and I saw it was one of the girls I was supposed to fire. Everyone had the day off, so I had to wonder what she was calling about. “Hey, Eve, what’s up?”
“When were you planning on telling us that we’re fired, Sarah?”
“Uh.” She’d caught me off guard. “First, tell me who told you about that.”
“Never mind that. What are we supposed to do now? You told us that you would be able to take care of anything the Irish Reapers came up with if they decided to retaliate against us.”
I had said that. “Well, I’m working on that. That’s why I haven’t told any of you anything. Have you told any of the other girls yet?”
“We’re all here at my place. I called them all as soon as I found out. Can we count on you or not, Sarah? That’s what we need to know.”
“Whoever told you that I was going to fire you, did they tell you what else I’m expected to do?” I couldn’t believe anyone would’ve known to tell them about anything.
“Blackball us.” She got quiet and I could hear murmuring of the other girls. “Are you gonna do that shit to us, Sarah? Or are you gonna do what you told us you would and take care of things? Cane will make a deal with you, I’m sure.”
So, Cane is the one who told them the news.
“Did he have you call me, Eve?” She didn’t have to tell me a thing. I knew he was behind this. “Did Cane have the fires set at our club and the store across the street when he saw I’d went to it to get their video files?”
She was quiet for a while, then said, “No. I just know the kind of man he is. And I heard that he came to see you on opening night too, to make you a deal for us. We put our bodies out there to make money. Why can’t you do the same thing so we can keep our jobs? Do you think you’re better than us or something? Do you think the only ones in your club who are expected to get some sort of payment for sex are your dancers? Just let the man fuck you, Sarah. That’s all he wants. Trust me, he’ll get tired of you. He’s one of those guys who wants new pussy all the time. You know - just like Axel is. Give Cane what he wants, and he’ll leave all of us alone. You’ll see.”
Maybe she’s right.
Maybe giving myself to Cane will end the fires and the ruining of seven women’s lives.
Chapter Seventeen
Axel
“Boss, I need to meet with you right now.” The whole world felt as if it had begun to collapse in on me. Nothing felt right. “Is there any way that you can account for every single member of our MC for the last hour?”
“I’m not sure. Why do you need me to do that, Axel?”
“We had another fire and this time they hit the store across the street too. Sarah had gone over there to see about getting the video footage to help us figure out who set both fires. The culprit must’ve seen her, and they lit that place up too.” We had to stop this before it got any worse and we had to know who was behind it all. “If we can’t contain this before another fire breaks out, you know the cops are going to get involved. For all I know, the owner of the store that just got torched might be talking to them as we speak.”
Confusion riddle his voice, “Wait. Another fire? At your club? Where?”
“The storage shed in back.” Heading to the MC’s bar, I was going to get to the bottom of things one way or another. “As the firemen were taking care of that blaze, that’s when they hit the store. We’ve got a war, boss. Now we just need to know who the enemy is so we can stomp the shit out of them.”
“Meet me at our bar. I’ll call an emergency meeting for the whole club within a half-hour. This is not good, Axel.”
As if I didn’t already know that. “We can reign this in, boss. We’ve just got to make sure everyone on our team knows we won’t stop until we have the answers we need.”
“See you soon.”
Thinking about Sarah, I wasn’t sure if she’d listened to me or not, so I called her. It rang four times before she answered, “Axel? You okay?”
“Yeah. And you?” I hadn’t wanted to leave her alone but knew she couldn’t be at an MC meeting. “You doing what I told you to?”
“Um – well, yes, I’m here at home.” I could hear some shuffling in the background. “The girls are coming over.”
“Do you mean the girls you have to fire?” I thought that to be an exceptionally bad idea. “I don’t think you should have them over, baby. They’re not going to be happy at all. This could backfire on you.”
“It’s okay, Axel. I’ve already talked to them. It’s going to be fine. You’ll see, I’ll take care of everything. I think the Irish Reapers are behind this whole thing. I know we talked about the only other person who has the security codes but I’m not entirely sure one of the girls didn’t get them somehow and give them to Cane. You know, maybe as a way of buying some time from him or something.”
“Cane?” I didn’t like her even saying the piece of shit’s name. “So, now this mother fucker who asked you to trade yourself for the girls you took from him is a man whose name is on the tip of your tongue. I don’t like that even a little.”
“Sorry, I don’t know what else to call him, Axel. Damn.” Huffing, she went on, “If I have the girls here, we can talk, then I can get a better idea if any of them are in on this thing with him. Which I think at least one of them is.”
“Even more reason for you not to be alone with them. Call them and tell them you need to postpone the meeting you’ve called. Fuck, Sarah! I’ve got a lot of shit on my plate right now and you’re adding to it. Can’t you just sit the fuck still and wait for me to do what I need to?”
“I’ve got this, Axel. I’m not a fucking child. You handle what you need to, and I’ll do what I need to. Bye.” She ended the call, much to my disbelief.
Mother fucker!
Pulling into the parking lot at the MC’s bar, I skidded to a stop then got out, making huge strides as pure anger filled me. Carl and Steve stood at the bar, both drinking beer, both looking at me. “Your daughter is crazy, boss. Sorry to tell you this way, but Sarah has the least amount of self-preservation out of anyone I’ve ever met. It’s like she thinks she’s this total badass that she just isn’t.”
Carl’s puzzled expression wasn’t lost on me. I was as confused about what Sarah was doing as he was hearing me bitch about it. “I hope you left her in a safe place.”
“I left her at her house. I had a security system put in yesterday morning. She’s completely safe there. But she’s asked the girls she has to fire to come over so they can talk. Like, those girls aren’t going to be so pissed at her.” I threw up my arms as I paced. “There’re seven of them. If they gang up on her and beat the hell out of her, I don’t know what I’ll do to them.”
Carl pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “Sarah, what the hell are you doing?” He listened, nodded, listened some more, then said, “I think that’s a bad idea. Tell them you’re canceling.” He listened some more, nodding away, then said, “Do as I told you to. Call them. Cancel your little meeting.” The door opened and the other men began coming in. “I’ve got to go. Do what I told you to, Sarah. Don’t disappoint me by getting yourself hurt.”
“Do you think you got throu
gh to her?” I hoped like hell with both of us telling her that it was a bad idea, that she’d listened.
“I’m sure I did. She hates for me to be disappointed in her. I’m sure she’ll cancel. Now, we need to get this meeting going.” Picking up a paper off the bar, he handed it to me. “Get everyone to sign next to their name on this list. I want to be sure we’ve got everyone here before we get started.”
Since Steve hadn’t said a word to me, I was sure Carl hadn’t confronted him about someone using the security codes to get in and out of The Executive Viper this morning. “How about you sign first, Steve?” I put the paper back down on the bar so he could sign it.
“Sure thing.” He signed it and as he did so, the other men started coming up to the bar to sign it too.
I kept a close eye on the process to make sure each man only signed his own name. It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibilities that even men in my own MC would conspire against us. Or at least against some of us. At the time, I had no idea who was the one being punished here.
It took twenty minutes, but we had all the signatures once Carl and I signed. “We’re all accounted for, boss.” I took a seat as our president took the lead.
Carl greeted everyone, “Good early afternoon, all. I want to make this clear that this isn’t a meeting as much as it is a discussion. So, feel free to speak if you have something to say about the subject matter. We’ve had a few things happen on this - supposed to be lazy Sunday morning.” He walked along the right side of the room, looking at each man as he spoke, “A fire broke out in the kitchen around nine this morning at The Executive Viper, our latest business to open. Not long after the fire department put that fire out, another one erupted in the storage room behind The Executive Viper. And now the criminal activity has gone to a business not owned by our MC. But it’s sure to be a part of the scheme as the small grocery store and gas station across the street from The Executive Cobra was also set on fire.”
“This sounds like the work of the Irish Reapers to me, boss,” a rider named Johnny called out. “Have you checked with that prez about all this?”