“I didn’t set you up.”
“Ah, yeah, you did. Val was ever so kind to explain to me exactly what the two of you had planned.”
“Well, that was your first mistake, believing anything that came out of Val’s mouth. It doesn’t matter though, my mind is made up. You’re going to have to ask me, preferably on your knees, in front of me, naked.”
Carri was working up a good mad, this man was infuriating. He denied what she thought she knew back then. Come to think of it, Val was a slimy human being. She could have lied, but she’d been so convincing, saying that Link’s plan was to humiliate her in front of the rest of the school. She didn’t have the greatest confidence back then, being a nerd. Still, that was forever ago. Why in the hell would a big, bad ass biker even care? It didn’t fit his image, now or back then. Carri could see him wanting her to beg him, yeah, that went along with his personality, but being slighted by a fifteen-year-old and still holding on to it, no way.
“Link, please…” Carri never got to finish her sentence because one second he was standing a foot or two away from her and the next, he was in her space, grabbing the back of her and kissing the hell out of her. My God, this man could kiss. There was nothing sweet or gentle about it. He was conquering her mouth like a raider in medieval times. He used everything, lips, tongue, teeth, and his body in the kiss.
Carri wouldn’t be a passive recipient. After her brain finally caught up to what was going on, she gave as good as she got. Canting her head, so he could take the kiss deeper, and grabbing his cut, so she could pull him closer. The heat in her belly and lower region was near volcanic. Feeling the ridge of his hard length against her stomach only fueled her already sizzling cunt. This had to be the best kiss she’d ever had. If he could get her this hot with only a kiss, she wondered what he could do if they went further. He took her breath away and made her mind go blessedly blank. The only thing consuming her was Link.
When he pulled away and granted her one last chaste kiss to her swollen lips, she whimpered at the loss. Carri even tried to pull him back.
“Since you asked so nicely,” he smiled. “Next time, use some dirty words, and I’ll think about making it better. That was a good start though.”
Carri knew her mouth was opening and closing like a dying fish. She couldn’t believe what had happened. One second, she was experiencing the best kiss of her entire life, and the next, Link opened his damn mouth and ruined it. Still breathing heavy and not wanting to show him exactly what he’d done to her, Carri turned around and started marching down the tunnel with a new purpose. She needed to get the hell away from this man. The man who was currently laughing at her as she walked away. Fuck him, two could play at this game, she simply needed to figure out her next move.
“Come on, Carrington, I was only messing around. You're so damn serious all the time. You needed to lighten up a little.” Oh, that pissed her off; if there was ever a case of pot calling kettle black, this was it. Link was the epitome of serious, all the time. She whirled on him ready to give him a piece of her mind when his playful stance changed, and he went rigid. Carri was too far gone to notice the change, but when she opened her mouth to give it to him, he covered her mouth and shook his head. Which didn’t help her mood any until she heard it? There were people close, they could hear them talking. Shit.
Link removed his hand from her mouth and nodded when she didn’t make another noise. Holding up his finger, he left her standing in the tunnel and moved around the corner. Carri stood there, not sure of what she should do, but desperately tried to hear what the people were saying. She couldn’t. After a while, Link came back around the corner and waved for her to follow him.
As they got closer, the voices grew louder. She recognized two of them straight off, James and her Father. What the hell? The tunnel had ended in a room of sorts. Like a pantry, old wood shelves lined the walls, but there wasn’t a door. She couldn’t wrap her mind around it.
There was a third voice she didn’t recognize, but he was talking about the RBMC and how he had everything they would need to shut them down. Looking at Link, she noticed the fury in his gaze. He knew that voice. James and her Father were talking about a shipment and what they were going to do now that the cave entrance had been cut off. Neither of them sounded happy about that, but did confirm what she suspected; her father was in something deep.
There was no love lost between them, but she’d hoped with her threats so many years ago, he would at least try to stay on the straight a narrow. She had information about his company which would bankrupt him and put his ass in jail. At sixteen, she’d been so idealistic, thinking the threat of exposure was enough to make him change, but obviously, it hadn’t. She should have known better.
What did astonish her was James’ involvement. He always seemed like an upstanding guy. No doubt, he played in the social circles to further his career, but he still had a love of the law, at least she’d thought he did. As they continued to talk, Carri heard her name. She moved closer to the shelves. It seemed that dear old dad had it all worked out; if Carri tried to go after him now, it would look like she was setting him up. The most glaring confession was he planned on showing her exactly where her place was in this world. He wanted to destroy her professionally and very publicly. Fuck, she should have known.
She and Link stood there in silence, listening until the three men walked away. Even then they waited, not wanting to risk exposure. After about a half hour of complete silence, Link started to push and pull on the shelves.
“What are you doing?” Carri whispered
“This a bootlegger tunnel, Carri,” Link answered, but looked annoyed, “there has to be a latch to open a door.” She didn’t question Link and started to move things around as quietly as she could. Her damn boot caught on a root of some kind, and she went down. It wasn’t a root though, it was the lever. The shelving unit popped open with a hiss, and Link pushed it open the rest of the way.
Carri dusted herself off, went to take a look for herself, and was surprised. They were in a small building, maybe a shed, she wasn’t sure. The door to the outside was about three feet away, just big enough for the door to the tunnels to open. Link opened the outside door a crack; they were at the old Metcalf Airport. It was small, only crop planes and commuters, but it was still an airport of sorts.
Link shut the door and started for the shelving unit. It looked like they weren’t going to talk about any of this, at least not yet. When they’d put the hidden door back in place and walked back toward the farm through the tunnel, Carri had enough of the silence.
“That was my Dad and James talking. I don’t know who the third guy was, but I did recognize their voices. I still don’t get it, I mean, are they bring stuff in or sending it out? Are they using the airfield and what exactly do you think they’re moving?”
“I’m not sure what they’re running,” Link answered her, but kept on walking. “I have my suspicions, but that’s all they are. As for the airfield, my guess is they’re flying in whatever they’re moving. The tunnels that lead to the farm are their exit strategy. Think about it, what butts up against the back of the Sinclair farm?”
“The nature preserves?”
“Yeah, 500 acres of untouched, unregulated land. We have one game warden for the entire area. They could move whatever they wanted right into Virginia.”
“Why not fly it there?”
“Because of the regulations, customs, TSA, and airport security. Metcalf is small enough if you grease the right hands, you’re pretty safe to know when and where the next TSA officer will be around. There are about four employees at this place, all good old boys. The pilots around here are also all regulars who make appointments for landings and take-off. They fly in, unload, move the cargo through the tunnels and out into the preserve. From there, they could go anywhere.”
“Why do I get the feeling you know more about this then you’re saying?” Carri asked.
“Babe, listen, Tuck will fill yo
u in on the rest, but first I need to get back to the farm and over to our attorney’s office.”
“What? Why does your attorney have to do with any of this? Plus, aren’t I supposed to be going over his work for Tuck?”
“That third voice was Albert Dowes, our fucking attorney. I need to get to his place and take everything he has on the RBMC. Then you need to get your ass working to figure out what he has that he can use against us. I have a feeling this goes much deeper than Talon’s unlawful arrest.”
“Shit!”
Chapter 16
Link dropped Carrington off at the farm and told her he would be in touch. After he explained the third voice was their attorney, she’d been surprisingly quiet. Once he got into the cage, he made a quick phone call to Jinx.
“Listen, get a couple of the guys together, ones we can trust, and meet me at Dowes place.”
“What did you have in mind, VP?”
“We’re tearing his place apart. He made threats to the RBMC, and that means he’s going down. Bring his file with you.”
“On it.”
If that little snake thought he could play with the big boys, he had another think coming. He was about to find out what happened when you betrayed the RBMC.
The drive to town didn’t take very long. It would have been faster if he had his bike, but the cage would come in handy. Dowes had an office just off of Main Street; Link had been there many times. Walking into the reception area, which was little more than a desk and a few chairs where clients could wait, Link approached Mari, Dowes’ secretary. Link pulled out his wallet and grabbed a hundred-dollar bill, handing it to Mari.
“Mari, why don’t you take the rest of the day off.” When she didn’t immediately take the money, Link raised his eyebrow. Mari had been a resident of Defiance all her life, she knew not to mess with him or any member of the RBMC. He watched as she made a decision and with trembling hands, took the bill he was offering her and didn’t make any other move.
“Mari, why don’t you grab your purse and head on out. Albert and I are going to have a nice long chat.”
“But, Mr. Frost, Albert isn’t here.”
“I know, Mari, but I’m sure he will be soon enough. Now, go on. I’m sure you can find something to do for the day. I’ll let Dowes know I told you to head out. No worries, okay?” Link waited while she gathered up her things and headed for the door. Through the glass panel, he could see Jinx and the others making their way up the sidewalk. Before she got completely out the door, Link warned, “Oh and Mari, I expect you to keep this visit between the two of us, no phone calls or gossip, understand?”
“Yes, Mr. Frost, I understand.”
Jinx held the door open for Mari to leave. Looking at his friend, Link thought it was somewhat comical; Jinx looked every bit of what a biker should look like, long beard and tats up and down each arm. He was also a big son-of-a-bitch. The sides of his head were shaven clean, leaving long hair in the middle, which he’d pulled back in some kind of man bun thing. He smiled at Mari, and she seemed to move faster to get away from him, which made him smile even bigger. Jinx liked it when people gave him a wide berth. Once Mari was gone, Link addressed the group.
“Creed, I want you to follow the secretary and make sure she follows my orders. Stay close enough she can see you. I already told her what I expect, but you’re there to make sure of it. No phone calls; lift the fucker from her if you have to. I also want a full report on who she talks to and what she does, understood?”
Creed nodded and walked out the door. Link hadn’t expected anything less from him. They were in mission mode now, all of them would follow orders as expected.
“Brass, take Boone and Snipe over to Dowes’ house and tear the fucker apart. Look for anything he has on the RBMC or anyone else. Box it up and get it to the Clubhouse. Carrington will be there within the hour to start going through it.”
“Jinx, I’m going to need you to do your magic with the office computers and then head over to Dowes’ house to do the same. Since he was at Metcalf, not too long ago, I expect him to make an appearance anytime. I want as much of this place torn down, packed, and stacked in the cage before he gets the chance to make a scene to draw attention to what we are doing.”
That left him, Whiskey, and to Link’s confusion, Crank. Crank hadn’t been to the Clubhouse or a single meeting since his and Cathy’s assault at the hands of the Vultures. Link could tell by the look on the man’s face and his stance, he wasn’t here to talk; they had work to do.
Jinx was in and out of the place within minutes and Crank and Whisk had already thoroughly searched Mari’s desk. There was a room in the back of the reception area filled with filing cabinets. Using the keys Whisk had found in Mari’s desk, he opened them one by one until he hit pay dirt. Most of the files pertained to RBMC business or one of the guys. He started loading them up into the banker boxes he found in the room.
Every so often, one of the guys would come in and take a load out. This was good, but he knew he needed to get into the man’s office. That would be where he hid the most valuable information. This was all older info from when the man was supposedly still on the side of the RBMC. He’d recognized some of the documents when he skimmed through them.
Emptying out the file room didn’t take long, maybe fifteen minutes after Link gave up trying to figure out what belonged to the RBMC and other clients, and just started loading it all. He would return any of the other files if need be. Yeah, he knew what he was doing was illegal, and he didn’t give one flying fuck.
There was a break room of sorts with a coffee maker, refrigerator, and little table. They looked through all the cabinets, but didn’t find anything of interest. The only other room left besides Dowes office, was a bathroom. Being the man Link was, he didn’t leave anything to chance. He looked in the toilet tank and even used a pipe wrench to check the piping under the sink. As far as Link was concerned, it was better to leave no stone unturned.
Link knew their time was running short. He wasn’t worried about Dowes coming in. He was more worried about what the man would do if he caught on to what was taking place before Link got his hands on him. The one thing going for Link was Dowes was an arrogant son-of-a-bitch. He would confront them first before calling anyone in, but there was still a chance he wouldn’t stick to his normal SOP.
Breaking the lock, Link entered Dowes’ office. The place smelled bad, stale cigar smoke and body odor engulfed the air. He was tempted to open a window, but suffered through, wanting to get this part over with. Whisk and Crank had taken the last of the files they found in the office out to the cage when the man of the hour made his appearance.
Link never did like the man, but he’d kept his opinion to himself. He was fat, there wasn’t another word for it. The man’s stomach protruded over his belt enough to give any department store Santa a run for his money. His face was red, and he was breathing heavy, more like panting, and damn, the man was sweating. Sweating so much, his thin, greasy hair was plastered to his face, and Link could see and smell the rivulets running down his face. Link had been sitting behind the man’s desk, looking through the drawers and didn’t give the man a second to sputter whatever was on his lips.
“Why don’t you have a seat, Dowes, it seems we have a lot to discuss.” Link leaned back and stared at the man, much like he had Val, but Dowes wasn’t as easy to control as Val. The man hadn’t realized how much trouble he was in, yet.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing in my office and what have you done with Mari?”
“I told you to sit your ass down, Dowes, now fucking do it.” He didn’t have to repeat the order because Whisk and Crank pushed the man down into the chair in front of the desk, none too gently, and much to Dowes dismay.
“Now, like I was saying, we seem to have a problem, Dowes. First, you couldn’t do the job we pay you for and get Tal out of jail. Then a little birdie told me about a meeting you just had. How are Teddy and Jimmy doing these days?”
“Now, Crank,” Link laughed, “we don’t want to hurt the good lawyer here, at least, not yet. Let’s give him a chance to explain to us what information he has that will bring the RBMC down.”
Link watched the man carefully, the panic in his eyes was real. It should be because Link wasn’t sure if Dowes would live to see another day. That all depended on what they found out, here and now. The man started blubbering nonsense, how his loyalty was to the RBMC and how he would never go against the Club, and he didn’t know what Link was talking about.
At Link’s nod, Crank blasted him again, this time in the face. Whiskey, not one to stand idly by, landed a few punches himself. When the man peed his pants, Link held up his hand for the guys to stop.
“Now, Dowes, you’re not being honest with me, here, and if there’s anything I hate more than a lawyer, it’s a liar.” Link, Whisk, and Crank all laughed at his joke, Dowes not so much.
He noticed the man kept looking to the left side of the desk, so Link started to pick things up as he was talking, to see his reaction. He picked up a picture of a pretty woman, probably Dowes daughter or something, and noticed no change in his demeanor.
“The way I see it, Dowes, we have a problem and only you can fix it. Are you going to fix it?” Link questioned as he picked up a paperweight; still no reaction. Hmm. The man was still crying, pleading he wouldn’t do anything against the MC. Link knew better. When he put the paperweight down and fingered the pencil container, Link noticed the slight widening of Dowes’ eyes and how the perspiration on his temples seemed to increase. Dumping the contents out on the desk, Link didn’t find anything, but when he started moving the pencils, pens, and highlighter around, he began to see more of a reaction from Dowes.
Link: Ruthless Bastards (RBMC Book 3) Page 11