Chapter 15
Rafe
“Damn, brother. You look like hell.”
“Yeah, I feel like hell, too.” I walked over and sat down on the stool next to Country as I told him, “Just been one of those days.”
“What the fuck is going on?”
“Just Kate and more of her bullshit.” I motioned over to Lisa, letting her know I needed a beer, then said, “I know she’s Marlowe’s sister and all, but I wish the chick never came to town.”
“Yeah, I could tell just by looking at her last night she was one of those stuck-up bitches who thinks her shit don’t stink.” Country shook his head. “Yeah, bitches like that are like hemorrhoids. Always a pain in the ass when they’re around and such a relief when they’re gone.”
I knew he was just trying to make light of the situation, but I wasn’t in the mood. My girl was upset, which put me in no mood for jokes. There was no reason for me to take out my frustration on my brother, so I just nodded and said, “Yeah, she’s nothing like her sister. That’s for sure.”
“So, what’d she do?”
“It’s a long story, brother, and not mine to tell.”
“I hear ya.” He reached over and gave me a pat on the shoulder. “You know I’m here if either of you need anything.”
“I do, and I appreciate that.” Hoping to change the topic of conversation, I asked, “How’s it going with Gladys and Ada?”
“As far as I can tell, they’re getting along like two peas in a pod, which may not be a good thing. Hell, those two got enough stories in ’em to keep ’em busy from now until the cows come home.”
“I’m sure they do. Glad to hear they’re doing all right.”
Lisa came over, and as she placed my beer on the counter, she asked, “Everything okay with Marlowe?”
“Yeah. She just needed a night to sort some things. She’ll be back tomorrow,” I assured her.
“Tell her to take all the time she needs. I’ve got things covered here.”
“Thanks, Lisa. I’ll be sure to let her know.”
As soon as she turned and walked away, Country leaned over to me and said, “On a side note, I think Menace has made some headway with Stark.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Not sure about all the details. Just overheard him telling Viper that he might’ve found his location.”
“Menace here?”
“Yeah, he’s holed up in his office.”
“And nothing more has been said?”
“Nope.” Country shrugged. “Not sure when they’re planning on letting us all in on that.”
“Well, I’ve never been known as patient man.” I took a quick pull of my beer, then placed it on the counter and stood. “I’ll go see what I can find out.”
“Get at it, brother.”
I gave him a nod, then headed for Menace’s office. When I walked in, he was working away on his laptop, and like many times before, he wasn’t aware I’d walked in the room. Menace was always overly organized. Everything had to be in its place, so I was surprised to find his office in such a disheveled mess. Receipts were piled high on his desk along with various folders and papers, and again, Menace looked like an exhausted wreck. I sat down in the chair in front of his desk. “Hey, brother. How’s it going?”
“Ain’t gonna lie.” Menace turned to face me as he admitted, “It’s been better.”
“You look wiped, man.”
“That’s because I am.” He motioned his hand over his desk as he complained, “Hell, look at this shit. Even with all the help you guys have been giving me, I’m still fucking covered up.”
“You can’t keep burning it at both ends like this, brother.”
“I know, but I think all this is finally starting to pay off.”
Hoping he might let me in on what he’d uncovered, I pushed, “How’s that?”
“We got Stark.” He cocked his head as he corrected himself, “Or make that, we got Stark’s location.”
“How’d you manage that?”
“After I finally broke through that godforsaken firewall on those encrypted emails, I was able to track down the server address to a place outside of San Antonio.”
“That’s awesome. I knew you could pin him down.”
“Don’t know about that just yet.” He raked his fingers through his already disheveled hair as he explained, “Viper sent one of the brothers from the Texas chapter over to check the place out, and it was just an old, abandoned office complex.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah, it’s fucked up for sure.” He reached into one of his folders and pulled out several photographs. As he offered them to me, he said, “Not so much as an office chair left in the place.”
I looked through the different images, and Menace wasn’t exaggerating. With all the tall grass and litter scattered around the parking lot, the place looked like it had been vacant for months. “Damn, brother. You think our guy knew we were coming.”
“Can’t say for sure. All I know is the last email sent between him and Schommer led me to that fucking address, and it was sent three weeks ago.”
“So, another dead end?”
“I wouldn’t say that. I’m going to do some research on the property and see what I can find out.”
“What about getting Schommer to send out another email? See if he can make some kind of contact?”
“This guy’s slick, brother. He proved that with all the damn firewalls. A guy like that will know if the email isn’t coming from Schommer’s office.”
“Then, we take him to the office.”
“Can’t do that, Rafe. With the cops investigating his disappearance, they’ll be watching that office and that’s not a risk we can take.”
He was right. Days after we’d taken Schommer, the media had the guy’s face plastered all over the news. Seemed everyone was up in arms about what had happened to the college’s beloved professor, but thankfully, there was nothing being said about the daughter being taken. Apparently, she’d heeded Viper’s warning and kept her mouth shut—not that she had anything to tell. Menace had sedated and blindfolded her before bringing her to the clubhouse. Her presence had done the trick, and after Schommer finally started talking, we sedated her again. We got her back to her apartment, put her in bed, and when she finally came around, there was a good chance she thought the whole damn thing was a fucking dream. Unfortunately, we hadn’t had the same luck with her father. I wasn’t ready to give up on Schommer, so I suggested, “We could have him make up some excuse. Give this Stark guy a reason why he’s been off grid and see if he takes the bait.”
“We’ll need to run the idea by Viper and see what he thinks, but before I can do that, I gotta take a minute to get caught up here.” He looked down at all the bar’s paperwork and sighed. “I think it’s time we got ourselves a fucking bookkeeper.”
“I could give you a hand.”