“Kate was here when I got home.” Rafe followed me inside as I told him, “She came to apologize for everything, but mainly, we talked about her and Eric.”
“Oh really?” He locked the door behind us, then chuckled. “Trouble in paradise?”
“Hard to tell.” I turned out the lights and started to the bedroom. “I think she’s feeling a little neglected because he’s been so busy with his new project.”
“Ah.” He removed his cut and boots, then his jeans and t-shirt. As he got in bed, he asked, “He’s in real estate or something, right?”
“Um-hmm. Something like that.” Doing my best to undress in the corner, away from the view of the camera, I pulled off my shoes and jeans, then turned off all the lights. As I got in the bed next to him, I whispered, “I don’t really know what he does, nor do I care.”
“Not a fan, huh?”
“Not a fan at all, but my opinion doesn’t really matter.” I snuggled up to him and placed my head on his shoulder. It was amazing how having him close immediately set my mind at ease. I let out a slight yawn, then muttered, “Kate has never listened to me, so she’ll have to make up her own mind about him.”
“She’s a smart girl. I’m sure she’ll figure it out.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I usually am,” he teased as leaned down and kissed me softly on the forehead. “It’s late. Get some sleep.”
I didn’t argue. I was feeling safer and more relaxed than I had in days, and I owed that all to him. Country couldn’t have been more spot on when he compared Rafe to a wolf. He and his brothers were a pack who lived by their own rules and didn’t apologize for the fact. They would stand tall against Eric and whoever he had working for him, and they wouldn’t back down until there was nothing left of him. It was a thought I looked forward to as I finally drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 19
Rafe
“Here’s everything I was able to find on Stark Realty.” Menace tossed a folder on the conference table as he continued, “The guy has been buying and selling old worn-down buildings all over the South. Looks like he stays there long enough to establish his clientele, then he sells the place and disappears.”
“So, who are we thinking this guy is?” Viper asked. “Is he Polito’s right hand or is he running his own show?”
“What I can gather from the emails and the message Marlowe left for us, this guy’s been trying to make it look like Polito is still running the show.” Menace reached into the folder and took out a piece of paper. As he offered it to Viper, he said, “And get this ... On more than one occasion, they’ve even referred to him as Scar.”
“You gotta be fucking kidding me.” Viper took the paper, and after studying it for a moment, he looked back to Menace and said, “So, he’s not only Stark. He’s our Scar.”
“Looks that way.” A strange look crossed his face as Menace looked over to Country. “There’s one more thing.”
“Yeah?”
“I was looking over the properties Stark has bought and sold in the past six months, and it looks like he was the one who bought Crockett’s from Gladys.”
Country’s jaw dropped as he roared, “What the fuck?”
“My guess is he was shooting two birds with one stone.”
Viper was the first to ask, “How so?”
“Without Crockett’s, Marlowe wouldn’t have a place to work. It would only make sense that Country or Rafe would offer her a spot at Stilettos, and with a new building under his belt, he’d have a place to set up shop.”
“Motherfucker!” Country spat. “I’m gonna stomp his ass so far in the ground he won’t know which way is up.”
“Gonna have to find him first.” Hawk turned to Viper as he asked, “How are we gonna handle this guy?”
“We’re gonna need to act fast and move in while he still thinks he has the upper hand.” Viper ran his hand over his salt and pepper beard as he considered our best move. After several moments, he turned to me and asked, “When was the last time you laid eyes on Stark?”
“He was at Marlowe’s place last night. Came by there to pick up Kate. As far as I know, they were headed back to the hotel. Said he had to call it an early night because he had some work to do on his latest project. If Menace is right about him buying Crockett’s, I’d say he’s probably there.” Hoping I was right, I told him, “He was driving a dark blue Cadillac. More than likely a rental, but enough to check if my hunch is correct.”
“We need to get over there and see if there’s any sign of him.”
“Wait. I’ve got a better idea.” Menace turned to Country as he asked, “Do you know if the security cameras we installed a few years back are still there?”
“As far as I know, they were there when we moved Gran out, but got no idea if Stark left them up,” Country answered. “Not sure if they’d do us much good, though. We only had the one above the register and the two outside.”
“If they’re still there, I can use them to see if he’s there.” Menace reached over and grabbed his laptop. We all watched in silence as he started typing away. After a few torturous moments, a slight smile crossed his face and I knew we had our way in. “Looks like we still have eyes on the place.”
“Can you tell if anyone’s there?”
“There are a few cars parked out back, but I can’t see anyone in the bar.”
“Go back to the parking lot,” Viper told him. “Look for his dark blue Cadillac.”
“Yeah, he’s there.”
Menace turned the laptop towards Viper, giving him a perfect view of Stark’s Cadillac. Viper studied it for a moment, then let out a low, deep-seated growl. “Okay, boys. The way I see it, we’ve got two ways we can handle this. We can go to war with this asshole, try our hand at taking him and his goons down in a face-to-face battle, or we can just blow the motherfuckers to smithereens and be done with it.”
“And how are we going to do that?” With a half-hearted chuckle, Axel asked, “You thinking we’re just going to go in there and blow up Crockett’s?”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking.” Viper looked over to Axel with all seriousness as he continued, “We make it look like an accident...a gas leak or some shit like that, and this shit ends before it ever gets started.”
“I gotta say, it’s not a bad idea.” Axel turned to Menace as he asked, “You think we can make it happen?”
“Absolutely. Just need a small IED placed in the right spot, and boom. It’s all over.”
“Wait just a cotton-pickin’ minute. You’re serious about this?” Country asked, sounding wounded. “I mean, I want to get this guy as much as anyone else, but I spent half my life in that fucking bar, and now we’re just gonna blow the place?”
“You got any better ideas?”
“Fuck no, but damn, I got my first blow job in that bar. A damn good one too.” Country pouted, and for half a second, I actually felt sorry for the guy. That pity quickly faded when he continued, “She only raked her teeth against my dick one time ... and yeah, she was a little lacking in the tits department, but damn, she could suck it like a Hoover vacuum. And that’s just one of the memories I’ve got of that place.”