"Did you forget you're supposed to be dead?" I arched a brow and folded my arms.
Lucas, still snickering, clapped Cass on the shoulder as he passed him. "Tough break, old man. I'll take care of our girl tonight."
"Little shit," Cass muttered as Lucas disappeared out of the gym. His micro-smile was all amusement, though.
I tilted my head to the side, running my gaze up and down his body. "You wanna show me that move on the pole? I could offer some pointers, maybe sort you out with some tear-off pants and a sequined thong."
His glare flattened. "Funny, Red. Real funny. I was just proving a point to the kid." He clasped my waist with his hands and backed me into the wall beside the door. "And if you want me to take my clothes off, you just have to ask nicely."
Goddamn, that was a tempting offer—one I only hesitated on thanks to my phone ringing in my pocket. I groaned and pushed Cass back with a hand on his chest. "I need to check that," I told him regretfully. "Don't go anywhere."
His dark gaze heated, but he waited patiently as I fished the phone out of my tight denim pocket. The display told me it was Gen calling, and I instantly got a bad feeling.
"Gen, what's happened?" I asked, bringing the phone to my ear when it connected. "I take it you're not calling at this time on a Friday night because you want to grab drinks."
"I wish," she replied, sounding pained. "You’d better get over to Anarchy. The SGPD just executed a random drug raid with dogs and the whole fucking deal."
Irritation zapped through me. Of course they chose a fight night to pull that shit. I’d never appreciated how useful it was to have the local police in my pocket until they no longer were. "So they caught a couple of coked-up patrons; that's nothing too drastic," I replied. "Or am I missing something?"
"Yeah, it's worse than that," she replied. "In addition to the expected coke users, they've also picked up twenty-eight patrons in possession of PCP. Hades, the patrons are all singing like birds, claiming it was sold to them by Timberwolves."
That fact made me stiffen and push Cass gently away. "They're saying what?" I hissed, fury rippling through my veins.
"I know," Gen replied. "First the reporters, now this. Someone really wants to out us. Just... how soon can you get here? I'm doing my best, but one of the cops asked for you specifically."
I grimaced. "Lieutenant Jefferies?"
"That's the one."
"I'll be there in twenty minutes. Zed might be quicker; I'll call him now." I ended the call and immediately dialed Zed as I strode out of the gym with Cass following me like a shadow.
The call went straight to his voicemail, so I hung up and tried again.
"No answer," I muttered, glancing up at Cass. "Go hurry Lucas up; we need to get to Anarchy ASAP."
He nodded in understanding and took the stairs three at a time while I tried calling Zed again. This time when it reached his voicemail, I left a terse message telling him to get his ass to Anarchy.
Lucas came running into the garage as I popped the Mustang's door open, but unfortunately, he had a petite redhead trailing after him.
"What's going on?" Seph asked, scowling at me in accusation like I'd deliberately orchestrated some drama to ruin her life.
"Just got some work to deal with," I snapped back, not remotely in the mood for more of her attitude. "Lucas, get in. Cass, you know what to do."
Cass nodded, his dark eyes serious as he placed a hand on Seph's arm and tugged her back into the house, out of view of when I opened the garage door, just in case.
Confident I was leaving Seph in capable hands, I didn't hesitate before speeding out into the night with Lucas by my side.
"Can you try calling Zed again?" I asked when we paused for the gate to open. "He isn't answering."
"That seems odd, for him," Lucas murmured, pulling out his own phone. "What am I telling him if he picks up?"
I drew a deep breath, then gave Lucas a quick overview of what Gen had told me. His brows shot up, and he nodded quickly.
"Got it," he assured me, dialing Zed's number and putting the call on speaker. This time it actually rang, but still eventually went to voicemail. What the fuck was he doing? He never screened my calls.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I tried to push aside my personal fear that something had happened to him. This was Zayden De Rosa; he was basically indestructible. No, he was probably just busy beating the shit out of those suits and had turned his phone on silent or something.
"Call Alexi," I told Lucas instead. "He should be at Anarchy. I want to know why Gen called this in and not him."
Lucas nodded his understanding, swiping through his phone for Alexi's number. Again, he put the call on speaker, so I could hear it myself when his call also went to voicemail.
"What the fuck is going on?" I exclaimed, beyond frustrated and driving like a bat out of hell to get us to Anarchy.
Lucas ruffled his fingers through his hair, clearly thinking, then he turned back to his phone. "I'll try Hannah. Maybe she knows something."
It was a long shot, but it felt more productive than leaving voicemails for my second-in-charge, and my head of security.
Hannah picked up on the second ring. "Lucas, hi. What's up?"
"Hey Hannah," he replied. "We're on our way to Anarchy. There's been a drug raid, and it sounds like a setup. Do you have any idea where Alexi is? Or why his phone is off?"
She made a thoughtful sound. "I don't, but I can find out. Give me ten minutes; I'll call you back." The line went dead before we could ask more questions, and I arched a questioning brow at Lucas.
"No idea," he replied, "but I'm curious. Are we far?"
"Five minutes or so," I replied, taking the next corner way too fast and almost losing traction on the back wheels. "Sorry."
"No apologies needed, babe. I love when you drive aggressively." His grin was bright with excitement, and I stifled an eye roll. Lucas was a bit of an adrenaline junkie, I was starting to find.
My phone then rang through the car's Bluetooth, and I hit answer on the steering wheel without waiting for the ID to generate on the screen.
"Zed?" I barked.
"Sorry, no," the woman on the other end replied. "Agent Hanson. I take it you're on your way to Anarchy right now?"
I slowed my breakneck speed slightly, wanting to focus on this call. "I am. I take it this has something to do with you?"
Agent Hanson scoffed a bitter laugh. "Not likely. Or... nothing to do with me anyway. It was a setup for sure. Nothing about that raid looked even remotely legal or sanctioned. Look, I'm just going to cut the bullshit and get to facts. I got fired today because I was digging further into your open case."
I frowned, exchanging a quick look with Lucas. "What open case?"
Dorothy Hanson clicked her tongue. "As if you don't know the FBI has been watching you for years. They've just never had enough evidence to arrest you on anything that would really stick."
"So, you got fired for looking into my case? Why?" Something wasn't adding up. Something had my nerves tight with anxiety.