“How much time do we have?”
“Can’t say for sure. A couple of hours at best.”
“Fuck!” Anger marked Hawk’s face as he asked, “This got something to do with the girl?”
“Apparently, so.” Viper grumbled curses under his breath. “Cops are trying to make some connection to her disappearance and the anonymous tip that was called in about a woman being tossed at Stilettos.”
“Someone’s pushing pretty hard to make that kind of connection.”
“Right now, none of that matters. We’ve gotta get moving.” This wasn’t the first time the cops had tried to take down the Sinners. For a while, it seemed like they were always snooping around, but this was the first time they’d gone after both the strip club and the clubhouse at the same time. With the amount of product we had at Stilettos and the artillery we had at the clubhouse, it would take some time to get everything moved. Knowing we didn’t have a minute to waste, I looked over to Menace and ordered, “Get with Country, Rafe, and Widow. You guys get things cleared out at Stilettos while we handle things here.”
“You got it,” Menace replied as he bolted out of the room. I was about to follow when Axel asked, “What about the girl? We can’t let the cops find her here.”
“No, we can’t. We’ll have to move her.” Viper looked over to me as he said, “Get the boys started with clearing things out, and then deal with the girl. You can leave her at the locker with Ada May.”
“On it.”
As soon as Hawk and I left Viper’s office, we got busy rounding up all the prospects and putting them to work. We didn’t want the cops coming across anything they might be able to hold against us, so we had them load up all the weapons, blow, and cash on hand into the SUVs. It was a lot to contend with, but it had to be done. Knowing I could trust Hawk to make sure the job was done right, I left them and headed down the hall to get Remington. When I reached her room, I knocked on her door, then slowly eased it open. It was still pretty early, so I wasn’t surprised to find her still asleep. I quietly stepped over to the bed and placed my hand on her arm, gently shaking her as I whispered, “Remington. Hey, Remington, you need to wake up.”
With a fearful gasp, her eyes flew open. “What’s wrong?”
“The cops are coming. We’ve gotta move you to the locker.”
“The what?”
“You’ll see when we get there.” I motioned for her to get up. “We need to get going.”
Trying to wake herself up, Remington ran her hand over her face and sighed. “Okay, but I don’t have any shoes.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
I leaned down and lifted her into my arms, carefully carrying her out of the room. I’d just stepped out into the hall when she looked over to me with a horrified expression. “You’re not going to give me a chance to get changed or at the very least, brush my hair and teeth?”
“There’s no time.”
Being careful not to jar her, I carried Remington outside to the SUV. She was still pretty sore, so I put her in the front and eased the seat back, giving her room to recline back. Once she was settled, I went around back to check in with Hawk and the others. Just as I’d hoped, they had everything loaded into Axel’s SUV and mine, and we were ready to roll out. Viper looked over to me and said, “I think we’re good. Call me when you get everything sorted at the locker.”
“Will do.”
I motioned to the others to let them know that it was time to go. Hawk followed me over to my SUV, and we both got inside. Just before we pulled off, Viper shouted, “Tell Ada May I’ll be by there soon.”
“You better, or she’ll have your ass,” Hawk teased.
“Don’t I know it.”
Viper gave the nod, and we were on our way. With Axel and a couple of the prospects following behind me, I started driving over to the club’s storage lot. On the outside, the place looked like your typical storage facility. There were forty units, ranging in size with a high fence and cameras posted at every corner. The minute Viper saw the place, he knew we had to have it, and he was right. When times like these rolled around, we needed a place to stash our goods, and with the underground safe he’d installed in one of the units, we had the perfect cover. Since day one, the brothers had called the place “the locker,” and I had to admit the name fit.
Since the place was on the larger side, Viper thought it would be a good idea to have someone to look after the place. I wasn’t sure how he’d feel about it, but I took a chance and told him about Ada May. I guess I could say she was my babysitter when I was growing up, but to me, she was much more than that. I always thought of her as part of our family. I could tell her anything. Hell, my day wasn’t complete until I told her all about it—which only made it that much harder when my folks died. I didn’t just lose them, but I lost her too. After I’d found out she was struggling and about to lose her house, I wanted to do something to help her but had no idea how until Viper mentioned needing someone to watch over the storage lot. I explained the situation, and not only did Viper agree to help her, he brought in a double-wide house trailer and paid off all her bills.
The brothers were a bit worried that a little, elderly, country-as-mud woman like Ada May wouldn’t be able to handle such an important role, but as soon as they met her, they realized she was one tough lady who didn’t put up with any bullshit. We’d barely pulled up to the gate when she came out the front door to greet us. I would’ve thought she was about to hit the garden the second I saw her standing there in those old worn-out overalls and bright floral top. When Hawk and I got out of the SUV, she put her hand on her hip, and a cheerful smile spread across her rosy cheeks. “Morning, boys. Good to see you.”
“Good to see you too, Ms. Ada,” Hawk replied. “How you been making it?”
“You’d know how I was doin’ if you came ’round here more often,” she fussed. “But I understand. You boys is busy doing what you gotta do.”
“Yes, ma’am, we are. Another day, another dollar.”
“That’s right.” She nodded with a smile, then turned her attention to me. “Got a bone to pick wit’ you.”
“I know. Been meaning to get by here.”
“Meaning to and doing it are two different things,” she scolded.
“I’ll do better.” I motioned my hand behind me as I added, “I got someone here who needs to hang out with you for a bit.”
“All right, den. Bring him on in, and I’ll make us a bite to eat.”
I nodded, then went over to the passenger side of the truck and opened the door. Confusion marked Remington’s face as I reached over and carefully lifted her from the seat. “What are we doing here, and who is she?”
“We’re gonna need to hole up here for a while.”
As I started up the front steps, Ada realized that it wasn’t a guy I was carrying. Curious, she stepped over to the ledge of the porch and leaned forward to get a better look. “My heavens. Who ya got dare?”
“This is Remington,” I replied as I continued up the steps.