Blood & Rust (Lock & Key #4) (38 page)

I SLID THE KEY CARD
Jill had gotten us into its slot in the motel room door. The green light pinged on.

I pushed open the door with Boner at my side, gun ready.

Empty.

“Fuck.”

Not that we’d expected him to still be here with Tania.

Boner, Clip, and Dready moved through the room, going through the luggage, opening drawers, kicking open the bathroom door.

My eyes closed, the scent hitting me like a ten-foot wave.

Pepper and flowers and—

I followed it and crouched down in the carpet, spotting the shards of wet broken glass.
Was there a struggle?

“Is that perfume?” Boner slanted his head. “Smells too expensive for some ten-minute whore he might have snuck in here while his old lady’s at the hospital.”

“It’s Tania’s perfume,” I said.

I’m coming for you, Scarlett. I’m coming.

“Now, where the fuck did he take her?” I muttered.

“Unless he’s got a safe house in our territory, he’ll be putting a call into his club here,” said Boner.

“That means Finger.” Dready raised his chin at me.

I dialed Finger’s number. I should have called him from the beginning, but I’d wanted to be the one to handle this, to get Tania safe.

Not him.

“Butler.”

It was Catch.

“Why am I talking to you? I’m looking for your prez.”

“Finger’s out of town with our VP,” Catch replied. “As one of his officers, I’m on call.”

Fuck, I have to play ball with this jerk now.

“Got a question,” I said.

“Let’s see if I wanna answer it.”

My vision blurred, and I pressed a hand around the back of my neck.

Calm down. He’s her brother. You need him.

I gripped my phone even tighter. “You been in touch with Reich, your national VP from Ohio lately?”

“Why should I tell you Flames’ business, man?”

“Catch, I think it’s safe to say, you fucking owe me. Now, tell me. Has Reich contacted you within the last twenty-four hours?”

Catch let out a heavy exhale. “Yes.”

“What did he want?”

“Butler—”

“What the hell did he want?” I yelled.

“He wanted access to a safe house for the night.”

“Did you give it to him?”

“Of course I gave it to him. He’s the national VP. I set it up and sent one of my bros to take him there. I would’ve gone myself, but I couldn’t get away, had shit to take care of here. He said he’d be there overnight.”

“Was anyone else with him?”

“Fuck if I know. Split’s not back yet.”

“Call him. Find out if he has a woman with him up there. Where is this place anyway?”

“You really just asked me that?”

“He’s got Tania, asshole!”

Silence.

“What do you mean, he’s got Tania? WHY THE HELL DOES THAT MOTHERFUCKER HAVE MY SISTER?”

The blood rushed through my veins. “You gonna give me the location of that safe house now?”

“
I NEED TO PEE
.”

I gestured at the small bathroom on the opposite end of the cabin from where my hands were tied to a hard plastic chair that was blackened with age and dirt.

Two twin beds were shoved against a corner, their thin stained mattresses not inspiring comfort. One large thick brown sofa along with a long plastic table that had seen better days and a dirty, encrusted plug-in hot plate, next to a barely-of-this-century sink, added to the spiffy factor of the cabin.

“Go ahead, hon.” He grinned. “I’ll watch, and then I’ll wipe that pussy myself.”

“Oh. Well, I need to…you know…” I slanted my head downward. “My stomach has been acting up with all the excitement. I don’t feel too good. Good thing you didn’t get me any snacks, huh?”

He scowled. “Ah, fuck. Fine. You stay in there. I got company coming, and I need you out of the way.”

“You don’t want me serving cocktails and hors d’oeuvres?”

Reich slashed at the ties attaching me to the chair, grabbed me by the upper arm, and shoved me toward the bathroom. “Keep that attitude up and that mouth running, and you just might service cock and serve your cunt.”

“Can I have my handbag with me in there?”

He went back for my handbag and tossed it at me. “Here.”

“Could you cut these off, just until I’m done?” I held out my tied wrists. “Please?”

His eyes darted up to the tiny wood-framed window in the bathroom.

“I really don’t think I’m going to fit through there, do you?” I said.

He muttered something unintelligible under his breath as he took his large hunting knife from his side and slashed the plastic tie around my wrists. “You stay in here. Don’t expect any pity or help from my bro.”

“Of course not.”

He shut the door of the bathroom. I exhaled and slumped back against the small stained counter, clutching my handbag. I waited five minutes and flushed the small toilet. I turned on the water faucet, and shut it off.

A blast of pipes flared in the distance and grew stronger. They cut out, and a hard knock came at the cabin door. The warped door jerked and creaked open, and my heart raced. A new, loud male voice greeted Reich. Pats on backs, chuckles.

I put my ear to the door, begging my breath to slow down, calm down.

“How you doing? Your girl all right? She better?”

“She’ll be fine,” came Reich’s voice. “Nina will be out of the hospital any day now and coming home with me. Something came up, and I’m here for a few hours.”

“Well, I’m glad you could meet up before I headed back to Kansas.”

I strained to decipher the muttering and small talk.

“What do you have for me?” asked Reich.

“You were right. The Blades are more fucked than when we first talked to them. Notch is desperate for a new lifeline, starving with nowhere to turn now that their hook-up with the Calderas Group is history and they got busted. Now they’re interested.”

“Thought so. Idiots blew you off months ago when you first contacted them, thought they knew better. And?”

“Pick was impressed with my offer this time around.”

The mattress made noises, and more muttering filled the room. Lighters clicked on and off. Cigarette smoke tinged the air. I plastered myself against the door. I didn’t want to miss a word.

“Pick is getting the ball rolling with Notch. Meanwhile, Notch is salivating to make a statement to Finger and the Jacks since all that shit went down. Fucking perfect timing, man.”

“Good,” said Reich.

“Finger’s gonna lose his shit. The Smoking Guns haven’t been in these parts for decades. Not since—”

“Exactly,” replied Reich.

Holy shit, Reich is bringing the Flames’ enemies into Nebraska to stab Finger in the back and bolster them against the Jacks? Oh God, no, that meant—

“And Finger?”

“You let me worry about Finger. He’s just one man,” came Reich’s voice. A voice laced with glee. He was making a presentation and relishing his audience’s response.

“I’m counting on this to work out, Reich. We’ve been looking to stretch this way for a while now.”

Boom.

My bag stared at me from the floor
.

Shit!
I’d dropped it.

“What was that? You got a possum in there?”

The wood floorboards creaked and groaned. I froze.

The door unlocked and swung open.

Reich slanted his head at me. “Get out of there.”

“Gladly.” I scooped up my bag from the floor and brushed past him, heading for the side of the old plastic table.

Reich’s guest stepped forward in the shadowy afternoon glimmers of sun in the small cabin. The name Scrib was on a small patch. A grinning skeleton holding two smoking guns was stitched on his leather vest. My insides twisted at the sight.

Scrib stared at me like I was a free bag of his favorite fast food. He pointed a finger at me. “I’ve seen you before.”

“Me?”

“Saw you at the Flames,” he said.

“Excuse me?” I mumbled.

“I’ve been running surveillance on Finger’s club this past year. I saw you at his clubhouse. I have a thing for dark-haired women. Yeah, I liked what I saw.” His head slanted. “You had a kid with you.”

My fingertips dug into the sturdy cotton canvas of my handbag, my heart galloping in my chest. “You’re wrong.”

“No, I’m not.” Scrib’s eyes narrowed. “They let you in. They let you out. Seemed like a real friendly visit.”

My face heated under Reich and Scrib’s hideous inspection.

“Not yapping now, are you?” Reich let out a dry laugh.

“You one of those high class bitches that like it dirty once in a while?” asked the Smoking Gun.

My insides coiled. My mouth dried.

Reich grinned. Satisfaction, but it wasn’t from the beer. “Well, Lady Luck has certainly shined her fat white ass on me today.”

A smile swept the Smoking Gun’s lips. “You get off on Finger’s missing fingers?” He laughed loud and hard. “All those scars turn you on, huh? I like bitches like you.”

Reich let out a snorting laugh and picked up his beer again, gulping it down.

My stomach twisted and churned.

“You like those designs on his face, do ya? Every time you get off on ’em, it’s courtesy of my club.” Scrib crossed his arms, his lips curling. The proud warrior retelling old legends.

“You—” flew from my mouth before I could stop it.

“Long time ago, we had Finger back when he was a prospect, chopped off his middle fingers and carved up his face as a lesson to his club.”

“That was a lesson?” I blurted.

“Yeah.”

“
You
did that?”

He nodded, his eyes flashing. “Then, Finger stole from us and vanished into thin air for a while. He reappeared back at his club, safe and sound. We’d just settled on a truce, so we couldn’t go after him the way we wanted, the way he deserved. I don’t know though. Maybe it’s time that truce expired.”

An icy shiver snaked through me, and I staggered back a step.

“You know, Tania, I’m really upset with what happened to Nina. She’s very special to me,” Reich said. “How do I know that you weren’t making her life miserable? I’m sure Butler was. I’ll bet that’s why she was fooling around behind his back.”

“Butler’s been a stand-up partner to her the whole time, from what I know.”

“Then, why would she be stepping out on him?” Reich asked.

“Oh, that’s Butler’s fault? Amazing,” I muttered.

“Maybe it’s your fault. Found you at his place, didn’t I? I got me a two for one right here. You a girl with special, hidden talents?” Reich licked his bottom lip.

“You have quite an imagination, Reich. Instead of keeping me here, why aren’t you out looking for the idiots who hurt Nina?” I leveled my gaze at him. “Jump sacrificed his life to save her! Doesn’t that mean anything to you? Finger could probably help you out.”

Both men barked with laughter.

“Okay then. Maybe you don’t need to look for who did this.” My shoulders stiffened. “Maybe you know?”

Reich’s eyes hung on mine, his grin widening. He was having fun.

“Oh, Jesus, it was you,” I breathed. “You rigged Nina’s car?”

“Tania, you are one smart lady.” He winked at me.

“You got Nina hurt. She could’ve been killed!”

“Serves her right. Twit thought she’d gotten one over on me. Not in this lifetime. She got the message. She’s coming back home with me. I made sure of that, and my old lady will pull the rest of those strings.”