Page 57 of Property of Rattler

I notice Stalker looks pensive, so call him out. “What you thinking, Stalk?”

Glancing up at me, he moves his head left, then right, before centring it again. His face tightens. “Didn’t think anything of it at the time. But I caught that dancer friend of Ames in my office. Said she was waiting for me to discuss a discrepancy in her paycheck, but…”

My hand meets the table as my eyes zoom in on him. “Was there anything she could find?”

Stalker blanches. “I’d left my laptop open. Only stepped out for a minute to take a piss.” He presses his lips together. “As it happens, I was reviewing our properties.”

“Satin?” Paint’s jaw has dropped. “I thought she was Ames’s friend and had helped get her away from Stone.”

I’ve got my own thoughts, but I’ll listen to theirs.

Piston voices something along the lines of what I’m thinking. “We already had doubts about her being sick that night Stone turned up at Royals.”

Saint nods and sits forward.“Stone could have tasked her with finding out what happened to Ames. When was this, Stalker?”

“A few days ago.” Stalker scrunches his face. “Day before yesterday.”

Which would explain why Stone hadn’t made a move on the cabin before now. He hadn’t known about it. My lips purse. Certainly sounds like the stripper is where the leak had come from. She must have been trying for weeks to get the information, and due to Stalker’s weak bladder at the wrong fucking time, she’d hit the motherlode.

“Rattler never trusted that bitch,” Words reminds us. “That’s why Ames wasn’t allowed to tell her where she was going.”

“Ames didn’t even know until she got there. And she had no phone, so she couldn’t have spoken to anyone.”

“I think we need to have a word with Ames about her so-called friend,” Piston states.

Stalker nods. “I’m not saying it was her, just that she had the opportunity.”

Freak sits forward. “Ames is pretty cut up about Rattler. I reckon she’s caught feelings for him. She’s in a pretty bad place right now. Suggesting it was her friend who betrayed her would be devastating.”

“Wait, back up,” Winchester demands. “She caughtfeelingsfor Rat?” He barks a laugh. “Fuck if that’s not the damndest thing I’ve ever heard. Rat? What woman could even like him?”

“He doesn’t even treat the club girls well. He shoots his load, then leaves them wanting.”

I glare at Woody. “Let’s not speak ill of the missing right now.”

He’s unrepentant. “I’m just suggesting that woman needs her head examined.” He scratches his ear. “Or is it that Nordic thing? You know, where a kidnappee becomes brainwashed by her kidnapper?”

“Stockholm syndrome,” Words corrects.

Woody waves him off. “That’s what I said.”

“She wasn’t kidnapped. She went of her own volition.” Saint shoots a glare down the table.

A corner of my mouth turns up. Not literally taken by force, but she hadn’t been given much choice.

Piston rubs at his temples. “Since the day Rat was patched in, he’s been winding us up.” He fixes his stare on the empty seat opposite him. “May be fucked up, but I kind of miss him. Seems fuckin’ wrong he’s not here. He didn’t deserve that.”

“We don’t even have a fuckin’ body to bury. Not even his cut,” Words growls. “It ain’t right.”

“It is fucked up,” I agree, deciding it’s time to get them back on track. “Brothers, all we can do now is find him and wreak vengeance on his behalf. And that starts with finding Stone.”

“Can we use Ames to draw him out?”

Tempest answers Paint for me. “If Ames’s feelings toward him weren’t one-sided, we owe it to our brother to keep her protected. He fuckin’ died, or at best was captured, trying to save her. We put her in the line of fire, we’re disrespecting his memory.”

Paint’s unrepentant. “Rat? He’d never have fallen for her. We all know his opinion about brothers taking ol’ ladies.”

Freak growls warningly. “Even if he’s not changed his opinion, the fact is, as Tempest just said. He knew the odds were against him, but his last act was to try to save her. As a mark of respect to him, we’re not going to put her in danger.”