Page 94 of Property of Rattler

Standing, she lets out an overly loud laugh as she’s also unsteady. “Just let me go clean up, and I think I’ll be joining you.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

RATTLER

“What do you think?” Freak and I had come to some kind of uneasy truce having shared in the torture and death of Stone. Well, he did all the hard work while I just watched from where I’d propped myself against the wall. Seems he can overlook me swearing at his woman, if I do the same about him giving me another concussion for the second time in just as many days.

Dum has just left with Stone’s body in the trunk of his own car he’d driven to the clubhouse, Dee following behind in the crash truck. They’ve detailed instructions on where to take the car, and the ravine where they should stage the accident. Having prepared earlier, spending time disabling the air bags, Freak even made sure his cause of death would be consistent with a crash. The prospects had instructions to set fire to the wreck to hide all evidence.

We’re now entering the clubhouse side by side, him having hung back to move at my snail’s pace while the others have gone on ahead.

He pauses, pinches the bridge of his nose, and then breathes out. “I think he was telling the truth about Satin. He was having her watched. She knew nothing about him when he went to Royals.”

I tsk. “It doesn’t make sense why she went home that night.”

“Period pains. All women get them.”

Waving him off, I don’t bother to tell him I already know that. Even the club girls have their off days. “I still think it’s suspicious.”

Snorting, he shakes his head. “You just don’t want to give up on the idea that Ames was betrayed by her friend.”

“If it wasn’t Satin, then how the fuck did they find us at the cabin?”

Freak frowns. “Yeah, that worries me as well. But the evidence against Satin is all circumstantial. Even if Stalker left the list of our properties open and she’d seen them, how the hell would she have known to zero in on the one place you would be?”

“You know? We asked him about the stripper, he never actually told us how he got his information.”

Spinning round toward me, Freak just stares for a second. “Well fuck. He started spilling all that shit about the Russians, and I guess we kind of got caught up in that.”

Sighing, I say, “I suppose it’s too late to ask him.”

“Ya think?” Freak barks a laugh. Now at the clubhouse, he pulls the door open and holds it for me to enter, then heads toward the already crowded bar where Prez, the VP and sergeant-at-arms are waiting to be served. “Drink, before facing the music?”

“I’ll take a Jack.” With me limited by my crutches, it would be easier for him to get to the front of the queue.

Something it seems he’s already taken into account as he waves toward a table. “Go sit, I’ll bring them over.”

We’d worked on Stone for a couple of hours. Freak was right; he’d dazzled us with all the information he’d spat out. He’d given us the names of the men who mattered in the Bratva, their ranks, what he knew about their families and any other detail including their shoe size. Or that was what it felt like, once we’d gotten him talking, it was hard to get him to stop. Luckily, Saint had had the forethought to record everything. Stone had been speaking faster than any of us could take notes.

He’d also expanded on the evidence to take to the Pakhan, Prez’s idea about striking a deal and making Volkovperson non grata, had been fleshed out. We had the ammunition, and if Volkov was out of the picture, Ames would be safe. I’d also managed to add the question to which she had wanted answers, and yes, the bastard had killed her grandparents. That had hit me hard. Having none of my own family and having spent a good part of my childhood wishing someone would claim me, now Ames has unlocked my emotions, I could feel for her who’d cruelly had hers taken away.

Stone had given us everything except for that one thing. How he’d found the cabin. But dead men don’t talk, and now he won’t be sharing more secrets. If I’m truthful with Ames, I’ll be unable to give her a reason why she can’t leave me and go back to her friend. Well, that’s if we have enough ammunition to take Volkov down and Bullseye’s plan works. Until that’s resolved, at least I’ve got an excuse to keep her tied down a little longer. Time, perhaps, to mend what’s gone wrong. Though how the fuck I can get out of the hole the fucking whores had got me into, I don’t currently know.

Freak returns, placing a double Jack in front of me, while keeping hold of an identical glass for himself. Kicking out the chair opposite me, he sits down. Within moments, Prez and Saint join us at the table.

After taking a swallow of whisky, the enforcer points his drink toward me. “The brother here still thinks Satin’s a threat.”

Instead of dismissing me, Prez levels his eyes in my direction. “Whatcha got other than a gut feeling? I didn’t get the feeling Stone was holding out.”

Saint snorts. “He was not. He gave us everything else, why would he lie about not being in contact with the stripper? And did you see his face when we asked? It was as if it would have been below his station.”

I close my eyes briefly, this is a crucial moment. Prez had already told me, if Ames wanted to leave, she could go when it was safe for her to do so. And the mood she was in when I left her, if I hadn’t locked her in, she’d already be gone, a Russian risk or not. While the pain at just the thought of seeing her leave hurts more than anything Stone had done to me, the idea she could be walking into danger is a hundred times worse. Even if I can’t have her, I want her still breathing.

When I open my eyes, three faces are watching me. Tapping the fingers of my right hand on the table, I start to gather my thoughts. “Stone never said how he found the cabin.” I pause, and wait for theoh shitlook I’d gotten from Freak. I’m not disappointed, they react exactly how I expect. Without waiting for their comments, I continue, “Stone said Volkov was outside Royals the night he came looking for his sister. He was going to deliver her to the Russian right there and then.” I pause as a wave ofwhat ifsgo through me.What if the lock hadn’t been broken? What if there’d been someone around to free us? Would I have dragged Ames out and sent her, unknowingly to her fate?Shaking my head, I bring myself back to the present. “It’s highly conceivable Stone kept Volkov updated about what he was doing to find his pay check. And that might have involved him telling Volkov about Satin being her friend.”

Prez circles his hand as if telling me to get to the point, but Saint’s faster.

With narrowed eyes the VP sits forward. “You think Volkov could have got to Satin, paid her to stay away?”