Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“We’re following up on a report of an attempted abduction.” He glanced toward the front door of the Vault, then back to me. “Happened the night of the sixteenth.”
“That so?”
He cocked his brow. “That’s so.”
“I don’t know anything about that.”
“I find that hard to believe.” Maddox kept his eyes trained on mine. “You strike me as the kind of guy who knows exactly what goes down at his club. Every brawl. Every spilled drink. Every move that’s made. So, why don’t you save us both the trouble and just tell me what you know?”
He was right.
I knew everything that went down at the Vault. It was my job to know. I knew the two assholes who had tried to take the girl were up to no good. It’s why I sent them to Grim. He had special skills in the field of information extraction, and I had no doubt that he’d find out exactly what they were up to.
And he had.
They’d confessed to drugging her and trying to take her.
He’d even called me the night before and had me to come in, so I could hear it for myself. We both could tell there was more to the story, so we decided to hold onto them and see if they stuck to their story.
But I didn’t want Detective Maddox thinking I was keeping anything from him, so I told him, “Like I said, I don’t know anything about it.”
“Yeah, I heard you the first time.” He stepped in a little closer. “I’m gonna need to see the security footage from that night.”
My voice stayed calm but stern. “You got a warrant, Detective?”
I could tell by his expression that he didn’t like that answer, and I couldn’t have cared less. Maddox squared up and looked me dead in the eye like he thought he could intimidate me. “No. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that.”
“I understand.” I could feel the anger rising in my chest, but I didn’t let it show. Just gave him a slow blink and said, “We take privacy real serious around here. Especially when it comes to our girls.”
“We just want to take a quick look at the security footage from that night. You might’ve caught something that can help us find the guys who did this.”
He was saying the right things, but it was the way he said it and the way he was looking at me that got under my skin. There was something up with this guy. I wanted to punch him square in the face, and it wasn’t just the fact that he was Devin’s husband. There was something going on here. I just didn’t know what it was. I wasn’t taking any chances, so I stuck with my response. “Yeah, well, unless you’ve got something official, this conversation’s done.”
The younger officer shifted uncomfortably, but Maddox didn’t budge. He just stood there, stiff and clearly irritated. And I stared right back at him, and I didn’t flinch when he announced, “I’ll be back with the warrant.”
I gave him a slight smile. “Looking forward to it.”
He grumbled something under his breath, then turned and walked off like I hadn’t just rattled his cage. I wouldn’t ever let him know, but he’d rattled mine. If he wanted to dig, he could try, and it wouldn’t be long before the dirt swallowed him whole.
As soon as they got in the car, Skid came over to me, and he looked to be sweating bullets. “You think he’ll be back?”
“Possibly, but we aren’t gonna make it easy for him.” I grabbed my phone and called Preacher. As soon as he answered, I told him, “We had a couple of cops sniffing around at the Vault.”
“Let me guess. It has something to do with our guests?”
“Afraid so.”
“Damn. I don’t need this bullshit today.”
“Yeah, I know. I tried to put ‘em off, but the detective was pretty adamant about getting his hands on our surveillance footage.”
“You take care of it?”
“I told ‘em they’d need a warrant. Not that it’ll matter. I’ve already had Shep wipe it clean.”
“Good. I’ll do what I can to make sure they don’t get that fucking warrant.”
Preacher and I had made connections over the years. Judges, politicians, and some of the richest men in the state were in our pockets. He’d have to call in some big favors, but if anyone could put an end to that warrant, it would be him. He paused for a moment before asking, “So, you think the girl reported it?”
“My gut says no. She was young, too young, and was somewhere she had no business being. But I’m about to head over to her place and see what I can find out.”
“Good. Let me know what she has to say.”
“Will do.”
I ended the call, and after telling Skid where I was headed, I made my way back out to my bike. I left the Vault with Maddox’s face still burned into the back of my mind. The man had the look of someone who’d made a career out of rubbing people the wrong way. I didn’t trust him, and I certainly didn’t like him.