Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“Nothing,” he said, but that frown was still in place. Suddenly, he shook his head and looked toward her. “I will understand if you don’t want to see me anymore.”
“I do,” Ava said. “You didn’t cause this. You didn’t kill Lauren.” She glanced at her hair and felt sick to her stomach. “My hair did.”
Pat reached out, cupping her hair. “No, it didn’t.”
“Lauren is blonde, I’m usually blonde, and she’s not dead because whoever attacked thought they were hitting me.” Ava hated this feeling.
“No. None of this is your fault. Look at me, Ava. I am going to fix this. You understand me? I am going to fix this, and then you and your family are going to be safe.” He pulled her in close and kissed her.
Ava wanted to tell him she loved him, and there was no way she was backing down or leaving, but she didn’t get the chance, as in the next breath, he was gone.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Grant’s right,” Pat said, walking into Bull’s office.
Bull looked up, and behind him was Grant.
“Of course I’m right.” Grant let out a laugh. “Wait, what am I right about? I mean, I’m right about a lot of things, and people tend to—”
“Ranford,” Pat said, cutting Grant off. He had a tendency to just start talking and not stop, which was fine but also a little annoying. “Grant’s right, it has to be Ranford.”
“Look, I know you didn’t like Ranford, in fact, no one has liked Ranford from the beginning.”
“This is different,” Pat said.
“Ranford always said that when he took on the cartel, he had nothing to lose, right? Think about how we’re getting attacked,” Pat said. “This is close to home, but Ava is a new deal. None of you guys have truly met her. Other than Halloween, Ranford has to be the one responsible. He’s working for the cartel. He is the only one who would know about the security cameras around town, around the sheriff’s building. He would know what to do, when to attack. With Ava, it is sending a message. That shit has cartel written all over it, but the baseball bat, that’s Ranford. Think about when he took his city. The man was known for being a beast, and he used his fists and...”
“A baseball bat. It is what made him feared,” Bull said. “Because he didn’t just shoot to kill. He got personal.”
“Every other hit does not have that personal element, but this one is personal,” Pat said.
“Does this mean Ranford has a problem with you?” Grant asked. “Like a personal vendetta?”
“No,” Pat said. “This is anger. Ranford hates himself.”
This time, Grant burst out laughing. “That makes no fucking sense.”
“It does, if you think of it like him,” Pat said. “He lost his brother. He lost his city. He couldn’t find his brother’s body. It was making him desperate, and what does a desperate man do? He makes a deal with the enemy, turning your back on those that gave you a chance. This was personal to Ranford. This was about him reminding himself exactly who he is.”
Bull dropped the pen he was holding. “And he can hide within plain sight.”
“He told us he was in Carnage for over four months without us knowing.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Grant asked.
“It means, he is here right now.”
“And that’s how Lidia got hit,” Grant said. “She knows Ranford. The two talked a few times. She saw him around the club.”
“Exactly,” Pat said.
“How the fuck did this guy operate before?” Grant asked. “Is he just some kind of invisible dude? I mean, he is a pretty big guy, right, and a fucking vegan, wouldn’t that shit have started to create gossip?”
Pat made his way toward Bull’s window and looked out at the parking lot, and that was when it struck him.
“He stole a leather cut,” Pat said.
“What?” This came from both Pat and Bull.
“Think about a few weeks ago, Gaz told us he had lost his leather cut, remember? He reckoned some chick stole it as he hadn’t seen it since working on his bike out front,” Pat said.
It had seemed insignificant at the time. He hadn’t even thought about chasing it up. “That’s how he’s getting around town with no gossip,” Pat said. “He’s using our own club against us.”
“I’ll call Carl and Beatrice. Ask if they have seen a guy matching Ranford’s description,” Bull said. “You need to round the boys up, and we need to find this fucker before he does anything else.”
“Wait,” Grant said. “What is the guy’s end game?”
“Divide and conquer,” Pat said. “That is why he has gone after the women, but going after Lauren, he made a mistake.”
“Uh, why is that?” Grant asked, looking a little dumb.
“Because he just pissed me off, and trust me, he does not want to deal with me.”