I sit down on the curb on the opposite side of the building from Skull.
“You want to tell me what this is about, officers?” Skull asks.
“I’m Agent Brooks, Mr. Randall.” The older man shows his a badge. “We have a warrant to search your storage shed. You can make this easy or hard. It’s up to you.” He holds up a piece of paper.
Skull scans it and nods.
The other officers lead customers out and line them up on the sidewalk.
My stomach turns over. The outfits bother me. They’re hiding something. It’s not standard procedure to get suited up like this for a search and seizure. We’re not in the middle of a raid I could be looking at someone I see every day. A regular, a hanger-on. Have we been betrayed from the inside? It’s a thought no one wants to consider. But it’s necessary. Stone cleaned house thoroughly, after the Fuse incident, so my gut tells me this is something else.
“Hate to break your heart, but you got some bum information. This is a legit business. Feel free to look around my establishment. But remember you break it…you buy it,” Skull states loudly.
His voice carries, so he’s effectively kept me in the loop. The time ticks by slowly. We can hear trays clanging as they destroy the storage shed. A cardboard box hits the ground and russet potatoes roll across the blacktop. It would be comical, if it wasn’t such a serious situation. There was nothing to find here, but if we’d kept to our schedule, we would be screwed right now. I know Skull has to be thinking the same thing.
Agent Brooks resurfaces with a scowl and fury lining every crease of his face. His eyes are narrow and his chest is heaving. He’s a time bomb ready to explode.
I tense, wondering if I’m about to be on the receiving end of his rage.
“Uncuff them,” Brooks yells.
My hands are freed. I stand, roll my shoulders, and begin rubbing my wrists to bring back circulation. They tingle like pins and needles in my fingers and it sets my teeth on edge.
“We’ll be seeing you boys,” Brooks says.
“The FBI is always welcome at this establishment. They make us feel safe,” Skull says.
I snicker.
Brooks turns red in the face. A vein appears in his forehead. “Let’s go,” he growls.
The men fall in line behind him and pile back into their van.
“Boss man ain’t going to like this,” Skull notes.
“No. How the fuck did they know?” I ask.
“I wish I knew. Chaos is closing early today. And we’re headed straight to the clubhouse. We can text ahead and get H to sweep the place. I don’t even trust our phones at this point.” Skull pulls his cell phone out of his back pocket.
I know I’m in for a long night.
My feet feel like lead as I stumble into the house a little after two in the morning. H had swept the entire club and came up empty. Then came the phone purge and the examination of those closest to us. The prospects we had were all faithful and close to getting their cut. There were no new girlfriends who came out of nowhere, so we were moving on to hang arounds. H would be hitting up the top dog’s homes and cars, which meant high alert and all hands on deck. I close the door behind me and toe off my boots.
“Shadow?”
The sleep filled voice came from the living room. My eyes adjust to the darkness and I make out Blue’s form sprawled on the couch.
“Yeah. Are you okay?”
“I should be asking you that,” she says. She stands and walks toward me wrapped up in a blanket. “I heard Chaos got searched and then you guys had church, so I couldn’t get a hold of you.”
I smile. “Were you worried about me, baby?” I ask, gently pinching her chin.
“Yes. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, babe, just exhausted. Nothing a good shower and a night of sleep won’t fix.”