Dare to Love (The Dare 4)

“Or maybe not. Maybe she just needs to stick to three certain men in Chance that can’t keep their eyes off of her either,” Marlena said and smirked then took a sip from her margarita.

“Who?” Mercedes asked.

“Oh you know who. The Dawn men,” Adele told her.

“Not happening. They scare me. They’re not the commitment types. They have dangerous jobs that take two of them out of town for months at a time, and they’re too experienced and older than I am,” she told them.

They started talking through her concerns and everyone but Marlena seemed convinced that maybe the Dawn men weren’t the commitment types and were too hard and intense to trust. She appreciated their feedback and talking through her fears, but she also felt a little guilty. It was strange.

“Your table is ready, ladies,” the hostess said as she interrupted their conversation. Mercedes couldn’t help but to glance where the two men sat and as she walked by they continued to watch her. She gave a soft smile and both of them smiled wide. That wasn’t so hard, she thought as she headed into the other room.

* * * *

“It’s good to have you back, bro. We missed you,” Taylor told Warner as they sat at one of the private booths along with Jack, Danny, and Mike Spencer at Spencer’s.

“It sure is good to be back,” Warner said as he eased into the seat.

“So have you guys thought much about our proposition with security yet, or is a day too little time?” Jack asked and smirked.

Taylor and Kurt looked at Warner.

“We’re discussing the opportunity still. I don’t know if Max has mentioned this or not, but your security team should really be up to speed with some of the crazy shit going on in clubs nearby,” Warner told them.

“Like what?” Mike asked.

“Like the shady characters coming in and trying to sell drugs, prostitution, and even abducting women,” Warner said.

“You mean like sex slave business stuff?” Danny asked, sitting forward and looking sick.

“Not quite and not on that scale. There’s this new thing where guys come in on a regular basis and scope out a place. They see who the regulars are and the types of women that frequent the place. You know people stick to the same routine a lot and that’s when they become victims. So anyway, these guys take pictures of them or just right there on the spot text to a group of men looking for a certain type of woman. They give a description a cost and then they get paid and the guys get the location. They come in, snag the woman in some suave way, or they pay extra to have someone else do it, and the woman leaves with the man or makes plans to meet and boom, she’s taken,” Warner explained.

“That’s fucking sick,” Danny said.

“What happens to the women? Are they killed?” Jack asked, seemingly just as angry and sick as Danny about the information. Warner looked at Mike.

“Some wind up dead, others wind up in the hospital, not even remembering what happened because they were drugged, and of course others that do remember are embarrassed so they don’t do anything. It’s crazy,” Mike said and then took a slug of beer and looked around the place.

“Well we don’t want anything like that happening here. What do we have our security look for? How can we be diligent to stop anything like that from happening here?” Jack asked.

“It’s hard, but having the right security team and the same men and women looking around and recognizing the regulars can help. It’s believed that these types of individuals don’t hit the smaller places. Their faces become too obvious and recognizable. It’s small time so they do a lot of changing of people, these spotters, if you want to call them that,” Warner told them.

“I think I can speak for my brothers and Marlena by saying we want to have the best security in the business. When the new addition is finally open in a few weeks, we want precautions in place, and most importantly our patrons to be safe. So any advice would be appreciated but of course your involvement and working hand in hand with us would be even better,” Danny said and raised his beer up to toast them. They clinked beers and laughed then Mike glanced at his cell phone.”

“You okay?” Kurt asked him.

“Yeah, why?”

“You keep checking your cell phone. Waiting on a call or text?” Kurt pushed and Mike smirked.

“Waiting to hear from Marlena,” he replied.

“Oh, she’s not at home?” Taylor asked then took a slug of beer.

“No, she and the girls went out tonight,” Jack said.

Warner wondered if Mercedes were with them. He glanced at his brothers. Since he arrived home Thursday that was all Taylor kept pushing. A conversation about making a serious move on Mercedes and getting to know her. Warner had done a lot of thinking while he was on this last job. He hadn’t even told his brothers about the near death experience. It would only make Taylor angrier at him. He hid the bandage on his arm well. It was just a scratch from the bullet. A bullet that never should have gotten that close to hitting him. An indication that maybe he was losing his focus and his edge.

“Where did they go?” Taylor asked.