It had been two weeks since we had seen Ransom. When he walked into the clubhouse, we knew the shit was either going to or had hit the fan.
“You arrest Luna again?” Hero asked, trying to cut the tension.
Ransom shook his head. “I wish I was here because of that.”
“Not another one,” King growled.
Ransom moved to the head of the table by King. He dropped a photograph on the table and stepped back. “Macy Booth. Twenty-one years old and a waitress at Sultry Knights.” Ransom put his hands in his pockets. “Found in a ditch three miles out of town. Dead.”
"How the hell did she get out?” Snapper asked. “This place is locked down.”
“That’s a good fucking question.” Rigid glared back at Snapper. “Weren’t you on watch last night?”
Snapper held up his hands. “Hey, I was watching the front door and no one came or went.”
“I already walked around back,” Ransom said. “One of the screens looks like it was popped out, and they didn’t put it back in right.”
“I’m ready to put fucking bars on all of the windows and doors,” King grunted. “I didn’t know keeping a bunch of women safe was going to be so damn hard.”
“They’re women,” Demon laughed. “We should know for all the years we’ve been married that we’re just along for the ride.”
“Amen to that,” Rigid muttered.
Ransom cleared his throat.
“And you’re sure it was Macy?” I asked.
I knew Macy. She always flirted with me whenever I was at the club. Hell, she flirted with everyone. Helped her get bigger tips.
King held up the photo. Half of her hair was matted to her head with blood and dirt, and her cheek was cut open. Her clothes were ripped and tattered, smeared with mud, and plastered to her body. It was her, and she appeared very dead.
I whistled low. “Damn.” That was a picture I could have done without seeing.
King laid the photo on the table. “Yeah, damn is right. That’s number four. Four girls who work at Sultry Knights are now dead, and we still have no fucking clue who is doing it.” Like the rest of us, King was frustrated as hell trying to figure out who and why they were doing this.
“The only connection these girls have is that they work at Sultry Knights. We’re doing everything we can to keep all of the girls safe, but we can only keep them at the clubhouse for so long before a mutiny breaks out.” Zag sighed heavily. “How did the psycho get Macy?”
“Security footage outside of Ping’s gas station shows her entering the gas station around seven last night.” Ransom grabbed a chair by the wall and pulled it next to King. “Doesn’t look like she was there against her will.”
“What time did she leave?” Frost asked.
Ransom shook his head. “That’s the fucking thing. We don’t know what time she left because as soon as she stepped foot in the gas station, the fucking cameras stopped working.”
“That’s a fuck
ing coincidence,” King growled. “What are the odds the person behind the counter at the gas station knows anything?”
Gambler chuckled. “There are probably hundreds of people in and out of Ping’s every day. Slim odds that the clerk remembers Macy.”
“Well, I guess we’re lucky because the clerk does remember Macy. She said Macy walked in, bought an energy drink and a Snickers, and then walked back out the door. Not so lucky when it comes to the cameras, though. She noticed that the cameras stopped working, but she said that happens all of the time. They came back on about five minutes later. Whoever killed Macy was damn lucky to have the cameras stop working when they did.” Ransom tapped his fingers on the table. “The gas station is the last place we can figure that she was seen by anyone.”
“Damn,” Zig sighed. “And now she’s dead.”
This shit was getting crazy. In-fucking-sane. Four dead girls all connected back to the Sultry Knights. “Do you think maybe there is some other connection between the four girls? Did they all date the same guy or something?”
“Macy was gay.”
“Out!” King boomed at Luna, who had her head stuck in the room.