My exhalation was heavy. “I don’t see how there’s anything else to do.”
“So that’s how it is then?”
“Yup.”
Chuckling, Jud lifted his beer. “To the love-fucked. Believe me, brother…” He looked between me and Trent. “Trent and I would be there in a heartbeat if it were our girls. Get it. Just fucking be careful. Watch your back. These people are not to be toyed with.”
Trent took a sip from his tumbler, lifted his, too. “And know we’re always here. No matter what you need.”
* * *
I ducked into the hallway that readEmployees Onlyand headed for the exit that would dump me in the staff parking lot.
Milo, one of the original bouncers here at Absolution, the guy more family than employee, stood guard at the door.
If Jud was a giant, this motherfucker was a goliath. Covered in tats and scary as fuck.
Dude rarely said a word, his demeanor quiet and subdued, though I was pretty sure he would take a bullet if it was required. God knew the number of pricks he tossed to the curb on a nightly basis.
“Logan, Sir, how are you tonight?”
“Same ol’, same ol’.”
I didn’t see the point in telling him I itched. That I’d had one drink with my brothers and the only thing I could think about was getting back to my apartment.
To see that she was there. Whole.
“That’s all we can ask for, isn’t it?”
“Yup.”
He opened the door. “You have a good night. Be safe out there.”
“I plan on it,” I said as I stepped out into the fat tufts of snowflakes that flitted from the sky, and I stuffed my hands into my pockets to ward off the chill. Rays of glinting lights streaked through the frosty, damp air, the snowflakes falling in a slow cascade, casting the lot in a globe of white.
Absolution was set in an old warehouse on the industrial side of town. Most everything within a five-mile radius was locked-up tight for the night except for the chaos that roiled within its walls.
The lot was deserted, and the sound of the band and voices seeped through the bricks and vibrated the ground. I moved over close to where I’d parked my car before I glanced around to make sure I was alone. When I found that I was, I blew out some of the tension, leaned against the wall in the shadows, and dug into my pocket to pull out my phone.
I dialed the number then pressed it to my ear.
It rang three times before the groggy voice answered, “What the hell, it’s almost two in the morning.”
“Calling in that debt, Dean.”
Dude owed me after not making good on a lost bet—I’d figured his connections might serve to be more valuable than the hundred-grand he’d lost.
I might play hard, but I played smart.
Rustling echoed from the other end of the line, and I heard a door snap shut before he exhaled heavily when he shut another. “What is it you need?”
“Information.”
“On who?”
“I want everything you can get on a man named Jarek Urso.”
I could tell he was fumbling around on his desk to find something to write on.