Page 86 of Creed

“Good for you.”

“We’ll be searching the entire grounds.”

I cocked my brow. “Do what you gotta do.”

The asshole actually thought he was finally getting one over on us. Preacher and I stood there, arms crossed and pissed as hell, watching as he and his team swept inside. They searched every inch of the place, from the VIP rooms to the storage closets, flipping cushions, checking under counters, and even pulling up loose tiles in the office.

Nothing.

Because there was nothing to find, we’d made sure of it.

That didn’t stop Maddox from trying to rattle cages. He kept shooting me looks, like he was waiting for me to flinch.

I didn’t.

When they were done tearing through the place, Maddox came up to me and announced, “I’m going to need that camera footage.”

I gave him a nod and led him into the security room. He was practically salivating as his computer tech started trying to retrieve the footage. But there was no footage. “It’s not here. The footage only goes back to ten last night.”

“Where the hell is it?”

“I don’t know. It’s not here.”

“Clearly.” Maddox glared at Shep. “You know it’s a felony to tamper with evidence.”

“Is that right?”

“Holds hefty fines and time in the slammer.”

“Damn, that’s rough, but no tampering here.” Shep stepped forward and shrugged. “It must’ve been a glitch or something.”

“Bullshit.”

“See for yourself.”

Maddox pushed past his guy, and the blood drained from his face when he saw that the system came up blank. It was a look I wouldn’t soon forget. He tried to cover it with a smirk, but I could see it in his eyes. Asshole was pissed.

“Mighty lucky glitch.”

“No luck about it,” I told him flatly.

I held his stare as he stood and stepped away from the computer. He stopped, just for a second, and that mask he’d been wearing slipped. It was only for a second, but I saw him. He was just a fucking prick who was hiding behind his badge and using it to cover his tracks.

His smirk returned as he said, “We’ll be needing access to the clubhouse next.”

“The clubhouse wasn’t on the warrant,” Preacher bit back.

“No, but you can save us both the trouble and just give us what we need.”

“Not gonna happen.”

“No matter. We’ll have it in a few hours.” He gave me a wink, then turned and started out of the room. “Tell Devin I said hello.”

Motherfucker.

I was about to lunge for him when Grim reached out and grabbed my arm, holding me back as Maddox led his crew towards the front door. It took everything in me not to go and beat the ever-loving fuck out of him. The only thing truly stopping me was knowing that I would get him as soon as he was off the clock. And when I did, he’d find out exactly what happened when you tried to threaten what was mine.

We all walked out front and watched as they piled back into their cars and drove away. I wanted to think that was the end ofit, but I knew better. This douchebag was going to keep pushing, but that was okay. Because I was going to push right back.