Page 27

Smoke

“I gotta take this call, angel.”

Dani shooed me with her hand. “Go, go. I don’t even know why you’re staying all day.”

“You know the answer to that,” I drawled.

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t think B&G are interested in my wine shop.” I stepped out the back door of Cheese and Wine Me as I connected the call and put the phone to my ear.

“Yo,” I called into the phone.

“You all good?” Yarder asked.

I ran my fingers through my hair and scanned up and down the back alleyway. “I’m all good here.”

Yarder grunted. “Good.”

“What is going on?” I asked.

“Fucking Stretch. Can’t find him anywhere, and he left his phone in his room.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

I was the only one who was good for leaving the clubhouse with the camera crew there. We all knew that anyone connected to the Iron Fiends was a target of Boone and Gibbs, so I was stuck to Dani’s side until we got them.

“He is fucking gone,” Yarder growled. “I didn’t see him yesterday, and from what I can figure, no one else did either. We all just assumed he was sulking in his bedroom.” A loud thud echoed through the phone like something heavy had been thrown against a wall. “Now his fucking room is empty.”

My mind raced. “Do we think he left on his own, or...” I couldn’t finish the thought. The idea that Boone and Gibbs had gotten to him made my stomach churn.

“Yo!” Compass hollered in the background. “I found some shit.”

I wished I could be there to help, but I needed to be here with Dani. “What is it?” I asked Yarder.

“Hold on,” he muttered. I heard the distinct rustling sound of the phone being put on speaker, followed by the noise of guys moving around Stretch’s room. “Maps, paperwork,” Yarder said. “Shit that makes no sense for him to have.”

“Is his bike still there?” I asked.

“No,” Pirate called. “Dice is working on pulling up the cameras to see when he left.”

“The club cameras,” I called. “If he left or someone took him, they have to be on them.”

“Aero is talking to Mac and Saylor to see if they can pull the footage from the past two days,” Yarder said. “Not sure how hard that is going to be. Adalee said all of that is on a feed back in Los Angeles.”

Jesus.

I knew Stretch had been pissed off the past couple of weeks, but we were all frustrated. We wanted to strike on Boone and Gibbs, but it was hard to look and find them with the cameras rolling.

We all kept telling ourselves to wait until the filming was done, but maybe Stretch didn’t want to wait any longer.

“Smoke?” Dani’s voice cut through my thoughts as she opened the back door and held a folded piece of paper in her hand.

“What is it, angel?” I asked and stepped toward her.

She held the paper out to me. “Stan left this in the cash drawer.”

I took it from her, and my fingers brushed hers as I unfolded it. My eyes locked onto the words scribbled across it: Iron Fiends .

“Hold on, Yarder,” I called into the phone, pulling it away from my ear to put it on speaker.

Dani moved to my side and read the paper out loud. “Call off your dog, or he’s going to find his answers six feet under. We’re watching.”

“What the fuck?” Yarder shouted through the speaker.

“That is terrifying, but who are they talking about? They don’t mean literal dogs, right?” Dani asked with her brow furrowed.

I shook my head. “I think they’re talking about Stretch.” I met her worried gaze. “We can’t find him right now. No one has seen him for days.”

“Oh no,” Dani gasped.

I slipped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her into my side. Her warmth grounded me, but it didn’t stop the storm brewing in my head.

“Where did the letter come from?” Yarder demanded.

“Uh, I don’t know,” Dani replied. “Stan must have gotten it on my day off yesterday. Do you want me to ask him?”

“Yes,” Yarder barked.

Dani pulled her phone from her pocket and quickly dialed Stan. He picked up on the first ring.

“Hello,” he answered.

“Stan,” Dani said.

“Hey, honey. What’s going on? You sound a little stressed.”

Dani rolled her eyes. “Uh, not really. There was a note left in the till. Who gave it to you?”

“Note?” Stan asked, and the confusion was clear in his tone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, honey. I didn’t put a note in the register.”

Dani’s eyes snapped to mine, and her lips parted slightly. If Stan didn’t put that note there, who did? And when did they even do it?

“You’re one hundred percent sure you didn’t put the note in there?” Dani asked again.

“I’m getting old, Dani, but I would remember putting a note in the register. I remember counting the till and then shutting it. Nothing but money was in there. What did the note say that has you so freaked out?”

I shook my head at Dani and signaled her not to tell him too much.

“Uh, it has an order scribbled on it.” She glanced at me and shrugged. “Maybe I put it in there, and it got stuck.”

“Are you sure you’re okay, Dani?” he asked. “I can come to the store if you want.”

“No, no,” she called. “Smoke is here with me all day. It was just a little weird to see that note. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“Well, if it’s an order, then I’m sure it’s nothing. At least you have Smoke there if you need anything.”

“Yeah,” she smiled. “I’ll let you go. Just call me if you remember anything.”

“Will do, honey.” Dani hung up and turned back to me.

“You hear all of that?” I called to Yarder, who was still on speaker.

“Yeah, I fucking did,” he grunted. “How the hell did that note get in your register?”

Neither of us knew.

“Does the landlord have cameras?” I asked.

“He does,” Dani said. “I can call him and see if there is anything recorded.”

“We had him check for the explosion, and he didn’t get anything. Whoever blew it up knew where the cameras were. There are blind spots all around that building.”

That was not reassuring.

I sighed heavily and ran a hand through my hair. “What do you want me to do?”

“Shut the store down and get to the clubhouse. We’re going on lockdown until we find Stretch.”

The line went dead before I could respond. I stuffed the phone in my pocket and turned to Dani to pull her fully into my arms.

“I hate to say it, but he’s right, Dani. We need to shut down the store. We’re not safe here.”

She nodded without hesitation and tipped her head back to meet my gaze. The worry in her eyes twisted something in my chest. “Whatever you think we need to do. How are you going to find Stretch?”

I exhaled slowly and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I don’t know, angel, but whatever happens, you’ll always be safe with me.”

Her body softened against mine, and she let out a sigh as her fingers curled into the back of my shirt. “I know. I just hope Stretch is safe, too.”