Jake stood by Chester and Chief Raul Sanchez of Engine 20. One of his main firefighter, Collin Caldwell, was giving them the details.
“Looks like the fire started out back by a Dumpster,” Collin told them.
“The Dumpster? That’s right by the back door to the kitchen. How is the kitchen? Please tell me the kitchen is okay,” Chester said, sounding frantic.
Collin touched his arm. “Chester, the Dumpster was moved to the other side of the building and nowhere near the kitchen. It was against the other side. You have some damage to one of the back rooms, but really, it’s minor. Nothing that would close you down for more than a day of cleanup and freshening up,” Collin told him.
“My God, Jake. What am I going to do?” Chester said and covered his mouth then ran his hand along his chin as he exhaled.
Jake cleared his throat.
“We’re going to take care of this together. I’ve got men patrolling the streets near Riley’s, too. I hope if anyone else was threatened they will come forward now like you and Brian,” Jake said.
“What’s going on, Jake? I got your text message,” Buddy said as he joined them, along with his brother, arson investigator Trent Landers.
“Glad to see you guys. Trent, I need a thorough evaluation here. We may have ourselves some trouble in Treasure Town.”
* * * *
Turbo couldn’t believe the call he got from Jake. He was looking over the information he’d uncovered on Sal and his brother, Gino Baletti. As he searched for a location of their primary residence, the phone rang. He answered it.
“Hey, Turbo, it’s Charlie.”
He heard Charlie’s voice and was immediately concerned.
“Is everything okay? Is Frankie all right?”
“Yes. I didn’t mean to freak you out. Listen, I know you, Buddy, and Jake are working Gloria’s murder case. I remember us talking about some of the players around town and possible suspects who were selling drugs in my club. Anyway, Shark is working the bar tonight for a private party. There’s nearly a hundred people in there, but Shark recognized someone you might find important.”
“Who is that?”
“Sal Baletti.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No I’m not.”
“I’d better call Buddy and Jake. Keep an eye on Francesca.”
“Hell, buddy, you don’t need to ask me that. I always have my eye on her,” he joked.
“Watch it, Charlie. I’ll forget your close friends with my brother.
Charlie chuckled, and Turbo disconnected the call. He immediately called Jake.
* * * *
Francesca didn’t like the three guys at the table that reminded her of gangsters. She especially didn’t like the attitude of the one guy who she swore had stood by the bar and taken pictures of her with his cell phone. It was creepy and made her feel like some object on display for anyone to look at, bother, or even touch. She hoped they didn’t try something.
She was relieved when the party finally came to an end. It was after four in the morning, and the cleanup over.
“Frankie, your ride is here,” Charlie told her, and she wondered who he meant.
She had told the guys she was going to be really late and that she needed to catch up on sleep. She felt antsy, uptight, and in a bad mood, despite the great tips she got. The three guys at the table had given her three hundred dollars, a hundred each in tips, and the one with the attitude had asked for her phone number.
She was getting sick and tired of this shit. She wanted her old career back. She wanted to be respected and not treated like some piece of ass.
She walked toward Charlie, wondering whom he meant and saw Rye and Nate. Both men smiled.
“There you are. All set?” Rye asked her as Nate looked her over.
She bit her lower lip. Nate hated the uniform she had to wear. She knew that. His disapproval had her mind spinning. She was getting tired of this type of work, but she needed money to survive. She wouldn’t let these men take care of her. It wouldn’t be right, and she would feel wrong about it.
“What are you two doing here? It’s so late. I thought you would be in bed sleeping.”
“Without you? Not a chance in hell,” Rye said and pulled her closer for a kiss. She saw Charlie give Nate a wink.
“So it’s official. You belong to the Hawkins brothers?” Charlie asked as Lure joined them. She looked at Rye and Nate, who apparently were leaving the answer up to her.
“It’s true, and the Hawkins brothers belong to me,” she said, and Charlie chuckled.
“We’re happy for you guys. Have a good night and see you tomorrow, Frankie. You have two smaller parties. One at five and another at nine,” Lure told her.
“I’ll be here.”
“Hey, let the woman get some rest, will ya,” Lure teased before walking away.
Nate took Frankie’s hand.
“Rest is overrated.” He rubbed her arm then leaned down to kiss her. “How is your shoulder?”
“Feels fine. I totally forgot about it, actually.”
“Good. Then let’s get you back to our place,” Nate said.
“I didn’t have extra clothes here, and like I said, I really need my sleep.”
Nate frowned.
“We’ll bring you to your place to pick up some things. We can stay there with you, or you can come home with us, your choice, but we’re not leaving you so soon,” Rye said.
“Okay, but I really do need extra sleep. I’ve had it tonight.”
They followed her down the hallway to the employee room where she stored her stuff.
“Hey, you seem upset. Did something happen tonight?” Rye asked.
“I just get tired of this job and some of the people who come here. That’s all. Sometimes I miss my old job.” She pulled on her light hoodie sweatshirt. It was gray and had the word Pink stretched across the back. She grabbed her bag and locked up her stuff.
Nate took her hand and stopped her before she headed toward the door to leave with them. He brought her fingers to his lips. “Rough night?”
He kissed her knuckles. She was overwhelmed with emotion, with the fact that he understood her upset and felt concerned. She appreciated that so much.
She glanced at Rye then back at Nate.
“Thank you for coming here and giving me a ride home.”
Rye placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
“We’ll be making this a habit. Don’t you worry.”
She felt her cheeks warm as they headed out the door and into the early morning hour. She was starving but didn’t say a thing until they got into the truck and her stomach rumbled.
“Hey, are you hungry or something?” Nate asked as he started the truck, and Rye chuckled.
“Starving.”
“We can stop and get you something,” Nate said.
“You don’t have to.”
“Baby, if you’re hungry, then we’ll stop. Sullivan’s opens at five a.m. They have an awesome egg sandwich combo,” Rye told her.
“Sounds great, then it’s shower and bed for me.”
“Shower and bed for us,” Rye said and winked.
She felt her body come alive and get a boost of energy. Having four lovers was definitely going to take a lot of energy out of her. But, oh, what a way to get drained of it.
Chapter 12
Turbo stopped by Frankie’s apartment during the day. Nate had called him and told him about getting her from work, going for an early breakfast at Sullivan’s, then coming back to her place. He hadn’t told his brothers about the investigation or about the things that concerned him about Frankie’s safety. After meeting with Charlie and Lure, along with Buddy, they went over surveillance camera footage from Prestige and identified that Sal Baletti and two of his associates had been at Prestige and talked to Frankie a lot.
He would need to ask Frankie some questions to cover all their bases in the investigation.
Currently, Buddy and Jake were visiting other clubs along the strip on the boardwalk in Treasure Town and trying to find out if Sal and his men had threatened them like they’d threatened Brian and Chester. Trent, the arson investigator, along with his team, gathered evidence and found accelerants all over the Dumpster and the side of the Beach House. They were canvassing the neighborhood, trying to see if any witnesses saw anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. Without more specific evidence than one person’s word over the other, they wouldn’t have enough to bring Sal and his buddies in for questioning.
As Turbo parked the patrol car, locked it, and made his way toward Frankie’s apartment building, he felt annoyed, angry, and concerned. Although he understood her thinking for picking such a place to hide out in, it didn’t seem necessary for her to live in this crappy complex anymore. Not when they had plenty of room at their place and wanted to be with her all the time. But he struggled with making that serious commitment. It was obvious he was still fearful of admitting his love for her and taking the huge step of living together. But considering how strongly he and his brothers felt about her already, it seemed the most logical thing to do was to ask her to move in with them right away.
As he walked down the hallway to her place, he noted a guy leaning against the wall, who always seemed to be there.
“What’s blondie doing running a brothel?” he said then took a slug from his brown bag that appeared to be a bottle.