Property of Drex (Book 2)(26)

“Make a call,” Dash tells him, handing him a phone. “To Ben. Let him know you’re running. Let him know we have Eve back, but that we don’t know you and he are involved.”

He picks up Mikey’s phone, and starts scrolling through the contacts.

“Anything in there to tell us who our inside mystery man is?” Sledge asks him.

“Think I’d be wasting my time down here if there was? He keeps his call logs erased, and our tech guy says he can’t find anything linking his number to any of our guys.”

“All calls to him are made via burner phones only,” Mikey quickly inserts. “Set me free, and I’ll give you his number and his position in your crew. I swear.”

His position can’t be too high if he doesn’t know about the cars. His position in my crew…

“I need a list of any and all employees we have outside of our guys,” I tell Sledge. “If he was in the club, they wouldn’t have needed Cecil to leak info. It has to be someone linked to us indirectly.”

Sledge’s eyebrows go up as he pulls out his phone and walks away. Mikey looks wide-eyed and fearful. He knows I’m going to figure it out on my own.

“Make the call to Ben. Hope your acting skills are to die for,” Dash says dryly. “Your life literally depends on this.”

He verses Mikey on what to say a little longer before he turns on the interference router by the door. It’ll keep the phone from being accurately traced back here while Mikey is talking. If Ben looks for him, it’ll give him some random location far away from our warehouse.

“Put it on speaker,” I tell Dash.

“He’d probably know something was up if he could tell it was on speaker,” Dash argues. “But I have these.”

He hands me an earpiece, and I put it in. He puts one on as well, then the phone is dialing and he’s holding it to Mikey’s face.

“Fucking shit, dude! What the fuck is going on?” Ben roars when he answers. “Where’s Eve? Where are you and fucking Larry? If you’ve fucking touched her, I will—”

“Eve is with the Death Dealers,” Mikey says flatly, turning off his sniveling and tears like a pro. “They found her. Larry and I barely got out in time. He took off, Ben. Told you he was a waste.”

I can hear everything clearly through the earpiece, as though I’m on the phone with him myself. How I keep from losing it, I don’t fucking know.

“Damn it,” Ben hisses. “Where’d they take her?”

“I don’t know. I was too busy trying to get the hell out of dodge. Look, I’m laying low for a while. I don’t want this shit coming back on me when Drex does the math and figures out we were involved. Eve lost consciousness, possibly went into shock or something, so for now we’re safe,” Mikey lies, submissively bowing his head and looking me dead in the eyes like a whipped dog trying to prove his loyalty. “But they’ll figure it out eventually. You need to pull out and run too.”

“I’m not fucking running. It’s his word against mine, and Herrin will never allow a war over Eve. You wiped the hard drive, right? I couldn’t find the video footage. That was you, right?”

“Yeah,” Mikey lies again. “I used all emergency protocols. I’m pulling out, Ben. This shit is getting real and fast. I’m done.”

“Fuck you. Get your ass to the second location. We’ll meet there and figure out what to do. Like I said, Herrin won’t allow Drex to make a fucking move, and Drex has been on his leash for a really long time. He might care about Eve, but he’s a loyal puppy to his father. He even let his own sister go without a damn second thought when she crossed Herrin. She’s probably dead by now, and Drex probably killed her himself at Herrin’s request. Do you really think he’s going to go against Herrin just for Eve?”

My jaw grinds, and Dash’s eyes dart to mine. The one topic of conversation not allowed in the club was just spat out by someone who has no fucking clue what that will cost him.

“Drex might care about Eve more than you think,” Mikey says while continuing to stare at me. “I’m not willing to risk it.”

“Fucking pussy,” Ben growls. “Fuck you. I’ll remember this when we meet again. And we will meet again, Mikey. Count on it.”

I wouldn’t count on it.

“I’ll take my chances,” Mikey says while tensing his lips.

Dash ends the phone call, and I crack my neck to the side.

“I did what you wanted. You’ll let me go, right? I’ll tell you his name as soon as—”

Two gunshots almost deafen the room when the sound echoes and resounds off the basement walls. Mikey’s head is thrown back, and his body jerks like a headless snake for a few seconds. Then, a long breath leaves his lips as blood runs down in a steady stream from the entry wound.

I don’t bother viewing the exit wounds that will be gaping open, as I toss my gun to the side.

“Have someone clean this shit up and get rid of the body,” I calmly tell Dash.

“Damn it, Drex! We needed him to tell us who the fucking leader of this shit is. It’s obviously not Ben. He’s just a pawn in a bigger game of chess. Someone went through a lot of trouble to fucking set this all up.”

“I don’t give a fuck. We’ll figure it out without Mikey. I wanted him to suffer longer, but it turns out I didn’t have the patience because I’d like to get back to Eve.”

Sledge walks back in, and we turn to face him as he eyes the mess I’ve made then rolls his eyes at me. “I knew that would happen.” He blows out a breath. “I’ve made the calls. Helen, Colleen, and Liza are pulling up all employee files right now.”

“Good. Let me know when they’re in. I’m going back to the hospital. And let me know when you’ve got that meeting set up with Benny.”

“Still think that’s a bad idea,” Sledge groans. “Herrin is going to be furious when he finds out you’re doing all this behind his back. And I doubt Benny will meet with us, considering he would think it was below him to meet with the son.”

I shrug carelessly. “I think Pop is figuring out his leash on me is long fucking gone.”

I’m about to prove it in more than one way. Mikey ripped open an old wound and gave me a sick reminder of who my father really is. I guess I should have figured it out a long fucking time ago.





Chapter 26



EVE



“Why do you keep staring at me?” Rush growls, glaring at me as I sip my water. My throat is already feeling better.

“Because I don’t trust you,” I tell him honestly.

He snorts derisively, but he goes back to messing with his phone while Axle’s lips twitch. Since I found out Drake is just down the hall, I’ve wanted to go see him, but no one will let me out of this room. Rush is the asshole who just glares at me when I ask to go.

I don’t actually feel strong enough to walk just yet, but I still want to see Drake. Especially since Axle told me how bad he was hurt in the wreck. I’m just relieved he’s still alive.

“You don’t like me,” I say to Rush when my staring no longer seems to bother him. Maybe I’m feeling antagonistic or just bitchy. I’m not sure.

But with Axle right beside me, Rush doesn’t scare me. That could be stupid on my part.

“I don’t have a problem with you,” Rush says without looking up.

“You’ve acted like it since I first met you.”

He groans while looking back at me again. “You’re one of those girls, aren’t you? The kind that drives a man fucking crazy for explanations.”

“I call out a contradiction when I see it. You act like you don’t like me, and yet you say you have no problem with me.”

“I helped save you. Guess that should contradict your own statement,” he says with a ghost of a smile.

I bristle in the bed. No one has elaborated yet on how they found me or how I got here. No one seems to want to either.

I continue staring into Rush’s cold blue eyes, and he finally rolls those eyes while glancing at the door then back at me.

“I hate Herrin. Everyone knows it and they know why. I’ve hated Drex for being Herrin’s obedient little bitch for years. You were just a means for me to fuck with Drex. Now you’re the reason Drex is off his leash. Life is about to be fun because of you, so no; I don’t have a problem with you. Never actually did. I didn’t trust you, but don’t take the trust thing personal. It’s rare I trust anyone. Occupational hazard.”

I’m not so sure what he means by all that, but Axle tenses beside me before cutting his eyes toward Rush like he’s saying too much.

“Why do you hate Herrin?” I pry.

“Because he’s the kind of man that causes those trust issues. In this life, having a president you can’t trust is like living in paranoia central. I’ve seen what he’s capable of doing to his own flesh and blood—”

“Lips are getting too loose, Rush,” Axle interrupts, glaring at him.

“Drex told her our secrets,” Rush tells him with a cold smile. “I think she deserves to know his.”

Bile rises to my throat for reasons unbeknownst to me. Whatever is so secretive can’t be good. It’s really, really not good, judging by the look on Axle’s face and his tense jaw.