By the time I hung up with Viper, Widow and Country were escorting several cops and three firefighters through the front door. The mere sight of them walking into our bar set me on edge.
There was no love lost between the brothers and our city’s law enforcement. They didn’t trust us, and we sure as hell didn’t trust them. They were in the game of looking for someone to blame for the crimes that took place in our beloved city, and because of our notorious reputation, they considered us an easy target.
It didn’t help matters that the officers were whispering back and forth, making underhanded, snide comments as they made their way through the main bar. They were trying to put on a show that they were better than us and disapproved of our line of work.
But I knew better.
I’d seen one or more of them at the club, and when they were out of uniform, they partied with the best of them. When they got closer, I stepped forward, stopping them in their path. I put on a big, fake smile as I said, “Hey there, Tate. I almost didn’t recognize you in that uniform. How you making it tonight?”
He looked a bit taken back as he answered, “I’m good. Just trying to get through the night.”
“I know the feeling.”
He and his buddies walked around me and continued towards the back without another word. The firefighters followed with their extinguishers in hand, and as soon as they reached the site of the explosion, they started checking to make sure there were no residual flames.
While the firemen were doing their thing, Officer Tate walked over to Country and asked, “You boys got any casualties or any other injuries we need to know about?”
“Nope, no casualties and just minor cuts and scratches.”
“That’s good.”
His partner was a short, muscled-up dude and looked like a real prick as he inched closer for a better view of the damage. He stepped over a couple of broken two-by-fours as he asked, “Any idea what caused the explosion?”
“No clue,” Widow answered.
The asshole tilted his head back and took a couple of deep sniffs, then asked, “You had any issues with gas leaks?”
“Not that we’re aware of.”
“Hmmm.” He cocked his head to the side, surveying the damage a little more intently, then reached into his back pocket for his small notepad. He started writing and asked, “What about any enemies we might need to know about?”
“None that come to mind.”
“Is that right?” Tate’s partner glanced back over at the massive hole in the wall and scoffed, “So, this was just some random attack?”
I don’t know what it was about that cop, but he rubbed me the wrong way, and I couldn’t stop myself from growling, “Not sure if I’d go so far as to say this was anattack.”
“You got a pretty big fucking hole in your wall for it not to be an attack.” He shrugged with a smug look on his face. “Or maybe you’ve just got a case of bad wiring. Won’t know until the fire marshal finishes his investigation.”
“How long is that gonna take?” Viper’s voice boomed from behind us.
We all immediately turned to find Viper charging towards us with Menace and Widow by his side. As expected, our president didn’t look pleased to see cops in the club. The officer gave Viper a disparaging look as he replied, “Anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of weeks.”
“That’s not going to work for me,” Viper clipped. “We need this dealt with now.”
The words had barely left his mouth when one of the firemen stepped into what used to be our janitorial closet. He made a point to make a lot of noise, drawing all of our attention as he reached down and started sifting through the debris. Within seconds, he lifted a busted-up metal box with a couple of frayed wires dangling from it and announced, “I think we’ve found the culprit.”
The lead cop’s brows furrowed as he leaned in for a closer look. “What the fuck is that?”
“Daniels will have to check it out to be sure, but it looks like some faulty wiring caught fire next to the janitor’s closet.”
“The janitor’s closet? You’re telling me fucking cleaning supplies caused an explosion like this?” the cop asked, sounding surprised.
I had to admit I was just as surprised. I’d never seen any electrical fire blow out an entire fucking wall, much less three fucking rooms. I couldn’t help but wonder if Viper had pulled a fast one and had the fire department in his pocket.
I glanced over at my prez and then back to the fireman. I knew by the guy’s tone that something was up when he said, “Happens more than you might think. Turnpike Joe’s lost their entire dining area last month because of the same damn thing.”
“Is that right?” The cop gave him a skeptical look, then shrugged. “I need to get a little more information for my report, but I don’t see any point in dragging this out any longer than we already have.”