“No problem.” Viper motioned his hand towards the front door as he suggested, “Why don’t we take it outside where we can get some fresh air?”
“Sounds good.”
We all turned and followed Viper through the bar and out the front door. Three cop cars and the fire truck were parked right by the front door with their lights flashing, so it was no surprise that we’d drawn the attention of numerous nosy pedestrians. Country and Menace tried their best to run them off while Viper finished his conversation with the badges.
Widow and I were keeping an eye on the front door when something drew my attention over to one of the cop cars. It was parked just a few yards away under a security light, and I noticed someone moving inside.
Hoping for a better look, I casually leaned to the side and immediately spotted two young women locked away in the back. It was dark and a little difficult to see, but I could tell by looking at them that the two weren’t typical convicts.
The one closest to the window was a brunette and the other was a blonde. They both appeared to be in their mid-to-late twenties, and from what I could tell, they were relatively attractive—especially the brunette.
Neither of them came across as smashed or the least bit belligerent. In fact, they both seemed perfectly calm as they bantered back and forth with one another in the back seat—which made me wonder what they’d done to get arrested.
Curiosity got the best of me, so I nudged Widow with my elbow. “What do you think those two got into tonight?”
“Who?”
“The chicks in the back of that cop car.”
“Don’t know. Don’t care.” Widow was older and wasn’t one to deal with any nonsense. He’d been through hell and back before he found his ol’ lady, Frankie, and since they’d gotten together, he’d been a bit more bearable—but he was still a hard-ass. His tone was unforgiving when he said, “As far as I’m concerned, they’ve got no business being here. Cops should’ve taken them straight to the station instead of leaving them in the back of that damn car all night.”
“I can’t disagree with you there. No telling how long they’ll be stuck here.” I thought for a moment, then leaned over to him and said, “Maybe they got caught up in some fight at a frat party, or one of their boyfriends was cheating, and they trashed his place.”
“Or maybe they were streaking through the Titans’ stadium.”
“Was there a game tonight?”
“I have no idea.” Widow huffed, then added, “I already told ya. I don’t give a shit what those girls did. I’ve got other things on my mind—you know, like the fact, there’s a huge fucking hole in Stilettos’ wall, and we have no idea how it got there. Something you should be thinking about, too.”
“I am, I am.” I forced my eyes away from the backend of that cop car, which, for some unexplainable reason, wasn’t an easy task. I cleared my throat before asking Widow, “So, the whole wiring thing with the guy from the fire department was just bullshit, right?”
“I don’t know any more than you do, brother.”
“Well, it sure didn’t take him long to find that fucking box of faulty wire. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that shit was planted.”
“Yeah, I was thinking the same damn thing.”
“Either way, I’m ready to get some fucking answers.”
“You and me both.”
Unable to resist the temptation, I glanced back to the cop car and found the cute brunette staring in my direction. When our eyes met, a smile swept over her beautiful face. I held her gaze for a moment, and it took all I had not to chuckle when she raised her cuffed hands and gave me a playful wave. Damn, this girl was a spitfire, and I liked it. “You reckon they’re gonna need bail money?”
“What?”
“The girls.” I motioned my hand to the car. “You think they’ll need someone to bail them out?”
“Dude, seriously?”
“What?” I shrugged innocently. “I was just asking.”
“Mm-hmm.” He shook his head and groaned. “Leave it to you to be checking out a fucking convict. Viper will love that shit.”
“What happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty’?”
“How ’bout you find a chick who isn’t bound in handcuffs, then we don’t have to worry about that shit?”
“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?”