Menace gave her one of his smirks as he replied, “I’m sure you will.”
With that, we both walked out and started towards the truck. I was about to open my door when he came up beside me and asked, “Seriously?”
“What?”
“That chick is hot as fuck, and in case you didn’t notice, she’s got it pretty bad for you.”
“I don’t have time for this shit, brother.”
“Make time.” He was almost shouting as he snapped, “You can’t let a woman like that slip through your fingers, man.”
“A woman like that deserves better than a man like me.”
“That’s the lame-assed shit you hear in fucking chick-flicks, and it’s total bullshit!” He threw his hands up in the air. “So fucking thick-headed. I give up. Not gonna say another damn thing about it.”
I didn’t say a word as I got in the truck and slammed the door. In fact, I didn’t speak to him for the entire ride back to the clubhouse. I knew there was no point in talking to him. He’d never understand why I wouldn’t, couldn’t, pursue Frankie, so I left it alone and prayed he’d do the same. Thankfully, he did—only cause we had so much other shit going on. We were all having to double up on shifts at each of the two strip clubs, and between all the extra hours there and the upcoming run, we barely had time to catch our breaths—much less talk about fucking chicks. That didn’t mean I hadn’t thought about Frankie, ‘cause I had. Hell, the woman plagued my every thought. Thankfully, our early morning run with Flint gave me a short reprieve from my insanity.
“Are y’all all set?”
“Yeah, Prez,” Hawk answered. “We’re about to roll out.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear. I’ll call Flint and let him know you’re on your way.”
We were about to start loading up, when Rafe asked, “Any of y’all seen Country?”
“Nope. Haven’t seen him since last night at the club,” Lynch answered. “He was laying it on pretty thick with CC. Maybe he ended up shacking up at her place or something.”
CC was one of the strippers at the club. Country hadn’t tried to hide the fact he was interested. It was possible he’d gone over to her place, but Rafe wasn’t buying it. “I don’t know, man. It’s not like him to be late for a run, much less miss one altogether.” He turned to Menace as he asked, “Were you there at closing?”
“I headed out early. Had a killer headache, so I got Marlowe to collect the nightly receipts and Country to close.” Menace’s brows furrowed as he asked, “You tried calling him?”
“Yeah, but the asshole’s not answering.” He paused for a minute, then turned to Hawk, “What about Marlowe? She say anything about seeing him?”
Hawk shook his head. “He was still there when I picked her up last night.”
“Damn.”
I could see that Rafe was troubled by the fact that Country wasn’t there. The two had always been pretty tight, and Rafe knew better than anyone that Country wouldn’t miss a run without good reason, especially this one. We’d be carrying double the take, and Viper had made it clear that he wanted all hands on deck, so it made sense that Rafe would be worried. Hell, I was a little concerned myself, but shit happens. Country could’ve just had too much to drink or overslept. Hoping to ease Rafe’s mind, I said, “Lynch is probably right. He probably had too much to drink and is laid up at CC’s place.”
“I agree. We could go by there on the way out and see if he’s there,” Hawk suggested.
“Nah. Let’s just forget it for now. That way we can give him hell about it when we get back.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
When we started to the SUVs, Rafe turned to Menace and said, “Let me know if you hear anything from him.”
“Will do, and if I haven’t heard from him in a couple of hours, I’ll do what I can to track him down.”
“Thanks, brother.”
“No problem. You boys be careful.”
“Always.”
I got in the SUV with Lynch, Shotgun, and Rafe, and we waited until Hawk, Axel, Danny, and Badger got in Hawk’s truck. Once everyone was set, Lynch pulled out of the gate, and after he’d checked to see that Hawk was following behind, we were on our way. It was a routine pick up, one we’d done many times before, but this time, I had an uneasy feeling. Apparently, Axel’s gut feeling was wearing off on me. I knew my brothers and I would handle anything that came our way, so I did my best to shake it and focus on our upcoming meet with Flint.
The guys were quiet as we pulled up to the abandoned warehouse. Even after we’d parked, no one said a word. We just pulled out our weapons and watched silently as Shotgun and Hawk got out of the SUV and started towards the back entrance. It looked like there wasn’t a soul around. The building was on the verge of collapse with litter and debris covering the grounds, but that’s the way Flint liked it. He didn’t want anyone knowing he was there, and from what I could tell, it was paying off. Hawk was about to reach for the door when one of Flint’s many guards stepped out to greet them. When they followed him inside, I tightened my grip on my Glock, preparing for whatever may go down.