Page 90 of My Darling Mayhem

Thistle pulled his phone to his ear while I looked at my captains.

“Call a disaster repair crew, have them come and get this place fixed up, and send a crew to Wren’s place, too.”

Their cells were out, huddling together while a few other members started brushing glass and picking up pictures.

I had to find out what the hell happened before we were at war because something told me we wouldn’t survive it.

“It was offsite; there were no cameras.” Ruth spun in her chair, facing us, while she fixed the blue-light glasses on her face.

“You’re sure?”

Thistle shifted nervously. Ruth had always made him act like a kid in middle school, and I didn’t think it was because she didn’t seem to have a single thing on this earth that scared her. No, I had a feeling it had something to do with the fact that she looked like a model, and when she set her sights on him, she acted like he was the only one in the room.

“There are cameras showing who walked into the building. That’s as close as I can get, but there’s none set up anywhere in the room at all.”

I was still impressed that she was able to dig all the way back into digital files from ten years ago; I wouldn’t punch a gift horse in the mouth by complaining that we didn’t have enough information.

“Can you pull that up?”

Ruth spun back around and started typing. I took the opportunity to pull up my phone and check in with Buck.

Me: Any movement?

Buck texted back immediately.

Buck: We’re watching, but not so much as a drive-by.

We paid extra for the disaster crew to come out, same day and board up what they didn’t have on hand glass wise. They’d rigged the club to look like we were all inside. There were lights on, and we’d even set the television back up so that it played and could be seen through one of the boarded windows. Their bikes were parked in front, but my men were scattered along rooftops and streets, watching for El Peligro. They were ordered to shoot on sight, and until I figured out what the hell had happened, I planned to keep that order, even if it meant Wren lost her brother and nephews.

“Okay, we’ll have to play it at two times the speed; otherwise, it will take forever. The players all arrived at staggered times. It doesn’t seem like there was any set period for them all to arrive.”

Shit, it was going to be difficult to narrow them down.

Thistle slid into a chair farthest away from Ruth while glancing at her from the side of his eye. She wore blue light glasses that were cherry red, which seemed to complement her beautiful Black skin. She kept making an exaggerated show of pulling her sucker in and out of her mouth while glancing over at my VP. I covered my mouth, hiding a laugh as Thistle shifted in his chair, but I saw his eyes trailing over her tight braids that went down to her waist. It was the same way he watched her every other time we’d been here.

“I won’t bite, Thistle. Not with an audience at least.” She winked over my head at my friend. I shook my head, ignoring them while I leaned forward to view the screen.

It was black-and-white footage, a little grainy, but I could make out the one-story brick building that boasted Gusto’s Bar. Based on the clientele entering, it seemed to be a front for street fights.

“Was there a fight booked on this night?” I asked, and Ruth started clicking away on her keyboard, looking at a different monitor.

“No.”

So, why so many people? Dozens started at six in the evening and continued until ten. I had no idea what this Kyle person looked like, but I’d know if one of my men showed up, and that was all I was looking for at the moment.

Thistle cleared his throat as if he were gearing up for the courage to ask Ruth something. “Could we do a search on The Joker and cross-reference it with the name Kyle?”

Ruth paused, peering over her shoulder. With a smile and pursing her lips like she was blowing him a kiss, she said, “Anything for you.”

I couldn’t smother my laugh this time because Thistle turned bright red.

She clicked away on her computer as I watched the people enter the establishment on the video feed. There was no one wearing our patches, no one at all. Who the fuck had he talked to?

Ruth didn’t look over at us as she read from her screen. “The Joker popped up a few times in different redacted reports. There was one person…looks like he used to be with the FBI, he got messy. Seemed obsessed with this guy and had a few notes in there that have the first name, Kyle, but the last is redacted as well. I can’t seem to find a clear shot anywhere, but give me a few more minutes.”

I had a feeling it wasn’t going to make a difference.

“I need to talk with Juan,” I told my second in command, but I knew Ruth heard it. I had no idea if she knew who I was talking about, but she’d earned my trust years ago when she started working with us. I didn’t have secrets because she’d just dig them up anyway.

---