Page 170 of Beyond the Badge: Nox

Still chuckling, Rez said, “I say either The Peach Pit or their clubhouse.”

“If we head to The Pit first, it might give Fletch or Wilder time to respond to my texts,” Nox suggested.

“With the way Pizza Town and Hawg Wild both looked, if they were in the Uniontown clubhouse when this shit all went down, they might not be identified for a while.”

“Don’t fucking say that, asshole!” Nox whacked the passenger seat headrest with his hand so hard, it made Finn lurch forward.

Finn threw up his palms in surrender. “Hey, I’m only trying to be realistic. Why hasn’t anyone heard from either of them yet?”

“Maybe Crew did.” Nox hoped that was true.

“Check with Crew,” Rez urged, meeting Nox’s eyes in the rearview mirror.

Nox gave him a nod and called the DEA agent.

Crew picked up on the first ring. “Where’d you disappear to? Are you upstairs?”

“No, I had to run out. Any updates? Have you heard from Fletch yet?”

“No,” Crew answered. “Not yet. I got Deck out of bed to have him go over and check their apartment.”

Nox’s chest tightened. “I’m not liking this radio silence.”

“You and me both, brother,” Crew agreed.

“Okay, let me know if they check in.”

“Will do. You do the same.”

The call ended in typical Crew fashion. Abrupt and without any fanfare.

“Nothing?” Finn prodded Nox.

“No.”

“Fuck. This isn’t like Fletch.”

“Can we not think the worst?” Nox desperately urged Finn. “He’ll check in as soon as it’s safe to do so.”

Neither Finn nor Rez responded because nothing else needed to be said.

When they got to The Peach Pit, it was a flurry of activity between the coroner, Uniontown PD, state police, and a whole shitload of feds wearing windbreakers with big yellow letters identifying whether they were ATF, FBI or DEA.

Unlike Pizza Town or Hawg Wild, the strip club had not been burnt to the ground. It didn’t even look as though any attempt was made to raze it. In fact, if the place wasn’t swarming with law enforcement or surrounded with bright yellow tape, no one would expect a thing.

Rez found a spot to park outside of the taped-off area and the three of them climbed out of his Durango.

“Well, since these haven’t been confiscated yet, maybe they’ll get us inside.” Rez held up his federal ID.

“It’s a magic key.” Finn pulled his out of his wallet. “Let me do the talking.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Nox groaned.

“What? I know how to razzle dazzle.”

Rez choked. “Yeah right, maybe when you’re stripping on the stage as Flame.”

“You mean Flare,” Nox said next.

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