Page 34 of Justice

VP closes the distance between them, holding out his hand as he sits on the sofa. “Holy shit! I’m so sorry, but you have Red so twisted right now, the motherfucker is about to explode. After we handled the situation at the gate, he took Brandi, and Charlene, to his room at the clubhouse.”

“What situation?”

“Charlene?”

Justice and Tobias questioned in unison, looking to one another, and then back at Marino.

“Red has a thing about not allowing sports bikes on the lot. With open gate night, the invitation made it into the hands of the local club, and they wanted to join the party.”

“So Red dis-invited them,” Tobias added, in a bored tone.

“Yes, and Charlene is—”

“In love with you.” Justice interrupted, remembering the look on the girls face as she watched him disappear down the street.

“No,” Marino starts, shaking his head as he wipes his palms down his denim covered jeans. “She’s in love with the person she thinks I am, which is a conversation for another day.” It’s clear by the tone in his voice, he doesn’t feel the same for Charlene as she does for him. “Right now, Tobias is going to tell us why Red ordered an all clear on the clubhouse tomorrow night.”

“He has a proposition for me, said not to mention it to you, but to bring Candy.”

“I know, which is why I’ve contacted my superior.” Marino stood to his full height, crossing the room to the rusted refrigerator, reaching inside for three bottles of beer. “Red believes you know how to use the printing plates and make the money he needs to get Drake off his back.”

“Who fed him this information?”

“I did, of course. Told him the two of us spoke while he was enjoying Candy here.” Marino shoots his eyes to her, a hunger burning in the edges of his dark eyes sending a chill down her spine.

“Which was brilliant on your part, finding the perfect girl old Red would lose his shit for.”

“Yeah, well, Candy isn’t a pawn. I walked in here with her, and I will walk right back out with her. No one, including you, gets to touch her. Feel me?”

Marino raises his hands in surrender, the light catching the amber of the beer bottles in his hand.

“Loud and clear, man. Can we move on to the plan now?”

Tobias nods his head, as Marino crosses the room, setting a bottle down in front of each of them. While Marino tips his back, Justice and Tobias ignore the cold beverage, focusing instead on Marino.

“My team will be in place surrounding the perimeter of the salvage yard. The two of you will enter the building through the main gate just as Red anticipates. We’ll fit you with a camera and a wire, when you see the plates, we’ll come in and handle the rest.”

This plan of his had more holes than Swiss cheese. “No,” Justice spoke with authority in her voice.

“No? No, what?” Marino tossed back, the hunger in his eyes gone, replaced with a huge slice of a bruised ego.

“No to all of it.” Rising from Tobias’s lap, needing all her faculties to be clear and hormone free.

“This is a small southern town, full of decent people who are constantly on the lookout for something, or someone, to talk about. You bring in a group of strangers, you can bet your bottom dollar the gossip mills will be chewing Red’s ear off, before they have a chance to turn the engine off in their cars.”

“She’s right,” Tobias agrees, adjusting his position in the chair. “Besides, your microphones and cameras won’t work inside the clubhouse. Or did you miss the blocking bars along the ceiling?”

* * *

Justice wasn’tsurprised when Tobias sped past his hotel, turning into the truck stop at the edge of town instead. The tiny diner stood empty except for two employees who were taking a break at the counter. The wine of a steel guitar played overhead, adding to the depressing mood of the room.

“I don’t trust him,” Justice admitted after their waitress sat huge plates of food before them. “Something about him…my gut is screaming at me, Tobias.”

“I know, he has tunnel vision, and is banking his entire plan on you and your ability to distract Red.” Tobias shoves a fork full of hash browns into his mouth, slowly chewing as he reaches into his pocket to retrieve his cell phone.

“Not that you aren’t hot as hell, and a damn good distraction, but Red has eluded Marino for a long time.”

“So, what do we do?”

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