Page 45 of Lies Beneath Secrets

“We need to get her out of here,” Pace declares. “Siena can help. They seem to be getting along. Lauren would trust her.”

“I agree. We need a distraction though. When do we play the cop card? Shane could come by asking about Boe’s murder. He's done it before. He can say they’re following a lead. Get them all out here so Siena has a chance to sneak Lauren out the back.” It’s a shit plan but damn, I can’t conjure up any other ones right now.

“Works for me,” Knox says. “I’ll hide in the truck with you and Jasper. Pace can trail behind and keep an eye out for anything that might go down.” I shake my head, laughing.

“Fuck, if we come out of this alive, it will be one hell of a miracle.”

“That’s for sure, brother.” Knox shakes his head.

“We got you the whole way. Just be alert. My guess is when the drop goes down, they will use the Flatliners to off you. Cause a shoot-out so they don’t seem liable. That’s what I would do.” Knox shrugs. “It’s a mess but takes blame from the club. Might even start a war.” King would benefit from a war with them. If the club wins, they can take over the supply chain.

“You just make sure you don’t catch a stray bullet. If something happens to me, I’m going to need someone to take care of my girls.” The thought pains me, but Knox would do right by them. Knox nods in understanding.

“Speaking of, did you happen to catch how Lauren reacted to that picture I gave back to her the other night?” Knox asks. “She looked almost shocked to see it.”

“Maybe.” I try to recall that moment. She was a bit quiet when she put it in her pocket.

“I copied down those numbers on the back before I gave it to her. One is a routing number to a bank. The other one is the account number. Account is in her name.”

“Suppose writing that on the back of a picture would be strange,” I admit, wondering where Knox is going with this.

“Got me thinking, so I checked out the mother.”

“The mother? Lauren’s?”

Knox nods. “That one. Went over the visitors log. You know who saw her once a week since she was put there? Our very own Gabe. Right up until two weeks before Boe was killed. He must have thought it was so far off the club’s radar since he used his actual name to sign in as a visitor.”

“What’s the connection?” I ask, wondering what the hell he’s trying to get at. Sometimes, the guy really does take his time making a point.

“Found an empty picture frame in the woman’s room, tucked away in one of the drawers,” he says.

“So what? The picture came from the mom’s room?” Pace now asks, getting involved.

“Gabe’s handwriting too,” Knox declares.

“You know Gabe’s handwriting?” Pace scoffs.

“Fucker was the club treasurer. When I first started, he showed me how he kept track of all the money the club made. Where it went and who it went to,” Knox says as if offended at Pace’s question. “So yeah, I know what the man’s writing looks like, you fucking ass.”

“All right.” Pace holds up his hands in surrender.

“So, this account, you think Gabe wrote those numbers on there, then what? Left the picture in Lauren’s apartment the night he died?” If that’s correct, then the next question is why.

“Could be. And it could also be why King didn’t kill Gabe right away. I think King has been looking for that money.”

“I did think it was strange he didn’t just off him right then and there. Anyone would have. Probably was tracking him that night too. Staged Len cutting him loose in hopes he’d lead him to what he wanted.” Only it led him to Lauren unfortunately. There are too many questions and not enough answers.

“What’s the connection to Lauren’s mom then?” Pace asks bringing the conversation back to Laurens mother.

“Fuck if I know. Maybe Gabe knew her from before? That old lady of his, Maria, they’d been together for years. So going to see some woman in assisted care doesn’t fit together unless there was a connection. Far as I can tell though, they didn’t know each other. Lauren’s mom had a stroke two years ago. Before that, she was married to that real estate guy who died in the car accident.” I think back to when I heard about that. This being a smaller town and all, when something like that happens, people tend to hear things. Car crashes happen every day but when the car crashes and goes up in flames, burning the person inside alive, that story seems to get told more than usual.

“Lauren doesn’t say much about her mom, and she sure as hell hasn’t mentioned him to me.” Matter of fact, Lauren is a damn closed book. I think back to the other night when I walked in and found her burning herself. I had seen the scars before on the night she was drugged when I needed to change her clothes but witnessing her in the act was something entirely different. All I wanted to do was wrap her in a hug and protect her, even if that meant protecting her from herself.

“I could question the sister,” Knox suggests.

“The sister? What do you think you’ll get from her? From what I can tell, she has avoided this place and their mother.” The last thing I need is for Knox to get Lauren’s sister involved in this shit.

“Just think she could shed a little light is all.”

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