Page 49 of Paladin's Hell

“Get the brother a drink,” Mace yells to Dan, who’s behind the bar. “Looks like he could do with one.”

“Prez wants church brought forward. Asked me to get everyone in.” I’m not in the loop yet. Fuck, I don’t even have everyone’s numbers programmed as yet.

The enforcer nods. “Prospect, get on that, will you?”

Dan pours my shot of Jack, then takes out his phone. Leaving Mace and Buzzard to it, I take myself off and sit down, and start a text of my own.

Pal: Sorry, Jay. Something’s come up. Won’t be able to see you until later this evening. Okay if I come about 9?

I stare at the screen, but there are no dots showing she’s writing a reply. Shit, this day’s gone to fuck already. I’d promised I wouldn’t leave her alone, that I’d go see her as soon as I could. But the mystery of the dead man comes first. Problem is, it’s club business, and that I can’t share.

Club business.The words old ladies understand. But Jay’s still a kid. Her lack of response is telling.

Brothers start coming in. I’m slowly sipping my second shot when Hellfire returns with Thunder and Taser, the latter throwing me a dirty look. Prez wastes no time heading into church, and I follow as the rest of them walk in. I’m pointed to a chair at the end of the table.

Hellfire bangs the gavel once we’re all seated. He looks around, his face grim. “Had to call it in. Man had no connection with the club, but the location of the body is going to raise questions.”

Ink looks upset. “Cops trying to pin it on us?”

Hellfire swipes his bushy hair back from his face. “They’ll try. But we’ve got nothing to do with it. This is one time we can tell the truth.”

“I’ll pass them a copy of the footage from the security camera,” Cad suggests.

Prez nods, then looks at me. “Cops want to speak to you, Paladin. Need your fingerprints as you went into the dumpster.”

I hadn’t thought of that. “They want me to go to the station?”

“Yeah. In the morning will do. Ask for Sergeant Moss.”

All I need. Walking into a police station. But I just raise my chin in acknowledgement.

“What I want to know is why Pal here, immediately knew where to look.” Taser gives an emphasis on my shortened handle which suggests I’m no friend of his.

Before anyone else can comment, I set him right. “It was obvious. You pointed out the camera. I know the type. It can’t rotate all the way around; the dumpster was in its blind spot. It seemed the obvious place to look. If someone was doing something they shouldn’t, it wouldn’t have picked them up. Seemed the right place to start.” I don’t explain I’ve had experience searching for likely places to plant explosives. Seems they don’t have that kind of trouble in Pueblo.

Cad’s watching me. He gives me a sharp nod. No one questions my explanation. I notice Demon staring pointedly at Taser. I glance at him too, just in time to see him give a resigned shrug. Not totally convinced. Of course, he wouldn’t like it. He hadn’t picked that up.

“Right. What do we know?”

Cad shakes his head at the prez. “Not a lot, I’m afraid. Clearest pics you already have. Bastards are playing us. Anything at the bowling alley or tattoo shop?”

That makes me sit up. I hadn’t heard about anything happening anywhere else. I look around with interest, hoping no more bodies had been found.

Both Lizard and Rusty are shaking their heads. “A few footprints, cigarette butts. Someone was there, but no dead bodies thank fuck.” Lizard, who runs the tattoo parlour answers. He raises his chin toward me. “Found what we did out of range of the cameras. They knew what they were doing.”

“Same at the bowling alley,” Rusty confirms. “Could be the same man, maybe not.”

“From the timing, unlikely,” Cad replies. “I did get a glimpse of movement at your place, Rusty, once I went back and had a better look. Unless one man can be in more than one place at the same time. The intruders hit Tits Up and the bowling alley simultaneously.”

Pyro raises his chin. “Found how they got into the auto-shop. Similar problem as Pal just described. Camera’s in the wrong fuckin’ position, nothing showed on the recordings. Got in through the bathroom window, then closed it after they went out the same way. Didn’t pick it up until we looked more carefully and found the broken lock.”

A break-in at the auto-shop as well?Looking around, it seems only I was out of the loop. But I’m still a stranger. No one’s yet sharing shit.

“Sounds like your security could do with a onceover.” I can’t help putting in. Sitting here listening there are a ton of things I can see wrong. We’d all have been dead if we’d been this lax in Arizona.

Cad looks at me sharply, his eyes first blazing, then it’s as though the wheels start turning in his head, and he lets out a long sigh. “New brother has got it in one. We’ve become complacent. Haven’t had problems before. Relied more on our rep to keep fuckers away. That’s certainly one of our next steps.”

“I’ll take that on,” Demon’s hand waves. Then, as he’s got the floor, continues with a frown. “All our businesses targeted? Sounds like we’re up against a gang.”

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