Page 87 of Red's Peril: Part 1

But as any nine-minute wonder, things soon settled down. Rope and Cuff would bring their conquests back and disappear downstairs, but most of the brothers forgot it was there, or only used it occasionally for their own entertainment.

The downside was that I had a furious Rosa on my hands. Did she object to having a sex room in the basement? No, though that was what I’d expected. Instead, she ranted about members getting everything, and that there was nothing for the ladies.

Rope had contradicted her, saying he was more than willing to take her downstairs and show her just what their new toys could do for the female sex—and once I’d sent him away to get an ice pack for his jaw, I’d sat her down and questioned her.

“Rosa, discounting the club girls, there’s only you and Tiff here. What accommodations could the two of you want?”

Still rubbing her fist and glaring after the man I just sent away, she sits, and raises an eyebrow. “There’s just me and Tiff now, but who knows what will happen in the future, and who will take an old lady? I want a space set up for females.”

While I can’t see any of the Vegas members in a rush to take an old lady, she’s got me interested. “What are you thinking of?”

Her face falls and she swallows. “Brick and I used to discuss it. A room, with a bar to ourselves, sofas, a TV.” She pauses. “Asaferoom.”

I’m just about to laugh when I realise the emphasis she’s put on one word.Safe.Instead of showing my mirth, I settle back and fold my arms.

Have I gotten lazy and complacent? Just because there’s been no direct attack on the compound for years, I can’t discount it. And the last thing we want is our women, and that includes the sweet butts, or our kids being unprotected. It sounds like Brick was more forward thinking than I gave him credit for.

“I’ll bring it to the table,” I say, firstly to appease her, and secondly to buy me some time.

I do start to think about it. There’s an old, and big, storage room off the kitchen that could be emptied of all the crap kept in it, and with a lick of paint and fresh drywall could easily be transformed into something she wants. But as a safe room it wouldn’t work, there are dual aspect windows.

“What you doing here, Prez?” Crash comes upon me as I stand in the space mulling things over.

I swing around taken off guard, then let him into my thinking. “Rosa’s asked for a women’s room.”

He snorts. “She’s still on about that? I thought she’d forgotten it.” I raise an eyebrow. He shrugs. “Brick and I discussed it.”

“And?”

“It’s a good idea to have somewhere secure. We’d thought about partitioning off part of the basement.”

“Ah.” Pennies start dropping. “The part that now houses sex club equipment.” No wonder Rosa had gotten her panties in a twist about it.

“Yeah.” Crash looks around, shaking his head. “As his sergeant-at-arms, Brick asked me to think about it. But where I thought about planning to send the women, kids and injured down to the basement, I realised there was a problem.” He raises and lowers his shoulders again. “They’d be trapped. Especially nasty if there’s a fire.”

I can see his point. I start to move around the area, pulling boxes away from the walls. My eyes narrow as I find something. “What the fuck’s this?”

Crash comes over to stand next to the door I’ve just revealed. Together we exchange puzzled glances and try to open it. It’s jammed, having been unused for years. When our joint strength eventually opens it, we both stand back and stare.

“Laundry shoot?” Crash’s brow creases.

Maybe. But it goes down, to where? We’re already at ground level. “Got a flashlight?”

He has, and he passes it to me. I lower myself down. “Not sure what the fuck it is.” My voice echoes in the darkness. “But it leads somewhere.” It’s a narrow corridor running under the building, high enough for me to stand up.

I hear a thump as Crash lands behind me.

“Let’s explore.”

He’s crowding me as I’m the only one with a light. Cautiously, hyperaware of the cobwebs hanging down, and the fact there might be snakes or rats down here, I proceed.

“What was the old warehouse used for?” I ask him.

“Fuck knows. Word is, it was derelict when the Devils bought it. Before my day, man.”

We make slow progress but cover about thirty yards before our way starts to slope up, and we come upon another door. This one jammed and sealed just like the last one, but neither Crash nor I can open it.

“Where are we?”

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