Page 6 of Property of Madman

“Only one cage.”

“He’s alone?”

Slasher nods, sending an uneasy glance toward Audrey, then pins it back on me. I get what he’s saying, this is club business, and not King’s Breeders’ business.

“I’ll be at the house as soon as I take care of this.” I direct toward Audrey, then order Slasher, “Walk her to my place. I think there was a faucet leak on the side of the house, and I need you to take a look at it.” He knows what I’m silently telling him to do, to stick around and make sure nothing goes down around her and the kids until I know more and can give him an update.

“Okay, I’ll get out of your way for now. I’ll see you then,” Audrey offers, without skipping a beat, striding out of my office.

I shoot Slasher a stern look and jerk my head for him to follow her. Audrey’s a boss bitch, so I know police presence won’t shake her up, but she’ll probably be concerned I have my hand in some shit that could cause trouble, and it will be a red flag for her and the kids.

I meet the Sheriff outside, arms crossed as I watch him park his fancy new Bronco cruiser, and climb out, fixing his Stetson in the process. He approaches with a nod, “Afternoon, Madman. I see you’ve got the boys all here. Am I interrupting something?”

With a quick glance at the windows on either side of the door, I’m met with various brothers’ faces. My lips nearly twist into an amused smirk at their nosy asses staring out the windows, but I manage to keep my expression bland. “No, just another discussion on ranch work needing to be done.”

“Right, because y’all are just a bunch of men who work the land.Rancher and ranch hands.Excuse me if I don’t quite buy it with all the motorcycles and the many visitors y’all seem to entertain regularly.”

“Is having guests at our home against a law I don’t know about? Last I checked, I own this land.”

His brow raises, a chuckle leaving him. “Nah, no law broken.Yet.Sure is suspicious though.”

With an annoyed huff, I ask, “There a point to this visit, Glen? Are you accusing me of anything?”

“Now, don’t go getting all huffy-puffy on me. I stopped by as a courtesy to the Wilsons. They had an incident on their property, and I was curious if you noticed anythingoffinthe past few days around here as well.”

“What sort of incident?”

“They found a dead woman on the edge of their property.”

“Fuck.” Dead bodies next to our property are the last thing we need around here.

He nods.

“Everything has been business as usual around here. We had some goats get out; that’s the extent of our excitement. Was the woman a local?”

“Still trying to identify her.” He admits. He steps closer until he can speak lowly. “Found another woman walking the street, saying she was one of your club girls.”

My brows scrunch up. “The King’s Road?”

He nods, shifting his toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other.

“We don’t have club women, as I’m sure you’re already aware of. Did you get an ID on that one?”

“Took her down to the station for indecent exposure. Name’s Maria Lopez.”

I’ve never heard of her before. Damn sure don’t know why she’d be claiming she’s affiliated with the club, and a clubslut no less. Not exactly a glowing position to be bragging about. “No club women here, too much drama with that sort of pussy around.”

He huffs out a chuckle. “Right, because you don’t seem to be short on it with the constant women coming in and out of town.”

Did I mention we live in the middle of nowhere, Texas? There are small towns around us, but the closest bigger city is forty-five minutes away. Of course, he’s noticed us using the privately owned airstrip multiple times a month, but rich women prefer convenience, and most opt to fly directly here instead of commercial with everyone else. We should make our own damn landing strip at this point, ice even more folks out.

Rather than comment on any of it, I remind him how deep our pockets run. “How’s your new campaign coming along, Sheriff? The club is ready to be your biggest donor once again. You know we’re always willing to help with whatever you need around here.”

“Appreciate your support, Madman.” He holds his hand out and I shake it. “You and your brothers. Donations are set up on our website. You let me know if anything strange happens on your property so the department can handle it.”

“Will do.” I lie through my teeth. We take care of our shit privately. He knows it, and so do I. As long as I keep him in his position, the club doesn’t have to worry about him much. It’s a win-win for both of us; he does a decent job around here, so we want someone like him in his position of authority. In the same respect, we keep our problems quiet and don’t shit on the towns around us. We help keep a lot of the local small businesses afloat with the brothers and our clients shopping with them.

As he drives away, a few brothers file outside, no longer hiding their nosiness. I meet Reign’s gaze, “Check the perimeter cameras. I want to know if any motherfucker was within twenty feet of the ranch. Someone left a woman on the Wilsons’ property. Dead. Sheriff is snooping around.” I don’t have to say this is bad for business; he already knows it.

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