Page 10 of Scorpion
“Wh– what?!” I say, frozen to my seat. “What do you mean? Is it because he didn’t sign his name? Can’t we compare his handwriting to this?”
“If he were still employed here, we could absolutely do that, and I’d have him fired on the spot,” she says, looking back at her laptop. “But… he resigned this morning. He left about half an hour ago.”
“Oh,” I say, my entire body deflating. “I–”
“My advice to you is to take this to the police,” she says, tapping the page. “I know they probably won’t do anything, but you should create a paper trail.”
“Right,” I say, taking the note from her desk and getting up. The police won’t do anything, but I know someone that will. “Thanks.”
“Let me know if you need anything else,” she says, but I don’t turn around.
I need to get to my phone and talk to Scorpion. I’m not sure what any of this means, but it can’t be ignored. And, even though I don’t think that going to the police is the right thing to do, if Scorpion thinks I should, I will.
God, I hope that whatever’s going on, it isn’t serious. A voice in the back of my head tells me that I’m in danger, though. And, suddenly, I’m very worried about the package that’s sitting in my home. As I drop into my desk chair and dig my phone out of my bag, I wonder what’s inside, and what might happen when I open it.
Chapter 7
Scorpion
I’m working a shift at the garage owned by the Riders of Retribution when my phone vibrates several times in quick succession. Normally, I’d ignore it and focus on work, but we’re slow and I’ve been worried about Lilah since I dropped her off less than an hour ago. So, without bothering to tell anyone where I’m going, I fish my device from my jeans and head to the back lot.
When I scroll through the messages, I’m glad I stepped away. They seem frantic and don’t really make sense. There’s a text about a box and another about a note. The last message says that Dan quit today. I take a few moments to try to make sense of it all, and when I fail to do so, I go ahead and call her.
“Scorpion?” she says, and I can tell from the pitch of her voice that she’s panicked.
“Hey, babe,” I say, trying my best to convey gentleness and comfort over the line. “I just got your messages. Can you explain what’s going on? I didn’t really understand.”
Lilah speaks quickly, her voice hushed like she hasn’t left her desk for this conversation. She tells me about the package she brought inside with Dan’s handwriting, and the note she found on her desk. Finally, she tells me about her meeting with the insurance agency’s HR department where she found out that Dan resigned this morning.
I hum when she finishes speaking, turning all this information over in my mind. Then, I murmur, “I’m going to look into this. I’ll keep you updated, okay?”
“Okay,” she says weakly.
“I don’t think anything’s going to happen to you while you’re working,” I say. “He’s not going to come back after he quit, at least not today. So, you stay there and do your best to carry on like normal. I know it’ll be hard, but he wants to upend your life. Don’t let him fuck up your job, okay?”
“You’re right,” she says, and I hear her chair squeaking as she leans back. “I’ll do my best.”
“That’s my girl,” I praise. “Now, I’m going to get off of here and do some digging, okay? If anything changes or you need me for anything, call me.”
“I will,” she promises. There’s a slight pause before she adds, “Thank you, Scorpion. For everything. I appreciate what you’re doing for me.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” I assure her. “I want to keep you safe. Now, do your best to focus on work, and I’ll take care of everything else.”
After bidding each other goodbye, I immediately reach out to Throttle. He knows more about this Dan guy than I do. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s already got a file of information on the creep. He’s thorough and doesn’t play around about his family. I find myself thinking what a great brother-in-law he’ll be.
Throttle picks up after only two rings, his voice deep with sleep. The bastard was probably up all night doing god knows what. He deals with some of the shadier business ourMC handles. Mostly, that means he’s doing odd jobs and helping with… disposals. So…maybe not everyone’s ideal brother-in-law.
“I don’t mean to bother you when you’re sleeping,” I say. Then, I get right to the meat of why I called, relaying all of the information that Lilah told me.
For a second, I’m not sure if Throttle understood everything, but then I hear the springs in his mattress groan. He sighs and says, “Well, that’s not good, is it?”
“I’m afraid not,” I agree. “I figured I’d defer to you to figure out where we go from here.”
“I’ve already got that fucker’s address,” Throttle says, not bothering to hide the venom in his voice. “Lilah wouldn’t let me do anything about him before, but it’s too late to dwell on that. Anyway, I’m going to go with some of our guys to the creep’s place so we can try to get to the bottom of all this shit. In the meantime, I’m going to need you to head to Lilah’s office. I doubt he’s going to try anything with people around, but who fucking knows. If he’s threatening my sister, he’s probably not above that. I don’t want her there without protection. I’ll ask around and get someone to cover your garage shift.”
“I’ll leave the right now,” I say, already turning around to head through the work area and into the office to get my helmet. “It shouldn’t take me more than ten minutes to get there. Probably less, I don’t plan on obeying the speed limits.”
“Good man,” he says. “I’ll keep you updated on anything we find, and you let me know if anything looks fishy over there. Just keep watch, okay? I want to catch this guy. If you see him, stop him. Then give me a call. No one fucks with my sister and walks away from it.”
