Page 45 of Property of Grifter
Reality hits me like a slap to the face.I’m standing in front of her naked, and not doing what I need to do.Fuck, this is new territory to me.I’ve never had so much to lose so I’ve always been calm and cool when trouble hits.Shit, having a woman you love is damn complicated.
Love.
Fuck.I snatch a T-shirt off a chair and stuff my feet into jeans, hands working on autopilot.Rage hums under every movement.Once I’m dressed, I grab Georgia and kiss her forehead, holding her tight.“Let’s go get Nana and bring her here,” I say simply.“I promise I’ll take care of this.”
She pulls back, face pinched, stubborn as always.“I just need to see her …”
“Yeah, baby.Me too,” I tell her the God’s honest truth.I finish dressing, then take her hand in mine.We head to my bike and there’s only one mission I have tonight.I’m going to hunt down whoever did this and when I do, they will learn what I do to people who try to touch my family.
24GRIFFIN
I rideup to Georgia’s place, trying to sort through my thoughts—but it’s chaos.I left her at the hospital holding her grandmother.I soothed them both while they were crying over losing everything they had.Their tears cut my heart out and the worst thing about it is there’s not a damn thing I can do to help them.I shut the engine off and the first thing that hits me is the smell—smoke and soot.Burnt wires, fabric, wood and other things all converge in a gut-wrenching combination.The house itself sits on the street looking like a horror scene from a Halloween movie.Smoke is still billowing out of the ruins, puddles of water from the firetrucks lie along the desolation.
The lower half of the house is mostly gone.There are huge, jagged holes missing from the siding and inside walls.It’s gutted.Where once there was a big picture window, now there’s just a charred cavern of destruction.What siding is left is bubbled and peeled back like charred paper.When I peek inside, I can tell that all of the plaster inside is flaked away.There are outlines of ash with bits of springs that seem to be where the living room furniture used to sit.You can tell that this is where the bottle hit and exploded.
Upstairs is completely different.The windows are whole, but they wear a black soot that is streaked in patterns where the fire hose tried to wash the smoke away.The roof sags a little on one side; the porch is half-missing its railing.The whole thing looks like it’s about to fall at any moment.I’m actually surprised it’s still standing.All I can think when I look at it is this is going to make my Georgia cry some more.If I could get a demolition crew tonight, I’d bulldoze the whole damn thing.An empty house seat would have to be easier for them to face than this.
“Prez.”C’s voice comes from the driveway.He’s leaning against his bike, arms folded, face scrubbed clean but hard as ever.Scorpion’s there, too.To the side of them, Cowboy is pacing near the curb like he’s gearing up for a heavyweight fight with a world champion.
“Give me an update,” I order, my nerves strung tight and my throat dry.I want answers and I want an enemy to choke the life out of.
C steps forward and gives it to me straight.“We pulled the responders’ list.Fire department, police, ambulance.We got their names and the names of the crowd that gathered around.IDs on the first people who got there.”He points at his phone.“There was a Ring doorbell on the porch.We grabbed it before the cops realized Ms.Cutter had one and get involved.
Scorpion’s face tightens at that.He’s been staring at the house, too.He looks almost as angry as I am.“I’m going to talk with Georgia and see if they backed shit up on the internet.If so, I’m hoping we can find out more.Hopefully, it shows whoever the fucker was that did this,” he says, and I nod, hoping like hell this can give us the information we need.
“Is this all we have?”I ask, starting to feel desperate.Instead of answers, I’m just getting more unknowns—more questions.It’s maddening.
Cowboy steps up, voice tight.“I was across the street, watching the house like you told me to.Nana is smart.So, I moved over to the diner to stay hidden a little easier.It’s my fault that I didn’t see the fuckers.I was switching back and forth from checking my phone to the house.It had been quiet since the shooting.Honest to God, I didn’t think there was even a point to be here.Then, a black sedan rolled up driving way too fucking slow.At first, I thought I might be overreacting.Then it stopped.From where I was, I couldn’t see the other side of the car.I got out and was going to approach it, but before I could, someone got out.I started to cross the street, but another car came down the road.By the time it cleared, I saw a bottle with fire coming out of the top sailing through the air.I couldn’t see their face because the car blocked them from my view.The bottle shattered the window and when it crashed, the flames shot out everywhere.Whoever threw it jumped back in the car and they peeled down the road.I gave Scorpion a description of the car, make and model.I got two digits on the license plate.That’s all though, Prez.I know I let you down.I’m kicking my own ass.I wanted to follow them, but the house was being devoured by flames.I had to call the fire department and then, I needed to get Nana out.I couldn’t chase them.”His hands curl into fists while describing what happened.“I got her out and waited with her across the street until the ambulance showed up.Cops arrived right behind them.By the time I got away, the car was long gone.”
“Any more camera feeds?Ring’s good but we need other angles,” I say, scanning the area, but not holding out much hope.
“We checked.There’s a chance the diner might’ve caught the car on the street, maybe a plate number.But the cops got to that footage first.We’ll tap into their system, see what they pulled.If the plate shows, we’ll follow it.”
“So, we don’t know shit,” I growl.The words are sour in my mouth.I clench my jaw until my teeth ache.I pull my fist back and punch an oak tree that’s planted beside where I’m standing.Bark cracks under my knuckles.It’s a useless thing to do but right now, I have so much anger inside of me, I have to release it somehow.The hit sends a harsh shot of pain up my arm, helping me to focus—at least a little.“Keep someone here in case the assholes come back,” I demand.“I want a man on the house at all times.I’m going to ride back to the club—see what Scorpion can pull from the Ring and what else we can squeeze out of the department.If those bastards think they can come into our town and hurt my old lady and her grandmother, they better think again.I’m going to find out and when I do, I’m going to end them.”
Cowboy answers without hesitation.“You got it, Prez.”
I walk back to my bike, swinging a leg over it and sitting down.The familiar feel of the leather grounds me.The engine rumbles to life like something waking up angry.I give my men a last look, then head out.As I pull away, I’m hoping like hell Scorpion finds something on that damn camera.Right now, it’s the only shot we have.
25GEORGIA
The conference roomat the club smells like coffee and sweat.Normally that would bother me, but today it makes me feel safe.I’m here with Griffin and his men.He won’t let anything happen to me.I sit at the long table with my hands wrapped around a to-go cup of coffee.I’m hoping the warmth will somehow get to the bone chilling fear I felt when they told me Nana’s house was destroyed and she was in the hospital.I still panic, thinking what could have happened if Cowboy hadn’t gotten to Nana in time.I push those thoughts away as I look at Scorpion who is across from me.He’s working on a laptop trying to access mine and Nana’s online doorbell account.Cowboy and C are leaning against the wall watching closely, too.Actually, most of Griffin’s club is here.I thought I wouldn’t fit into Griffin’s lifestyle, but it truly feels like the club has accepted me and that still blows my mind.
“Okay, Brushes, what’s your login email?”
For the first time tonight, my lips jerk trying to spread into a smile “It’s under Nana’s email.Hot Gramma 69.It’s a Gmail domain,” I reveal.
Scorpion’s eyebrows lift, C lets out a loud belly laugh.“God, I love that woman,” he says.“If only she was thirty years younger.”
“I’m not sure that even you could handle her back then C,” I warn good-naturedly.
“Probably not, but damn it would have been fun to try,” he says, sounding put out.
“Password?”Scorpion asks.
“Pedro Pascal, then add 1-2-3 with an explanation mark at the end.”The words spill out of me with a ridiculous little laugh caught in the throat.I can feel everyone’s eyes on me.
Grifter picks that moment to step into the doorway, black leather like a second skin, hair still smelling like smoke.He watches me for a heartbeat before picking me up and then sitting in my chair and adjusting me into his lap.I like being in his arms, so I don’t argue—although it’s all I can do to keep my coffee from spilling.Thank God there’s a lid on the cup.Griffin buries his head in my neck breathing me in, before placing a small kiss on the curve of my neck.“That’s a weird password,” he says, amused and half-disgusted.
