Chasing Down Changes (Moroad Motorcycle Club) (26 page)

"Bear will do a good job. He's explained to me how he's taking shorter rides. His body's feeling the hard life he's living. I'll send him out to Christina and have her go over the books with him. He's the only one book smart enough that I trust enough not to fuck over the club." Jeremy paused as another customer walked within twenty-five feet of the motorcycle and took the steps up to the second floor of the Sterling Building.

Tiff opened the door, smiled, and glanced down, spotting Jeremy. Her head tilted in curiosity, and she shut the door to keep the men moving.

"What's your plan for bringing what your woman is doing upstairs into the club?" Cam lit another cigarette and coughed. "The possibilities are there, kid."

"I'm letting it sit, for now. She's earned the business." Jeremy shook his head when Cam's mouth opened. "Don't take that answer as I'm not doing a fucking thing. I want to know what I'm getting into first, and what that business does to compromise Moroad's freedom. Until then, I'm sitting."

"Don't sit too long." Cam motioned with his chin to the street behind Jeremy.

He turned his upper body to find out what caught Cam's attention and spotted Deputy Williams on foot patrol. "I still need to figure out what the fuck he's doing in Federal."

"You don't think he's laying low, starting over?" Cam pushed up his bike and lifted the kickstand.

Jeremy stared at the deputy until he rounded the corner. All the customers were inside and considering Red Light closed in twenty minutes; the deputy would find nothing suspicious outside the building.

"No, I think he's up to something. He arrived early last night and looked around the first floor of the building when I was gone. Then disappeared for most of the show." Jeremy squeezed his lip around the pack of chew and spit. "I need to have another talk with Sheriff Colby. Los Li has their fingers in every law enforcement office in the country. I wouldn't doubt that Williams is working for them."

"Watch your back, kid. If you need anyone here, let me know." Cam start his Harley, propelled the bike back three paces, and rode off.

Jeremy followed suit and pulled away from the curb. He'd take a little ride and see where Deputy William's walk took him. Silver Girls opened at ten o'clock, and he was over an hour and a half early.

Sheriff Colby SUV drove in Jeremy's direction at the stop sign. Jeremy held his hand out to the side, stopping the sheriff on the road.

Jeremy waited until Sheriff Colby rolled down his window and said, "You got a minute?"

"Yeah, I have time. I'll pull over behind Silver Girls." Sheriff Colby drove away.

Checking for traffic, Jeremy made a U-turn and parked in his regular spot behind the building. His search for Deputy Williams over, he needed answers more than he wanted to trail the fucker.

Sheriff Colby stood outside his SUV. "What can I do for you, Aldridge?"

"Give me a straight answer." Jeremy stopped in front of him and widened his stance. "You seem to have left off the rest of Williams history when you informed Tiff he'd be working Silver Girls. Two charges of assault and battery, blown off with no charges because he wears a badge, and he gets new scenery in Federal. I want to know why your first decision was to put him as security inside a fucking strip joint, around women?"

"There are—"

"Does Bantorus Motorcycle Club know you put their women under close surveillance by a known woman beater?" Jeremy stepped closer. "Do you know what will happen if he touches a woman belonging to either club?"

"Stand down, Aldridge." Sheriff Colby frowned. "I'm always in the area at night, patrolling the streets in Federal, while the remaining six deputies working under me are out in the field within the county. You know as well as I do that there are no other clubs for him to get the hours he needs to work off his probation."

"He can pull his hours somewhere else," said Jeremy.

"Need I remind you what can happen when you get all the miners in town, pumped up on booze, and watching women?" Sheriff Colby's radio squawked, and he reached up to his shoulder and turned the volume down. "I'll tighten patrol. Tiff has my number to call if anything happens."

"I'll take care of the problem before anything happens." Jeremy ran his finger between his lip and gum and removed the chew from his mouth.

"Nothing is going to happen. I've given this opportunity to Deputy Williams, and it's his chance to sink or swim. He's out of options. He knows his every step is watched, and he needs to obey the law," said Sheriff Colby.

"That don't mean shit when he's obviously bought, or someone else bought, off the judge in both of his cases. He's dirty."

The last customer walked out of the second-floor door. Sheriff Colby kept his gaze from wandering over to the man, but going by the stiff posture and guilty look on his face, he understood the point Jeremy made about being bought off.

Jeremy lowered his voice. "Everyone's got a price, don't they, Sheriff?"

"Tiff's not using me," said Sheriff Colby.

Jeremy backed up, snatched his duffel off the Harley, and walked past the sheriff and said, "Lots of men have killed for love."

He left the sheriff to wonder if it was advice or a threat. Either way, Jeremy would deal with Williams on his own.

Entering the Sterling Building on the ground floor, he unlocked the door, stepped inside, and found the alarm deactivated. He cocked his head to listen for any sounds. Tiff always locked the building when Red Light was open.

Unease came over him. He dropped the duffel, removed the pistol from his vest, and searched the first floor.

D
eputy Williams stalked forward. Sheer panic stole Tiff's breath, and she blocked the hallway. Everything happened faster than she could react.

One second she stood outside her suite talking to Marci and excited to go in and change for opening Silver Girls downstairs and the next second, the door at the end of the hallway opened, and Deputy Williams came through a locked door. She barely got in front of Marci to protect her when Deputy Williams pushed her up against the wall.

Marci tapped her finger on her hand and mouthed, '911'. Tiff glanced at Deputy Williams and shook her head in answer to Marci. The women working for her had strict instructions never to call the emergency number. If she could get to her phone, she'd call the sheriff's private cell phone.

"Don't look at her." Deputy Williams grabbed Tiff's chin, squeezing hard. "Look at me when I'm talking to you."

"I will, but let me go." She kept her voice calm despite her throat spasms and wanting to scream. "You're scaring my employee. Let me calm her down and then we can sit downstairs and talk."

"She's not going anywhere." Deputy Williams pressed his larger body against Tiff's, pinning her to the wall.

"Marci?" Tiff ignored the deputy's thigh pressing between her separated legs. "Honey? Stay right there, and do not let the others come out here."

Deputy Williams chuckled. "I'm patient. I can wait to join in on the fun."

She had to stall. Jeremy promised he'd be back before Silver Girls opened downstairs. The last customer left only minutes ago.

"The downstairs is locked and has an alarm. How did you get in here?" She swallowed, jerking her face out of his grasp.

Deputy Williams planted both of his hands on the wall on each side of her head. "I picked the lock and cut the wire by the front door."

Hope surged and quickly moved to panic. When she'd bought the building from Ink and Lilly from Bantorus Motorcycle Club, she'd kept the same security company and gave the emergency operators Cam's phone number, never thinking they'd need to call because she was here all the time.

If Jeremy and Moroad came rushing over, they'd kill Deputy Williams. She'd lose Jeremy again, and never get him back.

"What do you want from me?" She pushed against him.

Deputy Williams never budged. "I want in on the business you're running here. A twenty percent cut and the women whenever I want them."

"I don't know what you're talking about. The girls who rent from me are my guests." She grunted at the sharp pain of his belt jabbing her in the stomach. "The women are here for their safety and to heal after leaving an abused relationship. The upstairs is a safe area for them. I don't know what you—"

"Let's just say I became curious and staked out this place for the last couple of weeks. For a safe boarding house, a lot of men like to visit during hours Silver Girls is closed." He ground his pelvis against her.

She moaned in pain and fear. Her whole business on the verge of falling apart, she'd go to prison for a long time if Deputy Williams turned her in. She had to get him out of here before Jeremy or Moroad showed up and made the problem bigger.

"Fifteen percent. That's all I can do." She let her body go lax to get him to let her go. "You'll have to take an appointment to see the women like all the other customers. I can't ask them to work more than they already do."

"Ah, see, that wasn't so hard." Deputy Williams thrust against her. "Now that we had this nice little talk, I'll let you get ready for opening up downstairs."

She clamped her lips shut to keep from telling him to fuck off. He'd never get a dime from her or lay a finger on her girls. The moment Deputy Williams left her building, she'd call Sheriff Colby and have him arrested. Then she'd...shit, she had no idea what she'd do next.

The whole town would find out the truth about her running an illegal bordello, and she'd bring down Moroad because of her relationship with Jeremy. No judge would believe he was innocent.

The girls were so young. She needed to protect them. Sheriff Colby would step away from their agreement to protect his job, and she'd be dragged in on charges while they prosecuted Deputy Williams.

Deputy Williams tilted his head, lowered his mouth to hover in front of her lips. "One more thing, sweetheart. Dress in that nice little black dress for me tonight and give me something to look forward to in our new business venture."

She glared, refusing to acknowledge his request and pressed against the wall, avoiding his touch. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Haven't you heard?" Deputy Williams grinned and eased up on her. "Your boyfriend has friends who admire you for what you've done for your town and the beauties you have working for you. They've hired me to make sure they reap the benefits. Call it a mutual appreciation from one entrepreneur to another."

Deputy Williams walked backward away from her. "Don't worry, I'll let myself out the back."

Marci shuffled down the length of the hallway, pressed against the wall, making herself smaller as the deputy strolled by her. Tiff rubbed her stomach where the pistol on his belt gauged her. The urge to lift up her dress, remove her pistol, and shoot him in the back came fast and hard.

The backdoor shut and Marci hurried over to her, catching her as her legs gave out. Tiff leaned into her as they held each other up.

"Are you okay?" Marci pulled back, running her hands down Tiff's arms. "You're shaking."

"Yeah, yeah...I'm fine." She pressed her hand to her forehead. "I need my phone."

"Where is it?" Marci moistened her lips.

"I..." Tiff closed her eyes. "I don't know. I need to think."

"Is it true?" Marci wiped a tear trailing down her cheek. "Are you giving the women to that man and paying his price?"

"Hell, no." Tiff patted her hips, knowing there was nowhere on her dress to put her cell. "My phone is in the main kitchen."

"I'll get it." Marci ran down the hallway and returned. "Here."

She tried to swype the screen to turn the phone on, and her finger shook. She tried getting the phone to work five more times before her screen finally came on. By now, Cam probably already had a phone call from the security company and wondered what was going on.

Maybe if she called the sheriff, he could get Deputy Williams away from Federal. Her body trembled. No, she had to call Jeremy.

"Shit." She shook the phone. Jeremy would kill the deputy and end up in prison. None of her plans would work. "What am I supposed to do?"

The door swung open, and Jeremy's frantic gaze found her, sweeping down and up her body, landing on her eyes. "Why are all the doors unlocked and the alarm not on?"

She moved to him on unsteady legs, determined to keep him away from Deputy Williams. "They are?"

She needed more time to think and plan and protect the Red Light women. Her stomach seized, and she flinched.

He grabbed her arms, lifting her to her toes. "Stop the bullshit, Tiff. Why is the whole place unlocked?"

Marci came and stood beside Tiff. "Please don't hurt her."

Jeremy's gaze flashed to Marci. "Someone better answer my fucking question."

A dull roar filled the room until the floor beneath her heels rumbled or maybe it was the picture tapping against the wall in vibration that made the floor seem to shake. Jeremy's hold on her never wavered.

"Start talking or answer to everyone in Moroad when they storm inside the building." Jeremy lowered his head. "What the fuck is going on?"

Her chin dropped, defeated. She couldn't stop the process. Moroad was involved, and there was no hiding. "I...something happened."

"Talk."

She glanced at Marci and inhaled a shaky breath, hating the danger she put her assistant in. "Let Marci go in her room and keep your men downstairs. Then I'll tell you."

"I'm not negotiating with you." Jeremy's mouth firmed.

"Please. My life is on the line, and Red Light is in danger of falling apart. I need you to help me and listen before you go all crazy," she whispered. "Please."

"Tell me why my club is stomping around downstairs."

She swallowed. "I suspect it's because the security company who monitors the alarm system in the building used Cam's number that I gave them in case of an emergency. Your dad doesn't know I gave them his number years ago. I never thought they'd have to use it."

Jeremy looked at Marci. "Take Tiff into the suite and stay with her until I get back upstairs."

Marci nodded and put her arm around Tiff. "Come on, let's get you inside so you can sit down."