“Robin Hood doesn’t lie as much as you do,” Axel pointed out.
“But I’m telling you the truth.”
His face spoke volumes, mostly four-letter words in this case.
“This time, I mean.”
“See, that’s what happens when you lie all the time. No one believes a damn thing you say.” He drummed his fingers on the table then heaved another sigh. “Give me your sob story.” And then something in her expression made Axel’s gaze softer, more sympathetic. “Tell me about your dad, Robin.”
Tears pricked her eyes, but these weren’t the ones she put on for show. Nothing about this was an act. “My dad, Scott Nash, disappeared when I was sixteen. He went on a…business trip,” she said.
He made a sound in his throat. “That’s a lie. This only works one way. You tell me the entire truth, or I call the cops on you.”
“You were going to let me go.”
“That’s before you told me you wouldn’t be getting out of town and out of my hair.”
“Fine,” she snapped. “My dad was a thief and he taught me everything he knew. He was away on a job.”
“What? Like a bank job?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. He didn’t tell me much about his bigger gigs in case he got caught and the police questioned me. I could honestly say I didn’t know anything. But he was working with someone in Hell,” she said. “That much I do know. His car was found on the outskirts of town.”
“What happened?”
“He never returned from the last job. It’s like Scott up and disappeared off the face of the earth.”
At the time, she’d wondered if he’d abandoned her.
“So, you got a lead?” Axel surmised.
“Detective Frost called me. They found….his body when a construction crew started breaking ground on the Lake of Fire housing development.” Her chest tightened. She remembered every second of the phone call.
Before she’d picked it up, Scott had been alive in her mind. Charlie used to play this game with herself. She’d fantasize about seeing him again. Scott would walk up to her at a gas station or store. And he’d give her a big hug and explain where he’d been all this time. Then she’d forgive him and they’d be a family again.
“I remember seeing something in the paper about the murder. It was big news in a small town. Do the police know who did it?”
She sucked in a breath. “He was shot in the back of the head, execution-style.”
“If you’re telling the truth, then I’m sorry for your loss.” He stared at her. “But you’ve fooled me before. How do I know you’re telling the truth this time?”
“I can prove it.” Charlie fumbled in her pocket and pulled out a business card. She slapped it on the table. “See? I’ve been working with Detective Frost.”
He picked up the card, staring at it skeptically as though she had somehow taken the time to forge it. She wasn’t into forgery, but if she was, she’d be printing hundred dollar bills, not crappy business cards.
“For all I know, you picked his pocket too.” He tossed it down.
“Yeah, like I’m ballsy enough to rob a cop.”
“I wouldn’t put it past you. But I know how we can settle this once and for all.” He pulled out his cell and hit a button. “Frost? Yeah, this is Axel. If you got a moment, I could use your help. Can you swing by Hades?”
Her eyes rounded. Holy crap. He has a cop on speed dial? This town must be seriously corrupt.
Frost wasn’t the first crooked cop she’d met. Most of them were on the up-and-up, but being surrounded by the criminal element had a bad influence on others. She should know. Charlie was a bad-influence peddler herself.
Axel finished his conversation and then hung up, a confident grin on his handsome face. “He’ll be over in twenty.” He thought he was calling her bluff.
“Good. I’m dying to ask him some questions about my case.”
His grin faltered. “You weren’t lying?”
“You know, I think we already covered that topic.”
Chapter Four
Axel eyed Charlie as she played around on her cell phone.
They sat in uncomfortable silence, waiting for Frost. He should have slapped a bus ticket in her hand and kicked her hot little ass out of Hell anyway, but she intrigued him. Or maybe the right word was infuriated?
Axel didn’t have time to fool around with the Charlie situation, but he couldn’t help himself.
He had to meet with the club and break the bad news. Not to mention the small matter of a drug-smuggling trip across the border to plan. Ever since Beauregard oh so casually dropped the news on his lap that morning, it’d felt like he’d been saddled with an impossible burden.
He’d been a member of the club for years, but this was the first operation he would head up. Danger didn’t bother him—it was part of the Horsemen gig—but risking their lives in order to line Beauregard’s pockets enraged him. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it, either.
He also had a business to run and at some point, he should actually get some work done at Seventh Circle. Dani, Goat’s daughter, worked with him and since he’d become president, he’d had to rely on her more and more. Axel was proud of the way she’d stepped up and helped him out.
Axel glanced at Charlie again.
Most women faded into the background for him, and since everything had gone to hell with Nancy, he figured a wife and children were off the table. Chasing tail was Ryker’s style, not Axel’s. He’d always been a one-woman type of man, as old-fashioned as that sounded.
And Lord knows the lying little thief wasn’t an option. He’d wanted a good woman at his side, one who didn’t lie as easily as she breathed. It’d be a lot easier if Charlie wasn’t built like a bottle of Coke, all the right curves in all the right places. And sassy. He loved a woman who stood up for herself. Why couldn’t she be homely? All buck-toothed and bow-legged.
“Why are you staring at me?”
Axel shut his eyes. Damn. Had he been staring? He just hoped there wasn’t any drool. “I’m making sure you aren’t slipping the silverware in your purse.”
Charlie frowned at her spoon. “This stuff? Please. You wouldn’t get any money for it. You can only fence real silver.”
Axel chuckled. He’d expected her to deny it, but no, she’d actually thought about stealing it.
He sipped his coffee and waited for the detective. And made sure he didn’t ogle her.
A few minutes later, Frost arrived and slid into the booth beside Charlie. “Hello, Ms. Nash.” Frost had short reddish-blond hair, perpetual stubble on his chin, and blue eyes. And big surprise, he wore another blue suit, though this one was bluish-gray.
Axel couldn’t help but admire the detective’s collection of work clothes. Axel used to fantasize about a normal job where he could go to work in a suit. Maybe with a briefcase and freshly shined shoes. He’d always wanted his own office, and an assistant.
But that wasn’t going to happen. He’d been a done deal a long time ago.
Frost’s gaze flicked to Axel. “Why is she here?”
“She says you identified her father’s body,” Axel said.
Frost nodded. “Yeah, that’s right.” He glanced back and forth between them. “What’s this all about?”
Well, shit. She’d actually been telling the truth. Axel took a minute to marvel at that.
“The Horsemen might be helping her with her father’s case,” Axel said smoothly. He wasn’t going to turn her in, and that explanation was plausible. He shot a meaningful look at Charlie and she nodded.
Frost took a deep breath but didn’t say anything for a moment. As a cop, he had to walk a very thin blue line between legal means and more outlaw ways of dealing with a situation. His association with the club was tenuous at best, but more often than not, they were on the same side when it came to handling asshats who hurt good people. Particularly when the legal system failed them.
“It’s okay. She’s cool,” Axel told him. As a thief, Charlie had plenty of her own secrets to hide from law enforcement. He couldn’t see her blabbing to the local police department about Frost’s involvement with the club.
“Actually, that’s a great idea.”
Charlie frowned. “You mean you didn’t find any evidence?”
“I didn’t say that.” Frost clenched his jaw and thought a moment before he spoke. “We’re a small department, and we don’t have the resources to chase down a cold case.”
Axel figured as much. Metropolitan police departments were more likely to have the funds for cold cases, not backwoods towns like Hell.
“Did you get the ballistics report back?” she asked.
Frost nodded. “Yeah, we ran it to see if the gun popped on the system.”
“And did it?” Charlie bit her lower lip, and her face had gone pale. Axel felt bad for her. Her father had gone from missing to murdered to being another statistic in the matter of a few weeks. She must be reeling.
“Yeah,” Frost answered carefully. “This particular gun has been, uh, used in a few murders.” He shifted in his seat and tugged at his collar.
Axel put it all together. “Let me guess. The sheriff isn’t pursuing it?”
“That’s a negative,” Frost said.
Charlie shook her head. “I don’t get it. You’d think he’d want to solve the cases. It’d made him look good.”
Sweat beaded on Frost’s forehead, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. “Depends on who the killer is. This case could have some political blowback….and maybe actual blowback.”
“What does that mean?” Charlie asked. “You know who the killer is? And you’re not going to do anything about it?” Her voice rose on that last bit and her hands were clenched.
“Please, stay calm, Ms. Nash. I have a good guess,” Frost said. “These cold case murders all fall into a similar pattern.” He met Axel’s gaze and raised a brow.
Axel groaned and whacked the table in frustration. “You mean it’s…?”
Frost nodded. “Beauregard,” he said. “At least I think it is. Fits the M.O. and it’s the right timeframe.”
“Who’s Beauregard?” Charlie asked, her gaze darting between them.
“He’s a former hitman and now an underboss in the Dixie Mafia,” Axel explained.
“Oh, my God.” She clasped a hand over her mouth and for a moment, Axel wondered if she’d scream. Her father had gotten mixed up with scum. “What the hell was he doing with a hitman?”
“After my boss saw the report, he got real quiet,” Frost said. “And all of a sudden, this case got back-burnered.”
Axel had always wondered if the sheriff was on the take. Not that he should be surprised; the Beauregards had been bribing local and state officials for years.
“He said he wanted to kick this to the feds and let them sort it out,” Frost continued with a shake of his head.
Axel blew out a breath. Yeah, that sounded like cop-speak for the circular file.
Frost didn’t know the Horsemen had entered into a business arrangement with Beauregard. He’d ask too many damn questions, and Frost had mixed loyalties. He’d see the club in a different light if he discovered they had Dixie Mafia ties.
“And,” Frost continued, “assuming he actually did send it to the feds, with their backlog of cold cases, not to mention a deluge of new ones, I doubt they’d get around to it for quite a while. Right now, the Dallas office is working those Valentine murders in San Antonio.”
Axel had heard about the Valentine case. The feds were combing the countryside for the remains of dozens of young women. That had to be eating up a lot of local resources.
He glanced at Charlie once more. She was huddled in the corner of the booth. Damn. He wished Frost had broken the news to her differently. She looked smaller somehow, more vulnerable, and he had a crazy urge to pull her into his arms, and comfort her.
“I’m sorry, ma’am.” Frost sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Charlie flinched, pulling away from him.
Frost withdrew his hand and continued on. “Nothin’ would give me more pleasure than hunting down your father’s killer, but my hands are tied. I was actually gonna suggest you seek out the Horsemen, see if they can do anything to help you.”
And that got Axel to thinkin’…
Maybe this situation could be a solution to the Beauregard problem. “We can’t let this bastard get away with his crimes.” And Axel sure has hell didn’t want to spend the remainder of his life being a Dixie Mafia errand boy. “Maybe we need a permanent way to fix the problem.”
Frost’s blue eyes had gone as chilly as his name. “I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that, seein’ as how I’m a cop.”
Charlie cleared her throat then took a long drink from her coffee cup.
Good. She’d snapped out of her daze. Axel worried she was going to fall to pieces, but he should’ve known better. Charlie was a survivor; she had to be in her chosen profession.
Frost pursed his lips. “For the record, I think this is a bad idea. When I suggested the Horsemen, I was wondering if Beauregard would pay some compensation. To keep this quiet.” He gazed at Axel. “You know, one of your asshole fees.”
“Asshole fee?” Charlie asked.
“My MC,” Axel answered. “We make bastards pay for harming people.”
“And that isn’t a metaphor,” Frost said. “The asshole fee, I mean.”
“Oh, there’s an asshole or two here, and I don’t mean Beauregard,” Charlie said with a sneer. “I’m not going to accept that murder’s money. There’s no such thing as a Sorry I Gunned Down Your Father check.”
Then she turned to Axel, eyes blazing. “And you? Nobody’s doing anything permanent. That isn’t my style, or my father’s. I don’t want this Beauregard guy six feet under. I want him sharing a cell with some big dude who likes it rough.”
“I wasn’t suggestin’ a murder.” Axel had never killed in cold blood.
“What did you mean?” Frost asked.
Axel didn’t have any delusions about going head-to-head with Beauregard. His mafia connections would make sure the Horsemen died bloody.
So, they had to come at him sideways.
“There has to be a way to set his ass up,” Axel said. “Maybe we could poke around? Find some evidence? He’s clever bastard, but he’s bound to have fucked up at least once.”
“Yeah, but you’d have to get close to do that,” Frost pointed out. “He’d see you comin’ a mile away.”
While Axel had a deal with Beauregard, he didn’t have any delusions that the man trusted him. The Horsemen couldn’t do this particular job. “We need an in, then. Someone he wouldn’t notice. Someone who could poke around and gather some intel. And then we could gift wrap it and send it to the feds, since the sheriff won’t get off his ass.”
“And who could get that close to him?” Frost asked.
“I could,” Charlie said simply.
***
“No, no way. Absolutely not,” Axel protested, crossing his arms over his chest.
For a moment, Charlie thought Axel’s head might explode, popping off his neck like a bottle rocket and hitting the ceiling.
Charlie had been on a rollercoaster ever since she’d gotten the call about her father. But now, she had a target for all that hate and frustration. She needed to shove down the sorrow and the pain and focus on the job. After she’d gotten it done, there’d be time to mourn Scott.
Nope, Charlie wouldn’t get mad. She’d get even.
“Look,” she said, “let’s be logical about this. It doesn’t sound like he’d let either of you get near him.”
Frost let out a low whistle. “Yeah, I can’t sanction this. I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear it.”
She glanced at Frost and then back at Axel. “And the popo is cool?”
Axel shrugged. “Mostly.”
“No offense,” she said to Frost. “But
I hate cops.”
“And yet I’m offended anyway.”
“Get off your high horse. You’re a crooked cop. You work with bad guys.” Charlie gestured to Axel. In her book, pretending to be a good guy was worse than being an actual bad one. She didn’t tolerate hypocrites.
“Excuse me?” Axel snapped. “We’re the good guys.”One of Axel’s bouncing knees shook the table.
“And I’m not crooked!” Frost put in.
Charlie gaped at both of them.
“And this ‘bad guy’ shit is ironic coming from you,” Axel said. “Since you are definitely a bad girl…” His voice was a husky rasp.
There was a long, awkward pause. Charlie could feel herself flushing.
Frost cleared his throat.
Axel sighed. “I didn’t mean that to sound so…”
“Sexual?” Frost offered.
“Shut the fuck up,” Axel growled.
“Yeah, what he said,” Charlie added. But the image of letting her bad girl side out to play with Axel sent a ripple of awareness through her body.
Clearing her throat, she shook it off. Now isn’t the time.
Charlie studied the blond cop a moment. “Okay then. If Beauregard killed Scott, I’m gonna find some evidence and then I want to steal everything he owns. Lock, stock, and without even a smoking barrel.”
Axel gawked at her as though she’d said she wanted to steal the crown jewels or something, which she’d always wanted to do. She look fantastic in a tiara.
“You don’t have any fucking idea who you’re dealing with, do you?”
“I heard the mafia part.” She glanced from Axel to Frost, and the cop wore the same horrified expression.
“Don’t look at me for help. I’m with Axel on this one.” Frost held up his hands.
Normally, Charlie never got personal. Stealing was strictly about the money. Scott had taught her that being emotional about a job would slow her down. But to punish this bastard, she would break all her rules, and take him for everything she could get her hands on in the process. Hopefully, she’d find something incriminating in his vault. She might not believe in killing, but she’d still destroy his life.
Hell on Wheels (Four Horsemen MC Book 6) Page 4
