Assumption

“So the rest were just casualties?”

“Basically.” He shrugs.

My phone beeps and I click my messages, seeing that it’s from Autumn. I smile before I even read her message. I know she’s pissed about Justin being there, but I want to make sure she’s safe while I’m out of town and don’t want her at home alone. I don’t think the shooter has any clue where she is, but I know that Cassie is still on a rampage. The good news is that, as soon as Cassie gets my message from Finn, she will no longer be an issue, but until things get sorted, I don’t want her f**king with Autumn while I’m gone, especially after I found out that she’s the one who posted the video of Autumn on YouTube after they’d been at the same club.

Am I pissed that Autumn was letting some guy do body shots off her? Hell yes, but I know she was completely smashed when it happened. I also acknowledge that she never had a chance to experience that kind of thing before. Do I wish it had been me licking salt off her tight, little body? Fuck yes, I do, but I know only me and my mouth will be allowed to touch her from now on.

I look at the message from her and laugh before quickly replying. We pull up to Link’s apartment and I realize that I’m f**king beat from the last few days. Autumn’s schedule has mine all f**ked up.

A few minutes later, I’m already toeing off my boots, ready to collapse on his guest bed, when he tells me from the doorway, “I have some shit to take care of, but I’ll be back later, and we can head to the club then.”

“Sure, man. Thanks,” I tell him. Then I listen as he walks down the hallway and shuts the front door. I pull out my phone, see that she replied with one word—Ditto—and smile and close my eyes.

“Sid, this is Kenton. Kenton, this is Sid,” Link introduces us later that night.

I look Sid over, and the first thing I notice is how put together he is. I imagine that he spends more time getting ready than most women do. His suit is tailored, his hair is combed over to the side, each piece styled just right, and his fingernails even look manicured.

“Nice to meet you.” He sticks out his hand and I grasp it with one of mine, giving him a firm shake.

“You too.” I nod, looking around inside the club, understanding from the decor where it got the name The Lion’s Den.

“Kenton needs to see the tapes from the night of the shooting,” Link says, bringing me back to the conversation.

“You working with the police?” Sid asks, looking me over.

“Kenton’s the friend I was tellin’ you about,” Link informs him, and Sid’s eyes come back to me.

“You think you can find the shooter?”

“I’ll do what I can.” My main concern is Autumn and keeping her safe. I don’t care about any of the other shit.

“Follow me.”

We walk down a long hall and into a dark office, where there is a large desk in the center of the room and large computer monitors lining one wall.

“We didn’t get the guy on tape. He avoided all the cameras in the building and the two outside.” He starts up the tapes from the night of the shooting.

There are no shots of the man in question, but there are images of Autumn running through the club, and even through the grainy images, I can see the terror on her face. “Where were the bouncers?”

“Two were out front and one was at the door,” Sid answers.

“Did they see the shooter?” I ask, looking at the different screens to pinpoint the security on duty.

“No.” He shakes his head then looks at the screen paused on a picture of Autumn.

“How did he get the drinks that were being delivered to the private party?”

“That’s something we haven’t been able to figure out. The bar registered and filled the drink orders but never had them delivered.”

“So someone who works for you was in on it?” I ask, trying to get him to see that he can’t trust anyone right now.

“I’m not sure,” he says, running a hand down his face. “I want to say I trust everyone who works for me, but unfortunately, I can’t.”

“I’m gonna need to talk to the other bouncers,” I state.

“Both the guys who worked that night are on now. You can use my office,” he offers.

“Thanks,” I tell him before he heads out of the room to bring the guys back.

“What are you thinking?” Link asks.

“How well do you know the guys who were on that night?” I ask instead.

“We’re friendly, but not friends,” Link says as I lean against the side of the desk, looking at the still image of Autumn.

I hate that she’s involved in this shit. I don’t like the idea of someone on the inside being involved in what went down. That means that they know who she is—and possibly where she is.

“My guess is that one of them has something to do with the shooter being a ghost. Have you told anyone where Autumn is?”

“Hell no.” Link shakes his head, his eyes coming back to me. “I haven’t even told Sid that information. He told me he e-mailed her and she wrote back, but she didn’t let him know where she was.”

That makes me feel marginally better, but I still don’t like the idea of her being in contact with the guy. “When the guys come in, we’re going to play it cool. I’m going to ask some questions about what went down and see if they have any leads for me. Most of the time, when someone is involved in something like this, they try to make up for their sins by overly playing the good guy.”

“I’ll follow your lead,” Link says, and he does just that. He’s the guys’ source of familiarity and comfort.

It doesn’t take long for me to figure out that Mick is hiding something. After about twenty minutes, I thank them for their time and let them know that I will be around if they remember anything else. As soon as the office door closes, I look at Link, who shakes his head and closes his eyes.

“I’m gonna let Sid know we’re out.”

“I’ll meet you outside.” I head out the front of the club and pull out my phone to send a quick text to Justin to let him know what’s going on. With this new development, I’m going to need his skills to pull up some info on Mick.

About an hour later, Link and I are in his home office, sorting through the information we obtained at the club, when I receive Justin’s email.

“What does it say?” Link asks, looking over my shoulder at the report Justin sent me on Mick.