What I found when I pushed through the gym door shocked me speechless.
A few days ago I'd overheard Lucas talking to Zed—joking, I thought—about getting a pole installed in the gym to get him back into shape for shifts at Club 22. Apparently, Zed had taken him seriously and installed a fully bolted-in, brass spinning pole.
Except, it wasn't Lucas hanging shirtless and upside down on the pole. It was Cass.
"What the fuck?" I muttered aloud, and Cass jerked. His grip loosened, and he crashed to the mat, just narrowly tucking his chin to protect his head.
Lucas started laughing, and Cass scowled absolute death at him from the floor where he'd landed.
"Gumdrop was talking smack," Cass grumbled. "I had to prove a point."
Lucas was laughing too hard to add any further information and had to scramble out of Cass's reach when he swiped at him in retaliation.
"Alright children," I drawled. "As much as I want to see a repeat of whatever just happened, we should get over to Anarchy. The first fight starts in half an hour so the venue will already be filling up."
"Who's fighting?" Cass asked, grabbing his t-shirt from the floor and tugging it over his head.
I scowled at him. "No one important, and no, you can't sneak out to watch. I need you here to keep an eye on Seph."
His shoulders slumped, and he hung his head in disappointment. "Babysitting. Again."
"Did you forget you're supposed to be dead?" I arched a brow and folded my arms.
Lucas, still snickering, clapped Cass on the shoulder as he passed him. "Tough break, old man. I'll take care of our girl tonight."
"Little shit," Cass muttered as Lucas disappeared out of the gym. His micro-smile was all amusement, though.
I tilted my head to the side, running my gaze up and down his body. "You wanna show me that move on the pole? I could offer some pointers, maybe sort you out with some tear-off pants and a sequined thong."
His glare flattened. "Funny, Red. Real funny. I was just proving a point to the kid." He clasped my waist with his hands and backed me into the wall beside the door. "And if you want me to take my clothes off, you just have to ask nicely."
Goddamn, that was a tempting offer—one I only hesitated on thanks to my phone ringing in my pocket. I groaned and pushed Cass back with a hand on his chest. "I need to check that," I told him regretfully. "Don't go anywhere."
His dark gaze heated, but he waited patiently as I fished the phone out of my tight denim pocket. The display told me it was Gen calling, and I instantly got a bad feeling.
"Gen, what's happened?" I asked, bringing the phone to my ear when it connected. "I take it you're not calling at this time on a Friday night because you want to grab drinks."
"I wish," she replied, sounding pained. "You’d better get over to Anarchy. The SGPD just executed a random drug raid with dogs and the whole fucking deal."
Irritation zapped through me. Of course they chose a fight night to pull that shit. I’d never appreciated how useful it was to have the local police in my pocket until they no longer were. "So they caught a couple of coked-up patrons; that's nothing too drastic," I replied. "Or am I missing something?"
"Yeah, it's worse than that," she replied. "In addition to the expected coke users, they've also picked up twenty-eight patrons in possession of PCP. Hades, the patrons are all singing like birds, claiming it was sold to them by Timberwolves."
That fact made me stiffen and push Cass gently away. "They're saying what?" I hissed, fury rippling through my veins.
"I know," Gen replied. "First the reporters, now this. Someone really wants to out us. Just... how soon can you get here? I'm doing my best, but one of the cops asked for you specifically."
I grimaced. "Lieutenant Jefferies?"
"That's the one."
"I'll be there in twenty minutes. Zed might be quicker; I'll call him now." I ended the call and immediately dialed Zed as I strode out of the gym with Cass following me like a shadow.
The call went straight to his voicemail, so I hung up and tried again.
"No answer," I muttered, glancing up at Cass. "Go hurry Lucas up; we need to get to Anarchy ASAP."
He nodded in understanding and took the stairs three at a time while I tried calling Zed again. This time when it reached his voicemail, I left a terse