Fanning the Biker's Flame - Piper Davenport Page 0,7

here in Savannah. As soon as recreational weed is legal, we will be poised and ready to launch our very own grow and distribution business. Everything is in place except for suitable warehouse space, which has proved hard to come by.”

“Especially with all the restrictions on distance from schools and shit,” I murmured, continuing to read.

“Casper and Alamo have been seeking out properties in and around Georgia that might work, but the second we find something…”

“And you think something in this report will prove sabotage?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Doom said.

“Who?”

Doc sighed. “I think the Beast is behind this, but the report claims the fire was caused by faulty electrical work.”

The Beast, we were coming to find out, was a group of one-percent MCs, ex-Dixie Mafia members, and disenfranchised women who were being led by one ruthless cunt no one had been able to find. She was underground and she was ruthless.

One particular disenfranchised bitch had cut Caspar’s hand off when we’d got a little too close to the organization. We’d had to back off a bit, but I knew Doc was monitoring the situation.

“Sure, I’ll look at it,” I said. “But I’m not sure what I’d find in this report that Lt. Saunders would have missed. He’s a living legend within the department. If he says it was an electrical fire, I’d be inclined to believe him.”

“I would have too, except look at this,” Doc said, handing me a second report.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“The arson report from the first fire. From the property we were looking at purchasing.”

“If you didn’t own the property how did you get this? Arson records are sealed.”

“It fell off the back of a truck,” Doom replied.

“Rabbit’s gonna get himself and the club in some deep shit with all his hacker bullshit, ya know?” I challenged.

“Trust me, I know,” Doc replied before pointing at the second report. “Look carefully. Does anything look familiar?”

I scanned the report, stopping when I saw the cause of the fire.

“Faulty electrical work,” I replied. “And Saunders led this investigation as well? Is this right?”

“That’s what the report says,” Doom said.

“I’m assuming you already looked at this?”

Doom nodded. “Since I’ve been out of the firefighting game for a little while, I wanted another set of eyes.”

That was a load of bullshit. Although, technically true, Doom was still part of the volunteer fire crew and had a natural affinity toward fire and its nature, so he was often called upon as a second opinion by insurance companies and the like. If Doom couldn’t find an anomaly, no one could.

“Wait a minute,” I said, reading the details. “I remember this fire. Our truck responded to the call.”

“You fought this fire?” Doc asked.

“No,” I replied.

“I thought you said you were there?”

“No. I mean, we didn’t fight the fire,” I clarified. “It was already out by the time our truck got to the scene. I remember that because our lieutenant couldn’t believe a structure of its size and construction could burn so quickly and completely. Engine Seven responded to the second fire, and from the pictures in the reports, the scenes look identical.”

“What kind of electrical fire would cause both buildings to burn up like that?” Doc asked.

“I’m not an expert, but I don’t think anything outside of a heavy-duty chemical accelerant could do this much damage so quickly,” I said. “And there’s no way Saunders would have missed something like that.”

“So, he’s lying?” Doc asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know, but there’s absolutely nothing in these reports about traces of fast burning accelerants.”

“Why would he leave something like that out?” Doc asked.

“To avoid Homeland Security,” I replied.

“What?”

“By federal law, any arson investigation which uncovers the use of prohibited substances has to be reported to Homeland Security as a possible terrorist threat.”

“Look at you, Mr. Fresh Out of the Academy,” Doom said, tussling my hair.

I chuckled. “This isn’t anything you didn’t already figure out, is it?”

Doom grinned, shaking his head.

“So, Saunders withheld reporting on the accelerant to avoid the Man,” Doc said. “Why?”

“He’s close to retirement.” I shrugged. “Maybe he just didn’t want the aggravation of governmental oversight.”

“Do you believe that?” Doc asked.

“No,” Doom and I answered in stereo.

“Then, what?” Doc pressed.

“He’s covering up for someone.”

“And Bingo was his name-o,” Doc said.

“It’s gonna fall on us to figure out who,” Doom said.

“And with Rabbit gone, it’s gonna be twice as hard,” I deduced.

“He’ll be reachable,” Doc said. “But, yeah, gone.”

“Leave it with me,” Doom said. “Shadow and I’ll dig a little deeper and see what we can come