Torch (Great Wolves MC) - Jayne Blue Page 0,44

do you want me to do?” I asked.

“With any luck,” she said, “your uncle is handling the biggest job. Colt called him as soon as the cops showed up.”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Again with that look between Amy and Nicole.

“We have to assume they’ve bugged the club,” Nicole said. “Maybe even our houses.”

“No way,” I said. “I may not be a lawyer, but I’ve worked for my uncle long enough to know they couldn’t possibly have enough probable cause to invade the privacy of your homes.”

“We can’t assume anything,” Nicole said. “That’s the main thing you need to understand.”

“You asked what you can do,” Amy said. “That’s why you’re here. Torch wants you protected. That goes both ways.”

“You think I’d do anything to hurt him?”

“No,” Amy said. “Not intentionally. I just need you to know the drill. First off, this is bullshit, but it’s serious. Very serious.”

“What? That was the DEA. Do they think the club is dealing drugs?” My throat ran dry. Was the club dealing drugs?

“It’s a frameup,” Nicole said. “One of the trucks came down from our microbrewery in Toledo. They were delivering a shipment of craft beer to stock the Den. The feds showed up and raided the truck. They found something. I don’t know what.”

“Drugs,” I said. “They found drugs?”

“Heroin,” Amy said. “Bricks and bricks of it.”

“It’s a setup,” Nicole said again. “The club doesn’t deal in that kind of shit. Never has. Never will. And this is the second time the cops pulled this. A few years ago, they raided the ice cream shop. It’s the Devil’s Hawks M.O. I just can’t believe they are stupid enough to try the same thing twice.”

“It’s way bigger this time,” Amy said. “That truck crosses state lines.”

And that’s why the DEA was there instead of just the Lincolnshire P.D. They were bringing federal charges against the club. It likely went beyond drug charges, which were bad enough.

“They’re mounting a RICO case, aren’t they?” I said.

“Probably,” Amy said.

“I’ll ask again,” I said. “What do you want me to do? How can I help?”

Something passed over Amy’s face. Relief maybe. Admiration. If this was a test, I’d passed for now. Was I loyal? Was I too scared?

“You were with Torch for the last couple of days,” Amy said. “Soon enough, they’re going to find out you went to Cincinnati with him. I think it’s reasonable to assume you’re going to get a phone call from a federal agent. Probably today. You don’t say a single thing without a lawyer present.”

“I’ll call my uncle,” I said.

“You can’t do that,” Nicole said. “That’s the one person you can’t call. He represents the club. It’ll be a conflict of interest. I’ll give you a name or two.”

“Nicole, I can’t afford a lawyer,” I said. “If I’m not being charged, I can’t get one for free.”

“We’ll take care of that,” she said. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Is it?” I asked.

The women fell silent, and that was my answer. This wasn’t just some routine hassle or cost of doing business. I could see it in Amy’s eyes. We’d just entered some doomsday scenario.

“I think we were being followed,” I said. “In fact, I know we were. I don’t know how much has filtered down to you, but my father was sent pictures of Torch and I together a few days ago. I have no idea if any of this is connected. But someone’s watching. And I don’t think it’s just the FBI.”

“I was afraid of that,” Amy said. “For now, we need to get you someplace to stay. It’s not safe to go back to your apartment if that’s where they took the pictures.”

“That’s why Torch brought me to the Den,” I said. “Now you’re saying it’s not safe there either.”

“I’m already on it,” Nicole said. She had her phone out and started texting.

Amy put a hand over hers. Nicole put the phone down. Amy pulled three new phones out of her purse. They were the burner kind you get from the grocery store.

“Good thinking,” Nicole said. She took one and started to make a call. She let herself out the back door into the dirt pile that might someday be a backyard.

“You need to change up your routine,” she said to me.

I laughed. “I have no routine anymore. I can’t work at the club. My uncle just evicted me illegally. My parents aren’t speaking to me. Torch is ... I don’t even know.”

“I know this is rough,” she said. “And you just got