Verek (Savage Kings MC - South Carolina #3) - Lane Hart Page 0,17
the other room down here. That’s where he was coming out of when I grabbed him.”
“Right, yeah.”
Verek puts the phone in his pocket and then goes over to grab the guy underneath his arm, dragging him toward the open door that leads further into the basement. “Do you, um, do you need help?” I ask.
“No, thanks. I’ve got it,” he replies. “Just make sure he didn’t leave anything behind, then check upstairs for cameras.”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” I say as I go back over and search the floor and then tiptoe upstairs to look around just to have something to do. I’m pretty sure he just wanted me to leave instead of watching him use the “oven.” I make two laps around, searching every inch of each room for cameras without finding anything. When I get back down in the basement, Verek is closing the door behind him. “Leroy’s on his way.”
“Great. Maybe you should text another quick message like, ‘the side door is open, so come on in and down to the basement.’ That’s something friends would tell each other, right?”
“Probably. That’s smart,” Verek agrees as he pulls the phone out again to add the message. “I’m glad I brought you along. I had no idea you would be able to think so quickly under pressure.”
“Guess it’s a gift,” I joke with a half-smile. “And it comes in handy at work. Well, it did…”
“You’re a paralegal right?”
“You remembered,” I say in surprise.
“Of course I remembered,” Verek tells me with a grin. “You think I just came to visit you to talk about myself?”
“I thought you were just being nice,” I admit. “Since you sort of disappeared after I left the facility.”
“I told you – that was all Roman. You’re living in his house, and he’s my president. At least for the moment…”
“You think he’ll kick you out of the Kings for coming here with me?”
“I’m hoping he’ll see that we did him and the other guys a favor by keeping them out of it.”
“I hope so too. I’ll need to call Charlotte when we get back to the hotel so she won’t worry,” I say.
“You can’t call on the hotel phone, but I’ve got a burner you can use. It won’t be traced.”
“Okay, good,” I say, wondering if she’s found my bed empty and my note yet. It’s still early. “I want to hurry up and get this done so we can get out of here.”
“Me too,” Verek agrees. “Maybe you should hide in one of the rooms upstairs until he gets here?”
“No, not unless there’s a lock on the door,” I object.
“How about the ladies’ room? There’s no reason for him to ever go in there, and I can come get you when he’s down.”
“That may work,” I reply. “Walk me up?”
“Sure,” he says. “I’ll lead the way.”
I follow Verek up the stairs to the main floor, and we quickly find the women’s restroom. He even goes inside and looks in all three of the stalls before he starts to leave. “Stay here until I come and get you, okay?”
“Okay,” I agree since I don’t want to see Leroy, whichever one he was, again while he’s still breathing.
“Lock up behind me,” he adds on his way out the door, as if that wasn’t a given.
Chapter Seven
Verek
* * *
After I hear the lock click on the other side of the bathroom door, I go take a quick peek out in the parking lot to see if our next target has arrived yet.
He hasn’t. And luckily there are no other cars in the lot yet either. Guess Tessa was right. It’s a small town that doesn’t use the funeral home enough to need more than one full-time employee. If there are others, they probably only show up for events.
Dammit. I should’ve checked the local paper to see if there were any morning funerals today. In the summer, it would make sense that they would want to do them early, before it gets too hot at the graveside for the grieving friends and family.
But if Leroy, the cemetery worker, said he’s on his way without bringing any appointments up, I doubt they have anything this early.
I head on back downstairs before he shows up and gets a glimpse of me in the door. There’s a great hiding spot underneath the stairs that’s dark and deeply recessed. That’s where I wait not-so-patiently for the next man to appear. It hits me that this one I’ll be taking out before Tessa even gets a