Adamson fuck, I started to go through the older messages on his phone. You’ll never guess what I found.”
“And?” I raise a brow at him.
“First of all, I put feelers out to some of the tattoo places. He’s got some pretty distinctive tats. Based on those, I think he goes by Jay.”
“That’s a start. And the messages?”
“There was another message with coordinates and a time, and another response from the kidnapper.”
“The restaurant again?”
“No. You won’t believe this.” His eyes are wide with the excitement of a detective having found a critical clue. “This one was for Rosie’s Room and Board. The message was sent to Jay, and again, I don’t know from who.”
That place again. I stop and turn to him. “What was the message?”
Rat hands me his phone. I look at the message, furrowing my brow as I read the strange text out loud.
“XX6 0100 -114.9327482 36.8164782.” I make a face at Rat. “What the fuck is this shit? I don’t do geek.”
Rat grins. “Well, those long strings of numbers at the end are longitude and latitude. The numbers before it are military time—”
“Wait, how do you know the middle one is military time? It could be anything.”
“His phone is set to it, and the way it’s written in some of the other messages, you can tell. As to that XX6 shit, I haven’t a clue.”
I smirk. “Aren’t you supposed to know everything?”
“Even my genius has its limits, brother.”
“What was this Jay asshole’s response?”
“Package Delivered.”
“What the fuck?” I shake my head. “Those messages obviously had nothing to do with Emma because she was with us.” I run my hand down my face. “But Rosie’s was on the list we found at the mansion, and that was the same rooming house she called. What the fuck is going on here?”
I whirl around, looking toward the stairs that lead to the second floor and Bishop’s room, where Emma sleeps.
“What the hell!” I shout, anger surging in my veins. My cheeks grow hotter, and I can hardly control the thoughts that race through my head. “That lying piece of ass.”
Fuck, I sound like my father.
Still, if she thought last night was bad, tonight is going to be ten times worse.
“We need to pay a visit to this Rosie bitch.” I scan the room, spotting Dragon, who’s digging into a big plate of eggs and bacon at the bar.
One of the White Springs girls is draped on him, her fingers in his hair. Thick red curls fall to her ass, and she’s got a pair of the biggest tits I’ve ever seen, almost bursting out of her tank top. Clad in jean shorts, she’s got a juicy, poundable ass I’d normally have been dying to tap.
Gesturing to Rat to follow me, I go over to Prez, who sets down his fork and wipes grease off his mouth. “Get gone, Ruby.” He shoos her away slapping her ass. “I’ll get some of that later,” he adds.
Ruby winks at him and sashays off.
“What the fuck do you want, Spider?”
I update him on what Rat found.
Dragon nods. “Get the fuck out there now.”
“We’ll take Striker and Reaper with us.”
Pulling out of the clubhouse lot a half an hour later, we head south toward Coyote Springs, barreling down the 93. It’s hot as hell out here, the pounding heat I thrive off of beating down on my back. I lose myself in the ride. Striker rides beside me, and Reaper and Rat are at my six, bringing up the rear.
Over two hours pass before we blow by the Welcome to Coyote Springs sign, the road lined with palm trees leading into the desert community an hour outside of Las Vegas. It’s a small community, created for those who don’t enjoy the gambling and lust of Sin City. That, and those who like to remain under the radar, the same as us.
Since it’s Rat who knows where we’re going, he moves up front when we get close to our destination, leading the way. He slows down as he turns a corner, and the rest of us follow suit, allowing the roar of our engines to subside. The neighborhood seems quiet, the houses painted in typical bland beige, just like every home in the desert. It’s a shade that almost matches the color of the sand, meant to reflect the heat rather than absorb it.
Halfway down a long street, at a house with a For Sale sign posted on the lawn, Rat signals for us to stop. We pull