“Okay, let’s see what the fuck happened.”
I sped through the day’s feed, watching as he talked to Aubrey, then headed back over to his bike. Aubrey went into the apartment, and it wasn’t long before she and Mazie came rushing out the door and to the parking lot. They went straight to Aubrey’s car and were putting something in the back seat when a man with a baseball cap and glasses came up behind them. I watched in horror as he took the butt of his gun and slammed it against the back of Aubrey’s head. He aimed his weapon at Mazie, then ordered her to help him get Aubrey into the back of his fucking, white Toyota. I pointed to the screen once again as I said, “It’s Gary. That’s his fucking car.”
“Okay, that’s good. Now we know who we’re dealing with.”
“Yeah, but where the fuck is he?”
“Hawk and Shotgun are headed over to the Pink Pony to see if they’re there.”
Thinking I could check the security footage there, I turned back to computer, but stopped when I remembered I’d killed the power. “Fuck, I can’t get eyes on the inside.”
“I’ll send word to Hawk to keep a look out for the white Toyota.” Viper took out his burner and said, “If it’s at the Pony, I’ll tell him to hold up until we can get there.”
“Yeah, that’s good.”
After Viper sent the message, we all headed out to Lynch’s SUV. Seconds later, we were pulling through the gate and on our way to the Pink Pony. I was feeling tied up in knots when Lynch looked up into his rearview mirror and said, “I’m sorry about all this, Menace. I should’ve never left them alone like I did.”
“What’s done is done, man. Let’s just get the girls home safe and put an end to Gary’s bullshit for good.”
He nodded, then turned his focus back to the road. I knew he felt bad about what happened, and to be honest, it was a mistake that any one of us could’ve made. Unfortunately, that didn’t change the fact that Aubrey’s life was in danger. She’s already been through so much, and it gutted me to think that we’d let someone like Gary fucking Patterson get his hands on her. And I could tell from the tension in the truck radiating off my brothers that they felt the same way.
We were only a few blocks away from the Pink Pony when Viper turned back to me and said, “Just got word from Hawk that Gary’s car is there, but no lights are on in the building, and it’s too dark to see if they’re inside. Don’t want them going in without backup, so I told them to hold tight until we got there.”
I nodded, then leaned back in my seat and tried to calm my racing heart. I couldn’t imagine what the fuck was going on inside that damn place, but I had a feeling it wasn’t good. I tried to keep my unease in check as we pulled into the Pink Pony’s parking lot. With the power out and no cars in the lot, the club looked completely abandoned. As soon as Lynch parked, we got out of the SUV and rushed over to join Hawk and Shotgun at the back of the building. When we approached, Hawk stepped over to us and said, “Back door is open. Not sure about the front. I didn’t want to take the chance on our friend picking up on the fact that we were here.”
“Have either of you been inside?”
“No,” Shotgun answered. “We were waiting on you.”
Viper motioned his head toward the door as he ordered, “Keep your eyes open. We have no idea what this guy’s got going on in there.”
“Understood.”
With Shotgun in the lead, we all slipped through the back door and started inside the bar. As soon as I saw how dark it was, I immediately regretted cutting the power off. It would’ve been nice to be able to see where the fuck we were going. I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins as Shotgun used his small flashlight to lead us down a long, narrow hallway. When we rounded the corner, we spotted a glimmer of light shining up on one of the stages. There was a faint sound of a song playing, like one would expect to hear from a cellphone or a small radio, but with it being so dark, I couldn’t see much until we got closer. That’s when I spotted Aubrey up on the stage.
She was twirling around the stripper pole completely exposed in nothing but her black lacy panties, and she looked like she was stoned out of her mind. From the moment Aubrey walked into my office, I’d set it in my head that no other man would ever see her like this, and rage pulsed through me when I spotted Gary sitting at one of the tables with a large flashlight in one hand and a gun aimed at Mazie’s head in the other. He was forcing Mazie to go down on him while he watched my Aubrey parade around on the stage.