When I reached the paperwork for an investigation into missing drugs, I paused and looked up at Doc. “The hospital is already looking at him for the drug thefts we’ve been having?” For several months now, the hospital had come up short on inventory for several barbiturates, opiates, and other controlled substances, as well as heavier drugs that were even more dangerous if not administered correctly. I’d stayed out of it because I knew if I was needed, the sheriff would go to Mac for my help.
He nodded, and I read through the whole report before addressing him again. “Can we use it?”
“Yeah, that was going to be my suggested course. Since he’s already on their radar and you’ve got the access we’ll need.”
Willa gasped as she read the page and shook her head. “How is he getting away with this? It’s despicable! We should go to the hospital board right now.”
Seeing her get all fired up was turning me on, but that would have to wait until we got everything sorted. “Not really how we do things, sweetheart,” I said with a chuckle.
Her cheeks turned pink, and she smiled sheepishly. “Oops. I forgot. But you’ll expose him, right?”
“We’ll make sure he pays and that everyone knows who is responsible,” I confirmed.
“There’s something else,” Scout piped up. I glanced at him, and he lifted his chin at Willa before canting his head toward the bedroom door.
“I’ll just go take a bath,” Willa chirped as she climbed off my lap. Before she could take a single step, I grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her in for a deep kiss. When I was done, she looked dazed and had a dreamy smile on her face.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” She smiled sweetly and practically floated into the bedroom.
“She’s somethin’ else,” Dom noted with a smile.
“Grew up in the life,” I grunted. “Dad’s the VP of Road Warriors. Jack Pope.”
Scout nodded and stretched out his legs, propping them on my coffee table. “Decent guys. We’ve done business with them in the past. Mac and their prez are tight.” He scratched his chin, clearly thinking for a beat, then added, “If I remember right, Pope’s road name is Black Jack.”
“What’s the rest of it?” I asked the VP, changing the subject back to why they were crashing my solitude with Willa.
“Found a money trail,” Doc announced. “Look at the papers stapled together.”
There was a packet in the back, and I pulled it out, looking the information over. Vincent had wired five grand to someone just days before Willa’s mugging. “Who’s the recipient?”
“Barry Pender. A low-level thug who’s been picked up for petty theft, armed robbery, and mugging.”
My eyes narrowed as the pieces fell in place. “Cameras?”
Doc shook his head. “Cameras in that parking lot were spray-painted over earlier in the day, and maintenance hadn’t had a chance to clean them.”
“How do we know it was him?” I didn’t doubt that their conclusion was correct, but we needed the proof to be solid before we handled him with a Glock and a shovel.
“Apparently, he’s been picked up for loitering on and around school property enough times to get him a restraining order. So, we know it’s a familiar spot for him.” Doc gestured to the papers in my hand. “Also got security footage of him at the convenience store down the street fifteen minutes after the incident. And that bank statement shows the exact amount that Vincent wired being deposited in Barry’s account ten minutes later. Plus, the dumbass clearly didn’t think about the fact that wire transfers can be traced.”
Doc paused, and I could tell he was chewing over what he wanted to say next. Scout did it for him. “You should know…from Willa’s description of her attack, I don’t think Barry had any intention of doing anything but making sure she ended up in an ambulance.”
I leaned forward, my body tense as I waited for him to continue.
“But he’s also got a record for sexual assault.”
My hands curled into fists, crunching the papers and photos. I wasn’t sure how I did it, but I managed to keep my cool and not go running off to gut the sick fuck who’d dared to hurt Willa. Instead, I clenched my jaw and gritted out, “What’s the plan?”
Nova bent forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Dom and I are gonna pick them both up and take ’em to one of Dash’s buildings.”
Dash—another Silver Saint—owned a cleaning company that just so happened to have a side business of cleaning up…messy situations. Ones where one of the parties might have fallen on a knife or stepped in front of a bullet. He kept several buildings empty, ones that Hack hid so well no one could ever connect them to him. He had them “cleaned” by his everyday staff regularly to give them the appearance of being used by a business. And they often were…but it was Silver Saints’ business.