“What?” I asked her with dry impudence. She shook her head. We both knew what I’d been doing, but that wasn’t what she was there for, so she let it slide.
“Is Venom here?” she asked as she crossed her arms. She cocked a perfectly-shaped eyebrow at me as she waited for my reply. She was pretty in a dark exotic way, but I wouldn’t touch her with a ten foot pole.
“Maybe. Why are you asking?” I insolently answered her with a question without making a move to get up.
“If he’s here, go get him. I told your little gate guard I was looking for him. I want him or no one. Don’t make me get a warrant for that shit you were just smoking,” she drawled as she rolled her eyes. I sat there, still just staring at her. She didn’t intimidate or scare me. When I was sure she got the message, I slowly rose and looked down at her as I nonchalantly stuck the half-smoked blunt in the pocket of my cut.
“Wait here,” I said before I turned my back on her and went inside.
The night we’d rescued Angel’s sister Jasmine, his son, and Lynda, I’d still been a prospect. It had been my job to wait out with the SUV, so I hadn’t been part of the actual discovery and rescue. In a way, I was kinda glad. I’d seen my share of sick, sad shit. Not seeing all those women crammed in a room was a blessing as far as I was concerned. Santiago had been one of the law enforcement officers who transported the women away from the scene.
I’d only seen her from a distance when she walked over to talk to Venom before Phoenix torched the place and we bounced. I guess she had some kind of agreement with Venom that night. As a prospect, I hadn’t asked questions.
Fuck, who would believe a human trafficking ring had been using central Iowa as a warehouse?
I shook off the depressing thoughts. Hell, I’d almost forgotten about fucking Officer Santiago until she pulled up. But why the fuck was she here now?
“Twelve’s here. Where’s Venom?” I asked Blade who was watching TV. He thumbed over his shoulder toward the office. Then he, Kicker, and Angel got up and went toward the front to see what was going on. I realized too late that I should’ve warned Angel who it was. Rumor had it, he had dated Santiago briefly before joining the club. Though no one said anything in front of him, they said that once upon a time, Angel had a brief thing with her. I wondered if what the guys said was true and she still carried a torch for him.
I knocked on the frame of the open door, and my president raised his head from the contract he was looking over. Raptor sat in one of the chairs, watching me to see what I had to say.
“Did you get rid of her?” Venom asked with a scowl, obviously aware of her arrival, since the prospect let her in.
“Not a chance,” I snorted.
“Goddammit, what does she fucking want?” he grumbled.
“Wants to talk to you and only you.”
His head dropped for a second, then he looked up with a tired gaze. “Jesus. She didn’t give you any idea why she’s here?”
“She wouldn’t say,” I replied.
“I don’t have time for this shit,” he grumbled. He and Raptor stood up, and I moved to the side for them to pass, then followed behind. They pushed out into the sunlight of the bright late-winter day.
“To what do I owe this visit, officer?” Venom asked as he crossed his arms.
“Detective,” she corrected. Venom huffed a laugh, and I heard him mutter under his breath, “Cop’s a cop.”
“Look, that didn’t answer my question,” he said, then cocked his brow as he waited. Santiago cast a glance over her shoulder.
“I’m not here to argue with you, Venom. I need your help, but it’s not really for me. Christ, I have my hands full right now.” She glanced at the rest of us standing around.
“You can speak in front of them or you can get off our property,” Venom told her point blank. Her nostrils flared in annoyance, but she gave a curt nod.
“What do you know about the bodies that have been found around the county over the past six months?” she demanded.
Venom frowned and lifted his chin. “What are you implying? You think that shit’s us? Are you fucking kidding me?” He snorted in disgust. That wasn’t our MO. We cleaned up our messes, and I had a feeling Santiago knew that.
“No, I didn’t really think that, but there are some that do. I just know that you have your ear to the ground and you have contacts. I thought if you’d heard anything, it would be helpful in tracking down this twisted fucking serial killer someone set loose on us,” she sneered in disgust.
“We’re not cops or rats,” Venom spat.
“I get it, but this is different. Surely you wouldn’t protect someone who would do this kind of shit,” Santiago argued.
“I didn’t say that,” Venom ground out. They simply stared at each other for a few moments.
Obviously, they hadn’t gotten any closer to catching whoever was responsible for the murders that had happened over the past six or seven months. It was disgusting, and she was right, it was twisted that they left their victims like that. We stayed out of that shit, though. We had enough to do with our own housecleaning.