Lynch and Hawk went over to Miller, and as soon as they had him in a standing position, Viper ordered, “Check his pockets. See if you can find his keys.”
Hawk’s face twisted into a grimace as he shoved his hand down in Miller’s front pocket. He dug around for a moment, then pulled out a set of keys and tossed them over to Viper.
Once he’d put them in his pocket, Viper opened the door, and Hawk and Lynch ushered Miller out into the hall. They hadn’t gotten far when Country came running over.
“Whoa, wait a gat dayum second.” Using his body as a shield, he quickly positioned himself between Lynch and Hawk, making it difficult for anyone to see the lifeless body they were carrying down the hall. You couldn’t miss the irritation in Country’s voice as he asked, “There a reason this shit couldn’t wait until we closed?”
Hawk pressed forward as he told him, “Wouldn’t be doing it if there wasn’t.”
I watched as they disappeared down the hall, then turned my attention back to the bloody mess I had to clean up. I reached down and took my hazmat suit out of my duffle bag, and as I slipped it on, Viper asked, “What are you doing?”
“Can’t exactly leave it like this.” I started prepping my sprayer as I told him, “Last thing you need is the cops snooping around and finding something that connects your girl to Miller.”
“You got a point there.” Viper took a look around, studying the mess at hand as he asked, “What can we do to help?”
“You up for a little remodel?”
“Whatever we need to do.”
“Get the chair out and pull up this carpet, then burn them. That’ll cut down on the cleanup time, and then, I can get to Miller.”
“You got it.”
Viper called in a couple of his prospects, and half an hour later, the room had been torn apart and was now completely void of any biological remains. Viper and Hawk followed me out to the van and helped me stow away my equipment. Once we had it sorted, I turned to Viper and said, “I’ll need Hawk or one of the boys to follow me in Miller’s car.”
“Hawk will go.”
“He’ll need to wear a suit and gloves.”
“That really necessary?”
“Can’t take a chance on him contaminating the car with evidence.”
“I hadn’t considered that.” Viper thought for a moment, then asked, “Any idea where you’ll leave him?”
“I’m thinking in an alley down by the strip. It would fit with the whole car jacking thing, but I’ll have to find a spot without any street cams.”
“I’ll have Menace find you a spot. When y’all get close, check your phone for the exact location.”
“Sounds good.”
I got in my van, closed the door, and was about to back up when Viper shouted, “Hey, hold up!”
When he got to the van, I rolled down the window and asked, “Yeah?”
“I forgot to give you this.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a couple of sheets of paper. “This is everything Menace found on the girl. Looks like she was on the up and up until about five years ago, then vanished without a trace.”
“I’m guessing Antonio had something to do with that.”
“I was thinking the same.”
“Appreciate the information.”
I tucked the papers under my visor, then pulled around front. As I’d hoped, Hawk was waiting for me in Miller’s car and followed as I whipped out of the parking lot and headed downtown. It was getting late. In another half hour, it would be midnight, so traffic was sparse, and pedestrians were few and far between.
I checked my phone, and just as Viper had promised, he’d sent the location of a safe place for us to stage Miller’s untimely death. I followed the GPS down Music Row, then into a dark alley. Before getting out, I checked the area for any cameras and was pleased to find that Menace had pulled through. There were no cameras and no pedestrians in sight.
As soon as I got out, Hawk followed suit and met me at the back of the van. “How do you wanna do this thing?”