Bones was heading our way. He kissed Harper on the lips and greeted everyone in the group. “Hi Mia. Nice to finally meet you. I’m Bones, the president of the club. I’ve heard good things about you. I want to thank you for getting rid of that pesky detective for Numbers. Great job.” He shook her hand.
Mia nodded. “No problem. It’s what I do,” she replied matter-of-factly.
“Still, pretty impressive. I have to head out for a minute, but I will be back shortly. Nice to meet you again, Mia.”
“Nice to meet you too. Thanks, Bones.”
We carried on talking as Bones walked out and Coyote sauntered in. He looked to have a girl with him and I held my hand up from the bar so he could see me.
He grinned and gave me the same greeting. The club was in its usual swing with people coming and going.
“So how about this dart game, ladies? We can do best of four.” I rubbed my hands together as I looked at Hawk. “Me and Hawk against you three. We’ll give you the advantage,” I tapped him on the chest. I wanted Mia to see there was no need to feel we were a threat as a club. That we weren’t like the Devil Riders.
“They will still beat us. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hawk droned as he drained the last of his beer and raised his hand to Ink for another one.
“Don’t be a spoilsport, Hawk. You’re on my side, remember that.” I growled with a grin on my face.
The girls were cracking up at my antics and everyone was having a chilled, fun time. There were good vibes in the club as chatter and music from the surround sound played filled the room. Mia was making quick work of her cocktail and, from what I saw, loosening up.
“I’m definitely down to play,” she said.
“I’m in,” Naomi quipped.
“Me too,” Harper added.
We walked over to the darts board. You could see the markings in the rubber from the number of times the bullseye and surrounding perimeter had been hit. I collected the darts stuck on the board and handed them to the ladies.
The next sound stopped me dead in my tracks.
A blood-curdling scream rang out from the bathroom, like a wailing siren. The music playing wasn’t so loud that the sickening sound couldn’t be heard.
My instincts kicked in as I jogged to the bathroom to see a lady shaking like a leaf in the wind, her hands trembling.
“The door was open, there’s a man in there. He’s dead. He’s not breathing!” Tears streamed down the blonde’s face as her lip quivered due to the sight she’d seen.
Through the opened door, I could see a bearded man’s body slumped over the toilet bowl. A trickle of blood beaded around his head and a plastic syringe lying next to the man’s arm. My whole body tensed up as the rest of the group followed behind me.
“It’s going to be all right. Can you step to the side?” I spoke as calmly as possible, even though my heart was hammering in my chest as I approached the body. I bent down and checked for a pulse.
Naomi, Mia and Bear were at the door watching.
The body was clammy, and no beat was there. Not even a faint one.
“Holy crap! What’s going on here? Who is this guy?” Hawk asked as he moved closer.
I looked closer at the body not wanting to move it. I pinched my fingers together at my temple. “I have no idea, but this isn’t a good look, Hawk. I don’t know where the hell he came from either.” I was scanning the man, his pants were tattered at the bottom and his feet were bare and soiled with mud. He smelled pretty rank as well. The stench combined with the sight of blood was freaking me out a little bit, but I held it together. It wasn’t like I hadn’t witnessed something similar in the past.
“You got that right, we can’t move him. Let him stay there. We have to call the cops. This is crazy,” Hawk claimed.
The commotion caused people to swarm towards the hallway to see what was going on as I waved everybody back.
Mia’s eyes were blinking rapidly. “He’s right, step away from the body. Don’t touch him,” she commanded. She looked visibly shaken as she wrapped her arms around herself. She moved through the group back to the main bar.
I wished she didn’t have to see this. It didn’t bode well for the start of our relationship. This was the last thing I wanted to be dealing with on a Friday night. I stood up and took action. We couldn’t leave the guy in the bathroom, exposed like this.
Ink rushed in from the bar with a white sheet he must have taken from the storeroom. “Here, put this on top of him to cover him up.” He handed it across to me.
Naomi stood to the side with her hands covering her mouth at the scene.