“I can drive!” she insists.
“Tick tock,” I remind her that we’re in a hurry.
“Fine,” she huffs before rolling up the window and shutting off the car. As she climbs out of the car with her purse on her shoulder, she tells me, “You better drive fast.”
“Like there’s any other way,” I remark before slapping my helmet on her head and quickly fastening the chin strap. “Hop on and let’s get moving.”
Back at the clubhouse, Charlotte follows me inside. When all the guys see me, they immediately lay down their pool sticks, put away their beers, and head into the chapel.
“Wait here while we meet,” I tell Charlotte.
“Why can’t I come with you?” she asks.
“Because it’s members only allowed through that doorway. That’s the rule.”
“You can’t make an exception? This is serious shit, Roman! Forget rules. You’re the president, and you can make an exception!”
I swear it’s like this woman knows my weakness for her and plans to exploit it in every way possible, including one that is not going to go over well with my men. Although, it would save time since I won’t have to answer all of her questions about what we find out from IT and how we decide to start the search.
“Fine. But you sit down and keep your mouth shut unless you have a reasonable question you feel you have to ask, all right? You can’t be bossy in there, Charlotte. That’s my room. The men take orders from me alone. Got it?”
“Yes,” she answers quietly.
Grabbing up one of the bar stools, I lead the way into the chapel where everyone has already taken their seat and are silently waiting for me.
I can practically hear all of their “What the ever-loving fuck?” thoughts when I sit the stool down next to my chair at the head of the table and a red-faced, tearful Charlotte climbs up on it. She crosses her legs at the knee and then rests her hands in her lap, the picture of obedience even though I have no doubt that she’ll be inserting her two cents loudly before this meeting is through.
“Everyone, this is Charlotte Newsom,” I announce when I pull my chair out and take a seat. “She understands that she is here under incredible circumstances as a friend of the MC, and that she will be seen and not heard while we discuss an urgent crisis in our city.”
“What crisis?” Abel asks.
“Give me just a second,” I say before I upload the surveillance video to an email and forward it to every man at the table. “I just sent you a video of Tessa…” I look to Charlotte to fill me in.
“Oh, um, her name is Tessa Singleton.”
“Tessa is Charlotte’s best friend, a bride-to-be who spent the week here with her friends. She was last seen on Ocean Boulevard, as you’re about to witness for yourself.”
I give them all time to open the file and watch. It’s obvious when everyone gets to the important part as they each let out various curses.
While they’re digesting the events, I call up Danny and put him on speaker.
“Roman. I was just about to call you.”
“Good,” I reply. “You’re on speaker in a meeting with all the guys and Tessa’s friend, Charlotte.”
“All right, so here’s where we’re at,” Danny starts. “We’ve talked to our contacts at the police station, and they refuse to share the video with the public until they complete their investigation, which is complete and utter bullshit. That’s why we’re ready to send it out to social media right now if you give us the green light. I’ve got our number here on the post for anyone with information to call.”
“We’re ready,” I instruct him. “Any objections?” I ask the guys as a courtesy, not that I really give a shit if they object.
“Do it,” Verek says, looking a little green.
“You okay, man?” I ask him.
“She was…I talked to her. We were dancing, right before,” he says as he stares at the screen of his phone.
“I know,” I tell him. “Danny, get the video out now. What else?”
“Like I mentioned before, we know it’s a North Carolina license plate, LVA eighteen-eighty-three.”
“That’s plenty to go off of. Have you run a search?” I ask.
“We have. The van is registered to Hessler’s Flooring Company in New Bern, and no surprise, it was reported stolen earlier this week.”
“Does Hessler have any video or anything showing who took it?”
“No. But we’re attempting to access some of the cameras in their neighborhood and here in the city to see if we can figure out where it went.” By ‘accessing’, I know he really means hacking. At this point, that may be all we can depend on since it was late and dark last night, probably flying under the radar as far as witnesses go.
“Anything else?”
“The four suspects appear to be white males in their twenties or thirties at most. The passenger has a black dagger tattoo on his lower right arm that he had resting in the open window. We’ll share the image with some tattoo artists in North and South Carolina to see if anyone recognizes their handiwork. If so, we may be able to get a name.”
“Great work, Danny. Keep at it and let us know if you get any calls with leads. Until then, the guys and I, along with our hired staff, will split up and start on either end of the city, checking every hotel, every residence for that van until we get more specifics from you. Email or text all the Kings with any updates.”
“Will do,” he says before ending the call.
“Everyone got that?” I ask the men at the table who all give a solemn nod. “Then divide up who is going where and get started. Nolan, contact all of our employees. Shut down businesses while they get out to search.”
“Shut them down?” Nolan repeats in surprise.
“Shut them down. It’s the off-season, and we can afford the temporary closures. Right now we need more eyes
