Tartlet (Turf Wars #4) Read online

  “Risky,” Riggs murmurs. “Trustin’ a cop. I think we can get this done without him. Your dad isn’t goin’ to squeal, when he’s goin’ down for murder. They ain’t goin’ to give a fuck how it came about. We’ll just be careful.”

  “So you’ll do it?” I say, holding my breath.

  “If you think your brother won’t come to the party, then yeah, we’ll do it. Didn’t want to get our hands messy, but you’re right, this is probably the better way to go,” Riggs agrees.

  I look to Remy. “What about you?”

  He nods. “I’ll happily bring that fucker down. After what he did, I want to see him suffer.”

  “Well, then that’s that.” Ramona claps. “Now, how do we get him?”

  “That’s where I come in,” I say, grinning. “I can give you all the access points to that house. I used to sneak out all the time. I knew where the cameras were and where I could get past him without him noticing. We can get him out without anyone noticing.”

  “Possibly,” Adan adds. “But the problem is, if we do get caught, it won’t look good. He can’t stay in that house forever, he has to come out.”

  I purse my lips. “He might, but he has a full set up there and staff to do everything for him. If he thinks he’s in danger, he won’t come out.”

  “She has a point,” Remy says. “I say we bring down a staff member and get in that way. You got anyone who might let us in without a fight?”

  I grin. “Actually, yes. I do. There is an old guy who works the grounds. He hates my father. Despises him. But he gets paid well for what he does and he has been there forever. He loves me. He’d help us, I know he would.”

  “What are the chances you know how to contact him?”

  I wink. “Oh, they’re good.”

  “So, we’ve got a plan.” Riggs claps, standing up. “We’ll finish up today, meet at Remy’s later and go over everything. Make sure we’re all on the same page.”

  “No,” Poppy says. “No, not Remy’s. If that’s where Gabby is staying, there is a good chance they’re listening in. No, we need to go somewhere the cops won’t be.”

  Riggs grins. “I guess we’re havin’ a cookout tonight.”

  “Fuck yeah.” Adan grins. “Party time.”

  Oh boy.

  This should be good.

  I GO INTO THE STATION in the afternoon and check in. Sheryl asks me a few more questions and I’m appointed a lawyer who sits down with me for hours and goes over everything. She seems to think we have a good case, considering outside of what I had on me, there is nothing to indicate I had anything to do with Constance. They’ve seized my laptop and techs have found zero communication ever made with her. Not to mention, the night of her disappearance, I had made a phone call in this area at the time she would have been leaving that party.

  So, that’s something.

  She is confident we have something to fight.

  I’m hoping we won’t have to. I’m just hoping one way or another, we’ll find a way to sort this out so I never have to see those prison bars again.

  The party at the clubhouse is a genius idea. Not only is the noise so full on that if anyone is listening, they’ll be able to pick up nothing, but it’s in my radar so I can go and not set my little friend off so the police come rushing over to arrest me. Win win, really.

  Remy and I sit at the bar for a while, having a drink. The sexual tension between the two of us is out of this world. He can’t keep his hands off me and I won’t lie, I’m okay with it. His mouth on mine, his hands on my body, it feels fucking incredible. So does all the sex we’ve been having. The man doesn’t have an off button, and oh boy, my body knows about it.

  “Let’s talk,” Riggs says, approaching us. “Out back, in the shed.”

  I nod and the two of us stand, following him out back to the shed. It’s quieter here, but still loud enough that anyone trying to run interference wouldn’t get much. I sit down at the table, and glance around at everyone in the room. They all give me smiles, well, all the women do. All the men give me head nods which, in biker language, is basically the same thing.

  “So, let’s go over this,” Riggs says, beer in hand. “We’ve got a plan to get in, we’re meetin’ the old guy tomorrow and we’ll hopefully have his cooperation. In the meantime, we need to come up with an idea that’ll work. A way to get your dad out without causing so much as one thing to fall out of place.”

  “That’s easy.” I shrug. “Drugs.”

  “Drugs?” Hank grins. “That’s your answer.”

  “Ah, yes, it is. Drugs will work because Becky can put them in his drink. When she’s there, she’s forever getting him a drink. It won’t be suspicious at all. Then, all you have to do is wait for him to pass out and take him.”

  “What about your brother?” Riggs asks. “Isn’t he always there.”

  “He can go down too.” I shrug. “If they’re both there, she can drug them both. If you do it late enough, all the staff will be gone, you can just use Peter’s access to get in and out, and his truck so it doesn’t look suspicious. He’s always coming and going; he stays in a little cottage up the road. It won’t be suspicious to see his car around. If you park it out of sight, the cameras won’t even pick it up.”

  “Fuck, you’ve really thought this through.” Remy nods. “Fuckin’ impressive, babe.”

  “Babe.” Eve grins. “Oh la la.”

  Remy shoots her a look. “Chill, woman, we’re plotting an elaborate plan here.”

  She laughs. “I bet you are.”

  I grin and shake my head. “So, that about covers it?”

  “I’ll get Becky on board,” Beckett says. “She trusts me. I’ll give her the drugs.”

  Poppy’s lips tighten, but Beckett reaches out and takes her chin, pulling her close to whisper something that makes her smile.

  “I’ll talk to Peter,” I say. “He trusts me.”

  Hugh nods. “I’ll get a space organized for us to bring him and hold him, somewhere we won’t be found.”

  “Well, then we’ve got a fuckin’ plan,” Riggs says. “Gabriella, you won’t be around when we’ve got him. Don’t want you causin’ a problem. You might not like him, but he is your father and you won’t like what we do to him.”

  “Trust me,” I mutter. “I won’t be shedding a single tear for that man.”

  “Still, can’t have you near it.”

  “Can I at least say something to him, please?” I ask.

  Remy nods. “Yeah, you’ll be gettin’ the chance to say what you gotta say. You deserve that.”

  Riggs nods in agreeance.

  “That’s it then.” Adan slaps the table. “Let’s get back to drinkin’.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Beckett stands, pulling Poppy and her cute little rounding belly up.

  “You wanna go back to the club?” Remy murmurs into my ear, his hand running down my spine.

  I look to him. “Oh, hell no. You know where I want to go.”

  He grins.

  I grin.

  Yep, it’s on.

  16

  “CAN WE TALK?”

  I stare at Becky, standing at Remy’s front door. She’s got a package in her hand, food by the smell coming from it. She has two coffees in the other. I stare at the contents, then back up. I don’t know what she could possibly want to talk to me about, but I do know that right now, we need her on our side so I have to let her in. If she turns, I’m screwed.

  I push the door open and step aside. She walks in, placing the food down on the coffee table and then turning, handing me a coffee. “Soy, just like you enjoy,” she tells me.

  I take it. “Thanks.”

  “Look,” she says, sitting down, “I’ll get right to the point. I know we don’t get along, I’m not going to pretend like this is some magical fix and, just like the movies, we’ll come together and be best friends. I’m not stupid, we’ll never have that relationship, and that’s okay, but you’re still my sister and I’m not okay with y
ou going down for this. I need you to understand that.”

  I take a sip of the coffee. “I get it.”

  “Do you, though? I feel like you’re suspicious and you have every right to be, but I’m not working against you, Gabriella. I’m here because our dad did something horrible, and he needs to be punished for that. I can’t live with it any longer and him pinning it on you was enough for me to realize whose side I need to be on.”

  “I’m sorry if I don’t completely trust what you’re saying,” I tell her. “It’s not that I believe you’re working for Dad, it’s that you can’t stand me and I don’t know why it would even matter to you if I wasn’t around.”

  She looks a little hurt by that statement. “Because you’re still family, and you haven’t done anything to deserve that. I might not want to go on shopping sprees and do our hair together, but I sure as hell don’t want you sitting in a prison cell.”

  Makes sense.

  “Look, when this is over, I’ll thank you and believe what you’re saying, but right now, I don’t trust anyone. My own father just pinned a murder on me. A god damned murder.”

  “I know, that’s understandable. I wouldn’t expect you to. I just wanted to say that to you. I needed to say it.”

  “I appreciate it. What’s in the bag?”

  She smiles a little. “Pizza scrolls.”

  I nod. “You have paid attention, here I was thinking you were too busy wrapped up in your own little world to notice anything about me.”

  “I notice more than you think.”

  I take a pizza scroll out and bite into the cheesy goodness. My god, it’s delicious. It’s just what I needed.

  “Thank you, for this,” I say. “It’s nice of you to bring it to me.”

  “It’s the least I can do.”

  We sit in awkward silence for a minute, and then she stands. “Well, I better not keep you. I just wanted to tell you that. Let me know when you need me to play my part. I will play it, Gabby. I promise you that.”

  She hasn’t called me Gabby since we were kids.

  It kind of makes my heart feel a little funny.

  She turns and walks to the door. “Hey, Becky?” I call.

  She glances back at me.

  “Thanks. Really.”

  She gives me a small nod and then she’s gone.

  “You goin’ to share those fuckin’ delicious smellin’ things?” Remy says, walking into the room. “Didn’t want to interrupt your deep and meaningful but I saw the way you were stuffin’ them into your mouth and knew if I didn’t interrupt soon, I was missin’ out.”

  I laugh. “I wasn’t stuffing them.”

  “Babe, you were stuffin’ them. I’ve never seen a mouth stretch so wide. For a lady, you sure as shit know how to eat.”

  I grunt. “Who told you I was a lady?”

  He chuckles. “You’re right, wrong choice of words. Now give me one.”

  I snatch the paper bag off the table and clutch it close to my chest. “What exactly do I get if I give you one? These are pretty darn good you know.”

  He leans in. “Well, I’ll need somethin’ sweet after it.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Your pussy has been tastin’ awful sweet lately.”

  “Fine, you win, but it better be a good ten-minute lick,” I say, shoving the bag at him.

  He winks at me. “Fifteen, and there better be two in here.”

  I take a bite of mine, watching as he pulls out only one. “Fuck. You ate three?”

  “How do you know there was four in there?”

  “They come in packs of four.”

  I give him a guilty grin. “Well, I hope you enjoy that one. They’re super nice.”

  “I cut my time down to five minutes for that little trick.”

  I stand, leaning over him with a smile. “I can do a lot in five minutes, that’s at least two orgasms.”

  “Fuck. Two minutes then.”

  “A deal’s a deal. See you in the bedroom, honey bunch.”

  I turn and saunter away to the sound of his laughter.

  Oh.

  I like this one.

  I like this one a lot.

  “ARE YOU SURE ABOUT this, Pete?” I ask the kind old man who has worked with my father for as long as I could possibly imagine.

  Pete smiles at me, his eyes crinkling at the sides, his warm brown eyes kind. He’s always been like a grandfather to me, he has always given me treats and spoiled me. He knew I was different, the outcast, and he always wanted to make sure I was included.

  “I’d do anything for you, Gabby. Your father is a bad man, but what he’s done, that’s something I can’t ignore. I’ve pushed aside a lot, but not this. You’re not going to prison. I won’t allow it.”

  My heart swells. “You have no idea what you’re doing for me.”

  He reaches out, his wrinkled hand closing around mine. “I’d do anything for you. I won’t let this happen.”

  “Thank you,” I whisper.

  “So, we’re all clear on what’s going to happen,” Riggs says, interrupting, but nicely. “Tonight we’ll take Pete’s truck and go in, Becky will have drugged both your brother and your father, and we’ll just get him out of there. In and out, as quickly as possible.”

  I nod, Pete nods, everyone nods.

  “When we get him, we’ll be taking him to a location that’s a good distance out of town. Somewhere he won’t be easily found.”

  I take a shaky breath in. This is really happening.

  It is really going to go down.

  I hope to hell that this goes to plan. If it doesn’t, it’s not going to look good for me.

  “It’ll be okay,” Pete says, squeezing my hand. “I promise you.”

  “I just don’t want you to get into trouble. You’ve been part of our family for a long time and if Dad finds out ...”

  Pete chuckles. “Don’t you worry about me. I might be old but I can handle your father.”

  “We’ve got him covered,” Remy tells me, voice rough. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

  I trust them, I do, but I also know how powerful my father is. If he so much as suspects something is going on, this will all go to hell.

  Still, it’s the only thing we’ve got.

  The rest of the day seems to drag on, probably because we’re all so anxiously waiting for what’s about to come. I know as well as everyone else that tonight could go one of two ways—it either goes well or it ends in disaster. I can’t handle disaster, but I can’t handle something happening to Pete because we included him in this plan.

  Guilt grips my chest the entire day, and when we all meet at Remy’s later that night, I’m pacing, feeling every type of anxious a person can feel.

  “Hey,” Remy says, walking up to me and pulling me closer to him. “It’s goin’ to be okay, babe. We’ve got this, you gotta trust us.”

  “I do trust you, it’s my father I don’t trust. What if he doesn’t talk? We can’t keep him forever. Then what? What happens if he just doesn’t break? How will you deal with that? It could go wrong, god, it could go so wrong.”

  “You’re right, it could, but once again, you gotta trust us.”

  I exhale, closing my eyes.

  “We’re ready,” Riggs says, coming into the room with Pete by his side.

  Adan, who is closest to Pete in height, is wearing his uniform. A cap pulled over his head should eliminate the potential for a camera picking him up. I’ve given them exact directions in and out of the house and told them where every camera is. Pete has also ensured they can get around it. The only camera that will pick them up is the one when they drive in, which is why Adan is dressed the way he is.

  “You’re sure you know where the cameras are?” I ask, nervously.

  “You’ve gone over it a thousand times,” Riggs answers. “We’ve got this. We won’t get caught.”

  God.

  “Has Becky text yet?” I fumble my hands together nervously.


  “She text fifteen minutes ago. They both drank the drinks. By the time we get there, they’ll be out. She will be guiding us through the house, too, so we won’t run into any trouble or cameras. If, for some reason, they don’t drop out, she’ll let us know. It’s goin’ to be fine, Gabby.”

  I nod and Remy pulls me close, pressing a kiss to my forehead before joining the guys. Two trucks are going to follow Adan and wait just down the road, in case of trouble. Riggs is going in the truck with Adan, lying down on the backseat.

  God, I hope this works.

  Please god, let this work.

  17

  IT FEELS LIKE IT’S taking forever.

  An hour passes slowly, so god damned slowly. Eve, Ramona, and Poppy try to distract me, but I can’t think, I can’t do anything but stare at my phone, waiting for a call. A call to tell me that they’ve got my father and everything is going to be fine.

  That call hasn’t come yet.

  “Hey,” Eve says, “it’s going to be okay. I know you’re nervous, but come and have a drink, try to unwind.”

  I look up at her, then exhale and go over, sitting on the sofa, phone still in my hand. She hands me a vodka, and I drink it, swallowing it down so fast it burns, but the burn is a small distraction, and one I so desperately need right now.

  “The guys will sort this out,” Ramona says, giving me a small smile. “They’re good at what they do. They’re going to get out of there.”

  “What if they don’t?” I whisper. “What if they do and then they can’t get him to talk?”

  “He’ll talk, I’m sure of it,” Poppy says. “Nobody is that strong.”

  “You don’t know my father.”

  She gives me a sympathetic smile.

  My phone rings.

  Well, technically, it’s a burner phone because nobody is going to have a conversation like this on my phone, one that’s likely bugged.

  I just about drop it I’m so frantically trying to answer. I see Rigg’s name flash across the screen, and I put it on speaker the second I’ve accepted it.

  “Well?” I say, my voice two octaves higher than it should be.

  “We’ve got him. Took a bit longer than expected for the drugs to take effect, but they eventually did. Becky led us through, no camera in sight. We got in and we got out, didn’t run into any staff. Everything went well. We’re taking him to our secured location. We’ll be home later. You girls need to get some rest. Everything is going to be fine.”