Page 38 of Commit

Chapter Twelve

Hudson

“Anything?”

I look up at Atlas as he walks in and shake my head. “Not yet. I’ve looked into the ones we’ve identified, even the ones Kenzo already cleared, and I can’t find any links to any of us.”

Atlas walks over to the minibar and pours us both a glass of whiskey before handing me one and sitting in the chair behind his desk. I stay on the sofa with my notes spread out around me.

“What about the guy with the duffle bag?”

“His name’s Mace Downy. Runs the new gym on the other side of town.”

“That explains who he is, not what he was doing in my club with a gym bag.”

“He teaches some classes at the Y for underprivileged families?—”

“What kind of classes?”

“Self-defense for the women and kids, boxing, and shit for the older kids trying to avoid joining a gang.”

Atlas nods in approval, and I continue, “He supplies the equipment. He brought the bag into the club because the last time he left it in the trunk of his car, it was stolen, and that shit isn’t cheap to replace when you’re doing the classes for free.”

“His car was broken into here?”

“No, the bar was around the corner, but he didn’t want to take any risks. Apparently, Dec on security checked the bag before he entered to make sure there were no weapons and gave him the all-clear.”

“And nobody thought to ask Dec before?”

“His wife went into labor. He’s been at the hospital with her. There were some complications, but both mom and baby are okay now.”

Atlas nods. “Tell Dec to take a couple of weeks with full pay.”

I nod, my lips twitching as I look back down at my notes. I can’t exactly say Atlas has gone soft since marrying Ivy and having Iris, but the man does have a soft spot for children. He loves his wife, and he adores his little girl.

“This Mace guy, he come here before?”

“Twice. He was seeing one of the strippers.” I shuffle through the papers beside me to check the name. “Mary-Ellen,” I say, looking up at Atlas.

At his frown, I chuckle.

“Diamond.”

“Ah. Well, Diamond knows better than to bring her boyfriends around here. We have that rule for a reason.”

“I know, and I’ve told her you’ll want to see her before she goes on tonight. She said she only had him come here because he made sure she got home safely. She’s been having some problems with her baby daddy.”

“What kind of problems?”

“Apparently, he’s been harassing her. Running his mouth and using his fists while threatening to take her boys from her.”

Atlas growls. “She here now?”

I nod. “She came in an hour ago with a few of the others to work on some choreography. Whatever the fuck that means.”

He pulls out his cell phone, presses a button on the screen, and waits for whoever he’s calling to answer. “Send Diamond up to my office.” He hangs up and takes a swig of his whiskey.

“You talk to this Mace guy?”