Page 14 of Merciless Angel
Blaze frowned down at his plate of fries and gravy. “I wasn’t feeling chicken when I ordered. Just give me a few.”
“Go fuck yourself.” I grinned, stuffing another wing in my mouth.
“Dick.” Blaze’s gaze swung over to Daire’s plate. He eyed up the loaded nachos, considering his odds of getting any.
Daire ignored us, absently shoving nachos into his mouth while analyzing the people around us. When Blaze went to help himself to a nacho, Daire flicked his hand away without taking his attention off our surroundings.
We sat there for a solid hour or more. Our guy never showed. Probably laying low after the news article about his drunk driving incident. Maybe he didn’t have a ride now that he’d totaled his car.
“I’m going to ask the bartender if she’s seen him lately. Keep an eye on the door.” Shoving his chair back, Daire left the table, strolling up to the bar.
Blaze took advantage of his absence to scarf down several nachos from his plate. Just to be an ass, I swiped a few of his fries.
“Hands off, asshole. No wings, no fries.” He took a swing at me, making me laugh at his audacity.
I tossed back my beer, draining half the bottle in one go. This attempt was starting to feel like a bust. Although it had only been an hour, I wasn’t in the mood to sit there all night for nothing.
Daire returned from the bar, shaking his head. “She hasn’t seen him recently. She said she’ll shoot me a text if he comes in.”
I tossed some bones onto my plate, wiping my fingers on a napkin. “Figures. He’s probably laying low because of the accident. Should we take off when we’re finished eating?”
I didn’t hear their response to my question. I was too fixated on the man who’d just walked through the door. Motherfucking Brady Rollins. Hadn’t seen him in a while.
Brady and his brother had been involved in a human trafficking ring. They were recruiters who’d tricked, lured, and even kidnapped women for the organization. They’d landed on our radar after a failed attempt to grab a local woman who’d posted their photos on social media.
The local police hadn’t done shit. Knowing those corrupt bastards, they were most likely in on it. We’d gone after the two of them but we’d only nailed Jack, Brady’s brother. Brady had fled the scene, leaving Jack behind.
“Hey, take a look at who just walked in.” I nodded toward Brady who went to the bar for a drink.
Both Daire and Blaze turned to find our lost target flirting with the brunette bartender. Daire’s eyes narrowed. “We’ll never get our hands on him in here. Once he sees us, he won’t leave alone.”
Brady had done a good job staying hidden since we’d killed Jack. I’d assumed that he’d left town. Apparently, he was back.
The way he eyed up the bartender rubbed me the wrong way. Did he see her as a potential victim? The thought was enough to eject me from my seat.
I stood up and left my wings to Blaze as I stalked across to the bar. Maybe I couldn’t kill Brady in a public place with witnesses but I could put some fear into him. If he knew we were still gunning for him, he may go back into hiding. As long as he wasn’t active for his trafficking ring.
Of course we never did find out who was in charge of the organization. They used guys like Jack and Brady to do the grunt work so they could remain behind the scenes.
I tapped Brady on the shoulder. Annoyed at having his conversation interrupted, he turned to face me with an irritated scowl. The bartender breathed a sigh of relief and quickly moved to serve another customer.
Brady’s eyes widened when he saw me. He recovered quickly, schooling his expression into something harder and furious.
“Finally came out of hiding, huh?” I asked, leaning on the bar.
“You think I was hiding?” he scoffed. “From you guys? Give me a break. Actually, I’ve been looking for you cunts.”
Brady drew himself up to his full height in an effort to intimidate. He was still shorter than me. He wore his dark hair short and buzzed along with his shirt sleeves rolled up to show off his array of skull tattoos. Everything about him was a pathetic effort to appear tough. I knew what kind of man he really was though.
“Oh yeah? Well you found us. What can we do for you?” I raised a hand to invite anything he wanted to throw at me.
Daire and Blaze approached, coming to stand next to me. Brady’s tough guy glower faltered at their arrival.
“Did you think you could kill my brother and get away with it? I owe you fucking pricks for that.” Tightly fisting his glass of scotch, Brady took a drink while glaring hard at us over the glass. He seemed wary of taking his gaze off us for even a second.
“Actually, yeah we did.” Daire’s response was cool and unruffled. “You’re next, asshole. We haven’t forgotten about you.”
A vein in Brady’s forehead began to protrude. His face reddened. “You took something from me. I’ll take something from you in return. I’ll make you fuckwads wish you were never born. I owe you pain, and I will deliver.”