Beyond the Cut (Sinner's Tribe Motorcycle Club #2)(65)

*

“I can’t believe you dragged us here. Jagger is going to go ballistic when he finds out we’re meeting with Bunny.” Arianne followed Dawn through Sticky’s Pool Hall, weaving through the crowds milling around the vast sea of pool tables. Banks followed behind Arianne, growling at anyone who crossed his path. He’d come along as muscle and he was doing a bang-up job at playing the part.

”I can’t believe Cade agreed to this.” He side-stepped a trip of college girls, and fell back in line.

“I didn’t give him a choice,” Dawn said over her shoulder. “And I have a feeling he wasn’t really paying attention. But Bunny knows everyone. He’ll know the private investigator in the video and through him, he may be able to find out who was on the other side of the camera. I can let the Sinners bring the girls home through force or politics, but I’ll always be looking over my shoulder. This way, no one will question my ability to look after my children.”

“Is Bunny gonna drag them to court and make them talk, too?” Banks asked. “Or you got another plan? No way is that PI gonna hold up his hand and say he handed you a bag of crack and then lied to the court for money.”

“I’m working on that part. I might need some help to convince him.” She skirted around a table and headed for the back where it wasn’t as busy. Located in the basement of an ancient brick building on the far edge of Conundrum, Sticky’s was famous for its pristine tables, local beer, and sticky floors. Dawn had never been in the bar when it was less than packed and she couldn’t believe her luck when she’d spotted an empty table at the back when they walked in the door.

“You’ll need a gun, maybe a knife, and a whole load of Sinners to make him show his face in court.”

Dawn staked her claim on an empty pool table, tossing her jacket on the padded bumper. Yeah, she knew her plan had holes, but secretly, she was hoping Bunny might have some dirt on the PI, or his accomplice, that would make the second part of her task that much easier. If not, she would have to deal with her violence issues and ask for Cade’s help because nothing was going to keep her away from her girls.

“Why didn’t you meet with Bunny before?” Arianne ran an expert hand over the pool table. Viper had given her a pool cue for her third birthday, and she was now the best player in the MC. None of the Sinners would play against her because of the shame of possible defeat by a woman, so the lure of a good match at Sticky’s had been enough to convince her to help Dawn out, despite the bad memories she had of Bunny’s dungeon.

“I was just so desperate to be done with this world, I pushed everything away. Even when I brought you here last year, I didn’t really think about how I knew Bunny or what he could do for me. I just thought about helping you.”

“And now I get to return the favor.”

“Don’t like pool,” Banks muttered as he stared at the table. “Don’t like Sticky’s. Don’t like spending my night off playing pool at Sticky’s just to keep you outta trouble.”

“You love pool,” Dawn countered. “I know for a fact you spend hours playing with the bouncers after the bar closes at night. They say you win back all the money you paid them for the night so they have to keep working.”

“Gonna fire them when I get back to the bar.” Banks stared down at the empty table and shook his head. “Crooked. Felt’s not been looked after. Cues are bent. Balls are probably weighted.”

Arianne laughed. “Well then, since you know everything that’s wrong, I guess you won’t mind playing against me. I promise to go easy on you.” She grabbed a cue and a block of chalk. “We’ll have a quick game until Dawn needs us. How much do you want to put down? I’m thinking of buying a new bike and I’m a couple grand short.”

“Don’t like playing against sharks,” Banks said, but he took a cue and the faintest smile curved his lips.

“I’ll go let him know I’m here.” Dawn left them and headed over to the bar. Back when she’d been a dancer, Bunny paid Jimmy a small fortune for Dawn’s exclusive attention at the Pink Cherry dance club, and although Jimmy didn’t allow her to have sex with her clients—that privilege was his alone—he did allow almost anything else. Bunny took full advantage. However, he was always respectful and civil, often chatting with her after a dance despite the extra cost, and they forged an understanding. Sometimes Dawn would break the rules. In return, she earned a mark in Bunny’s book.

Tonight she had come to collect.

She recognized the tall, broad-shouldered bartender from the last time she’d visited Bunny’s pool hall with Arianne and shoved a fifty-dollar bill across the counter. That night she’d left with Cade and wound up in his bed for the second time. He made her come four times in as many hours and then she sneaked out before daybreak, ashamed of herself for breaking her own rules about one-night stands, but more afraid that if she stayed she’d break them again.

“I’m looking for Bunny. Tell him Dee wants to see him.”

The bartender pocketed the bill without looking up. “He knows you’re here.”

Dawn gestured for Banks and Arianne to join her, but when they reached the counter, the bar phone buzzed and the bartender put out a warning hand.

“One second.” He answered the phone, listened, and then hung up without saying a word. “Leave Jagger’s bitch and the muscle outside.”