"Came upon? Do I dare ask how that happened?"
Layne grinned. "Maybe that"s just one of those things we don"t disclose for your protection, Boss."
"Okay, so what did you come across? Can you tell me that?" he asked as he leaned against the table and waited for them to offer him some kind of information.
"Money. Lots of it," Jagger told him. "The thing with this guy though, they call him "Money Bags" at the club because he"s always rollin" in the dough."
"Yeah, but he lives in a very modest house in a very modest neighborhood," Layne picked up the story. "Let"s just say we know that he also has financials from the school board and a drawer full of money. Let"s also just say I have some serial numbers from that money. If I give you said serial numbers, can you run them?"
Rooster liked these two. They were as smart as Liam and Tyler, and they covered themselves well. "What"s your thoughts on it?"
"Personally? I think he"s skimming off the school board and he"s using that money to fund his extra-curricular activities. At the same time, we"ve seen him with the Vojnik, and that"s what I"m confused about. What he"s doing with them? What are they using him for? What do they even have in common?"
"Maybe it has something to do with the money?" Jagger threw out there. "But I don"t know why they would need him for money. They have their own."
"Tell you what," Rooster said as he got up from the table. "I"ll do some checkin" around. Maybe go to the school and see what I can overhear. Talk about a Peyton Place...If he"s doing something then it"s probably already around the school. Is Bianca gonna be there any?" He pointedly looked at Jagger.
"She teaches there tomorrow."
"Then I"ll tread carefully."
"I would appreciate that. I don"t want any of this to come back on her."
Rooster put his hat on. "I"ll be in touch, and I"ll let either you two or Liam know when I"m ready to meet you again. I"ll see what I can do."
Brandon Hanc.o.c.k, aka Rooster, hadn"t been to this middle school in years. Not since he and Liam Walker had been kicked out and threatened with jail time. Brandon shook his head as he thought of his wild childhood. Things hadn"t been easy for either one of them. Liam was stuck trying to live up to the preconceived notions that everyone had about him since his dad was the leader of Heaven Hill. Brandon had been busy trying to get as far away from an alcoholic stepfather as he could. The two of them ended up hanging out with each other on more than one occasion. Brandon knew that no matter how much time had pa.s.sed, he owed everything he had now to Liam. Which was why he didn"t often make a big deal when the club asked for help.
Walking into the school, he was transported back. He could almost see himself and Liam walking up and down the halls, trying to get girls to notice them. They would run around, trying to avoid cla.s.s and generally being a nuisance. It really had been amazing that neither one of them ended up dead before that fateful night that had sent to Brandon to a camp for at-risk teens and Liam to juvenile detention. That night had changed the course of two lives, and to this day Brandon questioned whether or not the right one had been saved.
"Ms. Young, how ya doing?" he greeted the secretary as he entered the office.
"Rooster? What brings you here?" she asked.
He took note that her face paled as he walked in. That could mean any of a number of things. With all the school shootings that had taken place, he wanted to put her mind at ease. "Nothing official. I"m just checking around on some things. Mr. Tucker here?" he asked, looking behind her head, trying to see into the office the princ.i.p.al used.
"No." She shook her head. "He went home early today."
Which explained why Layne and Jagger had obviously been caught.
"Well, then I guess I"ll just have to be questioning his pretty a.s.sistant, huh?" he poured on the charm. He leaned against the counter and rested his forearms just level with her.
"Question me?" she asked. "About what?"
He didn"t miss the jump in her pulse that told him she was either nervous or interested. Intrigued, he leaned closer. "There"s been some rumors about Mr. Tucker. My superiors are a little bit interested in what he does off the clock," he spoke softly at her ear.
"Off the clock? Surely you don"t expect me to know what he does in his personal life." Stacey bristled, this was beginning to make her uncomfortable.
A flash in her eyes told Rooster that she was either scared or offended.
"I didn"t mean that you would gossip about your boss or mean for you to say anything out of line, Ms. Young. However, I do have to investigate anything that is brought to the attention of our office. Word has it he spends a lot of time at Wet Wanda"s."
"Who doesn"t?" She shrugged. "Most men in this town might as well have their own parking spots."
"Fair enough, but you tell me this. On the salary that you make, could you spend that much time at a house of ill repute?"
Rooster knew he was laying it on thick, but he had to find a way to break her.
She swallowed hard. "No, I couldn"t. I don"t. I haven"t had a vacation in over a year," she admitted, not quite meeting his eyes.
"That doesn"t sound like this job is providing you with all you need."
"I love my job." She hiked her chin up. "But I don"t love the people I work with."
Something about the way she said the words gave him the feeling Raymond Tucker was worse than any of them thought. "Has he done something to you?" He pointed at Mr. Tucker"s office. "Has he threatened you?"
"He"s just like any other man with power and authority, Officer Hanc.o.c.k. I"m sure you can figure out the rest on your own."
He could, and that just slick p.i.s.sed him off. He hated people that abused authority. This had just become personal for him. He did not like the look on the pretty secretary"s face. "Is he free tomorrow afternoon?"
"What?" She was confused as the tone of his voice changed.
"Check his calendar, is he free tomorrow afternoon?"
Fl.u.s.tered, she clicked on the calendar icon on her computer and scanned it. "Yes, he"s free tomorrow afternoon."
"Then I"ll be here. I have some things that I"d like to talk to him about."
It looked like Stacey wanted to tell him to shove it, but Rooster had to give it to her, she did as he told her and smiled brightly. "Anything else I can help you with Officer?"
"No, but thank you for helping me today. I"ll be seein" you tomorrow." He tipped his sheriff"s hat at her. "Do us both a favor, don"t tell him I"m comin". I"d like to see how he answers some questions when he hasn"t had time to rehea.r.s.e his answers. I think you know a lot more than what you"re tellin" me, Ms. Young. Think about that before you try to protect him."
Walking out of the school, he placed a call to Jagger.
"You be here tomorrow afternoon when Bianca leaves. If this is what I think it is, s.h.i.t"s about to go down."
Chapter Thirty-One.
Bianca could hear her heels clicking against the concrete as she made her way into the school. Her heart thundered in her chest this time for different reasons than the first time. She was no longer nervous about how she would do, she was now nervous about who would be there and what might be said to her.
"Good morning, Stacey." She did her best, but the smile didn"t exactly meet her eyes as she signed in at the office.
"Morning, Bianca. Here"s everything you need for your cla.s.ses today." The other woman handed her a badge and what looked to be lesson plans.
"Thanks." Their greeting was awkward and Bianca wasn"t sure why. She cleared her throat and tapped her toe against the carpeted floor. "I wanted to say thank you again for the email you sent me after the last time I was here. I really do appreciate it."
"You"re welcome. I think you"re a nice woman, and from what I"ve heard about you, you"ve worked hard to make your dreams come true. The kids need someone like you around. You don"t seem like you would be influenced by the powers that be. I think you would stand up for the kids. That"s something that honestly doesn"t happen around here enough." She closed her mouth quickly, almost like she realized that she had spoken out of turn, said too much.
Just then Mr. Tucker made his way into the office, and Bianca cursed herself for not getting out earlier when she should have.
"Bianca, how nice to have you back in my school." He smiled at her.
Just the look of the man was enough to cause a shiver to come up her back, making her shake with disgust.
"Mr. Tucker," Stacey cut in. "Officer Hanc.o.c.k was here yesterday. He wants a meeting with you this afternoon to discuss some things going on at the school. He indicated that you don"t want to ignore the request."
Bianca watched as Mr. Tucker"s face went red. It obviously chapped his a.s.s that someone made demands on his time without asking him first.
"Well, I"ll do my best to be here. If something comes up, he"ll just have to reschedule."
Not wanting to be a part of this anymore, Bianca held up the papers in her hand. "Thanks for this, Stacey. I"ll see you today before I leave."
"Are you gonna let us sit in with you?" Liam asked Rooster as he and a few of the Heaven Hill members sat outside the school a few hours later.
"Seriously, Liam? This is official police business no matter what you want to believe. I really do think he"s breakin" the d.a.m.n law. No, you can"t sit in on it."
"You can"t blame me for askin". I mean he"s making one of my guy"s life miserable, and I have a feeling he"s in with Dino and his crew. I had to ask."
Rooster couldn"t stop the smile that spread slowly across his face. They had been great friends at one time and he"d be lying if he said he didn"t miss that friendship. It always brought him back to a time in his life when everything was easy and the only worries he had were what was going on at his house. He missed that.
"I appreciate you being honest with me about that, but I will let you know if anything pertinent comes up. I told Jagger to be here when school lets out. I plan on p.i.s.sing off old Mr. Money Bags as y"all like to call him."
"All the same," Liam said as he struck a pose by his bike. He leaned against it like he owned the place. "I think I"m gonna hang out, just in case. This guy gives me the heebie jeebies. There"s something about him that ain"t right."
"Whatever you feel like you gotta do. You do have kids at this school, but don"t even think about stepping out of line. I can only give you guys so much leeway."
"Understood."
Rooster squared his shoulders and walked into the school, much like he had the day before. He wasn"t exactly nervous, but he would be lying if he said he wasn"t worried about what he might find out from the princ.i.p.al. After speaking with Stacey the day before, he had gone home and done a little research on the crimes that had been taking place in Bowling Green. To his surprise, he had found a pattern. For the past year there had been a bank robbery every two months. He, of course, had known there had been a run on crime. Most people believed it was because of the downturn in the economy. Regular people couldn"t feed their families, much less pay other bills. They were desperate. The pattern that had jumped out at him, though, screamed of something more organized.
"Stacey, is Mr. Tucker here?" he asked, as he walked into the office and nodded at the woman he"d spoken to the day before.
"He is, but I have to warn you that he was pretty upset about you scheduling a meeting without asking his thoughts on it," she spoke in low tones to him, obviously to keep the man they spoke of from hearing.
He ground his back teeth, he had deliberately told her not to say a word.
"Well that"s just too d.a.m.n bad. This badge and gun give me carte blanche on a lot that other people get p.i.s.sed off about. It"s not the first time and it won"t be the last time someone didn"t want to speak to me. Is he in there?" he pointed to the office door that was cracked open.
"He is."
Glancing at the clock, he took note of the time. "Do me a favor. If we"re still in here when school lets out, don"t let Bianca Hawks in here. Just take her stuff out to her."
"Is something going on with her?"
"I don"t know," he answered honestly. "Let"s just say I don"t trust your boss around her, and in the interest of public safety, perhaps we should keep her out of here."
Bianca couldn"t help but let her mind wander as she watched her cla.s.s labor on the packet of busy work the normal teacher left for them. For most of the day, the kids had been good. One boy had gotten a little mouthy with her and she was pretty proud of the way she handled it-when really she wanted to tell him to stop being a smart-a.s.s. The time on the clock told her she had another hour to go before the school day would be over, and she couldn"t help but think about what was going on in the office. Knowing that Money Bags was being talked to by the police gave her pause and made her stomach roll.
"Ms. Hawks, can I have a bathroom pa.s.s?" One of the children asked. She hadn"t even heard them walk up to the desk she sat at.
"Sure." She shook her head, trying to get her mind back in the game.
Reaching into the desk, she pulled out the pa.s.s and handed it to the student who had asked. At this moment, she would give anything to have to go to the office for something. She wanted desperately to know what Rooster was asking and how Money Bags was answering. She wanted this over, and over for good. It seemed to be a defining moment in her relationship with Jagger. If they couldn"t get rid of Money Bags, it seemed like they wouldn"t ever move further from where they were. Not to mention, Money Bags really did give her the creeps. He made her feel dirty and a little bit like a wh.o.r.e. She didn"t like that feeling at all. If she could get rid of him, it felt like her self-worth would be where it was supposed to be.
I"m outside waiting on you.
The text came through on her phone, and she wanted to grind her teeth.
I don"t get out of here for another hour. So you"re gonna be waiting a while. I told you that you didn"t have to come. Whatever Rooster said, I"m not worried.
But I am, Jagger texted back.
Frustrated, she put her phone in her purse and turned her attention back to the cla.s.s.
The student who had gone to the bathroom came back, redness in her cheeks. "Ms. Hawks, there"s a group of men on motorcycles outside. I think it"s Mandy and Drew"s dad!"
She groaned. This was the absolute last thing she needed.
"I just have a few questions for you, Mr. Tucker," Rooster told the older man as he walked into the office and had a seat.
"I didn"t invite you to sit down, Officer."
Rooster smiled, intentionally. "This could be a long conversation, Mr. Tucker. My legs hurt from being cramped up in that police cruiser all day, I"m sure you understand." He stretched his long legs out in front of him, purposely crossing them at the ankle.
"Both of our time is very valuable, Officer Hanc.o.c.k, so can we please get this over with?"
"Sure." Rooster pulled a little notebook out of his pocket. "Like I said, I just have a few questions. How well do you know Bianca Hawks?"
Immediately, Rooster saw that Mr. Tucker"s face reddened, all the way to his neck where the collar of his shirt rested. "She"s a subst.i.tute teacher here."
"So you"ve never seen her outside of work? Say at Wet Wanda"s?"
Mr. Tucker stuttered. "I resent the implication that you"re making. As you know, my contract with the school board-as a princ.i.p.al-has a morality clause in it."
"I am. That"s what makes me wonder what you"re doing at a t.i.tty bar and why you seem to have a lot of cash that"s unaccounted for," he threw that in, just to see if he could throw the other man off.
"Excuse me?"
"Cash. Someone like you that does frequent Wet Wanda"s, you"ve got to have cash lying around, but I"m not sure where you"re getting it. We"ve pulled your financials, and you"re in the red most the time. How can you afford to be there so much?"
Rooster had to give it to the other man, he was holding it together pretty well, but sweat was beading at his hairline. He was shifting in his chair now, very uncomfortable under Rooster"s gaze.