Tiny's Sweet Obsession

13: Goose Chase

Tiny POV

Hawk refused to give me Lily's address and told me I should wait to talk to her at the diner. That was four days ago, and Lily hasn't come to work all week. I finally asked Nathan if he had heard from her, but he said he hadn't, and neither had Pops. Explains why everyone seemed stressed and worried every time I came in. Not wanting to add to the stress or torture myself, I stayed away with the promise that someone would call me the moment they heard from her.

I sat in the shop, staring at Vegas' finished bike while mine sat in pieces. Gears clapped a hand on my stared at me.

"Have you heard from her?" he asked.

"No. My texts won't even go through anymore," I groaned.

"I'm sure she's fine. Maybe she took a vacation like we've all begged her to do? Either way, staring at pieces of your bike won't fix anything," he laughed and stood. "Killer wants a meeting in ten minutes."

I cleaned up as best I could before we hopped in the truck and headed to the clubhouse. We walked straight into the meeting room and took our seats. Killer didn't look happy, but these days he never did.

"Any updates on the drug front?" he asked, looking around.

Cowboy spoke up first. "I've asked around, but no one is talking."

"Same," another prospect said.

"The only club I know of that would be interested in pushing cocaine is the Devil's Disciples," Hawk confirmed. "A few other names popped up in the area, but nothing solid."

Killer took a deep breath and discussed other matters, but I tuned him out. Soon enough, everyone filled out, but Killer asked some of us to stay behind.

"Tiny, have you heard from Lily recently?" he asked.

"No," I huffed.

He looked at Tiger, who seemed nervous. "No one's heard from her since the day we saw her at the diner, and I'm worried. Nathan said he noticed some bruises on Lily's arms, and she was moving pretty slowly. He didn't ask her about it, but he seemed adamant that someone caused them and not while at work. I've noticed them before, but I figured you guys knew and were monitoring it. Guess I was wrong," she mumbled.

Bruises? Lily said nothing was going on at home...why would she lie? How could we all miss something this important?!

"Hawk, any of those names you came across have an address over on the east side?" I asked, thinking it was a long shot.

"A few. Anything more specific you can give me?" Hawk asked, typing.

"Yeah, it would be one of those apartments over there," I answered.

He typed for a few minutes while we sat, worried. If Hawk found a connection to the Devil's Disciples and an apartment, we have a different problem.

"Got it!" he exclaimed. "There's an apartment rented to a Sean Leary, who has a rather long rap sheet but has never been arrested. Amongst getting busted for drugs, he has a temper, and neighbors have made several calls to the apartment for suspected abuse. But no one pressed charges," Hawk stated. "Definitely an association to the Disciples, if I had to bet."

"I'll send a few guys over and see if any Disciples stop by," Bade said.

"I'll go," I stated, barely registering what I was saying. If my gut was right, Lily was in that apartment, and those bruises were from Sean himself.

Looking up, everyone stared at me, but I shrugged, and Gears volunteered to go with me. We agreed to take twelve-hour shifts and were told only to observe. Gears and I packed our bags, took one of the beat-up cars from the shop and drove to the address Hawk gave us.

I pulled into an empty spot away from the streetlamp but within view of the third-story apartment. I spotted Lily's car parked a few cars over in front of us, and Gears gave me a side-eye.

"Want to tell me how you knew how to get here without directions?" he asked.

"I found it when testing the new clutch the other day," I answered, and he said nothing else.

*****

The first five hours were quiet, and the only exciting thing we saw was a woman kicking out her baby daddy and throwing his clothes out the window.

Around 7 a.m., people started leaving for work, and by then, only a few cars were still in the parking lot. Including Lily's. We stretched our legs and walked around, sending Hawk different car license plates we found, hoping it connected one of them to another Disciple.

Stopping at Lily's car, I looked in. She kept little in it, but I noticed a blanket and emergency kit in the backseat. In the front compartment below the radio, I noticed a bottle of Advil and Tylenol open, with a few pills spilling out. Nothing screamed out at me as problematic, but again, I didn't notice the bruises on her either.

Twenty minutes later, Gears and I returned to the car and waited for Hawk to run the plates. We ate most of the snacks but still had some beef jerky left. I shoved a piece in my mouth before offering some to Gears, but he held his hand up. It's not a plate of hot pancakes and sausage from the diner, but it's all we have.

The slamming of a door caught our attention, and we saw a guy, no older than 21, storming down the stairs. Once he was close enough for us to see better, we compared him to the photo Hawk gave us. Sean Leary.

He looked much shorter and scrawnier than the picture, but the bruises on his knuckles caught my attention. Sean got into his beat-up truck and took off like a bat out of hell, screeching tires and all. Once out of the apartment complex, Gears turned on the car and followed him out.

Gears called Killer, knowing he would want an update.

"What did you find?" Killer asked.

"Sean just left his apartment, and we're tailing him now. He didn't seem too happy and had bruises on his knuckles," Gears said while trying not to lose our only lead. Or get caught by him.

"You were just supposed to observe and report back, not play some wild goose chase!" he claimed.

"If you have a better idea of how to get information, then I'm all ears," Gears retorted, earning him a groan from the other end of the line.

"Fine, but if I don't hear from you two idiots in half an hour, then I'm assuming you got caught, and I'll let you explain that one to the girls," Killer said, hanging up.

We tailed Sean for twenty minutes before he pulled into a run-down house that had people mingling in and around. The type of people who are constantly looking for their next hit. Sean pulled in front of the house, and a skinny-looking kid approached the truck's window. They didn't talk for long before they made an exchange, and Sean left just as quickly as before.

Great, a cracked-out kid looking for his next hit. Now we know Sean is dealing. The problem is, is it for the Disciples or someone else? Either way, we have a problem, and Lily needs help.