Page 35 of Archer (Dirty Misfits MC 3)
She pulled away much too quickly, though, and that was when the guys chuckled amongst themselves.
“Well, now I see why you were so upset over this mission,” Cole said.
Josie giggled. “You guys are nuts, you know that?”
Someone patted my shoulder, but then Brooks’ voice sounded. “Why didn’t you tell us that the two of you were together? We could’ve helped you through this shit.”
Porter sat in front of us. “Especially me and Astrid.”
I shrugged. “We aren’t really sure what’s happening.”
Josie leaned her head against my shoulder. “All I know is that I enjoy spending time with him.”
“And she’s a good kisser.”
She snorted. “And he’s a good licker.”
The guys’ jaws unhinged and they clapped their hands above their heads. We all had a moment of bombastic laughter to break the tension swirling around the room. But when the laughter died down, all eyes were on Josie as they all pulled up chairs around the kitchen table and picked at the food I set out.
“I want you to eat something, okay?” I murmured in her ear.
She picked a few things from the cheeses and fruits before she drew in a deep breath. “I have proof that the Black Flags are trafficking women across the border.”
My eyes bulged as Brooks furrowed his brow. “You what?”
Tanner leaned forward. “You overheard all of this in a conversation?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Those guys think we’re all idiots. So, it wasn’t hard to simply listen in.”
Finn blinked. “How did you get in the room with them in the first place?”
And when she looked up at me, I stiffened. “You gonna be okay for this?”
I took her hand in mine. “I will be with time. Just be honest. We need the rundown of what happened.”
So, with a nod of her head, she continued. “Right now, the policy at the club states that the dancers only get thirty percent of what they make on stage. But one of the guys offered to get me bumped up to fifty percent if I essentially agreed to privately dance for him every night I worked.”
“Are you fucking kidding?” Brooks asked.
Josie shook her head. “No, I’m not. It’s the biggest bullshit payment schedule I’ve ever seen. They’ll lose a lot of their good girls that way.”
“If they can even leave,” Tanner murmured.
She pointed at him. “Bingo. Well, after giving this guy a dance—and yes, he was a bit handsy with it, but I managed to wiggle out of it well—another one of the guys came bursting in needing to talk. I just danced around on the pole and acted like I wasn’t listening or even paying attention and played bobble-headed enough for them to talk right in front of me.”
I rubbed her back. “That’s brilliant, beautiful.”
She smiled up at me. “Thank you, handsome.”
Porter cleared his throat. “So, what did you overhear? What exactly did they say?”
Josie sighed. “In a few days, I don’t know how many though, they have a shipment of girls that are Latina coming into one of the docks around here. They talked about paying off dock hands, taking down the security cameras, and they even talked about whether or not beds were set up somewhere. That’s how I knew they were talking about people and not guns or some shit.”
“Fuck,” Finn groaned.
But there was something on Josie’s face that didn’t sit well with me. “What is it?”
She looked up at me. “What do you mean?”
“I know there’s something else rattling around in your head. Tell us about it.”
She swallowed hard. “I honestly don’t know. Tanner and I were booking it out of that place so quickly that I could be wrong about what I saw.”
Tanner clicked his tongue. “I think I saw it, too, if you’re talking about Chops.”
Josie pointed at him. “So, you saw him sit down with them, too!?”
Tanner leapt to his feet. “Holy fuck, I thought I dreamed that shit.”
Brooks’ voice grew hard. “Can someone fill us in on what the fuck you two are talking about?”
Josie drew in a deep breath. “Chops didn’t just go in one of the back doors into the club. I saw him walk into a room with those same two guys that were talking in the private dancing room together.”
Tanner nodded quickly. “I had her in my arms because she couldn’t keep up with my running—sorry, Archer, it was just to get her out of there quicker.”
I waved my hand in the air and he continued. “And as I was running, I watched Chops walk into some room with those of those Black Flags assholes.”
The room fell silent before Brooks shot out of his chair, slamming his fists against the kitchen table.
“Fuck!” he roared.
The plates clattered and I had to catch Josie’s plate before it fell into her lap. Brooks stormed off and Porter quickly followed behind him, and I cradled Josie against my side.
