Page 34 of Dane

My phone rang.

I hastily pulled it from my back pocket, looking up at Knight when I saw it was from Mr. Norris. Knight nodded at me and I put it on speaker. “Hello?”

“Ms. Sloan?” The voice was the same from the voicemail.

“Yes. Who’s this?” I held Knight’s gaze as I spoke. Again, he nodded at me.

“Gregory Norris. I -- I’m so sorry to call so close to the time. I’m not very used to technology and I rarely carry a phone with me when I travel. I’d just leave it somewhere and not miss it for several months. As such, I had to have my assistant give me your number, and it was too late yesterday, so this morning is when I finally got your number.” I could hear a smile in his voice which made me smile even though he couldn’t see me. “I thought -- I hoped -- to actually meet you instead of having to make other arrangements.”

“Mr. Norris. It’s fine. I just wasn’t sure where to find you when you didn’t answer my calls.”

“Yes.” He sounded a little flustered. “I thought my assistant had actually spoken to you when I left. It was my oversight in not making sure and for not getting your contact information before I left. In my defense,” he continued, “my wife usually takes care of the details but she broke her hip a few weeks ago, and I had to manage this on my own.”

“It’s no problem, Mr. Norris,” I assured him. “Really.”

“I’m afraid I’m running behind schedule.” A paper rustled on his end, the sound of a man checking notes he probably didn’t need. “I wanted to bring everything to you directly, but my daughter -- she’s in Franklin, you see, and I promised I’d stop on my way back through. Her youngest has a birthday party this afternoon that I said I’d attend. When I got here and had no way to contact you, I made arrangements to open a safe deposit box to store it. I hadn’t given them your details yet, but I did put your grandmother’s things there.”

“I’ll do whatever you wish, Mr. Norris. Do you want to meet at the bank?” Christ. I hated banks on general principle, but there was no help for it.

“I used the bank next to my hotel.” He gave us the name of the bank. “I can stay another hour if you can be there? Otherwise, if you give me your information, I’ll make arrangements at the bank for you to pick it up at your convenience.”

I swallowed. PTSD is not fun. “That works,” I said. Though, it really didn’t. “I appreciate all the trouble you’ve had to go to.”

“You’re very welcome, Ms. Sloan. Your grandmother was a fine woman. I’ll tell you one thing about her.” He paused, and I heard his warm chuckles, as though remembering something with great fondness. “She beat me at gin rummy six times running. Never let me forget it.”

A startled laugh escaped me. “That sounds like her.”

“I’ll see you soon, dear.” We ended the call.

“All right,” Knuckles said. “Tiny, you and Hawk get transpo ready. Knight, do you know if Sutton is aware of Norris?”

Knight shook his head and shrugged. “I can’t be sure. I’d go with ‘yes’ to be safe.”

I could barely catch my breath, though I tried to keep my expression carefully neutral. Jesus Christ. Of all the fucking places in Nashville, Norris had walked into a bank. I felt sweat erupt over my skin and wiped my palms on the legs of my jeans.

Knight spun in his chair, reaching for something in the drawer beneath his keyboard. “Here.” He pulled out a small black disk, no bigger than a quarter, attached to a key ring. “Panic button. It works kind of like a medical alert button. Press and hold for three seconds, and it sends GPS and an alert to every club member’s phone.” He held it out to me. “Keep it on your person. Somewhere you can access with little effort. Not in your purse.” He pointed. “Use your front shirt pocket. That way, you just press your hand over the whole thing, and you don’t have to have it out.”

I took the metal disk. It was heavier than it looked. I closed my fingers around it to keep it safe until I could change shirts.

Knuckles looked at me then, direct and unblinking. “You sure about this? If Norris arranges for you to have access to the safe deposit box, you can get it after we fix all this.”

I shook my head. “I need to do this. I know it’s not the smartest thing, but I just feel like I need to actually meet him.”

Knuckles held my gaze a moment longer. Then he nodded. “Hannah stays with you. Tiny drives. Hawk rides shotgun in the follow vehicle. Brielle, you do exactly what they tell you to, and stick to Hannah like fuckin’ glue.”

“Yes, sir.”

After that, nothing involved me other than waiting. Dane gripped my hand, looking down at me with a mixture of frustration and grudging acceptance. Twenty minutes later, we rolled out.

We took a Bronco with tinted windows, and a dark green pickup that would trail at distance. Tiny would be with us in the Bronco, while Hawk took the other vehicle.

Two blocks past the last warehouse in our territory, Hawk’s voice cut through the radio Tiny had sitting in the console. “Gray sedan on the left side, gas station parking lot. That the same car Knight flagged as Sandlin?”

Tiny’s gaze shifted from one mirror to the other, studying the area as he continued on. “Not sure, but I’m guessing so.” His gaze found mine in the rearview. “Your call, Brielle. It’s a good bet Sutton will know exactly where you are.”

I thought about it for a minute, then shook my head. “I’m not letting him frighten me off.” I turned to Hannah. “I swear, I will do whatever you guys tell me, but I want to continue.”

Tiny nodded, seemingly unconcerned. “All right, then. Let’s see how he plays this.”