He rubbed the back of his neck and exhaled slowly. “Honestly, Copper, I don’t think it was one of my guys,” he said and paused for a moment. “I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but the day you called us out to the property, there was a guy hovering around the door in the kitchen. I assumed he was with the city inspector, but maybe I was mistaken.”
“What did he look like?” Copper asked.
“Uh, he was kind of scraggly looking. Messy brown hair. Average height. Clothes were wrinkled and kinda ratty looking.”
His description ruled out Brett, but it did match his friend from the bar. I looked to Copper. “You have the copies of the IDs from the two guys we kicked out of Precious Metals?”
Copper nodded and pulled two sheets of paper from his desk. Placing them in front of Dean, he pointed to Brett's friend, Oliver, and asked, “Is this him?”
“Yep, that’s the guy.”
After Dean left, Copper looked at me with a feral grin. “Let’s go have a chat with Oliver Burgess.”
We waited for Batta and Bronze to arrive before we pulled out onto the road and headed for Oliver’s listed address. It was around a thirty-minute ride there, and I spent the whole time wondering what in the hell was going on. Why would this asshole intentionally fuck with us? Unless he wasn’t fucking with us. Maybe his actions were aimed at River. But that didn’t explain how his friend ended up dead in the kitchen floor. Unless they were planning to attack River once she returned to the house.
We pulled into the driveway of a small well-kept house. Copper looked back with an arched brow. “I bet this is his parents’ place.”
Before any of us could reply, the front door opened and a young woman with a baby on her hip stepped outside. She glanced between the four of us but didn’t appear to be fazed by our presence. “Can I help you guys with something?”
Copper got off his bike and took a few steps closer. “We’re looking for Oliver Burgess. Does he live here?”
She shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh. “No, he doesn’t and hasn’t for well over a year now. Before you ask, no, I don’t know where he lives, where to find him, or how to get in touch with him.”
Copper nodded and rubbed his chin. “But you do know him?”
“He’s my stepbrother.”
Copper pulled a card from his cut and handed it to her. “If you happen to hear from him, would you let him know I’d like to speak with him?”
She plucked the card from Copper’s fingers and grimaced. “What in the hell has he done now to garner the attention of the Blackwings?”
“Sorry, ma’am, that’s something I’ll need to discuss with him.”
“Don’t hold your breath. I haven’t heard from him in almost a year. If you can track down his buddy, Brett, you might be able to find Oliver.”
Copper cleared his throat. “Well, that’s not likely seeing as how Brett was found dead yesterday.”
She pressed her lips together and twisted them to the side. “Can’t say I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Well, thank you for your time,” Copper said and strode back to his bike. “Follow me, brothers.”
With that, we walked the bikes out of her driveway and took off down the road. At first, I thought we were heading back to the clubhouse but soon realized that was not the case when we pulled into a rundown trailer park.
Our arrival brought every resident to their front door. Every resident except the one we were there to see.
“This is Brett’s listed address,” Copper said as he got off his bike and walked to the front door.
After banging on it a few times with no answer, a man walked up to us and introduced himself as the owner of the property.
“He’s late on his rent and I don’t want any trouble. If you boys need to go inside, I’ll be happy to let you in,” he stammered causing all of us to laugh.
“If we wanted inside, we wouldn’t need you to let us in,” Batta chuckled.
Copper held his hand up to quiet Batta and nodded at the man. “Yes, we would like to have a look inside.”
Copper, as well as the rest of us, regretted those words the moment the landlord opened the front door and we were hit with the unmistakable stench of death and decay.
Bronze backed up several steps while shaking his head. “Nope. Not happening. We’re not going in there.”