35. LODESTAR
Icould see it killed Rex to stay in his office. The second Sin had surged in without a knock, shoving his phone in Rex’s face, it had made the Prez morph into a general directing his troops. Of course, most of those orders took place over his cell. The guys’ phones lit up with only fuck knew what, and Rex snarled, “Go!” making me wonder what the fuck was even going on.
At his command, I watched Sin, Link, Steel, and Nyx take off like their feet were on fire, and when his face turned white as more pinging texts came in, I muttered, “Do you want me to go?”
He shook his head, just once, and I froze in place.
I’d called on Maverick to hit up a church meeting because what I’d uncovered lately was starting to add up. At last.
The guys had grumbled because everyone on the council wasn’t around, but having impressed upon Maverick just how big of a deal what I’d discovered was, they’d come together.
Begrudgingly.
Five minutes into my explanation of what the fuck was going on, the guys had run off. I’d think that I stank, but I didn’t.
I used three different deodorants to make sure I didn’t.
See, I was smart like that.
When an antiperspirant didn’t work, the deodorant might, and then I used that cream stuff as well just to make sure.
Didn’t stop me from lowering my head to the side and cautiously sniffing my pits.
I mean, I knew it had nothing to do with my stench, but now that it was in my head, I needed to make sure, right?
When Rex looked up at last, there was fire in his eyes, and even though I’d dealt with nastier fuckers than him, most of those had been back when I wore a uniform and I didn’t have to worry about being shot if I pissed off a superior officer. Stuck in a jail cell, sure! Maybe lose out on a promotion, maybe. But shot? Stabbed? Nope.
“Get on with it,” he ground out. “I have shit I need to be doing.”
Though he was rude, I didn’t point it out, not when Maverick quickly shoved his head to the side in a sharp negative—the bastard knew me far too well.
Huffing, I muttered, “Knowing that Ghost and the rest of the girls were purchased by the Lancasters gave me a clear starting point. Throw in the fact that Tiffany’s father was being funded by them, I’ve been able to identify several large corporations that are fronts of the Fieri family.”
“You have actual names?” Rex demanded, sitting forward.
“Yeah. I do. More than just Fuoco as well. Lots of smaller companies, tiny in the grand scheme of things, but all of them allowed me to trace their overseas activity.”
Never let it be said the man was slow… “You know when the shipments of women come in?”
I nodded. “Using information that Ghost gave me about when she was taken, I managed to track shipping records and found the actual tanker she was brought over on. That tanker sails across the Atlantic twice a month.”
“You think each one brings in shipments of girls?”
“Shipments of something,” I replied, “that’s for sure. And each and every time, the shipments are secured by one particular dock worker, also signed by one dock manager?—”
“So we have someone to trace?”
I nodded. “We do.”
Rex rubbed his chin, then cast a glance at Maverick. “What do we do?”
“Depends.”
I was surprised at how Rex shoved the news onto Mav, but then again, maybe not. He’d always been good at thinking outside of the box. Always been good at thinking about plans that no one really wanted to have to think up.
“On what?” Rex countered.
“What you want the reaction to be.”
“We’re in it up to our necks with the Five Points. We’re already at war with the Famiglia as a result.”
Maverick shrugged. “Then what’s the hassle? We could bring down their empire.”
“If I have a vote, that’s what I’d like.”
Rex shot me a look. “You don’t have a vote.”
I shot him a smug smile. “I do if you want to know where Donavan Lancaster is at this precise moment.”
Maverick tensed. “You never said you were even looking for him.”
I snorted. “If you think it took me a week to trace the money, then you’re an idiot and you don’t deserve my skills, because I’m way better than that.”
Maverick rolled his eyes. “Sorry, Lodestar.”
I grinned at him. “So you should be,” I told him as I rubbed my nose with my middle finger.
Rex grunted. “Get the fuck on with it.”
“No. I want a vote when it comes down to your movements with the Famiglia. I want in. Been hunting these bastards for a long time. I’m not about to let go of this,” I warned.
“You’re not a brother.”
“Because I don’t have a dick? I assure you, my dick is bigger than a lot of the guys who are Prospecting for you right now. Plus, I’m a damn sight more useful. Honorary member, fancy it up however the fuck you want it, but you won’t get shit out of me about Donavan Lancaster unless I get some sway?—”
Rex growled, “I don’t appreciate being manipulated.”
“Neither do I. Three years I’ve been working on this fucking trafficking business. Three fucking years. It brought Kat into my life, and it brought a shit ton of?—”
Maverick stilled at that. “What? That’s how you found Katina?”
“Yeah.”
“Wait, that doesn’t compute.”
“What are you? Data?” I retorted. “Of course, it does.”
“Start from the beginning,” Rex ordered slowly, cutting Mav a look.
“Kat’s mom,” I started, then I pulled a face. “Ghost’s mom too, she was like Ghost. Shipped over and sold.”
Maverick’s mouth dropped at that. “You’re shitting me.”
“No. She was one of the lucky ones.”
“She was?”
“Her buyer married her.”
“Fuck. If that’s your idea of luck?—”
“After what happened to Ghost you have to even question that?” I spat at Rex. Then, grinding my teeth, I growled, “I’ve been on the hunt for these bastards for a long time. If you think you can deny me the satisfaction of seeing their empire crumble, then I’ll head to another fucking MC who’ll help me.”
“She’ll do it, Rex,” Maverick said.
“Yeah, I can see she’s a fucking lunatic if she thinks she can threaten me, so why the fuck wouldn’t she think she can fuck off to another MC?” Rex’s mouth twisted into a snarl as he repeated, “I don’t fucking like being manipulated.” He jabbed the air, but he could jab all he wanted.
No way in fuck was this going down without me being involved.
“I can unravel their business from the ground up, but that isn’t as much fun as seeing them bleed out too.”
Rex blew out a breath, slowly. His gaze drifted over mine, and the look in them morphed from irritation into an anger that would raze an ordinary man to the ground.
Lucky for me, I wasn’t ordinary, and I wasn’t a man.
“You got your vote, because, to be frank, it sounds like a fucking blast watching them bleed out too.”
I dipped my chin in agreement. “I have the last place he was staying, and I have a trace on the card he’s using.”
“Where is he?”
“After he left Vietnam, Cambodia.”
Rex cut Maverick a look, but Mav merely shrugged. “Nyx is needed here. Storm will be heading down to Coshocton.”
Rex sighed. “After what just went down, Sin and Link will need to be here.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What did just go down?” I asked softly, aware that all the men had received a text at the same time and that they’d all acted as one.
“Someone took Lily and Tiffany.”
“Shit,” I breathed.
“Yeah, shit.”
“Leaves only Steel,” Mav rasped. “He can go. He has a passport too.”
“How do we bring the fucker back?”
I cracked my knuckles which drew their attention over to me. I winked at them. “Leave that to me, boys.”