Chapter 37—Kooper
Every rescue gets the best of the Hounds.
When Operation Hell Hound gets a job, we take it like it’s one of our own behind the line who needs to get out if it’s a rescue mission.
Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s something else.
But it’s a job. Each one is vetted to the extreme to see if we agree with what the plan is.
That’s fine. The club still has friends. Who the fuck ever thought we would work with the mafia or… well, we don’t know who Gina works for, but she has connections. The boys and I are suspicious, but we all agreed: Till we get eyes on Ruby, we’re playing nice.
After that? Honestly, all I care about is Ruby.
So does the club. If others get tagged in this mission and taken out, it’s not something I’m going to lose sleep over.
OHH was called after Gina gave us details.
They were ready before the plane landed in Kansas.
They’ve actually been on ready alert for weeks now, just needed a direction.
Like me.
They went ahead and are scouting the area, feeding Flint, Gator, and every other person we’ve got working on this intel. We have half the damn club in the cargo plane. Gina has a few guys, but our seven to her four has the odds in our favor.
We’ve all kept our distance. We’re sharing space, but I’ve got a feeling we both have our own agendas. Their allegiance is to Natalie, or whoever was tracking her. Makes me wonder if she was the target and Ruby was just a decoy to throw suspicion.
It’s a question for another time.
A red light starts blinking a second before a buzzing alarm starts. Then the damn rear ramp starts to lower.
“What the fuck?” Bulldog snarls, but Jumper grins and hops up.
“Sit down, pretty boy. This one ain’t for you,” Gina says with a smile and a wink at my brother, who only pouts. “We’re just doing a drop-off.” She goes and stands by the ramp as it lowers.
My boys and I look at one another, and more than one pulls a gun.
I do the same. We aren’t about to be the ones who drop off.
Jumper might get a thrill out of this kind of shit, but the rest of us don’t jump out of planes for fun.
Or ever. I know how. It was part of the things we did with OHH a few months back.
Training, just in case. But I never expected to actually need it.
The team of four we met on the plane make their way to the back. Without ceremony, three jump. The fourth just watches, and when he sees them clear, he pushes the button to close the ramp.
“They know something we don’t?” Bass asks no one in particular.
Casper looks at King, and that has him going to the cockpit. We need to know what the hell is going on. So far, they’ve run this shit, but they’ve also told us what’s going on. We didn’t trust them, but we didn’t expect this either.
“Don’t worry, boys,” Gina says. “We’re still on target to hit our flight time.”
“What was that?” Casper asks as he nods to the back of the plane, which is now closed.
“That?” She gestures behind her like she’s confused. “That was a drop-off. The boys had another plane to catch.” Her smile is Cheshire-like at best.
“We going to see them later?” Bulldog asks.
“What for? You already got me and Big Mike.” She points to the other guy, who just crosses his arms over his chest. “What else do you need?”
“You said this place was a fortress. Heavily armed and dangerous,” Bass says, tilting his head.
“Yeah.” She nods, waiting for the question.
“So why only bring two people to get your girl out?” Casper asks what we’re all thinking after King returns with a nod. All’s good up front.
“Job’s to get you in. I’m not being paid to get her out.”
Okay, what the actual fuck is going on with Natalie? My brothers and I glance at one another to see if anyone understands what’s going on.
I don’t know what the rest of them are thinking, but my goal is to find Ruby, then get her and my brothers out safely.
If we find Natalie in the process, then I’ll call it a double win.
Again, we don’t know if Ruby is still with her.
This might just be a rescue mission for Natalie.
But I hope we’re wrong and they’re both in this place.
Our team did the surveillance, though we only got a bit before we went radio silent due to passing over the border, and we want to keep off as many channels as possible.
Not that we didn’t bribe everyone possible to look the other way, but still, we’re keeping off the frequencies. When we land, we’ll get more details.
OHH will set up and do a perimeter sweep. Orders are for them to hold and only to breach before we get there if something goes down. I really don’t care if they wait on us. I just want Ruby in the arms of someone I trust, be it mine or a brother’s. Just so long as she’s safe.
But from the sound of it, unless something went extremely right, the other team would only be wheels down about thirty minutes before us. They might have left earlier, but they’re flying from North Dakota, while we came in from Kansas.
“All right, boys, time to go,” Gina says, and we all stand, going to the Hummers in the bay.
The plane isn’t going to do a full stop for us to get off.
We have less than a minute to drive the three vehicles off this thing.
I’m hoping the pilot is as good as Gina thinks to be able to do a stop-and-go long enough for us to get our wheels on solid ground and not just fall out of the damn plane.
The only warm and fuzzy I get is that her man, Mike, takes the first Hummer, and she gets into the last one.
I take the wheel of the second one, and Bass and Jumper get in with me. Casper is in the back with Gina and Walker. Bulldog and King are in the front with Mike.
The ramp starts to lower, and I turn on the vehicle. I glance at Jumper, who’s riding shotgun, bouncing on his seat like a fucking crazy kid as the night sky is revealed. It’s so dark, I’ve got no clue if we’re close to the ground or not.
The Hummer in front of me floors it, and I follow right on his ass. I glance in the rearview mirror to make sure the boss is also with us and see headlights.
The second we’re off the ramp, I feel weightless while still strapped to my seat.
The wheels have zero traction, and we’re flying through the air till we take a hard hit and bounce.
Every one of us. I hit my fucking head on the roof, but other than cursing at it, I keep my foot on the gas pedal and swerve to correct and keep us from tipping over while following the other car.
“Shit, now we’re having fun.” Jumper’s giddy with excitement.
I look at him and then at Bass in the back seat. He’s shaking his head.
“Fucking adrenaline junkie,” he mumbles, but it doesn’t faze Jumper in the slightest.
“Hell yeah. Think we can try it backward?” Out of the corner of my eye, I see him look at me. I just give him a small shake of my head.
The radio sparks to life, and Jumper grabs it before anyone else does. “Can we go again?”
“We’re having General give you a psych eval after this,” Bulldog mutters over the comms.
“Oh, you boys are fun. We might have to do this again,” Gina laughs.
Casper must have been holding the button to talk, but Gina spoke before he could. I know Walker’s driving, and she’s in the back.
“Shut it, all of you. Flint’s got eyes in the sky. We’re clear the whole way through. Going to pull off about six klicks before the turnoff and meet up with our team. Follow the map just sent over.”
Each Hummer is not only equipped with radios between cars but also GPS synced to a satellite, courtesy of Fairy’s uncle, Jimmy Travis.
He got us the eyes in the sky while the mafia, thanks to Brooklyn’s family running the entire East Coast and looking to merge with the West Coast, got us the names and numbers of the people to bribe.
Billy wanted to help, but C8 cut ties with her once she chose sides.
We don’t fault her for it. King is the one who seems to be doubling down on this job to make up for what happened.
Not that it was his fault. People die. He made a call.
He sent out the medical team to get to her as soon as the threat was gone.
He did what he could without injuring anyone else.
He had no idea how bad she was till Jack told us.
If Abigail had been open about being pregnant, maybe things would have gone differently.
But they didn’t. C8 can’t blame him for not knowing and choosing his brother over a lay.
Because as shitty as it sounds, that’s what she was at the time.
He only realized too late that it was more.
Listening to the others talk keeps me just focused enough to not break protocol and just ram into the building myself.
This Hummer is equipped with a shit ton of things, thanks not only to Bass, our weapons specialist, but me and my team.
My guys wanted to come. They wanted to get some blood on their hands for what was done to their fallen brethren.
But I said it was my call, my job, and thus my blood to spill.
They backed down, not liking it but getting it all at once.
Casper wants a meetup with them after this. He wants to know everything. And I told him I’ll tell him everything. After. After we get Peaches. Alive or dead, she’s coming home, to me.
“Next left,” Bass says from the back seat.
I can see it just as well as he can on the screen, but I don’t point that out. I’m not in a talking mood.
We drive for about ten more minutes before we pull up to what looks like an abandoned house. The front wall is down, though the others are standing, but nothing shows life. Other than the two other Hummers parked out front.