Chapter 23 Fred
FRED
I wasn’t sure if that sour odor was coming from the motel room’s carpet or the cheap ass beer Charlie had been drinking since his release.
It hung in the air, so thick I choked on it every time I walked in.
Ever since I had both my brothers bailed out of jail a few days after the gala, Charlie had been drinking.
It wasn’t the first time he’d been arrested, but it was the first time he’d spent more than a few hours behind bars. As it turned out, jail did not agree with my baby brother. And that was what he was. A big fucking baby.
Not only had he been drunk for the last few weeks, he continued to moan about the shit I’d dragged him into. Ungrateful asshole. I went to prison to protect our father, but no one cared about that. At least Keith was somewhat helpful.
He’d managed to communicate with The Rival, who had provided us with the two man crew I needed to pull off breaking into Theo Snow’s property. One had taken the photos I needed and one placed the hidden camera. Everytime Maggie walked past, I would be able to see her.
For a moment I wondered what Snow would think of me using his own products to monitor my family.
While Keith was still trying to hack into the camera feed of Snow’s security system, I had one camera placed in the yard. With a view of the pool and the huge open space, I figured it was the one place those brats and their mother would spend most of their time.
I glared at my brother. “Why don’t you go shower so we can plan our next move.”
We’d been at the motel for weeks, not wanting to go back to the house because I was still wanted. Charlie and Keith had their own motel rooms but they both spent most of their time in mine. Pissing me off.
“You are not the boss around here.” Charlie stood and headed for the door. “We’re risking a lot because you couldn’t hold onto your woman.”
I was up and in his face in a matter of seconds. Without thinking I grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the door. “You fucking ungrateful asshole. I was offered a plea deal. But I kept dad out of jail. So he could continue to look after your weak pathetic ass.”
Charlie looked at me. His attempt at a glare made me chuckle. If he thought he could intimidate me, he would find my boot up his ass.
Keith moved his hands between us.
“Enough.” My middle brother’s barked order took me by surprise. He shoved his arm against my chest. “We don’t have time for this. Snow has resources we cannot even wrap our heads around. If we start fighting each other, we’ll be dead before we even start.”
I glared at Charlie one last time before releasing his collar with a shove that sent him backwards. He straightened his shirt and muttered under his breath. Fucking coward couldn’t even say things to my face.
Charlie stomped off to his own room. To shower, I presumed. That asshole had been coddled by my father. So had Keith, really. My middle brother was just smart enough to know not to get in my face. I was the only one in our family with the spine and stomach to do what needed to be done.
Fifteen minutes later both my brothers were back in my room.
“Sit.” I ordered both of them, then looked at Charlie. “I fucking hope that shower sobered you up.”
He rolled his eyes as he moved to the edge of the bed. “Just talk. You have this big fancy plan. So, tell us about it.”
I turned to the small table and opened the laptop. The screen flickered with the grainy night vision feed from the camera that was planted in the hedge. The yard was dark and empty, with everyone scared inside. I rewound the footage we did have from earlier in the evening.
I’d watched it a few times already but I couldn’t get enough of her terrified reaction. The moment she had found the photo.
Her hand flew to her mouth. She had her back to the camera, so I couldn’t see her eyes but I could detect the terror in her body language.
The stiffness of her shoulders, the way she clenched her fists.
She knew someone had been there. That I could get to her whenever I pleased.
It was time she understood that no fancy gate and or brainless guards could keep me from taking what was mine.
“She’s scared.” My murmur was low, but both my brothers heard me.
Keith stood alongside me. “They didn’t even call the cops. They don’t think you’re enough of a threat to warrant that attention.”
“Or, you fool, they are protecting that asshole Snow.” I turned and looked my brother in the eye. “Snow is one of them, and they’ll want to deal with me themselves. They know the cops cannot stop me. Cops were at the gala in minutes and I still managed to get away.”
Charlie stood and held up his hand. “They don’t want to be restricted by the law. That may be even scarier.”
“I am not scared of them.” I clenched both fists, itching to punch my little brother in the face.
“That fucker has my children. And he’s screwing my wife.
He’s nothing more than a thug. A fancy suit and big house won’t change that.
And I will be more than happy to show him what happens to fancy boys like him. ”
Keith ignored my rage, pointing to the laptop screen. “We got lucky with that camera, Fred. But next time, that place will be locked down tight. Hunter Spence isn’t an idiot. We won’t be able to just walk in like your man did today.”
“We won’t need to walk in.” A smile played at the corner of my mouth. “We can make her walk out.”
As if on cue the burner phone on the nightstand buzzed.
I picked up the phone seeing the message from The Rival.
I had been expecting a map. Or perhaps a gate code for our next hit on Snow Enterprises.
Maybe something as useful as the handgun he’d sent me last week.
Anything the man thought I might need. Instead, I had a PDF file.
And something way more useful than a map.
Without hesitation, I opened it. I wasn’t expecting to find a bus schedule. It made no sense until I saw the line that was highlighted.
MDF Summer Camp Bus Route B.
Below it listed the pick up times and locations. One of the lines had something in the notes column which drew my attention.
Security detail will board with minor, and armored vehicle will follow.
I stared at the screen a moment longer as I put the pieces together.
Did they want me to attack the security detail?
That was a suicide mission. But it would start a war.
A war The Rival wanted. Snow Enterprises was the leading distributor of weapons in the United States and with Theo out of the way, who knew what might be opened up.
That was not what I wanted. I knew better than to start a war with a man who had every law enforcement and defense agency in his pocket.
No, I wanted my family back. Once I had punished my wife sufficiently for whoring herself out, she would never think to leave or take my children away again. Still, the schedule was useful.
I looked at the list once more. I knew exactly where my son would be the following week.
It may take a day or two to establish the routines of the camp and the security.
But I could work with that. The bus stops would be the key, that was where the most chaos was, where they were the most vulnerable.
“Snow thinks he can buy safety and that makes him a man.” I showed the screen to my brothers. “I will show him just how easy it is to scale the walls he’s built.”
Keith frowned. “I told you. We’re not getting into that house a second time.”
“We’re not going for the house,” I announced.
Charlie leaned back on his elbows. “Then what? We just wait.”
What the fuck was wrong with my brother. Did he lack any imagination entirely? It was obvious he lacked the killer instinct my dad and I had, but even Keith and all of his nerd brain understood that action was required.
“No.” I squared my shoulders, preparing for the inevitable fight. “We take what matters most. We’ll take the boy.”
“Kidnapping?” Keith looked up from the phone, his face paled. “Fred, that’s—”
“It’s not kidnapping.” Rage rolled through me that these two imbeciles could not get it. I growled my next words out. “He’s my son. Mine. You can’t steal what already belongs to you.”
“I don’t think—” Charlie tried to speak again.
“Exactly, you don’t think.” I paced the small room, my plan starting to take shape.
“We take Hayden. He’s going to Summer Camp next week.
We snatch him right from under their noses.
We take the time to see where they’re most vulnerable before we strike.
” I smiled, the perfection of it all washing over me.
“Then we call Maggie. We tell Maggie if she ever wants to see him again, she has to come to us. Alone. No cops. No Snow.”
“But, when?” Keith looked at my phone once more, he could see the bus route on the screen. “That camp is only for four days.”
“Yes.” I said and smiled at my brother. “But the last day of camp is also the day of the shipment transfer. If my hunch is correct, Snow will be distracted by that.”