Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
W alking through the garage at the back of The Last Riders’ factory, Moon waited for Shade to buzz him inside.
Hearing the clink of the steel door being unlocked, he opened the heavy door and went inside, finding Shade sitting at the desk, surrounded by monitors covering every inch of The Last Riders’ property.
“Brah, you look like you need to get some sleep.” Walking closer to the long desk, he saw Shade had spread numerous pictures out. “Still no luck?”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Shade didn’t bother to look up at him. “None.”
Moon sat down in the other computer chair, rolling it closer to the desk to study the pictures. “I don’t get what we’re missing.”
Shade dropped his hands to the armrests, leaning his head back. “I don’t, either. There has to be two working together. One on our end and one in the factory in Ohio. If that’s the case, then how are we not at least catching one of them in the act?”
“Damn.” Moon continued study the pictures, his hand going to his chin to rub his jaw line. “The only suggestion I have is the same one I’ve been advising—shut it down to outside workers and only let the members do the work.”
“Viper doesn’t want to put the workers out of a job. Most of them have families to support.”
“What do you think?”
“What I think doesn’t count. Viper is the decision maker. I agree with you, but I won’t be the one handing out termination notices.”
From the pictures and the videos he had watched repeatedly, there was nothing that stood out which could lead to who was responsible for the thefts in the factory.
“We’ve tried it all, except terminating the employees. They stopped for a couple of months when the brothers started escorting the trucks, and then it started again.”
“Because they found another way to combat that difficulty,” Moon mused out loud.
“Yes, we haven’t figured how they did it in the first place, and now we’re stumped in whatever new method they’re using.” Shade lifted his head. “You haven’t had your head in this for the last couple of months, what’s the sudden turnaround?”
“No turnaround. I never lost my focus, just had to deal with my personal shit first.”
Shade raised an inquiring brow. “How’s that working out for you?”
“Coming along. Could be better, could be worse.”
“You talked to Stud?”
“Had to. I wasn’t going to cause a rift between Viper and Stud unless I had to. It was easier talking to him than starting a war. Besides, I want that fucking bike I ordered from him.”
“He drive a hard bargain?”
“Not too bad.”
Shade’s lips twisted in a sardonic smile. “Could be worse, could be better?”
“Pretty much. I have to be reasonable—don’t argue with Larissa and cut out any show of temper around her. If he hears one word of me not playing by his rules, my ass will be on the line, not the club’s, and hell will freeze over before I get the bike I ordered.”
“That’s a tall order for you to fulfill.”
“Not too bad.” He shrugged. “I expected worse. He’s already pulled Jet back.”
“What about Sex Piston?”
“He said, all I have to do to keep Sex Piston from giving her two-cents worth in Larissa’s ear is to make her bitch happy. We all know Sex Piston is a rottweiler where her bitches are concerned. Larissa has formed a bond with Killyama, and Sex Piston knows that. Plus, she likes Larissa. They call her an honorary bitch.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah, believe me, brother, I feel Razer, yours, and Train’s pain.”
Shade stood. “Just don’t make the same mistake Razer did. He’ll never live that down.”
“I have no intention of stepping in that litterbox. If I feel the need, Ohio is only a few hours away.”
Shade started to pick up the pictures.
“Leave them. I’ll look over them again.”
“Good luck. Between Rider, Reaper, you, and me, we’ve looked through those pictures a thousand times, and that includes all the videos. Going to bed. Don’t call me unless it’s an emergency. I have to be at the factory by seven.”
“Ouch. Razer still won’t take over managing the factory full-time?”
“He can’t. He’s working on a project. I’m lucky he’s still working two days a week.”
“Might as well face it and take the job back full-time.”
“Nope. Lily’s expecting again. I’m not going to leave her to handle the kids alone.”
“Congrats.”
“Thanks.”
“Lily going to use Larissa or Priss?”
“No.” Shade picked up his Glock, placing it in the small of his back, then shrugged into his jacket. “She said she liked them too much to make them deal with me.”
“You can’t be that bad in a delivery room.” Moon laughed.
Shade gave him the cold glance he was familiar with. “I won’t tolerate any mistakes where Lily’s care is concerned. The doctors know that, and it makes them nervous.”
“It would make me nervous, too,” he said wryly.
“Whatever it takes,” Shade said with deadly calm.
“Whatever it takes,” Moon agreed, just as serious.
Moon resumed analyzing the pictures after Shade left. Monitoring the cameras as the members came and left distracted him intermittently.
An hour after Shade had left, Moon saw Viper leave his home, walking toward the back of the factory. Raising the garage door at Viper’s approach to save him the trouble of getting his finger scanned, he then lowered the door when Viper walked through and waited until he saw Viper outside his door before buzzing him through. Then Moon turned in the chair to face Viper.
“What’s got you out so late?”
“Shade called. He said you were looking over the pictures.”
“Went through some of the tapes again, too.”
Viper reached into his pocket to pull out a pack of cigarettes. “I thought this would help.” Tossing him the pack of cigarettes, Viper waited for his reaction.
“You even remember my favorite brand.”
“Brother, I remember anything that makes you tick.”
“You going to stay for a while?”
“As long as I need to. Have at it.”
Moon nodded. Then he got up to let Viper have the chair. Taking his gun, he left the security room. Viper was already raising the garage door as the door of the security office closed behind him.
Striding across the parking lot, he went up the path behind the clubhouse. Going to the picnic table, he lifted himself to sit on the top, his feet going to bench where people normally sat.
Staring out into the dark night toward the mountains, he opened the cigarettes and took one out to light. Setting the pack down on the table within easy reach, Moon cleared his mind. Concentrating on the thefts in the factory like a never-ending reel, over and over the reel played. Intermittently, he would put out a cigarette and light another.
He’d gone through half a pack and dawn was beginning to light the night sky when he put out a cigarette half-smoked and rose from the table.
Returning back to the security room, Viper looked at him expectantly. “Well?”
“We’ve been going off the idea that it’s an employee taking advantage of one of our weaknesses that we don’t know about. It’s more organized than that.”
“How organized?”
“When I talked to Shade, I thought two. It’s more than that. There’s more going on here than we assumed. They’re using the trucks.”
Viper shook his head. “We’ve been monitoring them too closely.”
“I don’t know how, but they’re stealing what they want during the shipping.”
“Solution?”
“We have to bring in a plant.”