Chapter Seven #2
“If you need to know, then I’d get permission from Ace to tell you. That satisfy you?”
“Why would you need to get permission?”
“Because telling you might endanger the rest of the club. He needs to know so he can weigh the risks and together we’d decide if telling you was the right thing to do.”
“Oh. That does make sense.” I paused. “So you’re not going to go beat the shit out of Tim? Or you’re not going to tell me you are because it might endanger the rest of the club?”
He snorted. “Hell, no that’s not what’s happening. Much as I’d like to take a round out of him, he doesn’t even know we exist. No point in giving anyone a hint as to where you are.”
That hadn’t occurred to me. I let out a heavy sigh. “So, I have to keep hiding forever?”
“I didn’t say that.” He looked exasperated. “Maybe he’ll give up on you. Maybe he’ll find someone else to focus his attention on. Or maybe, if we’re real lucky, he’ll piss off someone with more clout than he has.”
I liked the last option. Given his drinking and his temper, it just might solve my problem without any risk on my part.
* * *
Rattler
The electrician did a hell of a good job, and he did it with a smooth efficiency that made it look easy.
He’d checked the wiring, installed a heavier box to support the weight of the new fan, and had the aforementioned new fan delivered and installed in just over a day.
By noon of the second day, he was packing up his gear and heading back to his home base in Atlanta.
I was impressed, and at the same time a little annoyed. I’d figured I’d have at least another day with Lily before I had to leave.
Joker and Preacher were all packed and eager to get on the road. Of course they were. They didn’t have anyone to leave behind. The three of us were in Ace’s office, getting a briefing on what to expect.
I crossed my arms on my chest. “I think it best if we leave early tomorrow morning. We’ll be fresh and ready for the trip.”
Ace narrowed his eyes. “I get it. You don’t want to leave your little sweetie, but consider this.
You leave now, you get there at dusk, or better yet, dark.
Makes it easier to set up, find a good spot to watch from before the town wakes up.
Tomorrow morning you can search the house once he leaves, scout out his workplace, maybe the brokerage he spends so damn much time at. ”
Joker nodded. “Sounds like a good plan to me. We leave early morning we’re going to get there at noon, or later. People will see us coming, and they’ll talk. We don’t exactly fade into the freaking background.”
Preacher smiled grimly. “Yeah. Three guys in leather cuts on bikes? They’ll notice us for sure.”
The look Ace gave me was laced with sympathy. “I get it, but sometimes life sucks. The sooner you get there, the sooner you get back.”
I ran my hands through my hair. “You’re right. Promise me you’ll keep her safe while I’m gone.”
“You know it.” A wry smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “The old ladies have tomorrow all planned. Some kind of group thing where they stuff shit into fancy bags for the wedding. She probably won’t even notice you’re gone.”
“You mean welcome bags for the guests?” Preacher grinned.
Since getting registered to officiate at weddings, he’d performed quite a few.
Although he tried his best to live his life by Christian values, he felt everyone was entitled to their own interpretation of God as long as it followed the “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” rule.
He could perform just about any kind of service a couple could ask for.
He bragged that he’d once officiated at a Wiccan handfasting and an Evangelical ceremony on the same day.
He was also the team sniper, and didn’t seem to find that an odd combination of talents.
Sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in, he’d point out when questioned.
At least now he had the option of saying no if he didn’t agree with an assignment.
In the SEALs, you obeyed orders without question.
Ace brought the meeting back on topic. “Shadow gave you the rundown on this guy? His house, office, favorite drinking holes?”
I tried not to sound too eager. “Yup. Got them all memorized.”
Ace gave me a sharp look. “You are not to engage him, you understand? This is surveillance only.”
“I got it. And you’re sending two brothers with me to make sure I behave.”
“Shit.” Joker punched me in the shoulder. “You mean this is a babysitting mission?”
Ace shook his head. “Surveillance is not babysitting. The target is less likely to spot you if you spell each other off. And while we know Rattler here is doing it for his new bedmate, we are doing it to honor the memory of our fallen brother. If Jack were here, and one of you had a sister taking a beating from some asshole you know he’d be all in.
He’d track the fucker down and make sure he never hurt so much as a fly again. ”
“Or a kitten,” I added. “The asshole was gonna shoot Scrapper just for being alive and hungry.”
“Sounds like a real winner.” Joker stood up. “We about ready to saddle up?”
I nodded. “Just got to grab my kit from my room, and I’ll be right with you.”
Preacher rolled his eyes. “We’re timing you. No dropping the pants for a quickie.”
I grinned. “What’s the matter? Jealous?”
* * *
We rolled into the target’s town well after dark.
I had the location of Tim’s house on GPS, so I led the way.
There was a deserted old factory three blocks south of his location.
The lock on the gates had long since rusted off, and the hinges creaked as we opened them enough to get our bikes through.
We’d approach the target’s house on foot to avoid being noticed.
Much as I’d wanted to stay with Lily tonight, I had to acknowledge it made more sense to do our initial reconnaissance under the cover of darkness.
Cutting the engines, we walked our bikes around the back of the rickety building and parked them between two concrete barriers where they wouldn’t be easily spotted.
“We got a plan?” Joker took his helmet off and hung it on his handlebars. Preacher and I followed suit.
“Best approach is from the street behind his place.” I pulled out an aerial photo Shadow had managed to acquire.
The guy was a fucking magician when it came to finding intel on the Internet.
“We should be able to gain access to the back yard. There’s a stand of oak trees in the south corner of the property. ”
I nodded to Preacher. “You’re going up in them.
You should be able to get high enough to see in the house without being seen yourself.
Joker and I will be stationed at either end of the street.
Once the target leaves the house, you signal us and we go in and see what we can find.
While it’s still dark, I’m going to put a tracker on his car so we know where he is without him having eyes on us.
Remember, we do not want to tip him off that Lily’s found protection. ”
“Roger that.” We all pocketed our ammo and anything else we thought we’d need and set out on foot.
Surveillance is the crappiest part of what we do.
Necessary, but boring as hell until something happens, and then it usually happens way too fast to keep up.
The asshole was settled in for the night, giving me time to plant a tracking device under his front bumper, and a second one in a back wheel well just in case he lost the first one.
Shadow had supplied us with smart watches that doubled as communications devices that couldn’t be detected unless you were the fucking CIA, so we could keep tabs on each other without being noticed.
Once we picked our spots, we all hunkered down in place, conserving our energy.
We all knew how to catnap with one eye open during the lulls in action, and that came in handy when we were doing shit like this.
Shortly after six in the morning, Preacher alerted us that the suspect was up and moving.
I unfolded myself from the bench I’d been sleeping on and stretched. “Looks like he’s planning on heading to the office.” Slinging my backpack across my shoulder, I headed to the coffee shop down the block.
“Not yet. Made himself one of those sissy coffees and is sitting on the back porch reading the newspaper on his laptop. Looks like he’s checking out the stock markets.”
“You can tell that from where you are?” Preacher never ceased to amaze me.
“Easily. Scope on my rifle is a fuck-ton better than a set of binoculars.”
I knew Preacher had brought his rifle along.
He’d been a sniper long enough to feel like it was part of him.
I hadn’t considered just how powerful that scope was.
The tree he’d set up in was only seventy feet from the target’s house.
Practically kissing distance for a good sniper. “Let us know when he starts moving.”
“You going to follow him?”
“Not yet. Got the bugs on his car, so we can find him later. I want to search that house, see what we can find. It’s just a hunch, but if he’s got anything he wants out of sight I’m betting he’s the kind of guy to hide it in his house where he can keep an eye on it, not at his office all the way downtown.
” Shadow said something didn’t add up, and I wanted to know why. “You getting any good shots of him?”
“Fuck yeah. The guy is almost too clean cut. Hair combed perfectly, dressed to the nines, and I swear there’s actual creases on those pants he’s wearing.”
I snorted. “Bet he’d stick out like a sore thumb at a BBQ back at the clubhouse.”
“Guys like this don’t go to a BBQ unless there’s a chef and some pansy in a white shirt to serve the food and wipe his chin for him.”
Joker chuckled. “Sounds delightful. What the hell did Jack’s sister ever see in this asshole?”
Good question. I had a feeling she saw an escape from a bad situation. Unfortunately, it’d just landed her in a worse one.
I picked a table outside the coffee shop and sat down, placing an order for an extra-large coffee from the girl waiting tables.
Good location, just around the corner from the fucker’s house.
From here, I’d be able to see him if he took off in this direction.
Joker had picked up breakfast from a food truck and was sitting in the park at the other end of the street in case he exited that way.
A shiny black Porsche rolled up the stop sign at the corner in front of me.
It looked out of place in this middle-class neighborhood.
I took a sip of my coffee, watching the vehicle out of the corner of my eye.
I spoke softly, just loud enough for the com unit to pick up.
“Black money pit heading your way, Preacher.”
“Roger, I see it.” The radio was silent for a few minutes. “It just pulled into the driveway. Our boy is closing his laptop and getting up to meet it.”
“Can you see who’s in it?”
“Not yet. Tinted glass on the driver’s side windows. Wait. The driver just got out and is opening the back door. Looks like he’s just a driver. Suspect is getting in.”
“Anyone else in the car?”
“Not sure. They’d be on the far side if there is.”
“They on the move?”
“Not yet.” The silence stretched on, and my nerves tightened. “Okay, the car is backing out, heading your way.”
“Roger.” Just what I wanted. A chance to search the house. “Can you tell if the place is wired?”
“Negative. I can see a couple of security cameras, but the wires aren’t hooked up. Looks like they’re there to make people think the place has video surveillance without actually having any.”
Joker spoke up. “Makes sense if he’s doing something shady. You know Shadow can hack into anyone’s security system. This guy might want to make sure no one can see what he’s up to.”
Now I really wanted to see what was in that house.
From Preacher’s description, he didn’t sound like the kind of guy to be cooking drugs in the basement, and I doubted he could have been involved in human trafficking with Lily living in the house with him.
That still left a lot of nasty crap he could be pulling.
Just then, the Porsche pulled around the corner and sped off down the street, away from me.
I stood and gulped down the rest of my coffee. “Time to move in. Joker? Preacher?”
“Heading to the house.”
“Checking the doors for wires.”
I had to force myself to walk down that street slow enough not to draw attention to myself. I’d put a jacket on over my cut, as had Joker. This wasn’t our first rodeo. By the time I slipped around the back of the house, Joker was already there, and Preacher had the door open. “Good work.”
Joker rolled his eyes.
Preacher grinned. “Idiot left a key under the flowerpot.”
I glanced down and saw a clay pot with a fake geranium in it. I shook my head. The plant looked so out of place, there was only one reason it would be there. “Dumbass.”
We went inside and started a systematic search. We weren’t sure how much time we had, so we covered all the obvious bases first.
I entered the master bedroom, blocking out the thought of Lily and the asshole being in here together. No point in driving myself crazy.
I worked from the top of the room back. I checked under the mattress, in the drawers, and under them. Between the clothes in the closet and behind the books on the shelves. All the usual places. I even looked behind each piece of artwork hanging on the walls, hoping to uncover a wall safe.
Nothing.
I picked up the area rug beside the bed, a favorite way to hide a floor safe.
Still nothing.
On impulse, I pushed the huge plush armchair in the corner of the room to the side and struck fucking paydirt.
A big-assed floor safe.
I spoke softly. “Found something. Joker, in here with me. Preacher, watch to make sure he doesn’t come back.”
Wrestling rattlesnakes wasn’t my only talent. It was a simple safe. I pulled out my lockpicks and went to work. Five minutes later, I had the fucker unlocked. I took a deep breath, and pulled the lid open, exposing the contents.
Joker let out a low whistle. “Holy fucking shit!”