24. Cameron
CAMERON
Pure and utter chaos was the only thing to describe what I was looking at as the dust settled on the aftermath of the Mad Dogs’ attack.
Buildings had been demolished, leaving only craters where they once stood.
The train car explosion was the biggest of them.
They must have assumed we’d head right for it to check if it had the drugs in it or not, but thankfully, Dax had caught onto the trap giving us enough time to scatter.
There had been people on roofs and other places where they would have been wiped out in seconds if not for the warning.
I could still hear the panic in Dax’s voice when she alerted us, running from the shed closest to the train car.
I’d been on the rooftop with Sprocket, keeping a look out on the area, making sure the Mad Dogs didn’t sneak up on us from behind or either side, boxing us in.
We’d walked through all the buildings, and I couldn’t believe we missed the charges set.
Only a pro could have done something like this when I was trained to keep an eye out for shit like that.
I’d considered working for the bomb squad, knowing that learning a skill like this would be invaluable to Dax in the future.
The amount I learned in my six-month stint with them was enough to tell me it pulled me too far from the West Coast and where Dax needed me, which is when I transferred to the organized crime section and grew in the ranks there as I kept a watchful eye over my dark queen.
“Agent Black, this better be good if you’re calling me this early in the morning,” SSA Williams muttered as he answered the phone.
“Sir, remember the sting operation I told you about with the Mad Dogs… the whole thing went sideways, and I’m going to need backup.
Lots of backup and every ambulance we can get to the location I sent you.
They knew we were coming, and they had bombs set in all the buildings,” I shared as quickly and clearly as I could while watching those who were able-bodied drag others out of the rubble or try to stop the bleeding for others.
“What the hell, Black! You contacted the Las Vegas office, right?” Williams demanded.
“Of course, sir, they’re going to be my next call, but I figured you, as my direct supervisor, needed to be informed first. Unless there’s anything else you need from me at this moment, I need to get help here fast,” I bit out, trying to keep my temper in check.
I knew they had to play by the book, and this wasn’t how things were normally done, but people were going to die if I didn’t get them help.
Williams scoffed before hanging up on me. Unfazed by his anger, I called 911 and alerted them to the situation, then called the Vegas field office, catching my contact up to speed.
“We’ll be out there as fast as we can get agents in vehicles,” Agent Egger said, the tiredness from when she first answered wiped from her voice.
Knowing I’d done what I could to get the help we needed and explain why all these known criminals were working with me, I scanned the area for Dax.
Finally, I found all her men gathered around someone yelling about something, and panic hit me right in the gut like a knife.
Had Dax been shot again? Running full out, I reached them, shoving Wes out of the way only to discover it was Eagle on the ground with his brother ripping off a bulletproof vest and trying to stop the bleeding of a bullet wound in his side.
“Where’s Dax?” I snapped.
“They fucking took her. They shot Eagle five times, and they took her,” Picasso snarled, not even bothering to look up at me as he put pressure on the wound.
I paused, hearing them, then took a deep breath.
Dax had been prepared for this. She told me what I needed to do in this situation.
Not all was lost. We’d find her and get her back.
Sirens sounded in the distance, and I shook myself out of my internal whiplash.
“I called them in. They know the situation, and no one should be getting arrested or detained.”
“What?” Wes bellowed as he grabbed the front of my shirt, pulling me to him. “You better not be the reason we just got blown to smithereens, Black.”
“If you’ll give me a moment to explain myself,” I retorted, shoving him off of me.
“Dax had a backup plan she looped me in on and had me set up in the event something like this happened. Last night, I reached out to the FBI office here in Vegas and told them we were running a sting operation against the Mad Dogs, but the only way it would work is if it was done with Dax and her people.”
“Why the fuck would she tell you and not us?” Picasso demanded.
Rolling my eyes, I tried not to get too frustrated with them.
“Because she knew you wouldn’t like the plan and would try to stop her.
” I glanced at Wes doing everything in his power to keep from beating my face in.
“She had the nurse implant a tracking device on her. Dax said if she got caught, I was to tell you, and you would know what to do to find her. Then I was supposed to swoop in with the FBI at my back, killing two birds with one stone. Mad Dogs go down, we stay clean, and the FBI doesn’t question why I’m working so closely with you all.
Not to mention it would be a huge fuck you to Marco for them to have taken out his biggest drug distributors. ”
“I’m going to kill her when we find her!” Wes raged as he gripped his head with both hands like it might explode. “Why the fuck does she do shit like this?”
“I thought you were the one who was supposed to know her best?” I shot back, knowing I was going for the low blow.
Wes charged forward, his fist pulled back, but Void stepped in and pulled him back. “Weston!” Void barked. “Get your fucking head in the game and find our goddamn woman.”
This seemed to be what Wes needed to hear as he shook Void off and stomped away to where we’d been camped out behind the rubble piles.
“Anything else you need to tell us about this plan my little demon made?” Void asked as he used his bulk to intimidate me.
I might not be scared of him, but I respected his skill and the fact he could absolutely kill me in my sleep if he wanted to. “She felt like this plan had too many variables and wanted to get caught… although I don’t think this is what she had in mind when she said that.”
“Trust me, she didn’t want to go anywhere. Loba was fighting to protect Eagle when the bastard Mastiff came up and took her himself after he knocked her unconscious,” Cognac informed us. “Eagle did everything he could to stop him, and if he didn’t have that vest, he’d be dead right now.”
Our conversation was cut short as five ambulances arrived on the scene with EMTs jumping out and started checking on bodies they were close to.
There was no way we’d come out of this without having lost a good number of people.
Bombs were unpredictable, and the blast went so wide it was hard to avoid when in the midst of chaos.
Sprocket ran over and grabbed one of the men who followed him back, dropping beside the Phantom Saint’s president.
While I still wasn’t sold on these men for Dax, I knew she loved them, so I’d do everything in my power not to let him die.
“I’m Agent Black with the FBI. This man is extremely important to our case, so I need you to do everything you can to make sure he gets whatever he needs,” I explained, flashing my badge.
The parametric nodded as another joined him with a body board.
Moving as fast as they could, they got him strapped up and hauled him toward the ambulance.
“Picasso, go with him. We’ll handle the rest, but if Dax finds out we didn’t have someone with him, she’ll cut off our balls,” Sprocket pointed out. “We will keep you updated the moment we know anything and you do the same for us, alright?”
Picasso hesitated for a moment before he jogged to meet up with the paramedics.
It was smart they were family and would be able to tell him everything and let him make decisions on care.
I also had a feeling he wouldn’t be of any use to us while he worried about his brother with a complex as strong as he had toward his brother.
Another wave of ambulances arrived along with the telltale black SUVs of the FBI.
“I’m going to meet with the agents who are arriving, but the moment Wes finds anything, you let me know, and we’ll head out.
I won’t fail her in this, and I’d bet my life whatever plan she has is counting on us showing up,” I explained to the guys.
They agreed, waving me off as they dispersed to help others pull people from the rubble.
“Fucking hell,” Agent Egger swore, taking off her sunglasses to absorb the bloodbath before her. “Do we have enough ambulances for all this? Shit, did you know you’re bleeding?”
She reached to touch the side of my head where I’d slammed it into a rock when I got knocked down from the first blast. I grabbed her wrist before her fingers touched my skin—no one but Dax could put their hands on me. “I’ll be fine. We have bigger problems to deal with.”
“Such as…” Egger questioned. “This right here seems pretty major.”
“They took Dax Blackmore, and we need to get her back,” I informed her.
Egger let a laugh burst from her before frowning at me.
She was a pretty woman and once tried to seduce me when we were working on another case.
I could see her getting a fair amount of attention which might be why she was shocked when I turned her down, but only one woman could possibly hold my attention.
Dax seemed to think I’ve been sleeping around on her, but that was the farthest thing from the truth, even though my father tried that approach when she first left me.
The idea of having someone else in my bed made me sick.
“You’re serious.” Egger gaped at me. “Do we even know who took her or where she could be?”
“In the event that something like this might happen, she had a tracker implanted. Weston will have her location pulled up momentarily,” I stated.
“Hold on, you're going to let her right-hand man and known criminal hacker find her location so we just blindly follow him? You’ve always played the game differently, but this, Black, is just stupid,” Egger snapped.
I took a step forward so I was towering over her and gripped her, holding it firmly so she knew I wasn’t fucking around.
“We’re going after her, end of story.” Her eyes were wide in terror as she nodded.
I dropped my hold on her. “Weston is one of her men, and he’ll do whatever it takes to get her back.
If we go with them, we can take the credit for bringing the Mad Dogs down.
Otherwise, it will be blasted everywhere in the news that Two Tricks struck again, making the FBI a laughingstock.
What do you think the director would like us to do? ”
“Fine, we’ll play this out, but just know if this goes down like I think it will, it’ll be the last case you’ll ever work on.
They’ll take your badge for sure,” Egger spat as she pulled out her phone and spoke to her field office, letting them know we’d need S.W.A.T. and anyone else she thought of to help us take down the infamous biker gang.
“Is she right?” Sprocket asked as he walked up to me.
Turning my head, I looked at him with a raised brow. “I’m flattered that you’re concerned for me, but there’s too much I know about the leaders of the FBI to get fired that easily.”
“Wasn’t too worried about you. To me, you seem like a cat who can always land on your feet. I was talking more about them not wanting to go after Dax if we don’t have them helping, I’m not sure there are enough of us to pull this off without them.”
This time I shifted to face him. “Have a little more faith in our woman. Dax might not be able to take down the whole crew, but she’ll set them on fire to make it easier for us.”
“They better pray we get there sooner than later. The FBI is going to be the safer choice for them than a pissed-off Dax who thinks they killed Eagle,” Void commented as we spotted Weston running toward us with a computer in his hands. “She better have left me some to play with.”
Weston took a moment to catch his breath as he handed the computer over to me. I scanned the map with a satellite view of an abandoned building with a bleached-out sign reading Whiteberry Psychiatric Facility. “Time to mount up, I’ll lead the feds and be right behind you. Go get her.”