Bones
“How in the fuck did he get all this shit?” Cotton ran his hand over his face. “Hell, I didn’t even know Darby was taking art this semester, and this motherfucker knows the day, the time, the name of the professor, and the exact GPS coordinates of the fucking art building.”
“He’s got Mia and Wren’s schedule, too. He’s got them all.
” It gutted me to hear the anguish in Stitch’s voice.
I knew what he was feeling. I felt it, too.
“What time they go to work. When they go to the gym. Where they get their fucking hair done. He even knows where they get their fucking groceries.”
I was just as angry and shaken as my ol’ man.
Hell, my blood ran cold when I opened the email and saw the images of my brothers and their families. And I nearly lost it when I saw Elsie’s beautiful face on my screen. I scrolled through, noting what the file did and did not include, and there was no doubt it was bad.
I had no idea how bad until we printed it all off.
The file included information about every member of Fury, including their address, their occupation, and daily itinerary. They had the model of the bikes we rode, how long we’d been members, and they had the same information on our significant others and all the children.
I had to admit it was fucking impressive.
He must‘ve spent hours and hours collecting that kind of intel, and I’m not just talking about your basic hacking.
He did that and more. He and his men had to have been watching us for months, which explains why we hadn’t had any contact with them since the day Q and Rooster were kidnapped and beaten.
But it didn’t explain why he’d taken them in the first place.
He had all the information.
He didn’t need to kidnap and beat them.
It was that thought that had me going back to look over everything we’d collected from the warehouse. I was going over my notes when I heard Cotton ask, “What’s this guy trying to prove by having all this shit?”
“He’s not trying to prove anything,” Stitch answered. “He’s trying to rattle us, and he succeeded. I’m definitely rattled.”
“You and me both.” Cotton tugged at his thick beard. “I gotta admit, it’s been a while since… Anyway, what the hell are we gonna do about this guy?”
“We’re gonna burn his ass to the ground. That’s what we’re gonna do.” Stitch’s voice grew fierce. “He may have our addresses, but we have his, too! I say we go there and …”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I interrupted.
“And why not?”
“The only reason why we know who he is and where he lives is because he wanted us to know. That’s not the kind of guy you go after with guns blazing,” I warned. “We need to know exactly what we’re going up against with this guy, or we’re gonna fail.”
“Fury never fails.”
“There’s a first time for everything.” I could tell by their expressions that my father and president weren’t happy about my response.
I hated to piss them off, but that didn’t make it any less true.
“I’m not saying we can’t beat this guy. I have no doubt that we can, but we gotta think this thing through. ”
“He’s right. There’s no way he did all this on his own.” Cotton turned to Big as he said, “You think you and Bones can find out more about our Mr. Davenport? Most importantly, who he’s working with?”
“There’s another question we need answered.”
“Oh?” Cotton turned his attention back to me. “And what’s that?”
“Why he had Q and Rooster picked up and questioned.” Cotton’s brows furrowed as he listened to me say, “He already knew everything he needed to know except one important thing.”
“They wanted to know who we are working with?”
“That’s right.” I motioned my hand over at the table full of files he’d made. “He has everything on us except that.”
“So, this is about the business and not some kind of sick revenge tactic?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. It’s definitely something to consider while we’re looking into him.”
“Agreed.” Cotton turned back to Stitch as he said, “Time to get our hands on that Ben kid. See what we can find out from him.”
“I’ll have his address within the hour.”
“I’ll call church first thing tomorrow. We can fill the boys in on everything then.” Cotton had a fatherly tone as he told us, “You boys do what you gotta do, but take the breaks you need to take. I need you both at your best.”
“You got it, Prez.”
“It’s late. I’m gonna go check in with Cass and the girls. If you find something or need me, you know where to find me.”
I nodded, then watched as Cotton and Stitch walked out of the room, leaving Big and me to get to work. I eased over to my desk and turned on my laptop as I asked, “So, where do we start?”
He didn’t answer.
He just sat there staring at a sheet of paper.
After several moments, he mumbled, “He’s been out there watching them. Josie... Davis... Beck. My woman. My family. It was my job to protect them, and I failed them.”
“You didn’t fail them. They’re here, and they’re safe.”
“Yeah, but that asshole’s been out there watching them.”
“It’s a background check, brother.”
“It’s more than that, and you know it.”
He was right. I knew the kind of effort that went into making those files. Hell, just thinking about the one he had on Elsie brought bile to my throat. I hated that he knew where she was every minute of the day. I hated that Elsie had been used to get closer to us even more.
But I couldn’t let myself think about that. Not now.
If I did, I’d completely lose it, and I’d be no good to anyone, including Elsie
For her, I would kill these assholes with my bare hands.
But I’d have to find them first, so I told Big, “He may have the information, but he hasn’t used it. At least, not yet. We need to get to him before he tries to do something stupid.”
“You’re right.” He tossed the papers down on the table, then wheeled around to his computer. “We need to find this Ben asshole.”
“Yeah, if we can get our hands on him, then Stitch will make him talk. Maybe then we can figure out exactly what we’re up against.”
We couldn’t be sure if he’d used his real name or not, so we pulled his picture from our security feed and ran it through our facial recognition software.
It took a couple of tries, but eventually, we were able to ascertain that he was, in fact, Ben Bruton—David Bruton’s grandson.
I had no idea why Bruton would get his own flesh and blood mixed up in this mess, but it was a decision he would soon regret.
It didn’t take long to locate both Ben’s permanent address and his campus address, but time was getting away from us.
The sun was starting to rise, and it wouldn’t be long before everyone would be stirring.
With the information in hand, Big stood and started for the door.
“You take a break. I’ll get this to Stitch and Cotton. ”
I nodded, but I had no intention of taking a break.
Bruton had reached out to me.
Not once, but twice. And he hadn’t said a fucking word to Cotton—the president of Satan’s Fury.
That meant something, but I had no idea what.
I figured he wanted to single me out, and if that was the case, I was about to return the favor.
I would find the information the club needed to take him down and turn the tables on him.
I went back to the data I’d pulled from the Interpol server and started looking over Bruton’s old cases. I pinned the photographs to the wall, then listed all the names of the people involved and the alleged illegal activity that was being investigated.
I felt like I was grasping at straws,
But I knew in my gut that there was something here.
I just had to find the one singular piece that pulled it all together.
I sat back and just stared at each case, studying the faces and the crimes committed. At first, I couldn’t find a damn thing. There didn’t seem to be a single connection between the cases, but as I sat there studying all those faces, a pair of crystal blue eyes caught my attention.
I jumped up and rushed over to get a better look. The guy was young, only twenty or so in the picture, but that was over forty years ago. He would’ve aged a great deal in that length of time.
With that in mind, I placed my hand over his forehead and chin, then tried to imagine the guy with gray hair and wrinkles. That’s when it hit me. The man wasn’t a fine arts thief. Not even close.
He was Charles Lynskey.
He was a Russian militant who purchased weapons overseas, providing them to those who supported his cause.
The discovery led me to check all the names on the wall, making sure the crimes associated with them were legit, and it came as no surprise that they were all bogus.
Most had a connection to Al Qaeda and Taliban, and any other militant group who wanted to rise against their government, while others were arms dealers who sold to the highest bidder.
Bruton had investigated all of these men, but for crimes they hadn’t committed.
Not that it mattered.
No arrests were ever made.
I was jotting down some thoughts when the door opened, and Stitch entered the room. “You been at this all night?”
“Yeah, but I’m good.”
“Don’t wanna hear that shit,” Stitch fussed. “Get a few hours shut-eye, and then you can get back at it.”
“I’m onto something here. I can’t just...”
“It’ll be waiting for you when you wake up.” He motioned his head over to the sofa. “Crash for an hour or two. We’ll be back with the grandson by then.”
There was no sense in arguing. Stitch wasn’t going to let it go, so I got up and made my way over to the sofa.
I figured it was better than going all the way back to my room—at least that way, I would be close if anything came up.
As soon as I closed my eyes, Stitch turned out the lights and walked out of the room.
I didn’t expect to sleep.
My mind was racing with too many unanswered questions, but my curiosity over Bruton’s escapades wasn’t strong enough to fight against my exhaustion. Eventually, I passed out, and I didn’t wake until hours later when I heard Big grumble, “What the fuck?”
I rolled over and found him sitting at my desk, scanning over all the intel I’d gathered on Bruton. He immediately turned to me and asked, “Is this what I think it is?”
“Afraid so.” I pulled myself up from the sofa and walked over to him. “Looks like he has connections with arms dealers all over the world.”
“Holy shit. I can’t believe I missed this.” Big turned to me with a strange look on his face. “You really do have a way with this stuff that I never did.”
“You would’ve found it.”
“I’m not so sure. Regardless, I’m glad you pieced it together.” His brows furrowed with concern as he asked, “You think this is the reason he’s so interested in the club? He wants in on our pipeline?”
“He’s the only one who can answer that for certain, but it certainly looks like a strong possibility.”
“He’s gotta know there’s no way in hell that’s gonna happen.”
“I’m sure he knew we would resist. That’s why he decided to use drastic measures.” I glanced back over the table full of information on my brothers and their loved ones. “You gotta admit, using our families against us is pretty fucking persuasive.”
“But his plan is about to backfire on his ass.”
“Yeah, we’re gonna show this motherfucker what Fury is all about.”
“Damn straight we will.” Big motioned his hand over to the wall as he said, “We need to let Cotton and the others in on what you’ve found.”
I nodded, then walked over and started putting everything back into the correct folder.
Seeing all the faces of my brothers and their ol’ ladies made my stomach twist into a knot, and that knot only grew tighter when I came across Elsie’s beautiful face.
I wanted to see her, hold her, so I could prove to myself that she was truly okay.
Knowing that wasn’t an option was getting to me.
Everything was getting to me, and it was getting harder and harder to keep myself in check.
But I had no choice.
My brothers needed me, and I refused to let them down.
Big and I gathered everything we had and carried it to the conference room.
We’d just finished setting everything up when Cotton walked in with the rest of the brothers.
As soon as they were seated, Big motioned his hand over to me, “Bones is gonna fill you in on a few things. Some aren’t gonna be easy to hear, but we both need you to hear him out. ”
“Is it just me, or does this sound bad?” Two Bit grumbled.
“It certainly isn’t good,” Cotton responded.
Without saying anything more, Big turned to me and gave me a nod, signaling that it was my turn to speak.
Knowing it was going to cause the greatest reaction, I took the files that had been sent to me and distributed the copies throughout the room.
As expected, a low, angry rumble filled the room the second the guys started looking over the papers I’d given them.
“These files were sent to my email last night.” The room fell silent as I continued, “I believe they came from David Bruton, a man many of you know as the high school history teacher.”
“Come again?” Diesel snapped.
“I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true.”
I turned to the computer screen mounted on the wall and pulled up the information I’d collected on Bruton, including how I’d discovered that he was actually Carl Davenport.
The guys never said a word. They simply sat there in complete bewilderment as I told them how he once worked for Interpol and how his cases provided him with connections to some very powerful men.
“If he has these kinds of connections, what does he want with us?” Maverick asked. “And why now? What’s changed over the past forty years?”
“I’m still trying to figure that out,” I admitted. “I’m hoping his grandson will have some answers for us. Stitch and Wrath are out looking for him now.”
“And what are you expecting us to do until then?” Smokey was known for being calm and rational, especially since he married MJ, but he sounded neither calm nor rational as he snarled, “’Cause I’m not just gonna sit here and wait for this motherfucker to come after my ol’ lady and kids.”
“I understand your frustration. Hell, I’m frustrated, too.
” The tension in the room was crackling around me, causing the knot in my stomach to grow tighter.
I felt like I was teetering on the edge as I told him, “But we don’t know what kind of manpower this guy has got.
It could just be him and a couple of guys, or he could have a whole fucking army.
We don’t need to make a move until we know more, and we won’t know more until we get our hands on the grandson. ”
A war was brewing.
And I feared it would bring a battle like we’d never seen before.