37. Soul
Soul
Men are scattered around the clubhouse, preparing for battle. There are guns on every table and extra men at the perimeter. The families have been pulled in from the neighborhood. They’re staying in the ranked-members’ rooms while we figure out what we’re dealing with.
Thankfully, Tempe has been watching Charlie while I work on getting her mother back. I’ve never been more grateful for my brothers’ old ladies.
All our men are preparing to go to war with Eli for taking Emery. Except for Chaos, who is at the hospital checking on Willa. She broke a rib in the accident, and she’s been struggling to maintain consciousness. Thankfully, the doctor said she will make a full recovery.
“I hate that Zane is the one pulling strings to keep us out of jail right now,” I grumble at Steel, who follows me into church.
“We didn’t have any other option. Did you want me to leave you in there with Willa in the hospital and Emery missing?” Steel levels me with a glare, leaving no room for argument. “That’s what I thought.”
“Zane isn’t helping us out of the kindness of his heart. That’s all I’m saying,” I remind him as we drop into our seats.
“Well aware. He thinks if he helps us, we’ll help him.”
“And all this time we thought he wanted to see us burn. Now he’d rather use us as puppets like he did the Iron Sinners.”
Steel shakes his head, dragging his hair off his forehead. “He probably doesn’t have any other choice. With the Iron Sinners gone and Eli turning on him, he needs us.”
“We’re not helping him.”
“We’re not,” Steel agrees. “He can think whatever he wants right now, so long as it means you guys aren’t locked up. But the moment we find Emery, we’re dealing with that asshole.”
“Glad we’re on the same page.”
Zane probably thinks we’re grateful to him for finding a way to invalidate the district attorney’s evidence against us. That we’ll repay him by becoming his army, just like the Iron Sinners were. But he’s wrong.
It doesn’t matter if my wife is his niece or that he helped me evade prison. He doesn’t get to threaten my wife—my daughter—and get away with it. We might have accepted his help today at the courthouse, but he’ll get what’s coming to him.
Ghost walks into church, balancing his laptop on one hand. “We found her.”
I shove out of my chair, ready to go. “Then why are we still standing around?”
“Hold up.” Steel holds up a hand. “The only advantage we have right now is that Eli doesn’t know Zane helped get you out. He’s trying to keep that from Eli’s contacts as long as possible. We need to go about this the right way, or we risk something happening to Emery.”
He’s right.
I hate that he’s right.
I sit back down, knowing we need to be smart about this.
I’m usually the wrecking ball Steel sends in to make a statement for the club. For her, I hold my recklessness at bay. For Emery and Charlie, I do as my president says.
“Tell me the plan then.” I muster all of my restraint. “Where is she?”
Ghost sets his laptop on the table as Legacy and Havoc step into the room. None of them take a seat. The only reason I do is that if I’m not planted in this chair, then I’m not going to stay put.
“Eli has Emery at a hotel on the outskirts of the city. The security is high-end. He’s not taking any chances. From what we can tell, the top three floors are privately owned. We assume she’s there.” Ghost spins his laptop around, showing us an image of the front of the building.
I’ve seen that hotel before. It’s pretentious. Decorated in gaudy gold finishings. The rooms are twice as expensive as the hotels surrounding it. I shouldn’t be surprised that he took her there.
“I doubt they’re going to let us walk right in and take the elevator.” Havoc crosses his arms over his chest.
I shake my head. “Well, it’s not like we have a spare helicopter sitting around to go in through the roof, so we need to figure out another way upstairs.”
“All the cameras run on the same grid,” Ghost explains. “If we shut off power completely, they’re going to know we’re coming.”
“He took my wife,” I point out. “He already knows we’re coming. Even if he thinks I’m still behind bars, he must know the club would retaliate.”
“He probably does, but that doesn’t mean we won’t benefit from a head start. We have to be careful how we go about this, especially because I don’t have time to set up a proper loop for the security feeds.”
“We could just go in guns blazing,” Venom offers, stepping into the room.
When I frown at him, he shrugs. “I figured someone had to say it. I get that we want to be careful, but this entire operation is a big risk. Don’t forget who we’re dealing with.
This is someone who got one over on Rick Zane.
If we don’t take a big swing, we may never get another chance. ”
Venom is right, and I hate it.
Havoc steps forward, tipping his chin at the laptop. “Pull up the schematics of the hotel again. I think I have an idea.”
Ghost flips the laptop around, typing until he finds what he’s looking for. He slides it across the table to Havoc, who drops into a chair and scours the plans.
“Here.” He turns the screen so we can all see it. “Right inside the back door is a service elevator. It goes all the way up to the third floor from the top. It’s probably what they’ve used to bring in big items.”
“If it reaches the penthouse, it’s going to be heavily guarded,” I say.
“Agreed. But it doesn’t look like there’s much surveillance in that back parking lot.
If we go in through this door, aiming for that elevator, all we have to do is tamper with one feed and take out any guards quickly and quietly.
Then we should be able to sneak up. But it’s going to have to be a small mission. Just a few of us.”
Havoc’s military experience shines in moments like this, and I’ve never been more grateful.
Ghost turns the computer back around, clicking through the cameras.
“There are only four cameras in the back lot. But we don’t necessarily need to loop them; we just need to understand how they’re angled.
We might be able to move around them without doing anything to the system if we’re careful.
The service elevator will require a loop either way, but that’s simple.
I can set it up in the next ten minutes.
The problem is going to be once you get upstairs. He’ll have guards ready and waiting.”
“That’s what these are for.” I slap my gun down on the table. “By the time we’re up there, it doesn’t matter if they see us or not. We’re either taking them out before they can stop us or we’re dead.”
Steel nods, scratching his jaw as he considers everything.
“Havoc, I want you to take point.” When I open my mouth to argue, he shakes his head.
“He’s got a clear head about this, and he has a plan.
He knows what he’s doing, and you need to trust him with that.
Besides, your focus needs to be on Emery. ”
I can’t argue with that. “Understood.”
“Legacy, Venom… I want you with them. Ghost, stay back in the parking lot and feed the information they need through comms. Everyone else is going to stay as far out of the area as possible. If shit goes down, we’re not going to get there in time, so you need to make this happen and make it happen fast.”
“Got it.” Legacy and Venom nod.
I stand, tucking my gun away. “No one up there is walking away from this, including Eli. It’s going to cause a media circus when they find the bodies.”
“Then don’t leave any prints and make sure there’s nothing to trace it back to us.” Steel crosses his arms over his chest. “You good to do this?”
What he’s really asking is, am I okay walking to my death because that’s what this is?
Eli could have an army ready to face the four of us.
There’s only so much we can plan for. Which is why I don’t answer.
I look to my brothers to decide whether they’re in because, either way, I’m going to get my wife.
“We’ve got this.” Havoc nods.
“Piece of cake.” Venom grins.
Legacy chuckles. “Pretty sure we’ve walked into worse.”
“You’re all full of shit,” Steel calls them out, laughing. “But be ready in twenty.”
The guys start to filter out of the room, and I’m right behind them until Steel stops me.
“I was wrong, Soul,” he says, frowning.
“You realize if you give me a goodbye speech, I’m fucked, right? Save the apologies for later.”
“I’m not fucking around.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “I was wrong to doubt her. Emery is good for you, and she’s good for this club. We’re going to get her back, Hayes.”
“I know we will.” Emotion swells in my throat. “Thanks, brother.”
Steel slaps my shoulder, walking out of the room to find Havoc and finish ironing out the details. But I don’t go with him. I take the turn to the bedrooms instead, knocking on Steel’s door.
Tempe answers, letting me in to see Charlie, who is lying in a bassinet. Her little fingers stretch as she reaches her arms up when she sees me.
“There you are, my lucky charm.” I pick her up, and her hands immediately find my cheeks.
She smiles, and maybe it’s just gas, but I’d like to think she’s happy to see me. She nuzzles against my chest, but then she looks around like she’s searching for Emery.
“I know, I miss her too.” I cradle Charlie in my arms. “I’m going to get her right now, don’t you worry. She’s going to be okay.”
I kiss my daughter on the top of the head, breathing her in. My heart, my soul, my reason for existing.
“I’m going to bring your mommy back to you,” I promise. “And then I’m going to make sure you get every good thing you deserve in this world, Charlotte Roman. Absolutely everything.”
If it’s the last thing I do.