Chapter 6 #3
Hagerty bunched his lips together and shook his head.
“Naw. IED took half his arm and a chunk out of his face on a supply transport before he could. But he did learn that the CIA got tired of cleaning up Shaw’s messes.
Turned him over to some people who owed them a favor.
” Steel got a sinking feeling just before Hagerty asked, “You guys ever hear of Primis?”
The Officers knew better than to give anything away.
Like Steel, they schooled their faces to hide their emotions.
Well, nearly all of them. Keys spilled his orange soda when Hagerty named the former paramilitary group, and he had to rush to clean up the mess before he got it all over himself, his computer, Demo, and Demo’s notebook.
Ghost cleared his throat to bring Hagerty’s attention to him. “We’re aware of who they are. I don’t know anyone who’s served who isn’t.”
“Fair point,” Hagerty said, his eyes still flicking back to Keys and the wadded up paper towels that were now dyed orange with soda.
Steel suppressed a groan. The kid really needed to work on his poker face. This was one of the reasons why Keys was always left in the van when Steel ran the club’s missions.
“So my buddy,” Hagerty slowly continued, “says that he lost track of Shaw for several years. Close to a decade. Then he sees footage from Primis getting taken down last summer, and right in front of his eyes on national television, is Shaw.”
The club took down Primis last June. Keys had reason to believe Shaw had started stalking the club in July before he implemented his new security software.
Brendon, the club’s former night janitor, was still down in the cellar, which was likely where Bear had been prior to this impromptu meeting.
He hadn’t been able to tell Ghost much, just that he’d been paid a good amount to insert that drive into the dealership’s server.
Keys dropped the wet paper towels into the trash bin before hastily washing his hands at the sink in the back bar.
His hands didn’t look completely dry before he was typing on his laptop.
“If he was on any Primis footage, my FRS will find him,” the kid announced before picking one hand off the keyboard to wipe on the side of his jeans.
Jenna leaned closer to Steel. “FRS?” she asked in a whisper.
Likely, she recognized Primis’ name too, but she was smart enough to pick up on the fact that the club was keeping their mouths shut around an outsider. “Facial Recognition Software,” Steel answered her.
Jenna nodded. Steel wasn’t able to elaborate that Keys’ software likely rivaled the NSA’s. It should—he’d helped design the current program agencies still used today.
“So Orrin has known Shaw has been out for months?” Ghost inquired. “Why would you think that he’s after Steel now?” They weren’t about to confirm that they had an enemy that had been tracking them unseen for over half a year.
“Because I only just found out. Like I said, I met my buddies for drinks and we were just shooting the shit. Orrin casually dropped the bomb that he’s still tracking Shaw.
Even with only one working eye and a mechanical arm, the guy’s dead set on bringing Shaw to justice.
And it wasn’t until a few days ago that Orrin let it slip he had a possible location for Shaw.
After I learned it was here, I knew who he was going after.
I don’t have Steel’s number, but I recalled he and his wife owned a consignment store on Mount Grove’s main street, so I drove straight through the night to get here. ”
“According to Orrin’s files, he tracked Shaw to this area a few times,” Keys said, his eyes fixed on his screens. Demo leaned over, gripped the top of his brother’s head, and pulled Keys’ face back. Even with his glasses, Keys had a habit of putting his nose right up to the computer.
“How could you know that?” Hagerty asked, clear accusation in his voice.
Keys’ eyes lifted and his fingers paused. “He used a variation of his cat’s name as his password. It wasn’t that hard.”
Steel scratched his forehead. Keys was completely missing the point of that question. “Keys, unless you find Shaw, it’d be best if you didn’t t—”
“Ooh!” Keys exclaimed excitedly. “Found Shaw.”
Of course he did. Steel felt a headache coming on. He also realized, he’d spoken out of turn. It wasn’t his place to critique Keys’ lack of a filter anymore. Shit. Old habits die hard sometimes.
Keys pointed to the tablet still in Lucky’s hand. “Give that to Steel.”
Lucky crossed the room to hand the device to Steel before walking back to stand by Bulldog. Jenna leaned into Steel’s side to also look at the screen.
Holy hell. It really was him. He looked…
Well, to be frank, he looked fucking awful.
The image on the screen was of a news reporter outside of the Primis building.
Based on the date, it was a day after the club had raided the building, locking its employees inside, and freeing Scar from his prison.
Police, firefighters, FBI agents, and NSA agents were all in the background behind the female reporter.
As was a man wearing an FBI jacket. The frame was frozen at the man looking over his shoulder, which was when the news camera caught his face at an obscured angle, but enough that Keys’ software picked him up.
His hair was long, like it hadn’t been cut in months, maybe years. His beard was bushy and unkempt. He walked hunched over, but that might also be from trying to keep his head down as he snuck past law enforcement.
But it was him. Older than the last time Steel had seen him, but no doubt him.
Steel wondered if he’d seen this footage last summer and never noticed Griffin Shaw in the background.
“Based on what I’ve found, Shaw disappeared about twelve years ago.
Primis was still finding its legs back then, but was definitely active.
It would make sense that the CIA would bump shoulders with them.
As private contractors, they don’t have the same red tape the agency does.
” Keys continued typing. “I’d have to dig some more, but I could completely believe Primis held him captive for twelve years just because they were a giant bag of dicks.
” Then his cheeks flamed. “Sorry, Jenna.”
“I’ve said and heard worse,” Jenna said, waving off Keys’ concern for cursing in front of her.
“Continue to look into it,” Ghost ordered shortly. His tone said not to speak of it further in present company. Keys met his President’s eyes and then nodded his understanding. To Hagerty, Ghost offered his hand. “We appreciate you coming here to warn us.”
Hagerty shook his hand. “Of course. Anything I can do to help?”
Ghost inclined his head. “Not right now, but we’ll call you if something else comes up.” The men released their hands. “Darrin and Viktor will take you back to your cage in town.”
When Jenna opened her mouth and looked ready to invite Hagerty to dinner, Steel squeezed her hand in warning. There would be time to catch up with old subordinates later.
Darrin and Viktor walked back in like they’d been summoned. As soon as the door closed behind them and Hagerty’s departure, Ghost rounded on Keys. He didn’t say a damn thing, just rested his hands wide on the bar and stared pointedly at the Tech.
“I said too much again?” Keys guessed, an air of innocence around him.
“You’re not seventeen anymore, Keys. I let a lot slide with you because of how good you are. We need you and we care about you. We want you to succeed, but you have some hard lessons coming your way. I hope you’re ready for them.”
Keys swallowed nervously. “I do? I mean,” he corrected, trying to square his shoulders, “I am. Ready. I think.” He bit his lip. “What am I ready for?”
A shadow shifted behind Keys, making Demo jump. Noticing, Keys turned and let out a very un-masculine shriek at the sight of Scar behind him.
“I decided on your punishment for the thumb drive,” Ghost said, not easing in his stance at all. “You have to survive an hour in the ring with Scar.” Ghost rapped the top of the bar with his knuckles. “Good luck.”
As far as punishments went, Steel felt this one was rather inventive.
Despite a brother’s punishment being ‘club business’, several of the ol’ ladies were present.
Steel allowed Jenna to attend so long as she was in Pumpkin’s old wheelchair.
Unlike the brothers who were ready with popcorn and a rather large betting pool, the ol’ ladies present seemed determined to ensure Keys didn’t get too hurt.
Steel had already spoken to Jenna about not interfering.
Keys made a mistake, and if it were any other brother, they wouldn’t be so keen on letting it slide.
Ghost was right, though. They had to stop looking at Keys like he was the gangly teenager he’d been when Ghost had brought him to Mount Grove over four years ago.
He wasn’t. He might be quirky and had a bigger sweet tooth than Santa Claus, but he was in his twenties.
The club as a whole, Steel included, needed to stop treating him like the kid they called him.
For years, the garage building on the property had been underutilized.
It was a place for the club to store their motorcycles during bad weather and the winter months.
Grumpy was really the only one who used it when he was fine tuning their bikes or working on a project he didn’t want to keep at his auto body shop.
When things around town grew more dire, the club had started training like they had when they were in the military.
Some of the club had been out of service for a time and needed refreshers, while others wanted to share different techniques.
Watching Ranger, a former Army Ranger, and Ghost, a former SEAL, go head to head was interesting and also quite educational.