Chapter 17
TOMCAT
Two days of relentless searching finally brought us answers.
The Hounds had called in every favor, used every available resource, and stripped away every layer of secrecy to uncover the proof we needed.
Aegis Aerospace Systems hadn’t just planned to silence Linden.
Their target was far bigger, more audacious, and fucking lethal—taking out the whole club in one devastating strike.
The mood in King’s office was grim and heavy, but even under pressure, my brothers couldn’t resist needling each other. Blaze leaned a hip on the edge of King’s desk, his arms crossed, a slight smirk on his face as he eyed Echo, who was frowning down at his tablet with obvious frustration.
“You staring at that screen like it insulted your mother,” Blaze drawled. “Figure it out yet, or you still planning to glare it into submission?”
Echo flipped him the bird without looking up. “Says the guy whose first solution is always setting shit on fire.”
Kevlar snorted from across the room. “Some problems are best solved with C4 and a smile. Or in your case, just the C4.”
Wizard huffed out a laugh. “He’s not wrong. Blaze, you did manage to burn down half a warehouse on your last recon mission.”
Blaze shrugged, unbothered. “It was a small half. And technically, the mission objective was achieved.”
“‘Achieved’ is a strong word,” Rebel chimed in from his spot near the door. “I think the official report classified it as ‘barely avoided complete clusterfuck.’”
Despite the ribbing, we all knew Blaze never let anything burn without full intention. And even though he never rose to the bait—since he knew as well as we did that our teasing was complete fiction—we still had fun giving him shit about it.
Ace smirked and shook his head. “Gentlemen, can we maybe stay on topic before King strangles all of us?”
King finally looked up, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Who says I’d waste that much energy?”
“That’s what bullets were made for,” Kevlar drawled.
Blaze chuckled, and the tension in the room eased slightly.
King’s scowl deepened a fraction, but the humor didn’t fade completely from his expression. “Wizard, tell everyone what we found.”
Wizard turned toward the screen, his voice tired from the long hours. “They intended to use Tomcat’s prototype jet as a fucking WMD, overriding navigation remotely and crashing it directly into the clubhouse.”
Silence settled instantly. The realization of exactly how audacious and brutal their enemy’s plan had been hit each of us differently.
Rebel’s jaw tightened visibly, Blaze’s smirk faded into something deadly, and Kevlar’s eyes burned with the kind of rage that came from having his home and brothers threatened.
“Fuck,” Echo muttered darkly, shaking his head. “These assholes really think they can wipe us out and not have repercussions?”
“That’s exactly what they think,” Wizard confirmed, his eyes narrowing as he looked at his screen again.
“And they had a plan for afterward. Evidence was prepared to plant at Linden’s apartment—make it seem like she was cheating on Tomcat, causing him to lose it and crash his plane into the club in some murder-suicide bullshit. ”
I snorted, the absurdity of their plan almost overshadowed by my fury. “The shit people think they can get away with.”
Blaze growled softly. “They’re about to find out exactly how fucking wrong they are.”
King leaned forward. “We’re officially in a war zone now. This isn’t just about one test pilot or the girl they tried to silence. They came for the entire club.”
I nodded. “Linden’s been helping us put together a dossier with everything we have so far. We just need the control lab’s location. Once we’ve got it, we take the fight directly to their doorstep.”
King’s gaze met mine, fierce and unyielding. “Then we end it. No loose ends. Anyone involved goes down. The ones who came after your girl pay with their fucking lives. The rest get delivered to the DOJ, gift wrapped and ruined.”
Murmurs of agreement echoed around the room, a lethal promise passing silently between brothers. Rebel pushed away from the door, determination etched into every line of his body. “Then let’s fucking find them. Time to show these bastards exactly what happens when you threaten a Hound.”
The decision settled over us all, the weight of it both comforting and absolute. My brothers filtered from the room, each man already focused on their part of the puzzle. I stayed behind a moment, meeting King’s gaze across the desk.
“Your girl holding up?” he asked, his voice gruff but understanding.
“Linden is tougher than she looks. She’ll handle it.”
He nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Make sure she knows the club’s got her back.”
“She does.” My jaw tightened. “But I’m going to keep reminding her.”
King smirked slightly, the corners of his mouth barely lifting. “Good. I’m guessing her own vest would cement it. Do I need to put in an order?”
One corner of my mouth kicked up. “Don’t bullshit me, prez.”
Something resembling a smile ghosted over King’s face, and he lifted his chin toward a door by the bar. “Hanging in the closet.”
“Thanks.”
He nodded, then bent his head over the papers on his desk again, effectively dismissing me.
As I turned and walked out of the office, he called, “I’ll have Stella move it to your room when your woman isn’t around.”
I hurried to get back to Linden. I wanted to wrap my arms around her, reassure myself that she was safe, and never fucking let go. Not that I had any plans to do that. Ever.
The people who’d targeted her had miscalculated badly. They’d tried to take her, end her, and rip apart the life we’d started to build.
Now, there would be hell to pay.
The next three days were a blur of urgency and controlled chaos.
Wizard worked relentlessly, piecing together threads of data until he’d finally traced the override command signals back to their origin.
A hidden hangar, tucked away behind layers of false-fronted businesses and misdirected paper trails, housed an experimental control lab used by Aegis.
We gathered again in King's office, the tension palpable, an undercurrent of deadly anticipation in the air. Wizard stood before us, his eyes bloodshot but burning with determination. “We found them. Hangar fifteen, Miller’s Airfield. It’s been sitting abandoned on the county books for years.
But the digital footprints lead straight there. ”
Ace’s gaze sharpened with focus. “Aegis has a buyer en route. Large private jet incoming tomorrow afternoon. Whoever’s onboard is expecting a live demonstration of the override technology.
” He looked at me, and I nodded, knowing exactly where his mind had gone.
The day after tomorrow was the original date scheduled for my next test flight. The one they’d tried to push up.
King’s jaw hardened, the scowl etched deep. “This timing makes our window narrow as hell. If we’re shutting this down, it happens now.”
Rebel leaned forward, anticipation flashing dangerously in his eyes. “How loud are we going in?”
Kevlar gave a cold smirk. “I vote as loud as fucking necessary.”
King nodded in agreement. “No need to keep quiet. They own the airfield where the hangar is located, and there’s no one else for miles. This isn’t a cleanup operation. It’s scorched earth. We burn this shit down. I don’t want there to be a single thing for them to try to rebuild on.”
I felt the fury burn deep in my gut, my fists tightening at my sides. Linden’s haunted expression and the fear in her eyes replayed on loop in my mind, fueling a deadly determination. They’d tried to take her from me. Now, they’d lose everything.
Cross spoke up, breaking through the tense silence. “They’ve gotta have tight as fuck security.”
King met Cross’s gaze and nodded. “Tactical precision as usual. You, Rebel, Tomcat, and I will be primary. Echo and Kevlar will handle external surveillance and perimeter security. Cruze, I want you with Fallon to infiltrate and disable any internal alarms.”
King’s attention shifted to me. “Tomcat, you know these planes, their systems, and the override tech better than anyone. You’re our lead on taking out their control lab.
You know what specifically needs to be destroyed to break the remote connection.
Once we breach, that happens first. Make it irreversible. ”
I gave him a tight nod, resolve burning through me. “I’ll look through the specs tonight and update you so we aren’t flying blind on the tech.”
King glanced around the room one last time, his expression lethal. “This shit ends tomorrow night.”
A chorus of murmured affirmations filled the room, determination etched into the faces of my brothers. I felt it too—the pulse of collective fury, the unwavering loyalty of men who would lay everything on the line for their own.
The window was closing, but we were ready.
We had a plan.