Chapter THIRTY-ONE
THE UNMARKED police car stopped at the prearranged location. A large guy stepped from the vehicle. Thank God it was a quiet area with no one around. He patted Finn down and indicated the door. Finn slipped into the back seat. He bit back a groan as his ribs protested the movement. Thankfully his wrist only throbbed, obviously not broken like he first thought. He held the arm gently to his chest as he eyed the man in the driver’s seat.
The large guy climbed into the passenger seat and swiveled to look at Finn. It was hard to read his expression, but there was obvious doubt.
“Are you the guy I spoke with on the phone?” Finn asked.
The guy nodded. “I’m Sutherland. I’m in charge of this operation. This here”—he indicated the driver—“is Sloane. I take it you’re the person who’s been feeding us information?”
“Uh-huh. I said so on the phone.”
“You’ve been sending the notes.” Detective Sloane looked confused, and Finn wasn’t sure if he was asking a question or making a statement. “Why are you contacting us now and not via a note this time?” he asked.
“Things have escalated. There’s a confrontation about to go down. It needs to be stopped, and now.”
“Okay. Why don’t you fill us in?”
Finn started to provide some background as to who he was, but the detective interrupted him. “We know who you are.”
“You do?”
“You’ve been under surveillance for some time now.”
“Right.” Finn swallowed. Made sense. The whole club was being investigated, so of course he’d be scrutinized along with everyone else. Finn provided the outline of what he knew was about to go down.
“So the Soldiers are meeting with the Brutes now?”
Finn nodded. “That’s right. Supposedly to discuss territories.”
“But that’s not what’s going to happen?”
“No. Rocky plans to attack when the Brutes don’t expect it.”
“And why won’t they suspect anything, and what makes you think they’ll show up?”
“Oh, they’ll be there. Rocky’s tempting them with talk of a deal on a huge drug run.” Sutherland and Sloane exchanged a glance at the mention of the drug deal. “There’s no way the Brutes will turn that down. Plus if they don’t show, they’ll lose face.”
“Okay, Cummings. What you’ve said so far sounds on the up and up and matches the intel we’ve gathered. What I want to understand is why you’re doing this. Why are you going against the club and your brother?” Sutherland asked.
“I have no allegiance with the Soldiers. Any loyalty I felt died with my older brother and dad. I’ve never wanted a part of the drugs or the violence, and this is my only way out.”
“Got it.” Sutherland nodded to the other detective. Some sort of agreement seemed to be conveyed in the exchange. “Let’s radio the address and what we know and get the rest of the task force into position.”
It only took a couple of minutes for plans to be finalized.
Detective Sloane turned to Finn. “Ordinarily we wouldn’t allow you to come with us—”
“Fuck that! You’re bloody lucky I called you. Without me you wouldn’t know about the meeting or where it was being held.” And I need to get to Mitch. Just thinking of Mitch with Rocky facing off the Brutes had his stomach rolling.
“And we appreciate it, but this is now task force business.”
“This is Soldiers business.”
Sutherland cut in. “He can wait in the car. It might be handy to have him around if we need any other information.”
Detective Sloane nodded to his boss reluctantly and started the engine.
It didn’t take long to reach their location a safe distance from the warehouse. Another car pulled up, and Finn observed through the window as the cops discussed their plan. Sutherland made it clear Finn wasn’t to get out of the vehicle, and he wasn’t close enough to hear what they were saying. Frustration ate at his insides. He wanted to get to the warehouse and see Mitch for himself, make sure he was okay. Eventually the two guys climbed back into the car.
“We’ve got the warehouse under surveillance.” Finn was surprised Sutherland was addressing him. “There are a number of bikes and a couple of vehicles on the property. It’s hard to tell exactly how many people are inside and if they’re armed.”
Finn snorted. “They’re armed, all right.”
Finn again provided as much detail as he could, which wasn’t really much, on the sort of weapons the Soldiers had.
Sutherland relayed Finn’s information and got an update from his men. “There are a few men on guard outside the building and at the gates. From the looks of them, they’re men from both the Soldiers and the Brutes, so you were right—the Brutes did turn up. I wish we knew exactly what was going on in there and how many people we’re up against.”
Sloane echoed Sutherland’s thoughts. “It’s too risky to head straight in. We could be walking into an ambush.”
Both Sutherland and Sloane turned to him in surprise.
“It won’t look too suspicious if I turn up at the warehouse. Rocky and his guys know I’m aware of the meeting. Rocky might be pissed off because he told me to wait back at the shop, but he won’t associate me with the cops. I’ve been really careful about any info I’ve shared, and he doesn’t suspect me.”
Sloane looked him over. “Then why do you look like you’ve been hit by a truck?”
Finn swallowed. There was no way he was letting these men into his personal business. “Rocky and I had a disagreement. He’s pissed at me, but it’s got nothing to do with club business. If I thought there was any chance of him being suspicious, I wouldn’t propose this. Do you think I want to put my own life at risk?” Liar, liar. He thought of Mitch in the warehouse and what could be happening as they wasted time sitting in the car talking about crap. “Wire me up. I’ll go in and find a way of letting you know the layout, who’s in there, and what sort of weapons they have. Christ, if we sit here any longer, it’ll all be over.”
Mitch could have pulled the trigger that’ll change his life forever.
“Listen, Cummings, I don’t know what you’ve seen in the movies, but we don’t have a ready supply of wires—”
“I’ll use my phone. Keep it on speaker.”
“Too risky.”
“Wait here.”
The men got out of the car, and once again Finn found himself in the position of watching them discuss, or more accurately, argue about, something. Sutherland didn’t appear to have any issues with Finn going in. On the other hand, the other detective seemed hell-bent against it. They were parked only a couple of blocks from the warehouse, and Finn was tempted to slip from the car and go there anyway. He’d find a way of communicating what was happening in the building. He opened the door and stepped from the vehicle, already feeling better that he was moving and not sitting on his arse waiting for some kind of green light from the cops. But what if I fuck up and something happens to Mitch?
“What are you doing? Get back in the car.”
Finn ignored the command from Sloane and approached. “I’m going in whether you like it or not.”
Sutherland snorted. “We get it, kid. You want this to be over. You’re not alone there. We want this finished as much as you do, but we need to do it right.”
“But—”
“We’ll let you go in.”
The relief was instantaneous.
“Great—”
“Cummings, there’s something you need to know.” Sutherland paused and looked at Sloane before meeting Finn’s gaze again. “We’ve got a guy in there.”
“What?”
“We haven’t heard from him apart from a brief message an hour or so ago, and we’re not sure if he still has the means to contact us, which is the only reason we’re letting you go in there.”
“Who is it?”
“I’d rather not say.”
“Why? Wouldn’t it be best for me to know who’s on my side, who I can trust?”
“It’s better you don’t know who it is. If you know, you might give something away, and that’s something we can’t risk, for both your sakes. If it comes to either club’s attention that there are cops involved, then they’ll most likely take action. Really it’s for your own benefit.”
They spent a few moments talking details and liaising with the other task force members who were surrounding the area. It seemed there were multiple groups involved, including Homicide and Drugs and Alcohol.
“Do you have any questions before you go in?”
Finn shook his head. Like a million.
“Good luck.”