Tank wasn’t liking how long Church was taking today. Typically, it wouldn’t have bothered him, but Reagan was in his room, and he wanted to be with her, hell, he wanted to finish what they started. He and Brass had already given their reports on what Suzie and Reagan found when Tank noticed Talon looking at his phone. There was one hard and fast rule in Church, everybody left their phones outside; it pissed Tuck off to be interrupted. The only exceptions were Talon and Jinx; those two handled all the computer shit and security for the Clubhouse.
If they had men out on missions, then both men needed to be available to them. They also needed to be informed immediately if something was going on with the Club’s state-of-the-art security system. With the shit that had just gone down with the Vultures, everyone was on high alert.
“Tank, tell me again how Suzie got involved in all this and why you brought her to the Clubhouse?”
“I can answer that,” Talon piped up. “Suz is an expert hacker with degrees in both criminal justice and computer science. She is also one of Peyton’s friends, the two of them have worked more than one case together. Suz also has her PI license, so including her in on this was probably a good choice on Reagan’s part.”
“Hell, why am I just finding out about this shit now? I mean asshole why the hell does she work at the Diner as a fucking waitress if she has all that shit going for her?”
“Oh, that’s even easier. Suzie is nosy, she likes to know everything that’s going on in Defiance and the Diner is the best place to get all the gossip. She is also a wanna be baker. Yeah, it doesn’t fit, but Suz is, let’s just say, different, always has been.”
“Hell, I’m starting to think you assholes keep this shit from me on purpose, so you can pull it out in the exact wrong moment to surprise my ass. Clue in, I don’t like surprises. Next thing you’re going to tell me is Mrs. Fletcher works for the CIA.”
“No,” Link answered that one, “but her husband was once approached for recruitment.”
“Fuck, this shit just keeps on getting better and better.”
Talon was still looking at his phone, and from the scowl, on his face, something was not going right. That was confirmed a second later.
“Tuck, permission to leave Church.”
“Anything I needed to know about?”
“I’m not sure, yet, just need to check something out, Jinx, I’m going to need you on this.”
Damn, it that wasn’t good, Tank thought. Talon was self-sufficient; if he needed Jinx, then something bad was going down.
“Go, I will expect a full report as soon as you figure out what’s going on.”
“Understood.”
The two men left, and Tuck continued the meeting.
“The way I see it, we need to bring in the feds and hand over the information Reagan found and not our new resident contact. I put in a call for Murphy. Once he calls me back, I’ll make arrangements. Tank, this shit affects you more than the rest of us. Are you going to have a problem watching your Dad go down?”
“No, he can rot in hell for all I care. Hell, I might even stake myself out in front of his house, just so I can watch the show. I called my mom and sister this morning and set them up with a weeklong spa trip. If you think this is going to take longer, let me know because I don’t want either of them around to witness this, okay?”
“Deal. I’m thinking a couple of days at most. We’re looking at trying to rope Worthington’s ass in as well, but we can leave that up to the feds. I want to wash our hands of all this nasty shit.”
“Agreed, but Reagan thinks something else is going to go down and soon. She heard the three of them talking about keeping us busy. We need to figure out what they had planned and why they would need us diverted. If it all ties into the Vultures and the caves on the Sinclair farm, we might get some backlash.”
“I agree. I have Talon and Jinx looking into that part, I hate to involve them in club business, but maybe Reagan and Suzie can help.”
“Brass, if you don’t spank Suzie’s ass when she gets back here I’m going to do it.” Talon came storming back into the room, his face red, and the veins on his forehead were bulging. “Bitch hacked my system and put it on a constant loop, so she and Reagan could get off the grounds without being seen.”
“What?” Tank and Brass both yelled, standing.
“Just what I said, she hacked us. It wasn’t one of her best, she didn’t actually cause any damage, and with a few keystrokes, I was able to bring everything back on line. The backup feeds are up and running. We have some great video of Rea and Suz scaling the fence or trying to; looked painful. Then they did something that looked kind of like jogging and met a neon-green, super-duty out by the road; I’m thinking Billy.”
Jinx was standing behind Talon, laughing his ass off. Hell, Tank kind of wanted to watch the video if he wasn’t so fucking pissed right now.
“Any idea where they were headed?” Link asked.
“Hell, if I know,” Tank said, “if she just would’ve waited until we were done, I would have taken her anywhere she wanted to go.”
“My guess is she went to the storage lockers on Fifth Street or one of their apartments. She and Suzie must have figured something else out, and like Thelma and Louise, decided to check it out on their own, instead of taking anyone of the highly trained people walking around this fucking place. Damnit, do you see why I only deal with Puppets? It’s always fucking drama.”
“Dude, nothing like quality just like Brass always says,” Whiskey laughed.
“Oh, hell no, if I hear another thing about quality pussy, I’m going to slit someone’s throat. Hell, as long as it is wet, warm and tight, I’m good. Don’t even need a pussy for that shit; ass, mouth, hell, I don’t care.” Pointing at both Tank and Brass, Tuck ordered, “Get your women under control, bring their asses back here, and then bring them to me. If they’re going to act like idiots, I’m going to treat them like ones. Lock down is still in effect. Doesn’t anyone fucking care?
“I have brothers running around town, and chicks climbing fences. You’re just lucky I’m not Slade, he would’ve shot all your asses. Meeting fucking adjourned until the wayward children are back in the fold.”
Tank started blowing up Reagan’s phone; he knew for a fact the first couple of times she ignored his ass. Well, she was going to find out how much that pissed him off and soon. God, for such a smart woman, she was fucking stupid. Didn’t she possess any common sense? Tank looked over at Brass who had followed him out into the parking lot.
“Any luck on your end?”
“No, Suzie Q has gone radio silent. Hell, can you believe it? My chick hacked the RBMC. I should be pissed, but I’m kind of proud of her. You know what I mean?”
“No, motherfucker, she hacked us, so they could sneak around. Hell, if Reagan’s brother or any of those three assholes have figured out what Reagan has been up to, they could get hurt. Don’t you understand that?”
“Fuck,” Brass said looking down.
“Mind if I tag along?” Creed asked, coming out of the clubhouse. “They got out on my watch, and I would like the chance to make up for it.” Creed was a Prospect. Tank thought he had potential, but today he had fucked up big time. No one should be able to get in or out of the Clubhouse unless the brothers wanted them to, and it was Creed’s job to make sure that shit never happened.
“Know this, Prospect,” Tank grabbed the collar of his jacket, “anything happens to either one of them, and it’s going to be your ass. You have one fucking thing to do for this club, and you fell down on the job today. It’s going to be a long time before I ever call you brother.”
“Damn, Tank, chill out. Listen, let’s head out to the storage facility. We can have Creed check out Reagan’s apartment, kill two birds with one stone.”
“Fine,” Tank said, pushing Creed away. “You’re on notice. Understand?”
“Yep, loud and clear.”
Tank kind of respected the man even though he was pissed the hell off. He didn’t offer lame excuses or try to defend himself.
“Let’s ride,” Tank yelled, getting on his bike.
Creed split off from them right before they reached the storage facility. Tank and Brass parked and got off their bikes. The place was a ghost town, and Tank didn’t even know where to start looking for Reagan and Suzie. Before he could start kicking in doors, Brass stopped him.
“Hey, Tank, wait a minute. A text just came through my phone from Suzie. Fuck, man, all it says is help with an app attachment and a code; remember this code, SQ1625.”
Tank didn’t want to wait for some stupid app, but hell it was better than what he had planned.
“Holy shit, man, it’s a GPS tracker. It shows them up near, hell man, isn’t this where you family’s fishing cabin is?”
“Call Creed, I’ll call Tuck. Shit, man, this doesn’t look good.”
“I know, hell, at least one of the girls was thinking, we would’ve never found them up there.”
Getting off the phone, Tank said, “Listen, we’re going to need to hoof it up there, the sounds of our bikes could tip off whoever has them.”
“I agree. Dude, let me make one more call, and we can head out.”
“Fuck no, Dude, I don’t have time for you to play with your phone. Let’s roll.”
“Listen, I’m just as upset as you are, Brother, but we need gear. We have no idea what we’re driving into, and even though I want to go off half-cocked, too, that’s not the best way to approach this, understand?”
“Yeah, shit, make the call. It’s just, damn Brass, nothing can happen to her, things are finally going in the right direction.”
“I understand, hell, I’m in the same position. Once you get her back, are you finally going to claim her for real?”
“Yeah, man, it’s been a long time coming, but if she’ll have me, I’m going to make her my Old Lady, and you better believe she will wear the damn patch and my brand on her ass.”
“Took you long enough. Give me a second.”
Tank got on his bike and started it up. It was probably the first time his beast didn’t bring him peace.
“Let’s move. Tuck is sending some guys with a cage; they’ll meet us on the way. Tal is going to pull satellite photos and will let us know if there is any movement and what we can expect on the property.”
The ride was fast, and once they got up into the mountains, rough, but Tank was pushing his bike for everything it was worth. He needed to get eyes on Reagan, so he could see for himself that it wasn’t too late. Hell, those damn videos played through his mind on a constant loop. Were they hurting her? Hell, were they doing worse, making her suffer like all those other women? The questions kept on coming.
His brothers caught up to them halfway up the mountain. Tuck, Link, and Whiskey were riding their bikes, and Crash and Jinx were in one of the SUV’s the Club kept around. He had never been so happy to see his brothers. When he got within a mile of the cabin, he pulled over to the side of the road. The others followed suit.
“Okay, we can’t go any further with the bikes. Crash hold back and wait for my call.”
“Hold up, man,” Tuck said, “we need to gear up. Tal has a view of the cabin via satellite and he said that there’s an almost full minute delay in the feed. What we have so far are four heat signatures on the inside of the cabin, one vehicle on the outside. Tank can you give us the layout? Tal was going to pull the plans, but I told him to work on the satellite instead.”
“Yeah, the cabin is roughly a six-hundred square foot, two room dwelling. You have the main area living, bedroom, and kitchen. Front and back doors facing north and south. Two windows each on the west and east. South side holds a bathroom and closet, entry door in between. Main room used to have a pull-out couch, recliner, one end table, coffee table, and a four-seater kitchen table. The only blind spot will be from the bathroom, no windows and no way to see inside. Last time I was up here, there was an old shotgun, and a crossbow, neither was in great condition.”
“Okay, Tank you and Whisk take the front. Link and I will get the back. Crash and Jinx take the east and west sides. Get a good look inside and text with the info. Once we get the lay of the land and where all the people are, I’ll leave it up to Tank to call a go, that will be him breaking the mother fucking door down. Link and I will come in through the back, Jinx and Crash break the window and take aim, but don’t fire unless needed.”
All the men echoed their agreement, and with Tank leading the way, they jogged off into the woods. It didn’t take long for the cabin to come into sight. Tank had expected to see his father’s Mercedes coupe sitting outside, but that wasn’t what was in the drive. It was a late model Oldsmobile Cutlass which had seen better days. The vehicle was a concern because he had never seen it before. Bobby drove a ratty F150. Hell, could they be dealing with someone new altogether? Shit.
The woods provided adequate cover. He and Whisk hunkered down and waited for Crash and Jinx to provide them with the intel they needed to go in guns or fists a blazing. It didn’t take long. Crash was the first to text.
One female tied to a chair center of the room, second female tied to pull out bed on the west side of the room. One man, Bobby Lee, standing directly in front of female one. Other heat signature MIA. Tal’s intel suggests kitchen area, but I have no visual.
Jinx concurred with Crash’s assessment also indicating fourth heat signature MIA.
Tuck’s text came shortly after.
Suggest perimeter check. Crash Jinx is situation accommodating?
Both came back with an affirmative. Tank didn’t like it, but none of them wanted to get caught with their pants down. If someone was hiding out in the woods ready to counter them, they needed to know it.